The Return of the Vertical Vednesday: Licenses and Licensing

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There hasn’t been one for a while, but Vertical Inc. and Ed Chavez are back to lay down some information for anyone willing to listen tomorrow, December 2nd.

For those who have never heard of Vertical Vednesdays or haven’t read my previous posts announcing them, Vertical Vednesdays are very casual informational sessions where the marketing director Ed Chavez engages in a conversation with the audience to teach and discuss various aspects of manga, whether it’s trends in Japan, the history of manga genres, or technical details. A lifelong fan and even a former editor at an actual manga publisher in Japan (Kodansha), Ed is a fount of knowledge and I advise anyone who gets the chance to have a listen or at least find a summary of one of the Vednesdays online.

This time around the topic is “Licenses and Licensing,” which might not exactly sound exciting, but Ed promises to get into some of the nitty gritty of what the licensing process actually is, a detail that most manga fans including myself do not have a comprehensive image of.

When: Wed. Dec. 2, 2009
Where: Kinokuniya NYC (6th Ave between 40th and 41st st., Manhattan)

Let’s Over-Analyze the Subspace Emissary

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This post is really, really late, seeing as how Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been out for a long time now, but I was thinking about the story mode recently and my theories on it back when the game first came out. As such, I want to record them here for all of you.

Warning, spoilers follow.

The basic plot of the “Subspace Emissary,” or the story mode in Smash Bros. Brawl, is that a mysterious being called the Ancient Minister is detonating Subspace Bombs and destroying parts of the Smash Bros. universe for some diabolical scheme. We later learn that the Ancient Minister is actually the Robot Operating Buddy that was originally released with the Nintendo Entertainment System, and that R.O.B. is being controlled by Master Hand, a gigantic disembodied right hand that is like a “god” of sorts. However, it also turns out that Master Hand is being controlled by a being who rules Subspace named Tabuu, who is also the ultimate opponent in Subspace Emissary.

Looking back at the original Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, the game’s cinematic opening implies to us the true identity of Master Hand (and by extension the left “Crazy Hand” from Melee on). Master Hand’s domain is a room which contains a desk, a chair, and a toy chest from which he pulls out dolls of his favorite Nintendo characters. In other words, Master Hand is a kid who is just having fun with his toys and his video games, and that is why he is the default final boss in the series.

Who is Tabuu, then? Well, he is a being more powerful than Master Hand, who controls and restrains Master Hand against the hand’s will. He is capable of attacking with “Off Waves,” which renders the Nintendo (and Sega and Konami) heroes lifeless. He is described in the game as “having been born in a vastly foreign realm” and also “possess[ing] great leadership powers.” If you look more closely, you will see that the true identity of Tabuu is Master Hand’s father, or specifically the father of the kid playing with his video game toys. He rules subspace as a great leader and he is capable of turning “off” the child’s games.

The greatest evidence towards Tabuu being a child’s imaginary representation of his dad comes in the form of R.O.B. Prior to the start of the Subspace Emissary, Tabuu attacks R.O.B. and forces it and its loyal followers to do his bidding or risk further destruction. Why is R.O.B. of all characters the titular subspace emissary? Why is he the border between the Smash world and Subspace? If you look at what R.O.B. actually is, then the answer becomes clear.

R.O.B. was originally released as a toy to go along with the NES to play R.O.B.-specific games, and was instrumental in tricking convincing parents to buy a video game entertainment system for their kids. R.O.B., to those parents and even some kids, was the most visible part of the NES. More importantly, R.O.B. in his original games exists as both a character on-screen and as a physical object in the real world, making R.O.B.s the ideal messengers between Subspace (the real world) and the Smash world (video games and imagination).

