Otaku Review

Story:

The first sequel series of the winter season, the slice of life comedy Minami-ke returns for a third season. Following the daily lives of three sisters, this slice of life comedy will take audiences through adventures such as cooking, looking after each other and crushes.

Artwork:

As with season two of this series, asread is returning to do the animation for season three fresh off of this previous season’s dark thriller Ga-Rei –Zero-. Also veterans of other genres, asread are also the production house that brought audiences the anime adaptations of Shuffle! and Shuffle Memories.

Early Reactions:

I’ll admit that I am completely clueless about this series. I never saw the first two seasons of this series but seeing names like Marina Inoue and Rina Satou attached to the vocal cast makes me want to. Since it is a slice of life anime I will likely take a chance on this one and see if I can get into the story despite having no real prior knowledge of the series. If any readers want to help me out with what I really need to know about the three sisters before I enter the third season of this series, feel free to tell me in the comments below.

Originally my blog post today was going to be about the epic games of Munchkin that I played yesterday and how, though I was defeated in both games, my heroic exploits, deeds and random curses gave the victor a fight for his mighty crown. But instead, I wanted to talk about the news today that GDH is offering a retirement package to 50 of its employees in an effort to cut down costs. Now, I’m no more informed about Gonzo than any other fan out there. I’m not an expert in the realm of Japanese production companies so a lot of what I say here will be speculative or at worst, meandering.

Anyways, Gonzo is one of the Japanese production companies that I grew familiar with the fastest. It wasn’t their animation that made me familiar with them at first though, it was their reputation. In a lot of the circles that I wandered around in, Gonzo was always a production company that was generally talked about with the most consistent praise. With that in mind, I started to pay a little more attention to which titles they did and found that their reputation was well earned.

Chrno Crusade, Gravion, Kaleido Star, Red Garden, Samurai 7; the two things that all of these series have in common is that they are all Gonzo series and they all have incredibly well done animation. The stories in some of them are more questionable than others but we’ll save that for another time. Gonzo almost always produces beautifully animated series and so fans who appreciate a great visual to accompany their story can usually feel confident with a Gonzo animated series.

With recent hard times hitting the studio, GDH became the corporate parent of the company and set about trying to fix things. There were layoffs and resignations; the production order for next year was cut in half down to four series for the year and now they are offering retirement bonuses to 25% of the workforce. I have no idea how bad Gonzo was before this but I’m starting to get an idea now.

I don’t have a real opinion on what GDH is currently doing for the company. From what I can see, this is a desperate attempt to get the company back into the black as quickly as possible. I do like that it is a real attempt though and that someone is fighting for Gonzo to stick around for awhile longer. Every production company closes its doors at some point but to see Gonzo close theirs would be heart breaking for fans.

Akikan!
Premiere Date: 1/3/09
Studio: Brains Base
Genre: Romantic Comedy

Story:

Based on the light novel series of the same name, this series follows a high school boy named Kakeru Daichi. One day he buys a can of melon soda from a vending machine that somehow turns into a beautiful girl that he nicknames “Melon”. Soon afterwards, more of these “Akikan” characters show up and all of them have to be infused with carbon dioxide through kissing in order to survive.

Artwork:

The animation behind this series is being done by ‘Brains Base’ whom you may remember from series such as last year’s ‘Kure-nai’, ‘Innocent Venus’ and ‘Demon Prince Enma’. There isn’t a lot of footage out there for fans to take in at the moment. The fifteen second trailer above seems to promise quite a bit of physical comedy that involves Melon overreacting to something and making something explode.

Early Reactions:

I’ve seen much weirder things become hit series and I’ll even gladly admit that I’ve been a big fan of even weirder.  Granted, there is likely much more to this story than I am aware of and once I see the first couple of episodes my mind will be changed. At this moment however, there’s little about this series that makes me really want to sit down and watch it. It will get a cursory glance from me and if the first three episodes manage to do something amazing, I’ll stick around but this one is holding little more than potential from me.

