My Hopes for “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games”

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There was a big to-do recently when Anita Sarkeesian over at Feminist Frequency received a barrage of nasty comments over her Kickstarter to fund a project to analyze common tropes concerning female characters in video games. A lot of the commentary was as you might (unfortunately) expect, citing her supposed jealousy of better looking women, her “hypocrisy” over wearing makeup, as well as threatening her with rape. Even if most of this turns out to just be purposeful button-pressing in order to get a rise out of her, it’s still pretty sad that it came down to this.

I do not think people should have to agree with her just “because” she’s feminist, but at the same time I do wish people would come up with better arguments against her ideas and her points than simply things like “sexualization happens to men too” (the nature of the sexualization is nowhere near the same).

Tropes vs. Women in Video Games is already more than well-funded as of this post, but having watched her previous videos in the Tropes vs. Women series, I still want to say something about my hopes and worries about the project.

While Sarkeesian makes overall good points in her videos pertaining to the types of tropes which can reinforce images of women as passive beings in service to more fully developed men, I find that her videos tend to take something of a sledgehammer approach to addressing problems. Tackling big problems with big answers is a valid method, and it does result in points which are more readily and sharply conveyed, but there is a loss of nuance in discussing specific tropes she addresses as a result, possibly due to the brevity required in making short videos.

The consequences of this loss of subtlety is that the presentation of the tropes themselves seem to center around the idea of the trope itself being sexist more than its overuse (though both are considered culprits). For the Women in Refrigerators trope, the idea of a side or major supporting character dying in order to drive the hero to action is a recurring theme throughout fiction, be it with men or women, and the use of a girl as the “sacrifice” is not so much the problem as it is the degree to which it happens in superhero comic books, a genre which is all about power and inspiration.

Similarly, in her discussion of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, she criticizes the character type for being something of a vague supernova of inspiration for the leading male character, lacking in qualities to make her fully realistic. To that I have to ask, since when does more realistic automatically equal a better character? While I certainly see the advantages and have argued for the strength of such characterization before, there is something to be said for characters who are their concepts distilled to an extreme. Furthermore, it risks leaving no room for the trope to be turned into something which can be positive for women without having to completely subvert it.

When it comes to Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, my hope is that Sarkeesian will not come at the female characters of video games with a “one strike” policy. While there are plenty of girls to be rescued and recurring roles for girls that can be explored and criticized extensively, I hope that she does not view individual characteristics isolated from each other, but rather sees the characters as a whole. In the end, any judgment she makes is hers, and characters can and will end up being considered problematically sexist (because let’s not kid ourselves, video games do have them), but if a character has positive traits in addition to negative or even harmful ones, they should be acknowledged in order to show where games have managed to make smaller progressive steps in addition to bigger ones.

Thinkin’ Thoughts

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Getting anime and manga merchnadise in the Netherlands is actually not that difficult I’ve learned, particularly when you live closer to the bigger cities. Though a lot of material is in Dutch, because a lot of people here know how to read in English already a lot of it is also imported from the US. I could be in worse situations.

That said, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss New York City and the amazing amount of access I can get with just a short train ride. When I think about how to spend a summer day in New York for me, it involves going to Kinokuniya first, followed by Bookoff (or vice versa), and then moving on to eat at Go Go Curry. They’re all around the same area so it also makes for an enjoyable walk. The sheer weight of my bookbag as it’s stuffed with manga is also a strangely pleasant and familiar feeling, and even reminds me of my high school days. It’s even more fun to relax on the train ride back, preferably with friends, just sharing everything we got while simultaneously peeling off layers of Bookoff price tags (those things tend to accumulate as the same book gets resold over and over).

Perhaps the New York routine is special mainly because it’s where home is. Probably if I gave myself more time here (and actually went to Amstelveen), I could build up a similar routine, but for now I’m content to wait for the moments I go back.

