When Kamiyama was visiting USA last year, he asked about how people find Eden of the East interesting. I think there are a lot of stuff that is attractive about Eden, but I think he was going for the whole social commentary thing.
C, in some ways, is the exactly the same thing. Granted this season it was John Titor doing a Juiz impression rather than Msyu, but this Noitamina show does not beat around the bush. In fact episode 8 was probably over the top trying to show us what is wrong with Japan, it is all but short of saying it outright. (Which is fine, the premise and execution is somewhat over the top to begin with.)
I would not have imagined to use virtual Pokemon battles to illustrate the concept of “you don’t know what you’ve lost until you’ve lost it” in a thousand years. At least some money got burned (and it is better than Speed Grapher already, because they explain how that is meaningless), and we’re not even half way through!
What I have questions for is what Kamiyama would have questions for: Just what do you think C is about? I mean unless you’ve read about this or learned about the bigger financial and social ills facing Japan’s future, does this show even make sense?
It’s kind of amusing in that in America, you could say there are Democrats and Republicans; in Japan, they’re still trying to completely set up a 2-party thing; it’s still “the Established” and the rest. I wonder why this is not as much the case for the American economy (well…). Maybe it really is because we have sex more; that we procreate and Americans actually allow permanent immigration in large(r) volumes unlike xenophobic Japan (and I guess people actually want to move to the US). That it has been through the crucible of racial integration for the past 200 years (and still is in it)? I don’t know how it plays out.
Which makes me think: anime? Really? Shouldn’t you be trying for a wider medium than a 2am TV show made for otaku? I mean there’s something empowering to be said about seeing the big picture, and how otaku are often part of this “lost generation” as illustrated plainly by Eden. I just don’t know what context to take it in. I suppose anime and manga has always been on the forefront of some pretty controversial stuff in modern Japan. Now it’s just doing a little dance.
Except it also feels kind of exploitative, given how anime/media-mix projects are financed and who are the ultimate paying customers. Irony in a capitalist society is something we can’t avoid, isn’t it.
June 4th, 2011 at 11:18 pm
Java: The Inevitability of Control by your worst enemies
Python: The Fun of Control… and partying!
June 5th, 2011 at 10:13 am
You should make a list for all these common languages.
June 6th, 2011 at 3:36 am
“I suppose anime and manga has always been on the forefront of some pretty controversial stuff in modern Japan.”
I think that’s very much it though – animation is inherently well-suited for allegorical tales. Imagine the budget needed to make a convincing looking C-style battle. Conversely in animation, so long as the style is consistent and you can get people to jump the initial hurdle of accepting the animated characters, you have a much freer hand.
And like you mention, while animation has a monolithic financing structure, it’s much easier to wrap a controversial message into something that could be easily passed off as targeted at a youth demographic – especially when you’re making the pitch to your sponsors.
Sure, other forms of media might be higher profile, but also result in more scrutiny.
June 6th, 2011 at 8:16 am
More scrutiny is what is better IMO :)
I think that’s fine, everything has to start somewhere. Look at Eden…
June 6th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
if your medium is anime, are you suddenly able to jump ship to another medium just because you have something to say? Besides, precluding any particular medium from being a valid one for social commentary, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
As for the irony, it’s always there. Unless you’re talking about some socially conscious punk rock band who cut their own 7 inch record on a lathe they built themselves in their squat they don’t pay to live in. And yeah, I probably own a couple of those but that is a much worse media ghetto than late-night anime…
June 6th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
>> if your medium is anime, are you suddenly able to jump ship to another medium just because you have something to say?
There’s a pretty steady example of bigger names of anime doing live action films. But, as you’ve said, that might be a worse media ghetto lol.
And there are examples in non-late-night anime as well, but rarer.
It feels writing a book or even a manga might be a better fit. I don’t know.
June 7th, 2011 at 11:22 am
I get where you’re coming from, but I do like the idea of bringing a message to an unlikely place. And, you never know… if you’re the “no future youth” of Japan, you might very well be stuck watching late night anime.
June 7th, 2011 at 11:24 am
I actually think late night anime like noitamina is fine for something like this. I mentioned how it can be empowering in fact.
But I feel it could take a more, I don’t know, pure approach for a more sobering take. Eden of the East was appropriate IMO, C feels like, well, Speed Grapher!