So very recently, there was an article posted up on a blog that I read regularly that rated the Sailor Senshi from Sailor Moon in terms of which ones the author most wanted to have sex with. The author actually used language that is much more graphic to describe his entry but I’ll spare you that. Being that I come from the ‘Sailor Moon Generation’ of anime, I read the post and with tongue firmly planted in my cheek I left my comment with my own suggestions and arguments. It certainly was not the first time that I’ve had a conversation of this nature with another anime fanboy and as with the gods as my witnesses, it won’t be my last.  Naturally the very first comment after mine was one that completely condemned both the author and I for having a discussion about sex with fictional characters.

I expected that this would be the first comment after mine though. It’s just the way of the world and more importantly, just the way of the internet. The thing is though, why does anime fans having a hypothetical discussion about it that big of a deal? Everyone who participates in these discussions are well aware that we are discussing fictional characters and are speaking in hypotheticals (and the rare occasions when I realize the person I’m with ISN’T speaking in hypotheticals is around the time that I turn around and walk away) but it’s just a stupid debate that fans get into. I never saw it as a big deal and still don’t.

When I read the comment though, another thought popped into my head: Why are fans from other fandoms allowed to have conversations of this nature but anime fans aren’t? I do occasionally watch things on my television that aren’t anime (I know, shock and awe). I’ve also viewed things on my television while in the company of friends. Now, on more than one occasion in my life (sometimes alcohol was involved, sometimes it wasn’t) I’ve heard someone comment on a fictional character from a live action television show such as an American sitcom. And because of that comment, other people chimed in with which character they would prefer and why. I know that I’ve done it and being that I was with other people who participated in these discussions I know that I am not alone. So why were these conversations never considered weird as they happened?

Additionally, one of my guilty pleasures in life is paranormal romance novels. I admit it, I am one of the many who enjoys getting lost in a good vampire adventure/romance story. But again, I am often in the company of fans (usually female) who love to go on and on about who their favorite characters are and who they would most like to take into their bedrooms and ’shag six ways to Sunday’ as I’m pretending my best friend in England might say. Once again, the fans in question are aware that these are fictional characters and that it will never actually happen; the debate lives on though and will continue to live on forever.

So, what is the big deal? Why are people allowed to speak about live action programs in a sexual hypothetical but not anime fans? I suppose that one could argue that because we’re discussing an animated character that tips the scales a little bit in their favor. Surely the animation that can’t be that big of a deal though, how many people have you known who have talked about ‘Lady Death’ from her graphic novel series (and subsequent anime), Dante from the ‘Devil May Cry’ video game series or other characters from various aspects of the Geek-o-sphere? Oh well, attractive is attractive I guess.

And just for the record, I think Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are easily the two senshi that I would put at the top of my senshi list in spite of the fact that they are gay.

You know, I didn’t think it was possible to take the ‘psychic bishie brothers’ plotline and have such an epic failure as this opening volume but now I know. As you may have imagined, I didn’t really care for this opening volume of Nighthead Genesis Vol. 1: Reminiscense from Media Blasters.

In this paranormal bishie drama, Naoya and Naoto are two brothers born with psychic powers. The older Naoto can destroy things with his mind whenever he gets angry (exploding electronics, floor boards being torn up, etc) while Naoya can read a person’s heart just by touching them. This causes problems naturally as Naoto can’t control his anger and Naoya sometimes sees terrible things that he can’t handle. Unable to control them or their powers, their parents send them away to a special facility.

Fifteen years later a psychic named Shouko in Tokyo will predict their escape and the brothers finally get to make it out into a world they’ve been hidden from. Right away the brothers find themselves in trouble stumbling into an out of the way bar after the car they steal (at least I think they stole it, they never really cover that) gets a flat. While they are there, Naoya will accidently learn something about a woman that he can’t handle and the brothers are forced to hunt down a woman before she can cause more pain.