The Fujoshi Files 45: Aoba Tsugumi

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Name: Aoba, Tsugumi (青葉 つぐみ)
Alias: N/A
Relationship Status: Single
Origin: Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens

Information:
Aoba Tsugumi is a high school student with a long-time crush on her life-long friend, Mikuriya Jin. Upon seeing that Jin was living with another girl (his half-sister supposedly), Aoba has made a much more concerted effort to express her feelings for him. Knowing firsthand about Jin’s troubled past, Aoba is always looking out for him, even bringing over meals prepared by her mother. For this reason, Aoba also learned to cook,  though she has a very limited repertoire, her best two dishes being “fried eggs with vegetables” and “vegetables with fried eggs.”

Aoba is a sweet, practical-minded girl, though she can also be a bit of a romantic. She can often be seen fighting with her imagination, both in terms of things not to think and things not to say. A newbie to the world of BL, Aoba was suddenly introduced to the genre by Kimura Takako and Ookouchi Fujino of the Art Club. It is not an active part of her life, though.

Fujoshi Level:
At first shocked by the content of yaoi doujinshi, Aoba very quickly asked for more. In addition, her reborn consciousness has allowed her to view the close bond between Jin and his friend Daitetsu in a new, corrupted light.

It’s All Right to Be Weak

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Though no one has ever said it to me before, I sometimes feel that my stance on various related topics concerning women in media may come across as hypocritical. I write a fair amount on the depiction of women in visual media, whether that’s anime or American comics or video games, but at the same time I’m also one to defend the concept of moe, often seen as the nadir of female representation in particularly Japanese media. It can be seen as a contradiction which ultimately compromises the arguments I make, but I would argue differently.

While I cannot reasonably argue that moe is faultless, the reason I don’t find my relative fondness for moe and my criticisms of misogyny to be all that contradictory has to do with the way in which characters impact a viewer. I believe that one of the core components of moe, that sense of weakness or perhaps even helplessness in a character (typically a girl), is not necessarily experienced solely as something external, a third party on whom the viewer acts as voyeur. That may factor in, certainly, but there is also a component of personal empathy, the depiction of weakness as a relatable point for those who may feel weak themselves, that is capable of being far more significant than simply the girl being cute or needing an older brother.

The capacity to portray weak characters is a good thing, in my opinion, and the problems of moe aren’t relegated simply to how girls are depicted but also how guys often aren’t allowed to be depicted. For whatever reasons there is a relative dearth of male characters targeted at men who are truly allowed to be weak and who are allowed to rely on others without having their worth as a man called into question either inside the works or by the viewers. This is why I’m fond of the supportive male character type you sometimes see in anime, because they manage to acknowledge their own limitations without issues of pride, and can both provide and receive emotional support. This is not to invalidate the more aggressive images of men of action, your Golgo 13s and Charles Bronsons, but I think there is room to expand both what can be done with men and women in entertainment media. In the mean-time, though, moe is having its positive effects.

That is not to say that moe is without its negatives and its problems in portraying women, and one thing that I have to acknowledge is that there are viewers, including moe fans themselves, who may bristle at the idea of a weak, helpless man (as opposed to girl), or might even be really aggressively sexist anyway. It is certainly not without its problems. In that regard, however, it actually reminds me of an essay titled “Never Trust a Snake: WWF Wrestling as Masculine Melodrama” by fandom and media scholar Henry Jenkins. In it, Jenkins argues that through the imagery of intense competition with a clearly defined goal (winning the title, beating the villains), pro wrestling provides a safe haven for the expression of “weak” emotions such as sadness and betrayal by couching it within the context of a hyper-masculine (and often extremely racist, sexist, and homophobic) setting, to which men in the US would be more willing to relate. They appear on stages and in front of cameras and audiences to loudly proclaim how others made them feel, driving home their characters in a conceivably therapeutic process. They’re shown to be physically superhuman, but prone to the same emotional scars as their audience.

Like pro wrestling, moe has its recurring issues, but I think sweeping it all aside under the single banner of “sexism” is over-simplifying some of the cultural and psychological dynamics at work. This is why I criticize certain portrayals of girls in moe without condemning it as a whole.