So in actuality, the “Subspace Emissary” is an allegory for a father telling his child to stop playing with toys because they have to go do something away from the realm of video games and fun, like go visit grandma. The child, i.e. “Master Hand,” is thus captured by the evil “Tabuu,” who seeks to turn everything “off” and control everything. The father destroys and enslaves the R.O.B.s first because they are the easiest targets and the only ones to truly be both physical and imaginary. The child/Master Hand in turn must be saved by his own creations, the characters of Smash Bros. Whether the “defeat” of “Tabuu” happened in reality or purely in the mind of the child is sadly unknown.

What is the Fanservice Anime with the Greatest Heteronormative Agenda?

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“Kiss x Cis”

Finally, a Good Translation for the Title! Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl: Arceus – Transcend the Confines of Time and Space

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NOTE: The English version of the movie provides us a good translation of the Japanese title of this Arceus movie by putting it right in the dialogue. Remember folks, if you are going to translate the title instead of using the English adaptation’s as I have, Choukoku no Jikuu e should now be called Transcend the Confines of Time and Space. Stop using every translation of the title except this one, including my previous one. That line of debate should be over one way or another.

The latest movie in the Pokemon franchise is unique in a number of ways, something which is impressive given that this is the twelfth time Pokemon has seen a theatrical release. This is the first time a Pokemon movie has been released in English so soon after its Japanese release. Known as Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl: Arceus – Transcend the Confines of Time and Space (known in English as Arceus and the Jewel of Life), it not only is the conclusive part of the Diamond/Pearl/Platinum movie trilogy, but also the first Pokemon movie to place its focus on a god of all creation.

That god is known as Arceus, who in legends is said to have shaped the universe with its 1,000 arms. A metaphor I’m sure, seeing as the kirin-like Arceus has no arms to speak of. The movie centers around his return to Earth after many generations, where Arceus plans on exacting Judgment upon the humans who had dared to betray him all those years ago. And in the case of Arceus, “Judgment” translates into “Fiery Death from Above.”

The only Pokemon capable of even putting up a fight against this Pokemon deity are the feature Pokemon of the previous two movies, Dialga (the Pokemon who rules time), Palkia (the Pokemon who is given dominion over space), and Giratina (the sole natural inhabitant of a mysterious alternate dimension). We also learn that Arceus’ impending arrival is also what caused the distortions in time-space in the first two parts to the trilogy. Even then, they are barely able to withstand Arceus’ ire, and it is up to Satoshi/Ash and friends to figure out the truth about the Alpha Pokemon.

The 12th Pokemon movie is decent overall and definitely the kind of thing fans of the series will enjoy, but there are some things this movie does not do all that well. First, it never gives you a good sense of just how powerful Arceus is supposed to be. Though it clashes with and overpowers a number of other legendary Pokemon, the difference between Arceus and the three dragons of Sinnoh are never made clear enough to really appreciate that gap in power and majesty. Second, and I admit this is being somewhat unfair to the movie, it just does not live up to the bar set by Mewtwo Strikes Back. I revisit the first movie every time I review a Pokemon theatrical release because I believe it represents the pinnacle of the franchise and its ability to tell stories with a surprising degree of maturity and moral complexity.

That said, Arceus – Transcend the Confines of Time and Space still succeeds in showcasing through its story elements of human behavior that are both supportive and condemning of their place on the planet, albeit in a somewhat ham-fisted manner, and it provides a lot of information on the world of Pokemon that we had not previously seen, and this is probably the most fascinating part of the movie. Although the fourth movie starring Celebi gave us a view of the past where Poke Balls were hand-cranked devices, and the eighth movie starring Lucario showed us a time before the Poke Ball was even invented and Pokemon were controlled by humans like a general controls an army, Arceus’s movie goes back further still. Here, we learn that before they were known as Pocket Monsters they were called “magical creatures,” as if to imply that the relationship between man and Pokemon changed as technology progressed, though not necessarily for the worse, as the magical creatures of ancient times could be seen forcibly controlled by restrictive harnesses. That doesn’t exactly make up for not quite living up to the movie’s potential, but it does provide a lot of food for thought.

