Karaoke is the Thinking Man’s Sport

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Did some serious hardcore karaoke yesterday with some compatriots, among them the Ninja Consultants, Sub, and Dave (but not Joel). It was a totally smashing (without being smashed) good time, and I’ve learned and relearned quite a few lessons on karaoke combined with my joining them briefly on Saturday at New York Comic Con.

-Alcohol while Karaoke-ing is fine but it does nothing to help you soothe your throat. After an intense, manly song, water or coke with lemon are good bets.

-I cannot sing Japanese rap without knowing the lyrics well in advance. Sorry, m.o.v.e., but I won’t be shouting THE DOG FIGHT any time soon.

-It’s all about the pacing. Can’t have every song be an intense giant robot super song or else you’ll wear yourself out early. I personally threw in a bunch of girly songs like the Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san opening and the Attack No. 1 opening.

-It is very possible to do an all-Lucky Star karaoke ending themes extravaganza.

-While knowing the song is important, you don’t have to KNOW the song. There were times when I thought I wouldn’t know a song went but as it was going I was able to find my place.

-Crystal King and JAM Project make everything a lot better. Or a lot worse, depending. See the part above about preserving your throat.

-Japanese karaoke is excellent for testing reading comprehension.

-For those who want to sing anime songs but can’t sing in Japanese, keep in mind there are plenty of mostly English anime openings.

-Sing whatever the hell you want but also be kind to those around you. Karaoke in a group is a team effort.

And Then Emperor Palpatine Fell Into an Explanation

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The other day I went to see the movie Fanboys, about a group of Star Wars fan one year before the release of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. I won’t say much about the movie itself except that I thought it was hilarious, but it reminded me that there’s a lot of Star Wars “lore” out there. I had borrowed a Star Wars character guide from a friend long ago, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, so I decided to hop online and take a look at the compiled information on the universe that is Star Wars. Upon reading I began to feel this sense of dread.

One of the very important lessons then Western Art took from Eastern Art was the concept of negative space, that leaving spaces blank can be just as effective a tool as filling in every detail. Essentially, it means less can be more. When applied to storytelling, it means that not every detail has to be explained and that in many cases the more explanation that arises the less effective the storytelling becomes. This is what I saw with the information on the  Star Wars Universe. I saw unnecessary explanation after unnecessary explanation, as if making sense of the world and filling in the gaps is far more important than maintaining the feel of the story and characters.

The idea of fans filling in the gaps is not something that’s necessarily bad. In fact many times I consider it to be a good thing as I feel it’s a very important foundation of fandom, whether it’s imagining stories in between major events, inventing new characters, or even fleshing out one-dimensional characters. One can argue that having these complex technical explanations is one type of fan’s way of exploring the universe of the story, but once it reaches a point where it becomes some kind of hybrid canon/fanon that influences or restructures the original story, I can’t help but feel that it is done at the detriment of core vital elements of a story. Obi-Wan and Yoda learned how to maintain their identity in the Force. Why does this need an explanation? Obi-Wan is a magical old man, and Yoda is an even more magical and even older man. There, that’s your explanation.

I think one of the many reasons why I like anime so much is that it seems to understand this idea of effectively using the gaps in storytelling. It’s not just about fueling imagination so that we the viewer may fill in the blanks, but using that sense of ambiguity to excite and drive us forward. Gurren-Lagann is an excellent example, because the characters utilize this vague, ill-defined power to achieve victory after victory. They are literally powered by a lack of common sense that keeps them from questioning if anything they’re doing is truly possible. “Do the impossible, see the invisible,” as the saying goes. One does not need to explain what doing the impossible entails or how it works other than that it was driven by the hero’s desire and the support of his friends.

A more apt comparison might be Star Wars and Gundam especially given the way they’ve influenced each other, but for all of the detailed explanations and added material that has been placed into the Gundam Universe, I feel that Gundam has handled it far better than Star Wars. What even its most hardcore fans ultimately enjoy appears to be more the story and the characters and the way great tales are told, rather than little details.

Wasn’t Star Wars once in its own in a way similar to Gurren-Lagann? There was the Force as a vaguely defined aspect of the universe with vaguely defined skill sets available to its users. What’s the difference between a normal man and a Jedi? That one is a Jedi and one is a man.