Anime conventions are like my Disneyland. It doesn’t even matter that whenever I’m at a con I’m likely running my legs faster than my body can carry me (a friend of mine who saw me at SakuraCon last year described it as Nabeshin without the afro), lugging a laptop that is too heavy and drinking whatever caffeine I can find in order to make it to my next panel. I love every minute of it and gladly call it “work”.

Anime conventions can be some of the greatest weekends of the year for an otaku and with Mewcon having its inaugural debut next month over New Years; I thought that this would be a great opportunity to get feedback from everyone else. Everyone has a con story that they love to tell. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes they’re embarrassing and sometimes they serve absolutely no purpose other than to watch another person’s face degenerate into confusion. But they’re always fun to share.

So what’s your favorite con story?

Working towards the conclusion of another fabulous series, I’ve posted my thoughts on the dark psychological horror When They Cry Vol. 5 from Geneon. 

The first three episodes of volume five finish off the ‘Eye Opening’ chapter. Shion has decided that those who made Satoshi disappear need to be punished and she is the one who will extract revenge. Forming a plan, Shion will start with those in her family before expanding out to everyone she deems guilty. Giving into the demon inside of her, everyone will be seen as having a role in the murder. Shion is on a mission to avenge Satoshi and that means no one is safe which includes her grandmother, Keiichi, Rika and Satako.

In the last episode of the volume, the ‘Atonement’ story arc begins. In this story arc, Rena and her family is the subject. A year ago, Rena and her father moved to the small village to get away from their problems. Her mother met another man and decided to leave them after becoming pregnant with his child. Rena was fine for the year that they were together in Hinamizawa but then her father meets a new woman. After Rena accidently finds out that she’s just using him for his money though, Rena decides that she needs to protect her father at all costs.

It didn’t take long for Hollywood to form a love affair with the anime industry. What started earlier this year with the terrible live action ‘Speed Racer ’ film is growing into an industry with no end in sight. In 2009, there will be at least two films released to American theaters based on anime titles starting with the ‘Dragonball ’ movie in March and ending with the CG animated ‘Astroboy ’ (Imagi Entertainment) in October.

Is this good for the industry? Once again, there are arguments on both sides. On one hand, seeing the anime industry receive such huge mainstream attention is something that can make all anime fans feel good. Long time fans got to feel a little nostalgia when they watched Emile Hirsche play the role of Speed and next year Justin Chatwin will step up and take on the role of Goku.

But there’s the other, more cynical, way of looking at things. Hollywood has a hit or miss reputation when it comes to adaptations. Still riding the wave of mostly very well done films based on comics and graphic novels (the Marvel film franchise, Hell Boy and Sin City just to name a few examples), anime is becoming the new trend. This year alone, projects for titles such as ‘Akira’ (Appian Way), ‘Ninja Scroll’ (Warner Bros), ‘Voltron’ (Relativity Media), ‘Cowboy Bebop’ (Fox) and ‘Robotech’ (Warner Bros) have all been confirmed as projects in the works and those are just the projects we know about.

Live action films based on anime are not new presay. Japan has released hundreds of films based on anime with more and more finding their way to American shores. Viz Media, for instance, has capitalized on these by holding special screeners for the live action ‘Death Note’ films in the US to unquestionable success (the first nationwide screening for the first live action ‘Death Note’ sold over sixty thousand tickets over two nights). Funimation has also decided to capitalize by announcing the DVD release of the live action ‘Mushi-shi’. This has even led Viz to create their own offices within Hollywood to pitch more live action films to studios. And as fans begin to demand more, the studios will be more than happy to supply.

Ignoring all of the arguments for and against these films being made by American studios, the only question that really matters is what is in the best interest of the industry? Certainly there will be a percentage of the audience who sees these films and decide to explore their anime roots on their own which is always a good thing. But what if the films are just plain bad? Initially, I was excited to know that ‘Speed Racer ’ was being turned into a live action film. While I didn’t grow up on the series (even as a child I thought the series was beyond stupid), knowing that something from a genre I loved so dearly was going to be exposed to a wider audience made me excited. Then I actually watched the film and instantly the excitement was filled with dread.

