Category Archives: Franchises

April 23, 2007

Sexy Confusion

By omo

I think Touka Gettan wins for this season’s most thought provoking anime for me.

The Melody

Reeling from the shocking brutality of Bokurano, I think I’ll stick with joking incestuous references and gender-bending dimensional stone swords and frilly girl-on-girl action if I wanted to be confused and disturbed at the same time.

Episode 3 had an impact on me. I think partly because how it reminds me of Melody of Oblivion at some of the key scenes; partly the musical score reminded me some of the best stuff that came out of the entire YamiBou thing (namely this somewhat-indie album released in 2002 for the game). It really captures both the oddish feeling you get when you’re just totally lost in a self-sustained universe where our familiar rules don’t apply, and something grand is happening and you just don’t know what it is?

But really, let’s talk about spreading body fluids with people you shouldn’t spread body fluids with. In some ways tackling social taboos are one simple ways to get some sort of message across. In Utena and Melody, it’s pretty clear. Yamibou had the same element but it wasn’t really a driving force. In some ways the anime unfolded in a much more…sane way that the message made sense rather quickly as the story unfolded.

Not so with Touka Gettan. And it’s exciting to see all that ground work already. Too bad it’s way confusing without giving us the focus at the same time.

And is it me or Momoka is like…Mamiko but isn’t?

Leave a comment | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Touka Gettan

April 20, 2007

Random Musing on Intellectual Property, Franchising, Aya Hirano’s Non-Stick Pantry, and the Un-Mainstream

By omo

This rant is brought to you by my drive to find the reason why some people care about Lucky Star the extent that they do.

One thing that keeps me glued to my computer & fansubbing is that every 4 months we get a wave of entirely new shows, new concepts, new set of characters, new setting, and a chance for the various studios and production companies to slug it out for our attention (and eventually our money). From a money & business perspective, this is shooting yourselves in the foot. Free market & competition aside, it makes a lot more sense to just find one winning formula, milk it as long as possible and run with what you’ve got as far as you can. That’s what Shounen Jump does (and how they’re losing subscribers is just natural), and generally what franchise management focuses on. This doesn’t mean you keep a show on the air or manga in publication as long as you possibly can, but the longer you do it the more economical it becomes, in a lot of ways.

And that’s true for a lot of the media we consume in the US. It’s only with the influx of new sources of revenues (like home video sales, network television) that we’ll see more divergent shows catered for a new market, and as a result a more diverse set of shows.

Don’t get me wrong I’m making no comment on the quality of shows that are short or long; in other words, it applies to every show out there. Also, there’s a sense of emotional and time investment with the typical shounen jump formula. Once you become intimately familiar with a series, you now have an emotional stake in the story, and you will come to like it forgive it more. You will also become easier to amuse by the said show.

But on the flip side, there are always things that defy these explainations. Lucky Star is probably something that sort of does. While once you crack its crazy-sugary candy shell laced with loli, the content is really not at all different than the relatively-sane competitor Hidamari Sketch, strength of the Kyoani Brand coasting on the good will of its success with Suzumiya Haruhi, Kanon and Air go a long way to explain (at least, one of several possibilities) the situation we have right now.

Oh wait, I’m suppose to explain how it defies that? I guess that’s the question I have that I can’t answer. Perhaps this is all just me trying to grapple with a psychological complex. Like how people who invest in mutual funds should have invested in, say, index funds instead. Or how the only subber for Hidamari Sketch is 2/3 of the way through the half-season series but there are almost as many releases of Lucky Star episodes one and two combined. Or is it just an omen that only one or two group will finish off this average slice-of-life 4-komi comedy fluff show, once people realize Lucky Star is, lack of a better word, average?

But I don’t think average is really the right word. It does have Aya Hirano (so what?). It is a show by Kyoto Animation (okay, that’s a bit more relevant…). It’s got a darn catchy opening sequence with an equally odd (but grows on you…like fungus) song to go with it. It’s got no taint of TEROGE so the lolitastic character designs don’t get its way (but somehow it bothered people in Manabi Straight? WTH?). Some of us who are more “LOL otaku” laughs at the fanboy jokes and enjoy Konata’s mythical incarnation (she’s a sphinx–aside from being a permanent loli x otaku), but the otaku jokes and references are the stupid-funny kind of references (and lame; real otaku do it PPD way). I guess that’s why people get those jokes.