What to Do Against the Superior Race?

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Anime and manga that focus on competition often have a far-away goal for their protagonists, and in many cases that final obstacle is something or someone foreign to Japan. In American football, it’s African-Americans. In Go it’s Koreans. And in multiple instances of boxing, it’s  guys from Latin American countries.

Takamura in Ippo and Yamato Takeru in Eyeshield 21 are both said to be unusually large for Japanese men, as if to use the exception to make the rule. According to Hikaru no Go, Go is treated much more seriously in Korea than Japan. Like in the case of Starcraft, Korea apparently has a more robust infrastructure which allows it to create superior players. While not always strictly a matter of genetics, these masters are often portrayed as having some sort of amazing inherent advantage over their Japanese counterparts. The Japanese characters often have to either realize their disadvantage or use something inherently “Japanese” in them to try and make up for the skill gap, though keep in mind again that Japanese-ness is usually not genetic but rather a learned trait from growing up in Japanese society. At times the Japanese X-Factor will be family, friends, perseverence, hard work, all things that probably anyone Japanese or otherwise can relate to, though they seem to have a strong place in Asian cultures in general.

Rooting for the underdog is something that’s been spoken about by countless people since long before any of us were born, and I think that certainly plays a factor, but I get the feeling that this specific method of portrayal of an underdog while not strictly Japanese is also something that is not surprisingly a product of Japanese entertainment, especially Japanese entertainment geared towards boys. While I do not think Japan as a society enjoys being the victim, would it be a stretch to say that Japan has wanted these stories since Commodore Perry arrived and perhaps even before?

CHU RU YA!!!! スモークでチーズが落ちてくる～ん

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Japanese meme superstar Churuya-san’s gotten her own official anime, and Haruhi-chan is a super deformed series designed to poke at the Suzumiya Haruhi franchise despite the fact that Haruhi is already about poking fun of itself.

The best part of course is that both Nyoron Churuya-san and Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu are on Youtube, translated, on Kadokawa’s own page. So this is legit, guys. Totally on the up-and-up. And while neither are really the pinnacle of anime, it’s good to know that they’re looking out for us. You know, after trolling Haruhi fans everywhere and driving them into a mad rage swearing off the Haruhi franchise forever.

If you’ve seen the Churuya comics, there’s nothing really new for you except you get to hear the actual voice actors play their 4-koma counterparts. Asahina Mikuru here has shades of her Gotouza voice, and it is excellent if very brief.

Update: It seems that after a period of time the episodes go down so I’ve unlinked the videos and added a link to the Youtube channel itself.

Hots Dogs

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Perhaps she is the main character.

Why I Like Ogiue, Part 5: Join Me

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The Megatokyo Forums are having some kind of Saimoe-esque Character Battle right now, and I was informed of Ogiue’s participation, and implored to stick up for her as that’s a common thing in these competitions. Below is the post I wrote. A lot of the ideas have been explored by previous Why I Like Ogiue segments, but this was written for the uninformed.

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I have been awoken from my SLUMBER, called upon by higher powers called duty and passion, to pass on to you my love for one Ogiue Chika, Shiiou University undergraduate and member of the Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture.

Ogiue is a very unique character in anime and manga, and it comes from a realistic personality that’s almost tangible. You can practically hold her personality in your arms, and what you will find is a multi-layered cake filled with the most bittersweet cream.

Ogiue is a self-loathing fujoshi whose desire to fit in is off-set by her secret love of yaoi. So strong is her perversion towards boys’ love that she is able to take a simple thought and construct the most erotic homosexual fantasies possible. It is this conflicted personality which bleeds into Ogiue’s every action and word. She tries to be polite, but comes off as blunt, tries to be innocent but you can hear the guilt in her every syllable. Still, deep down she is the most genuine otaku you will ever see.

It is only after she joins the Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, a club which already houses the misfits of the world of misfits, that she begins to open up. It’s not an easy process, and there are many trials along the way, but in time she begins to accept herself as an otaku. Anyone who has ever had issues with being an otaku should look to Ogiue and understand her message: You can’t stop what you like.