Gattai Girls 1: Gowapper 5 Godam and Misaki Youko

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Introduction: “Gattai Girls” is a series of posts dedicated to looking at giant robot anime featuring prominent female characters due to their relative rarity within that genre.

Here, “prominent” is primarily defined by two traits. First, the female character has to be either a main character (as opposed to a sidekick or support character), or she has to be in a role which distinguishes her. Second, the female character has to actually pilot a giant robot, preferrably the main giant robot of the series she’s in.

For example, Aim for the Top! would qualify because of Noriko (main character, pilots the most important mecha of her show), while Vision of Escaflowne would not, because Hitomi does not engage in any combat despite being a main character, nor would Full Metal Panic! because the most prominent robot pilot, Melissa Mao, is not prominent enough.

—

Between its generic Monster of the Week stories, basic “defend the world from evil” plot, and its overtly toy-oriented design, the 1976 anime Gowapper 5 Godam by Tatsunoko Pro is a largely bland and mediocre giant robot series. Following the “Gowapper 5,” a team of five kids whose purpose is to “go on adventures” (really) and who discover a giant robot, even the normal saving grace of such a show, the giant robot itself, is lacking.

Though one can ignore the Rudolph nose, the titular robot is so blocky and aesthetically awkward that even the animators for the show who are otherwise skilled at producing action scenes cannot make Godam look impressive. Despite a handful of fairly impressive episodes which manage some good bits of characterization or interesting moral dilemmas, overall Gowapper 5 Godam would be even more forgotten than it already is if not for two reasons.

First, the character designs were by Amano Yoshitaka of Final Fantasy fame, who worked on many other Tatsunoko anime as well.

Second, it is the first ever giant robot anime to feature a prominent female character in a leadership position.

Misaki Youko transcends the “token female character” position in a number of ways. In addition to being the unmistakable leader of the Gowapper 5 (she wears the red uniform and her teammates consistently refer to her as such), she is clever, courageous, cool under pressure, a highly-skilled fighter (possibly the most skilled of the five), always dresses sensibly, and, perhaps most amazingly of all, never actually gets kidnapped or put in damsel-in-distress situations. She shows strong leadership even in moments of weakness, at one point willing to relinquish her position for what she feels is her own error in judgment, and is able to pilot Godam effectively and deal the finishing blow on multiple occasions to the enemy. Even today, such a character is a rare exception in the mecha genre (especially when you exclude those shows where all of the pilots are female), let alone in 1976.

However, while Youko as a character remains extremely capable, she is hurt by the fact that the show itself can never actually decide if Youko is its main character or not. Even the opening flip flops between emphasizing her as the most important character and focusing on the blue second-in-command, Gou.

Looking at who is most prominent when piloting Godam itself, a method which would work with just about any other giant robot show, doesn’t really apply here. While Godam is the centerpiece of the series, usually the Gowapper 5 go out and fight hand to hand or in their personal vehicles, leaving whoever is left behind to pilot the robot, whether that’s Youko or Gou or one of their three comically misshapen teammates. Much later in the series when they start to regularly pilot it all at once, Gou sits in the center chair, but then other times Youko acts like the main character, even being the one to directly defeat a major villain.

Because of the way that Youko receives fewer and fewer episodes devoted to her as the show goes on, I get the feeling that the makers of Gowapper 5 Godam originally wanted her to be the undisputed protagonist (with Gou as deuteragonist), but something had to make them backpedal, possibly as early as when they were making the opening. The fact that Gou, the character who has more of the look you’d expect from a giant robot hero, overall gets the most episodes dedicated to him (followed by the youngest character, Norisuke) makes me think that they determined that a female as the central character of the show was hurting their sales and that they had to do something about it. Moreover, the odd 36-episode length of Gowapper 5 Godam and the number of sudden introductions of new merchandise into the series in the last 1/3 of the show hints at a possibly troubled production or low toy sales which they would have to try and overturn. At the same time, the fact that Youko continues to be prominent even at the very end might imply that this was an on-going conflict throughout the show’s production.

