Category Archives: Franchises

April 26, 2006

Emerging Trends – Reffing On Haruhi-ism

By omo

Renton Reffing

Day in, day out, a stereotypical wage slave minds his own business. He may chat up something with his cube mate, go out to lunch with some buddies in the neighborhood or within the same company. He would probably maximize his commute from home with a nice cellular phone plan or some time to himself and his car stereo.

But for someone who watches anime day in and day out, do we even go that far? Well-off aficionados deck out their dens with HDTVs, walls of shelving, and probably a portable DVD player so they can put in the time on the mill and squeeze in something while at it. Of course, the more deranged of us probably have room full of other stuff too; figures, hugpillows, drawn porn, what have you.

That’s nice and all, but somehow I feel we need to strive beyond that. Month by month? Year by year? How long down the road do our anime sugar daddies like, say, UFOTable, timetable their projects? Long-term corporate strategies? How to become a leader in the industry? Does the various anime companies have their hands on the otaku pulse? Or are they going after the big bucks a.k.a. the Mainstream?

For those of us who feel concerned about things like that, the immediate question is, why? Do we watch American Idol, caring about the slew of reality TV shows modeled after it? What are the implications? I think indeed if I spend so much of my time and attention, it’s gotta be worth the price. After all, that’s what TV ads are paying for. I’m sure some are worried about their wallet, too. There’s also the always artistic tension that exists in a mass media format; would artists be free and get paid? Will the networks and producers get paid?

The fact that Haruhi has taken the fandom by storm is probably one manifestation of some emerging trends. It also reassures me that I’m not alone. It seems that plenty of people, consciously or not, actually do mind emerging trends. They notice how things were, and how things are.

I am not sure just how popular Negima was. I am not sure just how Gundam Seed Destiny was. I am not even aware of all the shows they watch over there. But if they’re like me at all, they’re probably pretty tired of harems. They’re tired of comedy based on the same routine they can see on TV and in hundreds of episodes of other shows in the past. They want fresh. They don’t quite want realism, because that’s everywhere; even on TV. But like everybody we want to be able to sympathize and yet surprised and intrigued. Some things works; tried and true–like team para-para. Some things always work, like top-notch animation quality.

But that’s just scratching the surface of emerging trends. Dilbert, for instance, was a successful harvest of such collage of ideas and forging an identity. While that budding force got snipped when corporate America got nailed from 9/11, Haruhi-Ism is just starting. We’re at the forefront of something, if someone took charge to tend to it; to put a name and face to it.

Someone to ref it!

But that said, it can go either way. I am no oracle and I cannot see this bubbling wave’s eventual apex. It takes a lot of power and money to ride this kind of a wave. Not of water but of otaku mindpower and influence. Not for exhilaration (well, possibly) but for mass profit. But unlike a surfer, if you fall you’re not going to be able to just bounce back up and watch for the next Big One.

Or, rather, the likes of Kyoto Animation has been in the shallows chasing waves for a few years now. It’s just that they’ve finally tapped a new one. It’s not like Ghibli and their own private beach, nor are they Gonzo, who’s got some kind of jet ski thing going. Or Bones…I suppose they’re really reffing after FMA now, huh?

Ultimately I guess all I’m trying to say is…look at the big picture sometimes. Watching your favorite anime is not like watching Holland doing a nice drop back turn, but seeing Talho and the rest of the Gekko State doing an orbital launch. It’s a team effort–some guy out there has to have the IP bit, and everyone pitches in their work product, feeling their way. It marks the difference between an experienced, well-financed, well-managed group with a real good idea, versus anyone else.

Leave a comment | posted in Eureka 7, Modern Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Suzumiya Haruhi no Uuutsu

April 23, 2006

Black Horse

By omo

You, yes you.

A curious bit about Black Lagoon is, at this point, the play around with the female archtype. One person so far have found Levi identifiable with Faye Valentine. I am not so sure about the claim’s veracity, but nonetheless it goes to suggest, perhaps, a larger picture of uncertainty and confusion.

I’ve yet to laid eyes to the manga, so I can’t say if this was something originally a part of the show. Still, in painting a realistic approach to today’s open-sea piracy, snubbing character archtypes does go a long way. Just how hot can Tessa get while still being down with the gang without losing respect? Or a mofia boss?
Scarface

It’s an escapist’s ideal for the hot anime babe who is also some kind of leader. It’s no surprise in Frank Miller’s Sin City (for example), that the same idea found itself well-rooted in the arts on this side of the Pacific. Is that it, though? I wanted to find out. But where should I start?