Ogiue is tsundere, but this is not like any tsundere you’ve ever seen. She is every spectrum of tsundere, both traditional and modern. Her feelings gradually change over time, from that of terse rebellion to genuine love, but along the way she still maintains that hint of shame which keeps her from openly talking about herself and her desires except in the most private of moments. There are many tsundere in this world, but Ogiue is one of the few you can call a Complete Tsundere. Not complete as in it’s the only part of her personality, but that her tsundere has so many gradations you cannot call it simply tsun or dere.

That is Ogiue. That is the girl to whom I’ve devoted my fandom. Join me.

Cool Down, You Damn Environmentalist Otaku! Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl & Platinum: Giratina and the Sky Bouquet

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If you can believe it, we’re already at 11 Pokemon movies.

In a unique twist, the events of the previous movie have a direct effect on this one, and it looks to be setting up at least a trilogy. In Pokemon Trainer Satoshi’s previous 90-minute adventure, he was caught in the middle of a battle between Dialga, the Pokemon that controls time, and Palkia, the Pokemon that controls space. Unbeknownst to even these titans, their cataclysmic continuum clash (call me Stan Lee) had an unforeseen side effect.

There is a world connected to the real world, and actions in one effect the other. This Reversed World is the domain of the ghost/dragon pokemon Giratina. Just as Dialga rules time and Palkia rules space, Giratina is lord of the Reversed World, a disorienting dimension where is up is down 50% of the time  and crystals are windows into the real world. Also,  Giratina is pissed. Giratina, knowing full well that Dialga and Palkia are responsible for the extensive damage to its world, is looking for a fight. Giratina finds Dialga and drags the steel/dragon into the Reversed World for a one-on-one. Dialga, being the Time-ruling Pokemon that it is, creates a time loop which disables Giratina’s ability to travel freely between worlds. And through all this, the two pulled along an innocent bystander, the Pokemon Shaymin, who ends up escaping the Reversed World but is now very far from home.

Shaymin along with Manaphy (star of Movie 9) are like the Mews of this generation. Shaymin needs to get home, but unfortunately has a sense of direction on par with Yotsuba. Giratina wants Shaymin for unknown reasons (though Shaymin believes Giratina’s looking for a Shaymin Sandwich), and is still itching for a fight with Dialga. Satoshi and pals want to help Shaymin along. And also there’s a crazy scientist guy named Zero who has taken a page out of Gelarden’s handbook from Revelation Lugia and constructed a giant airship for the purpose of capturing Giratina. Also, the ship comes with a holographic girlfriend.

Man, otaku.

At some point the Pokemon franchise settled upon a rough formula for its movies, and this one is really no exception. I personally feel that this is one of the less good movies, certainly worse than its predecessor Dialga vs Palkia vs Darkrai. The villain’s motivations are vague, a lot of time is spent just promoting these new Pokemon and telling you to buy their toys, and I think about the only things I really enjoyed about the movie (other than its animation which is always solid) was that it leads into the 12th movie and part 3 of this series, some cameos by the male heroes of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and Diamond/Pearl/Platinum whom we rarely see, and the appearance of a certain other “Canadian” Pokemon.

I am fully aware of how dumb it sounds for me to be complaining about merchandising in a kids’ movie, especially a Pokemon movie of all things, but I’m not really taking issue with the merchandising aspect, more that it feels like they didn’t try to come up with a good plot or characters to go along with it. I also don’t like how the movie didn’t really do a good job of conveying Giratina’s power. Giratina is supposed to be on par with Dialga and Palkia yet never really does anything big. The power disparity isn’t as apparent as it was with Mewtwo vs Everything Else, and Giratina even ends up being captured by Zero.

It’s not a bad movie really, it’s just that I’ve seen the Pokemon franchise realize its potential before. Mewtwo Strikes Back had a deeply conflicted antagonist in Mewtwo, and Lord of the “Unknown” Tower didn’t even really have a villain and instead focused on a lonely little girl. Writers are capable of creating Pokemon stories that are greater than cash grabs (while still being cash grabs), and I’d just like to see that return to form.

If you haven’t seen the preview for the next movie, go see it. Titled Towards the Dimension Beyond*looks like we’re finally going to see the Pokemon who is God, and I for one cannot wait.

*This is what I’m calling the twelfth movie because Towards the Overcome’s Space-Time for 『超克の時空へ』 is a terrible translation.

PS I changed my translation once just because the original one wasn’t sitting right with me. Towards the Dimension Beyond is less literal but conveys the idea better.

