Monthly Archives: December 2011

December 23, 2011

Un-Go (And Others): Nationalism Next Door

By omo

Un-Go is about nationalism.

Guilty Crown has a nationalism motif.

Horizon is all about nationalism.

But it is Majikoi that had the best line about nationalism.

That’s a lot about nationalism in one season of anime. I’m not sure if I can handle it, normally. However I have to hand it to Japan; they’re very creative with this stuff. I think this is a topic I would like to discuss further with other people, or read up on what various thinking types have to say in terms of, say, an analysis of Strike Witches or some such.

I think the case in Un-Go is the easiest, but also the most complex, to analyze. It’s a little less cut-and-dry than the overt, romanticized Nazi stuff in that hypothetical WWII that never happened. And of course, ultimately Un-Go strikes home; post-WW2 lit about Meiji era detectives unraveling government cover-ups seems like as close to home as it can hit as far as source material goes.

I think it is also important to take Majikoi’s dialog about our protagonist-harem-lead’s father into consideration. The discussion was in episode 6. The protagonist’s dad is marked a traitor to his country that the protagonist lives in. A mysterious man argues with him about how his dad has rejected his country for what it did, and offers a more acceptable alternative. It explains Rie Kaishou’s position as the commonly accepted norm; that it is okay to protect your family in this context, even if it’s very likely that your dad is a second-degree murderer. It’s the “village analogy” as expressed.

Bear with me for an additional minute: the village analogy extend even to what Ikuhara explained in his Penguindrum special material. It is a weak link but terrorism is the natural antithesis of nationalist notions (for sure, for a post 9/11 world), and it is the one tool in the show in which we explore the systemic problem of systematically subverting the system.

I want to really talk about Rie Kaishou. She, quietly, embodies this angle. In effect she is half of the narrator in Un-Go, but as the daughter of someone who pursued beauty (in the sense that Kaichou covered up things to smoothly transition both his constituents and to serve his own interest), versus Shinjuuro who professes as someone that pursuit truth. Well, and beauty too.

That is the beautiful paradox which sets the nationalism question in the context that, I think, Japan, wants to examine the issue within. There are definitely far uglier lenses in which we can look at the same, but I see these anime painting a relatively uniform picture in which the will of the people reflects some kind of “village analogy” notion, but like individuals themselves, a nation resorts to lies to uphold its collective identity. What separates someone who goes to jail and someone who didn’t were largely effects of their affluence, not their inherent quality as human beings.

Lacking better material to draw from, I have a hard time tackling Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere seriously in light of this topic. All I can say is that I enjoyed greatly the debate in which we reconcile modern notion of democracy with some form of “noblesse oblige” (to summarize in 2 words). I think the most I could say is that there is some kind of logical short-circuiting going on, albeit very subtle. The relationship between a lord and his charges is more the lens in which we examine that nationalist identity, but again that analysis taps into a more interpersonal interpretation of why character A would do X to character B. It’s the “village analogy” yet again.

To take a sudden left turn, it is reminiscent of the complaints I have heard over the past few years about sports journalism–a lot of it is focusing on “story” and the “person” behind the name or stat or some great play someone made in some game. Is it really truth? Or is it just some pretty thing that the masses like to consume? It isn’t even a matter of it is fiction or not (I don’t think people are faking deaths or what not), but rather what purpose does it serve?

In other words, what is nationalism doing in my anime? My anime, here, is decidedly the late night variety, the kind that other people like myself watch, except these other people are unlike me in that are the product of Japan’s Lost Decade. Is there some kind of cathartic effect in seeing some of the fundamental issues that bothers that entire generation of Japanese being put out as either character narratives or fancy what-ifs? In light of that perspective, I see Un-Go as ultimately an equalizing piece, one that deconstructs that nationalist pride in which the parents of today’s viewers have made a life upon. It exposes the lies that made Kaichou Kaishou the man he is today.

So how does that make of Rie and Shinjuuro? Besides, obv, OTP? Is the Otaku brave enough to find out? Only if every anime is as courageous as Un-Go. Only if. Very well-played, noitaminA.  And for that matter, every other production taking a risk on this topic.

Leave a comment | posted in Modern Visual Culture

December 22, 2011

Year in Review: Working Hard Writing

By omo

Urobuchi Gen has a breakout year in 2011 between Fate/Zero and Madoka, but we already know Butch is the kind of writer that now more people have come to know. Beats trying to watch Blassreiter or Phantom of the Inferno lol (not a knock, just the truth…I still need to play the game version of the latter). However I want to talk about Okada Mari’s work some more.