1. The ending sequence. The sorrowful instrumental score heaps in bringing out cheap emotional responses to a, so far, straight-up babes with guns kind of affair. But look at it closely, it really tries to go for something else. Where is Lavi hiding her shotgun? Is it a ploy? Just because a girl may be stripping down, it doesn’t mean she’s packed? “Look up?” It also triggered my memories about other anime ending sequences with a similar motif. Nudity is a common thing, so I probably won’t be surprised if others were expecting “more” from Lavi. Or less.

2. The in-show characterization of Lavi. It seems to be the centerpiece here. She doesn’t get the majority of screen time, lines, or attention from the narrative. She is centerpiece only when there’s action, and oddly enough, when it comes to Rock. Episode 3 dove into a bit of her backstory, but it wasn’t much you wouldn’t expect. I had a hard time all this time, however, taking my mind off of what’s front and center–her ridiculous outfit.

Lavi's Portable Rig
Is that how she holds up her short shorts? QED!

No, really, adding music the same way as Miyamoto Rebecca would, except in a different context–that’s just my kind of fanservice. But still, fanservice? Undeniable sex appeal was something else that’s loaded like Levi’s tools akimbo. She’s a girl with many guns, yes.

3. Which brings us to the OP. It’s to tease. It’s to please. It’s to take your bank account number and make the number it represent decrease. But she’s not like that at all in the show. A laid-back mercenary who knows what she’s good at and knows that’s a big part of what she does. She’s like just another guy. Actually, she’s like the archtypical annoying guy in the team.

Beating around the bush, ultimately, is the question of what exactly is the “babes with gun” archtype? Levi is too masculine to pass for Rally Vincent. Definitely not a Faye, as I presume (but I can see how that could happen). I guess what’s masculine about Rally is true for Levi, but what’s masculine for Levi isn’t what’s true about Rally, who’s actuall a rather through-and-through 80s archtype. The 90s wasn’t too kind to the masculine anime babe all in all. Perhaps we still have Priss, but she’s not really all that masculine IMO… more like Madoka.

I guess what bothers me in the end about Lavi is still just how she can straddle the line; having the appeal, be “dumb” enough to pass for another guy yet still have some of that cuteness showing. Should it even be like that? It’s inconsistent, no? Looking at probably a more well-rounded anime character like The Major, Levi just seems odd.

Odd enough to blog about, fo sure.

Leave a comment | posted in Black Lagoon, Modern Visual Culture

April 21, 2006

Magical Pokan Fun of You And Me

By omo

Magical Pokan 1

I generally deplore fanservice. Only when it is done with a real reason and done smart, and tasteful enough will it be acceptable. I also don’t really like lolicon anime.

Magical Pokan has a lot of both. It has a really smart sense of style to it, and while my first reaction was “Why, this is totally what Disgaea anime should look like!” I realized this one scored home somewhere somehow. Indeed the humor and visual flourish are like that from the smash hit N1 game, but well, it’s not the game!

I am blogging about this show with a lot of things I don’t like because it’s a well-done show. I don’t think I’ll follow it until the gaggles on the bandwagon giggled enough to make me sufficiently curious. Well, if you dig either, then this is for you. The fanservice is fairly light and cute; it isn’t particularly gratuitous either. If anything, it’s smart fanservice.

Which is why I made it through the episode at all. And twice at that. I think I was amusing myself more when I was watching it detached, in the raw, while doing something else. Seemed more random that way. It’s really one gem underrated gem out of the slew of comedy this season. I think I have to thank God for making better shows to keep me away from this one as I’d get stuck with it if nothing else is good to watch in parallel…

Leave a comment | posted in Magipoka, Modern Visual Culture

April 16, 2006

New Season Checklist 3

By omo

And 40 days after the flood of new anime had stopped, The Bad Guy opened a window and let loose a pair of CRV7 70mm rockets.
Black Lagoon 1

I think the winners, barring the remaining contestants, are clear.

Notice how each of those are spearheaded by a different significant production studio. Deen, for example, has their lovely Simoun flying machines complete with sound effects akin of Vader’s Custom TIE. It’s a war out there. Well, with exception of Bones and Madhouse, who also manages to hit really, really hard with Juuousei, the Lord-of-the-Flies tale of survival and becoming something more; and Black Lagoon, probably my #1 selection for the masses this season. Sucks to be Gonzo right now, though…wait a few months? This season, it seems, the studios have taken cues from 1-2 years ago and suddenly every one of them produced shows that started at around the same time, all very appealing.