All of the projects listed above have the potential to be major box office successes. Hope will always spring eternal after all. But if both or either of next year’s films prove to be box office bombs, the live action anime industry could very well die before it even has a chance to make a run for success. Anime fans are some of the most rabid in the world (almost as bad as Joss Whedon fans [no hate mail, I happen to be one of them too]) and if these films are bad, their voices will be heard. This is new territory for many people but can they pull it off or will they leave fans with another reason to be bitter towards a film industry that had good intentions? Only time, and box office returns, will tell.

Finishing off another series, I’ve posted up my thoughts on Strawberry Panic Vol. 5: Fifth Waltz released last week from Media Blasters. Certainly a series that caught me off guard, if you are intersted in very well done yuri drama than this is a series that you can’t miss. Just be prepared to sit through 10 or 11 episodes of introduction before you get to the real meat of the series.

In the anime world, internet piracy and “fansubs” has been the raging debate for the last decade or so. Fansubs have been around for far longer than that naturally but with the boom of the internet in the 90’s, piracy became a growing concern as more and more studios found themselves victims of the trade. It’s a simple argument really; why would fans purchase the DVDs when they can just download the episodes for free online and see them much faster than any company could release them?

The debate will never end to be honest. There will always be arguments for both sides that could be convincing when directed to the right people. I’ve always tried to remain neutral to this and while there are published examples of my own personal outrage towards certain aspects (the multimillion dollar VC deal that Crunchyroll signed earlier this year for example), eventually I’ve grown to accept fansubs as just the way of the world. What I never understood about the debate however is why in our age of instant information and digital sharing the region gap has always remained as wide as it has.

The last couple of years have changed that dramatically and soon, we might be looking back at this time as the next turning point of the industry. As one blogger living in Japan has stated repeatedly, Japan tends to follow a ten year gap in terms of catching up with the rest of the world. The anime industry is one place where anyone can look to in order to support this theory. For years, fans have downloaded the latest anime because no one in Japan seemed to care or even think about the audience beyond their own shores that might be interested in their product.

Finally this is starting to change however with both American and Japanese companies stepping up. Since 2005 when DVD releases were at their peak (over 700 different anime DVDs were released in the US that year alone), the anime industry has seen a sharp decline. Studios on both sides of Pacific saw their doors closing and new solutions were needed as angry voices and pointed fingers became the norm.

Now though, companies are stepping up and closing the region gap, bringing the digital entertainment age closer and closer. Examples of this are not hard to find. Earlier this year BOST TV made episodes of the historical fan service series ‘Strike Witches’ available to fans within days of their initial airing. Then Funimation (who own at least a third of the US market) found new ways to bring series to audiences that much faster. Within three weeks of the series premiere, Funimation had uploaded legal subtitled episodes of the horror series ‘Shikabane Hime ’ to their website for fans to enjoy.

Soon afterwards, both Viz Media and Crunchyroll both announced their own separate deals upping the stakes even higher. Starting in January, both of these companies will be releasing episodes of the long running hit series ‘Naruto’ to American shores within HOURS of their original airing in Japan completing eliminating the region gap. Even as I have been typing this a report went up stating that even more series will be made available such as ‘Skip Beat’, a Shoujo title that premiered on Japanese television only one month ago.

Fansubs and the region gap go hand in hand. As long as there is a delay between the airing and the US release, there will be fansubs. In a new spirit of cooperation though, Japanese studios and American companies are finally working much closer than they ever have before to give fans the instant gratification that they desire while still finding a way to make a profit.

Is this a growing trend? One can only hope so. Fans want to see the anime industry thrive just as much as studios want to see their series profit and this new spirit of cooperation is the only way that this is going to happen. Just like a reverse blade sword though, cooperation is a two way street. If you enjoy watching anime online, this is a golden era for you. Series are being uploaded faster than ever and more legal, affordable and downloadable series will continue to be made available as long as the fans support it.