Seriously, Go Rewatch Xam’d

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Xam’d is an interesting show, and having finished recently, I know a lot of people aren’t quite sure what to think of it. Throughout the series, the story seemed to come in piece-meal, characters’ motives appeared ambiguous, and there just wasn’t a lot of information to go on from episode to episode. It was like the vital parts of the story were being dropped into the pond off-screen and we were simply watching the ripples.

But this is why I’m telling you to rewatch Xam’d, or at the very least the first episode. The second too, if you’re feeling daring.

I know it seems odd to say that if you maybe didn’t like a show that you should first watch through the whole thing and then watch it again, but what I’m telling you is that a lot of what we might call vagueries in Xam’d turn out to be anything but in retrospect. It is only because we have so little information at the beginning that everything about Xam’d seems so hazy.

With all of the character introductions in episode 1, those brief first encounters with the cast of the show, they at first hardly seem like people. You get bits of information in regards to who they are, but it’s still very difficult to form any opinion on them. But go watch them again, and you’ll see that their first appearances speak volumes about the characters. In episode one, when Ishuu is calling for someone to wake up Nakiami and tell her to get going, Nakiami’s already at the hangar ready to leave. Prior to that moment we see Nakiami silently ordering Akushiba to wake up and then immediately changing her clothes in the same room. It’s mainly in hindsight that one realizes that this hints strongly at not only Nakiami’s attitude but also her relationship with Ishuu.

There’s also other, smaller things.

Just look at the yellow rings.

Or the Opening.

King Kirby Over: New York Comic Con 2009

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New York Comic Con 2009 came and went, and all I have to show for it is some good memories, some good friends, and an autographed copy of Crisis On Infinite Earths. Good times.

I got to the Jacob Javits Center Friday afternoon, and with the benefit of a professional pass was able to enter the con without too much waiting. It was in this early period that I managed to get an autograph from Marv Wolfman, one half of the creative duo for the first Crisis series. I also got a chance to meet Peter Laird, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I then looked for the panel rooms, but could not find them in time and missed one of the panels I wanted to see. Instead, I got to sit in on a panel devoted to building manga collections for libraries. Apparently the answer is “Kazuo Koike.” Sage advice that I will not argue against. I also got an autographed sketch from Mike Krahulik (Gabe) of Penny Arcade. He drew a Witchalok.

At some point I met up with Sub and other friends, and Sub and I tried to get tickets for the Friday showing of the new Yatterman live-action movie, but a deadly wall of raving fangirls prevented us from getting tickets. Apparently the lead actor playing Yatter-1 was one Sho Sakurai, a super popular j-pop boy band singer, and the fangirls were willing to do anything to get close to him. The Yatterman booth attendants had planned on bringing Sho Sakurai down, but when they saw the fangirl mob they told them that Sho Sakurai cannot come down in that current situation, and if they all left the area he would arrive. Naturally, this caused them draw in closer to the booth, and ultimately led to Sho Sakurai canceling his appearance.

Sigh, fangirls.  And I bet they didn’t even appreciate the Yatterman movie they diligently lined up for, and then squealed whenever Sho Sakurai was on-screen. Please do not tell me if what I said was actually true, because I’m really afraid.

We then saw the new Futurama movie (funny, not really good as a movie), and then ate at a nearby diner and talked about a variety of topics, as we all ranged from super American Comics fans to Anime fans and Sci-fi and everything in between despite being a relatively small group. Good fun for all.

Saturday’s crowd was, as expected, much larger than the Friday one. The first Saturday highlight for me was the Penny Arcade panel, as I have never been to PAX and thus had never seen them in person prior to getting that sketch on Friday. It was really a hilarious panel, and I recommend that anyone who gets the opportunity to go see them, even if you’re not much of a fan of Penny Arcade, as they know how to make a panel enjoyable.

The real high-point of NYCC Saturday though was a blogger dinner with many fine individuals, though the way we ended up sitting at the Tick Tock Diner, I spent most of my time with Sub, Evan of Ani-Gamers and the Reverse Thieves, Narutaki and Hisui and also Kohaku. Missing the Rodeo Burger of Burger King, I decided to construct my own. Also, the fact that you can order just plain cereal at a diner never ceases to amaze me. The topics of conversation ranged from Godfrey Ho Ninja Movies, Segata Sanshiro, Gold Lightan, and uh…teachers from our youth who turned out to be pedophiles…

Anyway, it was really great.