And they fight like as if it’s a war–in the flea market of our minds. Some of the arsenals include kiss. Lots of kisses–girl-girl, girl-boy, boy-girl, boy-boy (well, we tried to avoid this one). Lots of blood, even more action (some involving kissing); comedy shoujo-style, comedy-no-style, no-comedy. No romance, lots of romance, mostly in-between. Low blows. Guns; lots of guns. Hot moms, lots of sisters; bunny girls? CG, fake CG, CG-looking-like-it’s-not, REALLY BAD CG. Snail-pace, non-linear storytelling, action-packed. And of course, fanservice; the shoujo/josei crowd is still at the lead of that (so much sex in Nana, so little time), of course, closely followed by the snuffy Tokko (funded by Manga Entertainment???). Can maid boys beat out magical girls from the 90s? Only if you’re a dream user…

The casualties are lost in the mindshare bloodbath, deemed to wander in the obscurity known as “faint recollections” when one browses through a list of anime at their favorite torrent site or wallpaper listing. Who the hell cares if your close friends are gargoyles or a badass tank AI?

It’s fierce, and as well it should be. That said I am not holding my breath; the second half of this year has some of the more exciting titles coming out. UFOTable’s newest project and more KyoAni in the form of Kanon are just some rememberable teasers waiting to happen.

Leave a comment | posted in Aria, Black Lagoon, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, Modern Visual Culture, Ouran High Host Club, Suzumiya Haruhi no Uuutsu

April 12, 2006

Suzumiya Mania – Examining HARUHI ISM

By omo

Isle Haruhi

This past semester I’ve taken some classes about the power of an idea–in the context of intellectual property and mass media branding. More than just a couple times Key the Metal Idol came to mind while sitting in class. The worth of a brand and the legal protections ideas have when they come into play commercially–clasically and in today’s mass media market–can be in the billions of USDs just for a single brand.

It’s just a matter of time until that train of thought crashes into Haruhi. “How?” One might ask. Legal education is the short (and probably true) answer, but bear with me for a moment as we look into the “why?” (Which is, really, why I’m interested in the question at all.)

In some ways Haruhi is categorically a “High School Girl Idol” show. A powerful, influential, eccentric character takes the lead in the narrative. A slew of side shows play off to mirror the construct of this main character. It’s different than, say, School Rumble, as a pulp romantic comedy; different than a high school harem (of any kind of gender combination); and probably different than the hybrid (slice of lifes, for instance). Perhaps it is cousin to Gokujo Seitokai, and daughter of Yamamoto Yohko?

The story about an idol-like character is just that. My interest is in my own (and like myself, a good amount of others) facination with this idol. It’s one thing to just tell a story but harder to tell it well. But is that it? What is special with this girl? That she is a girl? That she’s a creative literary concept? I think while for many we’re still stuck at the “who is she?” stage of the game, the general topic is probably more interesting: what would an anime look like if it was to make you a fan of one of its character? Is that the same as how it would look if it was to make you a fan of itself? Are the two the same?

Idol culture ultimately hangs on that question. Building an anime that’s great to watch is well and good; but building a character means you are building a franchise that transcends the medium it first existed. Do we like Lara Croft rather than Tomb Raider? I think most of us are like that today.

To answer the “why” question more directly, yes, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu is well-directed, written, produced, animated, and pitched after a year of rather mediocre TV animation offering. It’s exciting and fun to watch beyond its abstraction. It’s not so crude as slapstick but mysteriously unidentifiable upon first look. I can go on about it but I think that’s answering the “why” question superficially.

The next level of abstraction is a little less exciting; after all, it’s the story about an extraordinary high school girl, mired in her own genius and unteathered to this world’s mindsets. A mania in her own right, the little bit of spark of extraordinary in her ordinary world brings out the little girl unobservable otherwise from her otherworldly shell. I suppose all of that is not uncommon in anime and the art of reciting stories for escapist young adults.

Is there more to it? Do we want to care about Haruhi beyond that point? Maybe–at least by this stage of the game (episode 2), we know no metaphysical genius is an island. Haruhi will not be the Haruhi we know and we will not see an end to her meloncholy without Kyon. SOS-dan recreates a context for our hero and heroine not unlike that of an alternate world. Maybe an analogy is Otakon to Baltimore? The analysis has to end at this point, though, because I don’t have enough to go on.

But do you? I think the concept is wildly interesting when you bring idol-ism into this context. Part of why, at least for me, is my sensitivity to general idol worshipping; but otherwise in the art of manipulating people’s will, mind, emotion, and spending habits, it’s pretty cool.

Leave a comment | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Suzumiya Haruhi no Uuutsu