As the first true female leader in a giant robot anime, Misaki Youko is in many ways a pioneering character. She is well ahead of her time to the extent that she may have been too much for the very anime she comes from. In that respect, she perhaps not only the patron saint of female protagonists in mecha, but also the patron saint of characters who transcend the quality of their own anime.

With Age Comes Grace and Also Less Punching

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Back when I was watching the Chihayafuru anime, I began to associate the show in my head with the American cartoon franchise Ben 10. Even though their respective subject matters are worlds apart, both featured fiery tomboys of elementary school age whose later appearances would involve a time skip to high school where their hair is longer and their personality a little more mature. But where the transition for Chihaya felt right for me in the sense that she seems like the same character only older (and thus different in some ways but similar in others), Gwen’s change inBen 10: Alien Forcewound up seeming like an entirely different character to me. Not only her personality but even her character design turned out to be significantly different.

Of course I know why this is the case: Chihaya was planned from the start to have this age jump, as the episodes involving her childhood are mainly flashbacks and setup for the story proper where Chihaya starts her own karuta club, while there was clearly no original intention to have a time-skip sequel to Ben 10. When Alien Force did come around, it streamlined some of the elements of the previous series and in the process wound up as something of a break from its predecessor. At the same time, however, the fact that Chihaya is in many ways a similar character to Gwen just made me more aware of how this sort of transition can be done well.

By the way, Chihayafuru season 2 was just announced today, but I swear that my posting this is merely coincidence. If I had that sort of power I’d use it for better things, like a Fujoshissu! anime.

Definitions of Lolicon

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If you’re into anime and aware of the concept of lolicon, then you probably have an idea of what the word means and the kinds of characters associated with it. Lolicon, after all, means the eroticization of very young characters, particularly female ones, right? It turns out to not be so simple, and I don’t mean in terms of “she looks 10 but is actually 500.”

I’ve been re-reading Sharon Kinsella’s Adult Manga lately (which is one of the best academic texts on manga and the manga industry), and in one chapter she writes about lolicon and doujinshi creators, as well as their relationships to professional manga In it, she gives the definition of “lolicon manga” as manga which “usually features a young girlish heroine with large eyes and a childish but voluptuous figure, neatly clad in a revealing outfit or set of armour.” It’s still pretty consistent with the current general conception of lolicon, but the “voluptuous” trait might seem a little strange.

Kinsella points out Gunsmith Cats as a lolicon title, but unlike the idea that it’s lolicon because of Minnie-May Hopkins and her child-like figure (see above), the example given is of the older-looking Rally Vincent.

Furthermore, she discusses the lolicon-esque qualities of Ah! My Goddess, but like Gunsmith Cats she isn’t just talking about the younger Skuld but also Belldandy and Urd, who, Urd especially, seem to go almost entirely against the current conception of lolicon used by people. Other titles from Monthly Afternoon (home of Genshiken!) mentioned as lolicon which seem to defy that definition further are Seraphic Feather and Assembler 0X.

Ah! My Goddess

This could be considered merely a rather broad definition of “lolicon,” but there are three things keep me from drawing that conclusion. First, according to Kinsella the influence of lolicon-style on the manga industry is somewhat acknowledged by professionals. Second, the character designs of Azuma Hideo, the “father of lolicon,” are very much in that blurry territory of the “child-like but voluptuous.” Third, is a conversation I’ve had with ex-manga editor and current Vertical Inc. editor and frontman, Ed Chavez.

According to Ed, one of the most significant lolicon characters ever is Lum from Urusei Yatsura, a character known for her sexy figure, and he also considers the origin of lolicon to actually be Maetel from Galaxy Express 999, a character notable for her mature and motherly qualities. I remember finding his categorization a little out of the ordinary, but when taking Kinsella’s words into account as well, it starts to make sense. It is that intersection of youthful but in certain ways adult, where for example the body is more developed but the face remains youthful, though neither is necessarily at any extreme.

Lum (left), Maetel (right)

Given this idea of lolicon, one of the most fascinating lines of thought to come out of this can be summarized with the following: if we go by this older definition of lolicon, even many of the fans who consider themselves vehemently against lolicon, who try to avoid it like the plague, would be categorized as lolicon fans themselves. Again, characters like Rally Vincent and Belldandy have been presented among fans for years and years now as the positive counterpoint to their respective series’ younger-looking characters, but they too now fall under the same umbrella.