Okada is responsible for at least four notable shows this year: Fractale, Hanasaku Iroha, Anohana, and Hourou Musuko. I think it is in Hourou Musuko that her writing really came off well. Given how much that deviated from the original manga, there may be enough space to infer that her style carried a relatively brisk adaptation (Note that it is directed by the director of Fate/Zero, which is probably no coincidence) into the animation medium with a lot of punch. In fact, there’s just something magical about the whole experience. It’s like, laced nostalgia or something potent. And I don’t even care about the whole genderbending aspect at all; the supporting cast of characters are all wonderful and the chemistry is well balanced, dramatic and entertaining enough to keep things moving without getting dragged down by the weight of its seriousness.

I find it so wonderful that if I had to list my top 2011 anime, it would be between that, Madoka, and Steins;Gate. It had me, actually, at the OP.

Hanasaku Iroha is, more relevantly, a Okada original. I think the story is really basically about the nature of work and career in the life of, in some mainline, culturally accepted sense, a woman. However I think it’s important to see how there’s this double talk of sorts in light of what is happening to Ohana versus her mom. I think it is right that so many people hated on Satsuki but I think she is the one thing that makes the story at all credible–it isn’t about societal expectation or doing what society think is right. It’s about actually having that heart of a mom. I mean that is ultimately the issue; people cannot be held to uniform standards when it comes to parenting, or so it would be the framework that I interpret the story.

The career side of HanaIro is probably less thorny but just as tricky. On one hand you have Sui doing her thing at the end of the series, and on the other hand you have someone like Satsuki who pursuits it without regards to the other women in her life. I think it might just want to paint an image where there is conflict and there is no harmony, but people are still able to prioritize what is important in their lives and resolves things in respect to that. It is here that I can see some people raise a stink about its anti-feminist message. It really doesn’t bother me: if I was a feminist I would not be a fan of Japanese animation at all.

The truth is, it becomes more a cultural contextualization problem. If we can either power through or sidestep that, Hanasaku Iroha is a fairly sharp series, perhaps mired in the typical, 26-episode style of presentation that had to feature the backstory of everybody. But make no mistake; it is about a woman’s work. And that is an empowering message in a society where women have always been treated poorly than men.

It made me wonder a couple things: how much of HanaIro was taken out of a page from her life? And what was it like working on that and working on Fractale at around the same time? LOL. As we know, Fractale is the brainchild of Yamakan, cultural critic Hiroki Azuma (who authored that Database Animal nonsense that I refer to all the time) and Okada. I think it’s unfortunate that it didn’t end up doing well, but it makes you wonder what went on between the three of them. You would think that there’s probably potential for something great. I guess it doesn’t always work out that way.

There was also Anohana. It is a very charming and bittersweet story featuring likable characters despite the somewhat predictable path of character development they were on. It is also a little way too sappy, and unfortunately (and ironically) something I find difficult to remember 6 months later. The smiling-crying Menma-face and the sexually-charged nicknames (MANMA wwwww) of our cast of characters aside, Anohana leaves me little to go on besides to wonder how many other references to Forget-me-Not it can squeeze in that 12-episode package. Like Okada’s other stories, it is a very tightly-woven package. I mean if we can boil HanaIro down into the same size it will probably have the same overall format. Both shows have a fairly “slow” segment just after the half-way point in which the story builds up to the dramatic conclusion, and Anohana remedies that drastically thanks to its limited length.

Looking back, I think again the TV anime packing issue is still the one most consistently problematic thing for me when I poke at these works at the big picture level. Urobuchi’s style, in contrast, makes tighter packages–think of it like a HBO mini series–for the same format. Still, it makes me wonder how much you could fit in that 22-minute package every week, with enough of a build-up and release, and keep enough suspense for next week. It cannot be that easy.

Yet if you think about it, given how prolific Okada is in 2011, for whatever the reason, she is probably batting above average overall. I am someone who typically puts down the contribution of writers to quality of TV anime narratives, because I think in general fans elevate that aspect beyond its due worth, but certainly writers (especially people who come up with this stuff from scratch) are important parts to the creative core that brings every anime to their inevitable conclusion. Between them and the directors, the fate of many anime is in their hands even before the horse is out of the gate, and if anything 2011 is definitely the year that demonstrated this.