Perhaps that’s the rub. Lucky Star (and to some extent, most of the other Kyoani works) is like teflon. While it’s unclear as to how the mechanism works and the reasons why, our expectation when we think about, watch, or discuss a Kyoani work is different than how we would talk about someone else. I don’t believe this myself, but when you watch Lucky Star the negative expectations just don’t stick. The very good production quality coupled with a very solid execution helps to give you that near-perfect first impression, especially if you walk into the show without prior expectations.

Leave a comment | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Lucky Star, Modern Visual Culture

April 15, 2007

Of Choco Coronet and Porche 911 – New York International Auto Show 2007

By omo

Growing up in the United States means that what’s native and comfortable for me is, well, what’s around me and not what’s not around me. But my slightly more complicated life circumstances as a Chinese-born American (still nothing compared to Manabi’s travels) may make me more accustomed to yakitori and some strange Asian pastries as well.

But nothing about my middle-class upbringing will dim the shine off a showroom Porche 911 Targa 4.

Some breed of Porche 911

Well, that’s not quite the car Misaka Kirihara drives (is it?), but you get the idea. (By the way I :wub: the Cayman, it’s probably the dream car in my overly practical imagination).

When the Taiyaki Thief made her rounds, some people were cheated this staple snack for young people (I’ve never seen an old person eat a taiyaki, now come to think of it). It’s a pure coincidence that after doing my annual visit at the New York International Auto Show that I went into a bakery and see, for sale, choco coronets. What’s odd is that the store is more than half way across town from the Javits Center, and yet, fate would have it that I stepped into it, unplanned.

The auto show is a fun fare. It’s definitely something you take your kids to, and for people looking to buy a car, it’s the sort of research opportunity that you shouldn’t pass up. I mean, you really could compare side by side something like an Audi S6 next to a Caddy CTS V, then plant your butt inside a Ford Fusion because the line for the Shelby 500 is a bit long. All for fun and not for any kind of chance of buying those cars (well, this year’s Ford Fusion is a nice pick if you’re looking for a new car I suppose).

Highlights (no pics because, well, didn’t really take many):

  • The new Sienna is like the old one, but with a lot more juice; too bad you can’t tell sitting there. The new-new Town and Country, though, wow. Dang. That is pimp.
  • The prices for those overly expensive Ford pickups are going down, which is good. Honda’s Ridgeline is still the top pick for mid/full size “refined” ride, although I can understand why you’d buy an Avalanche.
  • The new Acura RL channels a lot from Mercedes, and for the price it’s quite the luxury.
  • But for some more, the Infiniti M45 is still tops. The new G37 is, well, rewarding for those who are patient; it really blows the G35 away as far as interior and, most importantly, body styling. If you think the G35 coupe is sexy, well the G37 is way sexy. Too bad I dunno if I could say the same for its new 3.7L engine.
  • The two Nissan/Infiniti concepts, Rogue and the EX, respectively, is going to cater to your Murano-buying crowd without the excessive price tags. Look for them probably late this year.
  • Surprisingly, BMW manages to wow me with the 3-series convertible. It is very sweet if you are looking for that kind of experience. If you like the VW Eos and wanted something more luxurious, this is worth looking into. Speaking of which, the Eos and the GTI (I like the pimped out one on the floor…forgot what special name it had) were nice, but Rabbit totally disappointing.
  • Which is a lot more than I could say for Mercedes this year. You go, woah, S67 AMG. And like, move on to cars they actually let you sit in? If I wanted to stare I’d go stare at the very sexy Lexus LF-A concept or the Ford Interceptor concept; or the Audi R8 which was out a year ago but didn’t make the show last year.
  • The new Audi S5 gets me excited. Being a minor fan of Audi’s designs and looks for some time now, seeing the RS4 repackaged in a more reasonable (but probably still overpriced for its lower-than-expectation performance) S5 is something to hope for, as more data roll out for the new car slated for later this model year.
  • Miscellaneous things…well, the new Accord 2-door reminds me a lot of a much better looking Altima for some reason (with a dash of Toyota’s FT-HS prototype mixed in). Hopefully this is the new “break” they need. Funnily enough the Altima 2-door concept is going the same places. The new Saturn Astra looks less ridiculous than the prototyped(?) Scion xD, for what it is worth. Subaru, this year, really toned it down; the Tribeca and WRX for 2008 both looked much more “normal” and less oddball. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing but I don’t hate it. I did really like the Demon concept. Very sweet.