Taking that into further consideration, the question becomes: given the anime of the last 20 years or so, what female characters wouldn’t be considered lolicon? It seems to encompass a large majority, where even characters defined by their mature, sexual bodies like Miura Azusa from THE iDOLM@STER and Fukiyose Seiri from A Certain Magical Index are grouped in, not to mention characters like Lina Inverse from Slayers.


Miura Azusa (left), Fukiyose Seiri (right)

I am not using this as a platform to invalidate people’s opinions, or to accuse anyone of being hypocrites. The term lolicon seems to have transformed over time, and the current generally accepted definition of it isn’t somehow less valid than its origins discussed above, though it may make for some inconsistencies in communicating, and at the end of the day Minnie May is still there. Rather, I think it shows a clear example of how words can change over time, that the boundaries by which we categorize things may not simply be about what traits are and aren’t present, but how those traits interact with each other (though that subtlety makes it susceptible to being more narrowly defined), and furthermore, how those traits are then perceived by those viewing.

In the end, Kinsella provides a quote from a senior editor of Monthly Afternoon:

The form of the manga is the same, but the themes have been changed to make them easier to read and understand for lots of people. Aah! My Godesss is a good example. It looks like otaku manga, but the content is different, the story has been changed so it can be read by a wider audience.

Could it be that, by taking the styles originally associated with lolicon, and putting them into contexts more relatable to a broader audience, this lolicon aesthetic no longer exists in that form? Where once the term referred to a broader range created by the interaction of certain traits, by having that larger readership claim one end of that spectrum, does the lolicon genre as we currently know it come into the forefront?

The Fujoshi Files 44: Yaoi Fujiko

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Name: Yaoi, Fujiko (矢追不二子)
Alias: Fujoko Fujoo A (不序子不城A)
Relationship Status: Single
Origin: Fujoshi no Honkai

Information:
Yaoi Fujiko leads two lives. By day, she is a high school teacher of Modern Japanese, but by night (and on weekends) she is a well-known BL novelist under the pseudonym Fujiko Fujoo A. Despite the fact that there are a few fujoshi among her students, she chooses to keep her identity secret, even though she is long-time friends with one of their older sisters.

In order to maintain her disguise in public autograph sessions, Fujiko undergoes a drastic makeover, discarding her glasses and neatly tied hair for a more glamorous image. Her revised appearance is enough to fool almost everyone she knows.

Fujoshi Level:
Fujiko chose the high school she works at because she heard that the male staff members frequently get into arguments with each other, providing an ideal environment for her imagination.

Amazing Fantasy: Genshiken II, Chapter 76

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If last chapter was crazy, this one is downright mental.Genshiken II, Chapter 76 is the origin of one Hato Kenjirou, and what an origin it turns out to be.

After the truth of Hato’s identity is revealed by his former senpai and doppelganger Kaminaga, Hato tells everyone the story of his high school trauma. As has been previously revealed, Hato was in his high school’s art club, which was populated by fujoshi. Though a fan of BL himself at that point he denied any interest, until one day he found himself alone in the art club with Kaminaga’s doujinshi lying there.

Taking it to the bathroom so as to avoid anyone walking in on him reading, his classmate Konno found out about it and completely misinterprets the “reading it in the bathroom” aspect in a way that probably most people would. Konno told her fellow club members, who spread the rumor through the school and Hato became “that homo.” To rub more salt in, upon graduation Kaminaga, who Hato seem to have had a crush on, ends up dating Hato’s older brother, Yuuichirou.

And it looks like there’s going to be more next chapter! Not quite a flashback perhaps, but something.

Honestly, I am completely surprised they revealed Hato’s background so soon into the run of the new Genshiken. While it probably makes sense given that it’s been something like 19 chapters at this point, I always thought they would save something like that for a much later period. Thankfully the origin of Hato is a solid one. It’s the degree of trauma that would most certainly make life miserable for Hato, but not so miserable that he would end up like Ogiue, who had to deal with suicide and deep self-loathing.