Overall, while it definitely could have been more, it was a mostly satisfying end to this trilogy. The next movie is bringing back Lugia, who’s had a 10-movie break, and will mark the first true theatrical appearance of Ho-oh. Ho-oh holds special significance in the Pokemon anime, as its appearance always signals great changes for Satoshi/Ash, so an entire movie featuring the Rainbow Pokemon almost feels like the end of an era.

Miyamoto Shigeru Agrees with Me

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I previously made a post positing that one of the big changes that occurred in video game graphics around the NES era was that character’s began to have faces. Their eyes and mouths (or approximations thereof) made the characters more relatable.

While I thought it made perfect sense, I realize that aside from my visual analysis there wasn’t a whole lot of record and evidence to back it up. But then recently while reading the New Super Mario Bros. Wii interview, the creator of Mario himself Miyamoto Shigeru said something which helped support my theory immensely.

Iwata
Mario’s trademarks are his moustache, his hat and his overalls. Why did you decide to give him this look? I have no doubt you’ve spoken about this many times before, but I’d like to take this opportunity to ask you to tell us about it one more time.

Miyamoto
Certainly. The original Mario was a 16 X 16 pixilated image. At that time, when games made overseas used human characters, they were always rendered with life-like proportions.

Iwata
It felt as if the developers weren’t happy unless they’d drawn a figure that was eight-heads tall.

Miyamoto
Or sometimes it would be six-heads tall. But actually, the number of pixels we were able to use was so limited that, if we did that, we’d only have had a couple of pixels for the face.

Iwata
With two pixels, you wouldn’t even have been able to draw eyes. You’d basically have ended up with a matchstick figure. In early video games from overseas, that kind of figure often featured.

Miyamoto
And as they just didn’t resemble human figures, I was absolutely convinced that they’d been designed by people who couldn’t draw!

Iwata
(laughs)

Miyamoto
I thought it was most likely that it was the programmer who was drawing these figures. But I thought: “I know how to draw!” I mean, I’m not saying I can draw as well as an artist, but I was confident that I was better at drawing than a programmer. That’s why I started by saying: “Right, let’s draw something that actually looks like a person’s face!” So I drew the eyes, the nose, the mouth and…
Miyamoto goes on to talk about how in creating the face, it left him with very few pixels to actually design a body, and that Mario’s look was essentially dictated by function (Mario has a mustache so that they didn’t have to draw a mouth). What’s important in Miyamoto’s words is that he saw how most of the characters in games abroad were attempts to replicate a “realistic” human figure, and he still made an effort to give his character Mario some semblance of a personality by giving him facial features, even if those features were the result of limitations.
Certainly it wasn’t impossible or uncommon for games prior to Donkey Kong to have personality of their own, and Miyamoto certainly wasn’t the first to give facial features to his characters (Pac-Man being the most obvious example), it does show the kind of thinking that would go on to implicitly influence generations of gamers.

Let Us Give Thanks to Our Anime Overlords

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2009 has been a crazy year for anime, with ups and downs and all-arounds, but amidst a weakened global economy and an industry going through some serious growing (or shrinking) pains, I find there is still plenty to be thankful about.

I am thankful for…

Great shows being licensed or made available streaming so that when I say Glass Mask is a FANTASTIC SHOW, you can now go and watch it. And Monster is on TV!

Some stellar guests at anime conventions. Between Ishiguro, Tomino, and a whole bunch of others, this has been a highly informative and unforgettable year of conventions. Thanks to Ishiguro and Tomino as well, for telling me all about Nagahama Tadao.

An explosion of new blogs. As the years pass, they just keep coming and coming. Keep it up, the only way to improve your writing is to keep writing.

An industry which is still trying, despite what others might claim. There may be some “safe” shows out there, but we’re also continuing to see the mediums that are anime and manga being challenged and made better as a result.