After dinner, some of us joined another group consisting of the Ninja Consultants, Dave (minus Joel), the paranormal Ed Chavez, among others, and we sang most excellent karaoke. Sub joined with me on a number of anime songs that began with Yuushaoh Tanjou! and included Ai o Torimodose! and Chala Head-Chala, finally concluding with KING GAINER OVER. We’ve done it before, but I think every time we try (key word being try) to sing King Gainer Over, it leaves us with a newfound appreciation for the song.

Sunday was relatively uneventful con-wise, though I attended the Penny Arcade How to Make Comics panel which was intended for elementary school students and ended up being populated by mostly adults. Funny how that works. The best part was that the PA guys did not change their lesson in any way.

Jerry: How long have you been drawing?”

Mike: (speaking to audience) Why, I’ve been drawing since I was YOUR age!”

Sunday’s con ended pretty much with me getting the last autograph given out by George Pérez, the other half of the creative duo responsible for Crisis On Infinite Earths, making my copy now Perfect. I actually had been looking for him all weekend, but some misinformation on the part of the con made it so that I had to rely on a friend to tell me exactly where he was located.

This is probably a good time to talk about some of the issues I had with the con, some legitimate, some simply personal preference. First was that there was NO schedule chart for the con on the website or with the con guide, and it made scheduling for anything impossible. At some point I just decided to abandon the notion of having a well-constructed plan for the day and just did whatever, as you may have noticed. Also the con guide itself was horribly out of date, which just compounded the problems.

New York Comic Con is a professionally-run for-profit convention, and it shows in many ways, not least of which is the fact that the Dealer’s Room is the centerpiece of the whole thing. Being located in NYC, home of Marvel and DC Comics, it allows them to get a lot of professionals and to really play that part of it up. This is good in that it gives you access to a lot of pros you wouldn’t meet otherwise, but the overall result is that a lot of the panels have a pure PR-type of feel to it, and only guys such as the Penny Arcade dudes can bridge this gap. Compare this with the also-professionally-run New York Anime Fest, which had its share of problems too but also had a greater fan aspect to it, with panels run by non-professionals.

NYCC is also, at least for me, a commuter con, and commuter cons feel very different from cons for which you stay at a very nearby hotel. I prefer the latter. I also have this strange feeling that the con floor is not good for walking as my soles were aching all day.

But I criticize because I love. Or something.

The con was over, but the day was still young, so a group of us consisting of some common friends, the Reverse Thieves, and Sub traveled to Kinokuniya and Book-Off, where we claimed many wonderful prizes. The highlight for me was another volume of La Sommelière and a copy of the Matsumoto Leiji manga Big Metal III. Sub purchased many excellent things, and I’m expecting him to review them all. YOU’D BETTER, MAN.

Riding the train home, saying my farewells (until next time), it was overall an enjoyable con, though murder on my feet.

I leave you then with this realistic rendition of Sho Sakurai fangirls at NYCC.

My Attention Leans Towards Ogiue’s Sweet Voice

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It is not unlike spicy butter.

I’ve spoken previously about the fact that the Japanese special edition Genshiken manga Volume 9 came with a drama CD. What I haven’t spoken about is how it differs from the two drama CDs which followed it.

The two drama CDs released with Genshiken 2 seem to take place more firmly in the “anime,” while the first drama CD, having been packaged with the manga, seems to be more manga-esque. There’s a complete lack of background music unlike the later drama CDs.

The big difference though is the sound. While the later two drama CDs seem to have a very straightforward approach, the first one plays with stereo sound a lot. When one character walks across the room, you can hear his or her footsteps going from one speaker to the next. At one point the conversation splits off, with the guys talking in one part of the room, and the girls talking in the other. It’s pretty much impossible to listen to both conversations at once, so you begin to favor one over the other. Naturally, I pay more attention to Ogiue’s conversation, but what this also means is that you can benefit from listening to it at least twice to really get into each side’s conversation.

This was also clearly Mizuhashi Kaori’s first recording as Ogiue as she sounds a little softer than she does in Genshiken 2, not quite yet fully adapting to the bluntness of Ogiue.