Hato’s backstory is also fortunately supported by some really interesting characters. Truth be told, I was just a tiny bit concerned as to how Hato’s old classmates might turn out story-wise, but I’ve turned out pretty impressed. Kaminaga for one seems like a character with many layers to her. If there’s one word I would use to describe her, it’s perceptive.

Throughout this chapter, whether it’s pulling off Hato’s wig as he tries to throw off the girls by pretending to be someone else, or when she brings up the fact that Kuchiki mistook her for Hato “for some reason,” or even in the extended flashback, Kaminaga shows herself to be really smart and observant in a way that might even exceed Kasukabe. Probably the character most similar to her in Genshiken would be Yabusaki’s friend Katou. On top of the fact that she could talk so candidly with Hato’s brother about yaoi (in spite of the fact that Yuuichirou had zero knowledge about it) and then start dating him on top of that shows a new kind of fearlessness.

As great as Kaminaga turns out to be, however, I think Konno might actually be my favorite character of the new cast, and not just for her saucer eyes, though I find them to be hilarious. It’s quite clear that Konno had a crush on Hato all through high school and did not truly mean to make Hato’s life more difficult by spreading rumors. I think that Konno just had to confide in someone in order to deal with this problem, and I can imagine that Konno felt inferior to Kaminaga in both looks and talent, and to have the boy she likes have only eyes for her must have felt bittersweet. Moreover, the scene at the very end of the chapter where Konno now believes that she’s responsible for turning Hato into a full-on crossdressing homosexual makes you want to tell her everything will be okay.

Poor girl.

The biggest mystery that still remains is just why Hato dresses like Kaminaga most of the time, and while a less savory answer would have something to do with how she started going out out with his brother, I’m more inclined to believe that it’s because Hato, in transforming himself into the perfect fujoshi, saw Kaminaga as the ideal basis. With all of the positive attributes mentioned above, which includes physical appearance as well, it makes sense. The fact that Hato probably had feelings for her really puts an additional twist on the whole matter, but I’m inclined to believe that it still all relates to Kaminaga as the ideal girl (of sorts).

Another thing to consider is the fact that this chapter reveals that Hato can draw well, like when he copies from a still life. Perhaps Hato, who believes he can only imitate Kaminaga’s drawing style, might have more of an issue with trusting his own imagination?

So, not a ton of analysis compared to what I normally do this time around, but I am definitely looking forward to seeing what happens.

By the way, Genshiken Volume 12 goes on sale in Japan on June 22nd. There don’t seem to be any special editions, so I’m grateful I won’t be spending as much on it as I have the last two volumes.

Blaaaazin’: Anime 2012

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This past weekend was my second time attending the unambiguously named “Anime Con” over in Almelo, the Netherlands, only unlike last year I managed to go for more than one day. Truth be told, I had originally planned on skipping out this year for various reasons, but when I saw the guest list it seemed like a must. Not only was anime and manga scholar with a particular fondness for Tezuka Helen McCarthy attending, but there was Initial D opening/ending band m.o.v.e. as well. Another prominent guest was Dutch comics artist Martin Lodewijk, but I was not able to see him because he was only able to attend on Friday (which I skipped out on).

Located near the German border, the train ride to Almelo for me altogether took about two and a half hours, something I felt I should have remembered from the last time I did it, but somehow seemed strangely new. I was unable to procure a hotel at or near the venue, but taking the train back and forth ended up costing less money (and even less than a similar trip by Amtrak back in the US), and it gave me a lot of time back and forth to read manga and even to draw, which I hadn’t done in a long time. So, even aside from the actual convention itself, fun was had. Also quite fortunate was that the weather in Almelo was excellent, and if I hadn’t had to pass through wind and rain to get there I would’ve thought it to have been a waste to wear a jacket.

Before I get into the con itself, I do want to note that there are some interesting parts of the event which didn’t change too much from last year like the game room and the maid cafe, so I’ll refer you again to last year’s report.