Something to leave you with: Okada wrote 9 episodes of Simoun and worked on True Tears (both Nishimura projects). She is credited for series composition for Bantorra.  This is somehow NOT a coincidence either, I believe. To go back to the same baseball analogy, I’d safely say she’s batting the proverbial 300. And not entirely a coincidence, in 2012, Okada is thus far tapped for the new Kenshin Shin Kyoto-hen remake,  Black Rock Shooter TV, Aquarion EVOL and the AKB48 anime. Oh boy! I’d say that’s about 300, how about you?

PS. Meeting Nagai Tatsuyuki and Tanaka Masayoshi at AX this year remains one of the highlights of con life for me in 2011. It was wonderful to see some of the people responsible for all that Taiga mania.

PPS. I’m not sure why I’m going with Japanese name order in this post, but oh well.

5 comments | posted in Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai., Fate, Fractale, Hanasaku Iroha, Hourou Musuko, Modern Visual Culture

December 19, 2011

Ghibli Challenge #1: Totoro

By omo

I never sat down and powered through Totoro until when I did a few days ago. It’s a massive piece of Ghibli that I’m missing out, but it isn’t the first time I’ve seen it. Growing up East Asian necessarily means I’ve seen it going to houses of other East Asians with little kids, but never was it a sit-down experience. Given the short length of the movie, all the key takeaway scenes have been countless times repeated by other media, in AMVs and whatever, ever since its first days under the sun. The look and feel of Totoro, by the means of osmosis, is no stranger to most people anyway.

But as Totoro fits the fantasy of that big, huggable bear-thingy without any sign of malice is kind of the thing I wanted to ascertain when I finally saw the film. As in, Totoro’s basic story can be summed up in one sentence. It is closer to a static illustration than a chain of events. And a short one at that. So in a sense if you’ve never seen Totoro, you really aren’t missing anything that much. Instead, treat it as a fully visceral experience, where what is truly attractive is conveyed by the animation, not by words.

But if you’re into the whole inaka stuff, it’s definitely one of the best. At least Totoro shouldn’t bore you, given how short it was.And to me that is already a great feat. In comparison to Mai Mai Miracle, the lack of a notable plot in Totoro seems to work better than the presence of a muddled one. Well, both of those films get at you from the same angle anyways, the difference is remarkable only in this sense.

Well, maybe in one other sense: In Totoro, the sense of danger is actually more pronounced. Death and bodily harm was lurking at every corner, so to speak. It is kind of like the sort of suspense witnessed in Spirited Away, except it isn’t at all a dangerous thing. Perhaps it was best illustrated when Satsuki and Mai were shaking their balcony’s pillar. In Mai Mai, the danger was more with the human elements, and not with nature; it painted a less eco-aware but a more socially-aware world. You trusted people, as kids. In Totoro it feels more like the accumulation of children’s indifference to nature’s hazards.

In the end, it was a movie that you just had to see to believe. Totoro may not stand tall by itself, but it is sure big and round and it is the comfort of children everywhere in the Television age. Writing about it somehow feels like I am cheapening the experience.

This first so-called challenge is a part of an end-of-year festivity among some anime bloggers.  You can find out more about the Ghibli theatrical road show from GKIDS.

2 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Modern Visual Culture

December 18, 2011

Year in Review: The Test of Time Is the Best Test

By omo

How many 2011 anime do you still remember 6 months later? I probably won’t be remembering Mashiro Iro Symphony at all, until the next time we have a show that seems remarkably similar to, say, Hoshizora e Kakeru Hashi? It happens like every half a year. There’s a rhythm in which prior shows gets pitched against newer shows, serving to a similar audience but with its own creative twist. I mean I still don’t get why people think Mashiro Iro is better, to me it’s marginally better as an iterative production but nothing drastic.

[Must fight urge to make fun of Mashiro Ero Symphony]

But at the same time, there are shows that disrupt that rhythm. Madoka anyone? I think that show will stand against the test of time. Much better than, say, Shana Final, at least. Ugh. Would this franchise just kill itself already?

The way our collective memory works is tricky. After all somebody out there still likes Shana. I assume this is why they keep on making that. But can I say the same thing about, say, OreTsuba? That show definitely disrupted something fierce but I don’t think people liked it. It isn’t a product that hinged on creatively disrupting known qualities like genre conventions or expectations. OreTsuba is serious business. In fact it is probably my most favorite non-linear narrative in the TV anime format this year.