The day ended for me with some powerwalking to both catch restaurants that closes too soon and trains that didn’t leave too early (thankfully). I went into a Nathan’s by the train station and had a chili dog with a corn dog (no pictures necessary I hope). Cheers to some Coney Island memories.

…..Right. Back to the choco coronet: it is what you think it is; a bread outer structure that is then filled with some kind of chocolate filling. As with most Asian pastry, the filling isn’t very sweet, so the chocolate-ness isn’t overwhelming with the fairly light bread. I was surprised that I wasn’t totally disgusted with it. Maybe because the place I got it from was Korean, but there was a lot of filling which made eating it the “smart” (by Lucky Star’s standards) way not very practical, as soon you will be licking both sides. In the end, I’m with Konata; head first.

Sort of like this post.

5 comments | posted in Conventions and Concerts, Darker than Black, English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Lucky Star, Off Topic, Popular Culture, Red Garden

April 12, 2007

Enemy of Women

By omo

Hei is awesome. Bastardly so.

Haraguchi-san~

Finishing the pilot episodes of Darker than Black was hard only because I had to wait a week, and the first episode didn’t leave a lot to my mind to chew on except to anticipate. Thankfully the second half delivered without any problems.

But why am I getting Jigoku Shoujo vibes? I can see that episode 3, from previews, is likely to be a bit of repeat, in a “girl of the day” sort of way where Hei runs in with his Chinese charms and gets away with his mission on the graces of his target/client. If BONES can deliver up these girls of the same or higher caliber regularly… well, I’m not complaining.

The problem is dealing with those Jigoku Shoujo vibes. There’s a perpetual mystery the show revolves around, and it’s not likely going to tackle them throughout the course as an ongoing matter, but revelation will come in pieces. At least, I’m guessing. Hei’s teammates and the other persistent characters only makes the Jigoku Shoujo thing worse (What’s up with the stoic girl sitting in a river?), along with the subterfuge crap that’s going on.

It’s not a good vibe, but I trust Okamura to deliver.

1 comment | posted in Darker than Black, Modern Visual Culture

April 11, 2007

Hataraki’d Out

By omo

What sort of irony is it that I relax to episodes of Hataraki Man after work?

That said, this is one show that is full of ironies. And in a way a very much a show after my own personal experience (and all too common of one). If Matsutaka’s episode-ending statement in episode one didn’t grip you, you probably would have given Hataraki Man a pass?

Well, regardless if you do or do not, be wary that at the end of this TV series there’s a very down-to-earth reality check. Coated with somewhat unreal circumstances, as anime often do, but one that brings this series some street cred. In some ways the Dilbert-esqe experience check is required for full enjoyment of this office interpersonal drama, it probably will appeal not to just those who are dealing with it or have dealt with it, but more so to those who struggles with these fundamental issues in a more honest manner. How do you live your life?

That said I’m not even sure the typical blog-reader would care for titles like this; it’s designed to give realism and express through a cartoon-like exaggeration that makes this all the more charming (instead of the slapstick delivery real actors would have to do for the same) than a live action show. It’s not that it couldn’t be done, of course… But these characters aren’t drawn to be fap targets, so right off the bat there’s a lot less to distract the viewer.

Slogging through the episodes, now that I’m done with watching all the fansubs (a probable requirement for full enjoyment of the show), that exact question bothered me repeatedly: just why is this show animated? Perhaps the answer I drew up didn’t satisfy me, but somewhere between my 2D complex and being distracted by people and not drawings of people lies the key. It smells a bit like loneliness, but even that is ironically appropriate for a blog entry about Hataraki Man.

Just that, if I were you, I wouldn’t take any of the advices it gives seriously, as true as they may seem…

Candid Advice

1 comment | posted in Hataraki Man, Modern Visual Culture