An Eureka Seven Movie. Sure, it might not be quite what I’d like from an E7 movie, and it didn’t capture what made the TV series great, but I am still grateful that such a thing could be made 3 years after the original finished.

Genshiken 2 out on DVD! Get it as soon as possible. Ogiue is waiting.

The friends I’ve made and the people I’ve met through the fandom. Truly you have made this an unforgettable year.

Ogiue Maniax’s (Late) Second Anniversary Celebration

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It seems like I have a tendency lately to forget important dates, even those of the things I care about most. November 20, 2009 came and went, though drawing something after having not done so in a while might have been an adequate way of marking the second anniversary of Ogiue Maniax. Still it’s no Genshiken Review, and I think I should celebrate two years of writing and analyzing and making terrible puns with some panache. Seeing as how tomorrow is Stuff Your Face with Food All Day… Day… I’ll save the Thank You’s for the next post. Instead, I’ll talk about how I’ve felt the blog has changed and changed me since I began working on it.

It was over two years ago that I began to realize that I enjoyed writing, and not just any writing but the kind that is meant to inform and enlighten and to encourage others to think. I was given opportunities on both Heisei Democracy and Towards Our Memories to write a little, and from there I decided to just dive in and start my own blog. I named it after the Genshiken character Ogiue Chika, who I believe to be the most deeply complex, emotionally moving, and overall amazing character to ever appear. I intended to use the blog to record my thoughts on the mediums that I love, even if it was just a brief inkling, and to help not only others to learn but myself as well.

Being able to accurately convey my thoughts while also challenging myself to think beyond my own point of view gave me a new and different sense of confidence that what I’d experienced previously, especially when I began to see others respond, and to weigh in with their own words. This in turn would motivate my desire to write even more, and before I knew it, I had improved as both a writer and as an anime fan.

And to you my readers, though I said I would not give thanks, I have to make an exception here. Thank you for respecting my words as much as I respect yours. The comment philosophy at Ogiue Maniax is to allow all comments as long as they are relevant, as it encourages everyone to engage in dialogue and to better understand each other. And if you’re a troll you’re all the more welcome, as it gives me the opportunity to further clarify my points. At that point, it’s up to every individual reader to decide if they agree with me or not.

Ogiue Maniax, two years old. Get ready, because this baby’s starting to walk.

Like Casting Pearls Before Artificial Intelligence

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If you’ll allow me a moment, I am going to rant about them there video games.

I’ve been playing Jump Ultimate Stars recently, trying to finally unlock all the characters and such, and in order to do so you need to collect these gems that appear when you break open containers or you defeat enemies. A simple, if tedious process, gem collection is made five times worse when you find out that your computer opponents collect the gems as well.

Now keep in mind that unlike other items which might cause status effects or buffs/de-buffs, the gems serve no function other than as currency, and so serve no use to the computer opponents who will occasionally go out of their way to collect them. It just slows down the grinding process unnecessarily and can make you want to punch Yugi in the face when he grabs your damn knowledge gem for the umpteenth time. Fortunately with this game you can do exactly that.

If you’ve played Super Smash Bros. Brawl, then you probably know what I’m talking about. In Brawl, you get additional background music by collecting CDs which will randomly pop up in the middle of a fight. Again, if a computer-controlled opponent picks that CD up it means that you’re going to have to wait another day for that disc to reappear.

Why, Nintendo? Why, Ganbarion? Why put this into your games? It just leads to annoyance and frustration, and not the good kind either.

Oh yeah, if you do reply, please don’t turn this into an argument about tripping or whatever.

The Lolicon of 1982

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Kransom recently showed me this image from a 1982 issue of Animage Magazine. The image is a chart which is designed for you the reader to figure out your lolicon level. The further down the list your preferences go, the more of a lolicon you are.