In light of that, to take a slightly different approach, maybe the test of time is like, whichever show that you can think about fondly after 6 months later. The collective memory is not forgetful enough to totally forget about things, let alone things the collective memory doesn’t want to remember. I mean there was this anime about a Moon Princess that I sorta liked. And speaking of Moon Princesses, there’s one on air now that has a tie-in to yet another anime that the collective memory doesn’t quite want to remember either, let alone the one not-on-the-air. But I suppose remembering one by seeing it now is how this game works.

Unfortunately for me I think about a lot of shows fondly; partly why I have seen them in the first place, you know?

But I do know I don’t think of Nichijou fondly; it’s more interesting as a meme factory. I think that is probably how a lot of people approach the anime version of Dantalian and Gosick–not as petri dishes for jokes but as character factory. I mean I think those two anime are pretty blatant example of loli pandering. I guess some people just get off on it. It’s the sort of anime that when you think back, they are pretty unremarkable besides their protagonists, and not for what they did but more for who they are even before you get through the first episode.

Which is kind of funny thing to consider for a year with Ro-kyu-Bu anime. By the way, that anime is totally just a normal sports drama. I like to watch one once in a while, and 69Bu scratched that itch–nothing more. And it’s already a lot–development-driven anime with a fairly tight focus on what actually happens. I suppose you can use it as a joke too. Well, okay, there’s some major seiyuu pandering going on there too. I totally bought their vocal album on that ground alone. It’s horrible.

Oh, right, Nichijou–I actually think it’s a pretty good anime. It just doesn’t pander to otaku at all, and while it can be funny it is kind of lame. By the way all 2011 anime that had sharks in it were great. I LOL’d. It is Shark Week all year long here. It helps when My Meat Chunk Can’t Be This Cute. Oh,  yeah, those OreImo True End episodes are 2011 too, right?

Aside: I could have swore that Lotte no Omocha reminds me of Nene. I think the reason is obvious but I don’t know if there are enough people watching and looking forward to Astarotte’s Toy in this fashion. I don’t think it is a good thing when the Gundam 00 movie reminded me of Indiana Jones #4. I guess it’s kind of a 2010 sort of thing too.

Lastly: Is this why when Guilty Crown relates to Code Geass, people react accordingly? Are we just puppets of our last season’s impression for this season’s new offering? Is Shu a tool? (Yes.) Are there any sharks? (No.)

Sharks would have drastically improved the show and Gai’s chances at winning.

3 comments | posted in Introspectives, Modern Visual Culture

December 15, 2011

Year In Review: Introduction & Challenge #1

By omo

2011 is a major year for me personally, some life-changing turning points… To you, it just means I have less free time than ever to do this stuff. Instead of writing 12 blog posts about the year in retrospect, I will blow my holiday vacation, buzz and tireless patience for large amount of moving traffic (vehicular or otherwise) in the cold for a personal challenge:

Twelve Ghibli theatrical screenings. 35 millimeter. 12/16 to 1/12.

I mean I don’t even know this “Twelve days of Christmas” thing. It is suppose to count up from 12/25 and not count down from 12/13, right? This way I kinda combine both. Sorry Shawn, but that $100 ROD Blu-ray box set is not worth as much as $100 in movie tickets for this fantastic opportunity, courtesy of the IFC Center and GKIDS.

I said 12 theatrical screenings because I’m not sure I’ll hit 12 different films. For sure I will try for Totoro, Kiki, Porco, Whisper, Ocean Waves, Nausicaa, Pompoko, and Only Yesterday. Maybe I will try for My Neighbor Yamada. I don’t know, I’ll play it by ear.

I remember someone said that the otaku is ultimately about exploiting nostalgia. I think I can see that in the case of the ideal otaku–not the western version of the term, but the Japanese salaryman who actually can afford owing a collection of anime on Blu-ray–where there is some childish fascination in which has grown into a consuming flame, tempered by the wall of paper-mache made up of not fiber, but societal expectations, pride, wishes of others, fear, and a sense of self. I think you can’t get more memory-trip than Ghibli; it’s the ultimate core of modern otakuism. I mean you can trace moe all the way to Nausicaa (and further back), amirite?

In light of that, I think I’ll write a few posts after all.

2 comments | posted in Introspectives, Modern Visual Culture