Panels

Now I am the type of con-goer who loves to attend panels, and it was very clear to me that Anime Con this year had made a concerted effort to insert more panels into its programming. There were humorous panels, quiz shows, and a number of informative ones, including a Vocaloid panel. Not being terribly interested in Vocaloid myself normally, I walked in on it half an hour after it had begun in order to be around for the next panel, only to realize that in my ignorance I had missed out on what may have been the best Vocaloid panel ever.

Normally, Vocaloid panels seem to be more celebrations of Hatsune Miku and friends, but this panel was actually run by motsu, the rapper from m.o.v.e. Known for such sage wisdom as “I got no impression/ This town made by the imitation/ Wanting your sensation/ In this silly simulation/ I wanna rage my dream,” from the little I caught of it, the whole hour was a little bit of history about Vocaloid and a lot about how it works as a music-making program and its limitations, like how Vocaloids are bad at that double-consonant often found in Japanese, the “kk” in Tekkaman for instance. The band has somewhat close ties to the program, as not only was his fellow bandmate yuri was made into the celebrity Vocaloid “Lily,” but the guy as an active musician uses the program himself, even posting on Nico Nico Douga under the name “Nicormy.”

We learned that motsu likes to use the Gackt-based Vocaloid “Gackpoid,” and that there was originally some trouble with Vocaloid Lily because of yuri’s relatively deeper voice and how the program is better-suited for high-pitched tones a la Hatsune Miku. He also gave some tips for working around the program’s limits, like using the hi-hat (the cymbal?) from a drum machine in order to simulate a “ssst” sound, another weakpoint for Vocaloids, or using a “bend down” to improve the sound of Vocaloid rapping. Even though I don’t know music and had to look up some of these terms after, I really regret not being in there earlier.

Right after the Vocaloid panel was Helen McCarthy’s talk on “kawaii” and its origins, tracing it back more generally to a biological human tendency to want to protect doe-eyed creatures be they babies or kittens, as well as more directly how the styles we associate with Japanese cuteness were the result of an intermingling between Japanese and Western cultures. For instance, Helen pointed towards Betty Boop as an influence on kawaii, a mix of cute and sexy and facial proportions which resemble a traditional idea of attractveness in Japan, and talked about the French artist Peynet, whose romantic drawings of Parisian life still persist today.

Of particular note for me was her brief discussion of the artist Macoto Takahashi, whose “Makoto Eyes” (see above) would clearly become an influence on 60s and 70s shoujo manga. In fact, I had to ask Helen about the clear lineage into shoujo, and what might have caused a decline in those types of sparkling eyes, to which she replied that it likely has to do with how the painstaking detail of Makoto Eyes, which can take hours to draw precisely, conflicts with the hectic work schedule of a manga artist.

The last panel I attended was “The Future of Comics is Manga.” Held on the last day of the convention, it drew what I felt was a surprisingly large crowd based on my experience with American conventions, and I have to wonder if there are actually proportionately more anime con attendees interested in industry and creator discussions compared in Dutch conventions. On the panel were Helen McCarthy, Japanese manga and video game pixel artist curently living in the Netherlands Aoki Noriko, writer for the Dutch anime magazine Aniway Rik Spanjers, and Dutch comics writer Sytse Algera. The discussion went to various places, from how it’s faulty to say that comics never appealed to adults around the world and that it’s more an issue of the comics industry not being able to hold onto those readers to the comparatively low salary that most manga artists make, which has to be tempered by an actual passion and enthusiasm for creating comics.

Somewhat unfortunately, the Q&A session turned into primarily a discussion of piracy and copyright, from downloads to doujinshi to everything in between. While I felt that it was in certain ways a fruitful discussion, and everyone agreed that creators cooperating with fans had definite benefits, it also pushed aside all other potential questions. Moreover, a lot of the discussion had to do with artists feeling that they’re being slighted by downloads, and I feel that when you have a panel comprised of mostly artists and creators it skews the discussion in a certain direction, just as a panel of mostly editors might, or a panel of mostly fanfiction writers. All in all, though, it was quite informative.