I don’t expect people to recognize every character. I certainly didn’t, which is why I’m including this handy guide. From left to right:

Top Row (You’re Normal): Fiolina (Dagli Appennini alle Ande), Clara (Heidi), Monsley (Future Boy Conan), Hilda (Hols: Prince of the Sun), Lana (Future Boy Conan), Clarisse (Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro)
Middle Row (Serious Symptoms): Aloise (A Dog of Flanders), Diana (Anne of Green Gables), Megu (Majokko Megu-chan), Becky (Tom Sawyer), Angie (Her Majesty’s Petite Angie), Heidi (Heidi)
Bottom Row (Already Sick): Lighthouse Keeper Girl (Wanwan Chuushingura), Princess of the Purple Star (Gulliver’s Space Travels), Shizuka (Doraemon), Makiko (Tetsujin 28 (1980)), Ulala (Robokko Beaton), Mayu (Space Pirate Captain Harlock)

Though it might seem unnecessary for me to repeat it, I have to restate that this comes from 1982 and a very different era of anime. This is not the modern-age pandering lolicon of Kodomo no Jikan and other similar shows. Looking at this list, the majority includes characters from shows that were produced by future Studio Ghibli staff such as Miyazaki and Takahata, as well as characters from famous children’s literature around the world such as Tom Sawyer and Anne of Green Gables, and I don’t think anyone would accuse Diana Barry of being a one-dimensional character.

Though moe is not lolicon, the generally youthful look of moe characters means that the two ideas are often associated with each other. And aside from the idea that Miyazaki and children’s literature created the lolita complex in anime fans, accusations which are not new, I think the real implication is that as much as we decry lolicon and the like for being shallow, vapid, and creepy, this shows that it came from a real source consisting of strong storytelling and visual quality. Though I might be reaching a little, I really think that the people who realized their own lolicon-ness as the result of these shows were taken in by the excellent characterization of the young girl characters present in these anime, and not because these characters hit any specific buttons. This sentiment was then carried over, becoming reduced and simplified in the same manner that resulted in the current understanding of moe, and also in a fashion to how the people who fell in love with Gundam would go on to work on their own giant robot anime years later.

It’s not my goal to defend or condemn lolicon, but rather to say that this aspect of anime fandom, like it or not, appears to be born from high-quality Japanese Animation from some of the greatest masters in the industry. In other words, even though there are shows that pander to lolicon, it was not lolicon-pandering shows which created the market in the first place.

“Tanaka! Are You Paying Attention?”

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In my opinion one of the best things about the old Shounen Jump manga Kinnikuman was that it allowed kids to submit their own designs for wrestlers with the possibility of their characters appearing in the actual comic. Not only that, some of those submissions became full-on major characters in the story of Kinnikuman. Even if they were sometimes just Hulk Hogan in a mask, it provided a level of interaction with the readers and imbued the story with a greater amount of childhood imagination. I wrote a small review a while back, in case you’re curious about what the series is ctually like.

In 1999 though, Kinnikuman received a sequel, Kinnikuman II: Second Generation, which is still running today Known in the US as Ultimate Muscle, the big difference between Kinnikuman II and the original was that instead of targeting kids, the new series targets the kids who grew up loving Kinnikuman who were now adults, much like the relationship between Hokuto no Ken and Souten no Ken. Shounen manga’s changed in the last 20 years, and a series like Kinnikuman would not have the easiest time in this new era of Shounen.

The sequel receives submissions for wrestler designs just like the original manga, only instead of it being from Tanaka Hiroshi Age 11, it’s now Tanaka Hiroshi Age 27, which has me picturing a salaryman on the train or in a board meeting eagerly sketching out a Choujin Wrestler on a notebook lying against his briefcase. He’ll be sitting there as the company president is detailing their new financial plan, drawing the buzz saw that comes out of the wrestler’s legs.

“Tanaka! Are you paying attention?”

“Yes sir, I’m just…taking notes.”

“Oh…very well then. Good job, keep it up.”

Tanaka then sits down and adds some electricity lines to his character’s muscles, for extra power.