Crossing Gender-oriented Genres and Fan Reaction

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I’ve been thinking about those works which cross the line between various genres of anime, particularly those which bridge the gap between “male-oriented” and “female-oriented” labels. Series like Saint Seiya and Cardcaptor Sakura manage to capture an audience beyond their main targets, while others such as Gundam Wing and Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha not only bridge the gap, they cross over and begin to set fire to the ropes.

I know I have some issues with Nanoha, and while I think it’s a fine series overall, it never completely shakes that feeling that yes, this is totally intended for guys like me who love Cardcaptor Sakura (though not in that way personally), and it is kind of creepy for doing so. I know Gundam Wing is often considered far more of a black sheep than G Gundam among male fans of the Gundam franchise, for the way it perhaps overly de-emphasizes aspects often associated with Gundam, never mind that the original series garnered more than a few female fans of Red Comet Char Aznable and his zany (dead) friend, Garma Zabi. It’s just interesting to see this negative reaction in both myself and others pertaining to certain series and our expectations of what a show should entail.

I wonder if it’d be possible for genres to swap almost completely.

Why am I not watching Gundam 00?

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I’ve always been a big Gundam fan, and I’ve watched virtually every series. For some reason though, I have not been compelled to watch Gundam 00. I’m not avoiding it because of some bad stigma, nor am I going “ew Gundam Wing 2.5,” but I’m somehow more motivated to download episodes of Shugo Chara.

Not to say anything bad of Shugo Chara.

IN AMERICA

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Genshiken 2 10 came and went, and then came back around, and holy crap is it a crazy episode.

I’ve made it a point not to do episode reviews in the normal sense, but I think I need to discuss this one a little more. Genshiken 2 Episode 10 spoilers, obviously.

First thing’s first: Ogiue was incredibly, incredibly cute. And hot. As always. But moreso. Her blushing in this episode is a sight to behold.

Now then.

Angela’s English still sounds a bit awkward, but not in the way you’d normally expect a Japanese person’s English to be awkward. Kaida (her voice actor) does a really good job, but I suspect they didn’t have much of an English voice director to help them through it. Another odd thing is that I always considered Angela to be the one Genshiken character where the doujinshi based on her could most conceivably happen to her character, and it looks like Studio ARMS agrees with me, because wow is she flirtatious.

Sue is incredible too but in a completely different way. I think she’s going to garner a lot of fans after this.

And if those two weren’t enough, we actually get a THIRD character introduction! Hailing from Shiiou University’s Manken, it’s the one with no name, who Naruco Hanaharu calls “Cat-Mouth Girl.” And she finally has a name!

Say hello to ASADA, otherwise known as “Nyaako.” Her name is mentioned in the ending credits, if you’re wondering where I got it from.

I know some people who will be quite pleased with this episode.

And next episode has Ogiue in a public bath.

Mmm.

New York Anime Festival Review in 3 Steps

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1) This con was small. The Jacob Javits Center is huge. There may have been a Magic: The Gathering tournament going alongside it, but I hope to see more panels, more rooms, more everything next year

2) Guests were good, not great, but I enjoyed the panels I went to immensely (except for the cosplay competition)

3) Unicorn Table was awesome. Also I picked up all of Votoms for 66% off. Also I got an Anime World Order T-Shirt from Daryl Surat.

Context context context

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I’ve come to realize that a lot of what I would consider to be the best scenes in anime cannot stand alone, or at least have a difficult time doing so. They require prior knowledge of everything that has happened beforehand and to have proper empathy for the characters on-screen.

The best scenes are payoff, and this is often why when one shows their favorite anime scenes to someone unfamiliar with the show, it won’t have nearly the impact.

There are exceptions of course. My favorite being the following scene from Macross.

Misa: Your baby’s so cute! May I hold her?
Miria: I made this baby. If you want to hold a baby, go make your own.

I guess it’s better to say that dramatic moments are better with context.

Bastards

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I got to the New York Anime Festival at around 5pm, and went to see if there was any Ogiue doujin in the dealer’s room.

Apparently it all sold out in the morning.

You bastards.

Susanna Hopkins: Cute because of her gender?

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Speaks loudly and randomly in a foreign language. Has no sense of personal space. Difficult to predict and kind of disturbing at times.

Now, am I describing Sue, or am I describing Kuchiki?

I mean, I like Sue (and Angela as well), but I have to wonder how much she gets away with in the eyes of us Genshiken fans on account of her being female.

Also, yes, I am looking forward to upcoming episodes. Ogiue and Sue are an incredible comedy duo.

BONUS GAME: Picture the conversations Kuchiki and Sue would have while on a date.

Why is Jagi the most philosophical Hokuto brother?

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Answer: Because he uses Hokuto Lacan Geki.

The Mystery of the Disappearing Keiko

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Sasahara Keiko, sister of Sasahara Kanji, is non-existent in the anime Genshiken 2.

Essentially, they’ve turned Kuchiki into a surrogate Keiko, giving modified lines that she would have been delivering to Kuchiki instead. I think this is really a shame because Keiko becomes a pretty good character in the second half of the Genshiken manga and that while the overall effect for the sake of the plot is the same, their wildly different character types result in two wildly different deliveries of the same information. Keiko fills a role that Saki can’t, being both normal (if you consider ko-gal to be normal) AND unreliable, and she gets quite a few good lines and even a chapter devoted to her. Probably the best example of Keiko goodness is in Volume 9 of the manga with her interactions with both Ogiue and Ohno.

All this considered, I’m not exactly sure why they’ve done this, seeing as Keiko has appeared as late as the third OVA episode. There are a number of possibilites though. Maybe Keiko’s voice actor, Shimizu Kaori, was unable to fulfill the role. Maybe they figured Keiko wouldn’t be a popular character. Maybe they thought the cast would have gotten too cluttered. Maybe they really like Kuchiki. It’s all speculation though.

At the very least though, I can say that reading the manga and watching the anime are two similar but different experiences. I, of course, recommend doing both.

DEFEATED

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