The Concert

While I’m aware of the fact that m.o.v.e. has performed at at least one anime convention in the US, given my current living situation and the sheer size of the United States it was actually easier for me to go to Anime 2012 to see them than if I were still back in the US and they had visited another state.

Last year I had attended a portion of the Aural Vampire concert, but had to leave early. This year I decided to stay for the full thing, which almost didn’t happen because the concert started 45 minutes late. In spite of not getting home until 1am as a result, it was still really great, with m.o.v.e. playing up the crowd and throwing in their Initial D songs alongside some of their non-anime-related work.

I am no regular concert attendee, so I can’t say if this is anything truly special or not, but I was pretty amazed that the singer yuri actually sounds better live than she does in official recordings. I don’t have the proper musical vocabulary to describe what I mean, but she actually comes off as more powerful on-stage than in music videos. motsu meanwhile rapped up a storm, and in some ways it’s even more special to hear live than yuri’s strong vocals.

There were also some technical difficulties with the microphones during the concert, but m.o.v.e. handled it very well with the help of a supportive crowd. When mics would stop working, the two would share one, and at one point the DJ Remo-con (who also deserves respect) passed over his personal headset to motsu so he could continue.

As might be expected, motsu actually has excellent English (he was even occasionally switching to English in the vocaloid panel prior), and was definitely not working from a script when talking to the audience. My favorite moment was probably when motsu asked if we wanted “A CAT FIGHT” or “ANOTHER KIND OF FIGHT.” Remo-con responded with a cat paw gesture. At another point, motsu also asked what kind of beat we want, giving “flamin'” as one option. Naturally, there was only one choice.

Artist’s Alley

Unlike many of the Dutch cons I’ve attended the artist’s alley this time around was somewhat separate from the dealer’s room. I’ve spoken about this many times before, but I’m still interested in the fact that most of the artists in the alley seem to prioritize making full books, either by themselves or in collaboration with others, as opposed to buttons and other trinkets (though those were still around). I have to wonder if it has anything to do with the Netherlands’ own strong tradition when it comes to publishing (it was known for having very good freedom of publishing centuries back), though that connection may be too tenuous.

An interesting element of this convention’s artist’s alley was that there was this peculiar collectible card game available, where you actually buy cards based on the amount of things you buy in the artist’s alley, which you could use to create an actual deck. I didn’t buy too much from the alley, so I couldn’t experience the game firsthand, but it was apparently the idea of the people running the Manga Kissa (manga cafe) at this convention and many others, and who actually currently have a permanent location in Utrecht.

I also got a chance to talk Aoki Noriko, the Dutch-resident Japanese artist, who is also apparently a huge fan of Saint Seiya given her personal portfolio. As we talked, she mentioned some of the difficulty going from traditional media to digital, which is a topic I’m always interested in. In the end, I bought the comic above and left with a thank you, though looking back I regret not asking her more about her work in video games, as she did sprite graphics in the 8-bit and 16-bit era.

Speaking of art, ever since Nishicon 2011 I’ve been really enjoying the idea of a drawing room at conventions, a place which provides free paper and drawing tools so that people can go nuts. Like at Nishicon, the room was run by “Mangaschool,” the group which also ran various drawing tutorials and workshops throughout the convention. I feel like sometimes the best thing to do to get away from the hustle of a con while still being a part of it is to just sit down and draw, to let the mind wander through the hand. Also robots are cool.

I don’t have a proper scanner on me at the moment so while I’d like to share the drawings I made at the convention, I’m going to save it for a separate post in about a month. Look forward to it!

Storyboards

Also on display at the convention were various anime design work and storyboard pages from a wide variety of shows. I’ve included some below for your enjoyment:


Sakura contemplates revenge

Cosplay

 

Sadly she was not singing the Panty & Stocking opening

Overall

While I may not be the best judge of the long-term progress of “Anime Con,” I noticed many improvements compared to last year, especially in terms of varying the kinds of things that are available to do. Theaterhotel Almelo may only be able to hold 3000 people, but I certainly felt their energy as fans.