Category Archives: Modern Visual Culture

May 12, 2014

The WUG Life Chose Me: WUGners’ Valkyries and the DD

By omo

Intro

In the opera house, the Ride, which takes around eight minutes, begins in the prelude to the Act, building up successive layers of accompaniment until the curtain rises to reveal a mountain peak where four of the eight Valkyrie sisters of Brünnhilde have gathered in preparation for the transportation of fallen heroes to Valhalla. As they are joined by the other four, the familiar tune is carried by the orchestra, while, above it, the Valkyries greet each other and sing their battle-cry. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_of_the_Valkyries

The WUG and WUGners

https://twitter.com/yamacane_0901/status/381692162141720578

The Wake Up, Girls! are formed in 2013. The anime and related activities went into full swing late 2013-early 2014. In September of 2013, Yamakan and company coined the term for what WUG fans are. The intent to call the seven-girl idol team WUG was also pretty clear cut early on.

It’s not clear why Yamakan called them WUGners. It’s also not clear why WUG was named after a love hotel in the anime.

The flight

The WUG are coming to America, visiting Chicago’s (and the US Midwest’s) premiere anime convention, Anime Central. ACEN 2014 will also host 15 WUGners from Japan, if not more. The Japanese fans are somewhat organized. For me, it’s almost adorable to see oversea folks do logistics like how we did logistics for the trip we pulled earlier this year. Thankfully Chicago is a well-connected US city from Narita. Thanks to the internet, you can track them down on Twitter, and on various online locations. There are no lotteries for tickets, no proxy really necessary. You can sign up for Crunchyroll even if you are in Japan.

In usual fashion, Japanese WUGners will bring their cheer and some green glowsticks to spread said cheer.

On arrival, the Japanese WUGners will face the usual hurdles one faces at a large anime convention. From the registration line to the apathetic concert crowd at the usual con concert, how will they handle the adversity? The difficulty communicating in a foreign language? Trying to do their best in the context of a foreign culture? Will WUG themselves be enough of a unifying force? Will others, WUGners or not, lend their hands?

The life of a DD

And here lies the rub.

Let me flash my hand real quick: it’s almost like a proof to a existential question. What I want to know is why can I write what I just did. Do I even like Wake Up, Girls? I am going to say yes. After all, one of the WUGners (the one that posted in Acen forums, actually) is also a fan of Yamakan. What a coincidence! Glad to see I am not alone out there. While I admit I don’t always agree with Yamakan or his methods, and surely I can see where he would likewise disagree with my beliefs, I think on the whole he’s on the right track. So it’s not just a superficial cute-girls-from-Japan-that’s-also-from-an-anime kind of thing that is getting me all excited about ACEN or flying out there to see WUG. Maybe.

It isn’t that I am prone to liking idol stuff–I think my tastes for media entertainment developed contrary to mainstream hooks for such things. With proliferation of the cute girls variety show that passes for the independent or underground idol scene, it’s not a surprise to see someone who consumes so much media to find something he likes. I think that’s just the way it works. The problem is that pureed mix of what passes for chic critical thinking and what passes for merely jadedness as a form of self-selection or self-protection. That’s bullocks.

How do you make of the people who enjoyed Yamakan’s works? Or just anime with a splash of spice and flair? How about the people who post videos of themselves dancing to anime themes on Youtube or Nico, or the cosplayers that chase the year’s hottest character trends? Friends, this is the life of a “daredemo daisuki” (DD) scenester. It’s not like just because I call myself a MakotoP, I like only Makoto. Just because I put her in the front of a series of greater-than signs doesn’t mean I don’t care about anyone else. And it’s with the realization that even among those who are considered “hardcore” you have people who does it with some sort of perspective, a bit like a cross between spring fever and someone who can play a bunch of different MMORPGs and still get his homework done.

You take those two concepts and you get what is clearly the next step: defining the Live Lover.

Outro

In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one in a group of female figures who decide which soldiers die in battle and which live. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Walk%C3%BCre

Instead of idol wars, let’s check out the most excellent way.

PS. “Love live” is as bible as it gets.

1 comment | posted in Introspectives, Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop, Wake Up Girls!

May 10, 2014

Re: Impossible Spring 2014

By omo

I am still watching new anime, and relatively speaking a lot, just less than I have been. I chalk it up due to work and these con blitzs. In some ways my trip in Feb is still draining me emotionally and man, I need a vacation where I just sit around and relax. Maybe I can just skip AX and take those days for OFA grinding.

Rabbits

Just going to piggy-back on Author’s list. This means also not inserting a table in this post. Uguu tables.

  • Rabbit House – I think it’s amazing that how tire I am typically, I am still trying to catch up to date on this. It is totally to Rabbit House’s credit such as the case. It might seem like a big endorse coming from me, which you will see why as you read through this list, and it probably doesn’t deserve it.
  • Puchimas S2 – I too will batch it later. I did start, and at some point I realized FUNi’s stream is not serving up the new ED for some reason and I’m like :v Screw this nonsense.
  • One Week Friends – Without Author’s baggage, I’m no more likely a friend of this kind of sap. This is all on me though; just not in the mood for this, which I’m sure is a competent production of feels generation.
  • Mangaka & Assistant – Comedy. The pacing could be a lot better, it needs to learn from SYD.
  • Kawaisou – I enjoyed what I’ve seen. But I need to watch beyond one episode…
  • Precure All Stars Selection – I don’t Precure.
  • The World Is Still Beautiful – This is the kind of show I would watch because it is easy, on CR, and is not terrible. The whole shoujo-ness is really embarrassing to see but otherwise it’s okay. Overall probably a wholesome recommendation.
  • Love Live S2 – Yes.
  • Broken Blade – Didn’t watch it the first time, no interest the second time.
  • Chaika – This is like, Scrapped Princess the anime remixed, right? Because it’s just like Scrapped Princess in terms of setup. And written by the same guy. That said the voice cast is pretty fun to watch and the story moves at a good clip. I think I’m one or two behind, and will probably drop, even if it is a nice change of pace given the usual light novel fare that gets animated these days.
  • Jewelpet – Ha, no.
  • Ping Pong – Best anime this season. I will go through the depths of FUNi hell to watch this. Problem is Ping Pong doesn’t excite me.
  • Kanojo ga Flag o Orareta – Not sure if I like this or Azuki Azusa anime more. Maybe needs more Yukarin. Probably will get cut if time runs short due to Acen and Anorth next couple weeks.
  • Escha & Logi – Nope. Speaking of which I have Totori on my Vita now so I’d rather pour the time into that.
  • Seikoku no Dragonar – Haven’t heard anything good about this.
  • Mahouka – Too slow, but intriguing. Unfortunately it puts me to sleep so it’s hard to make it even to the third episode.
  • Date A Live II – Passed on season one so…
  • Mekakucity Actors – I really want to watch this now that I dropped Nisekoi and Monogatari S2 looms like a distant rain cloud. But maybe it’s better for me and Shaft to take a break for a while.
  • Majin Bone – Nope.
  • Nanana – This is like Zvezda, a lot. Too uncanny. Also totally enjoying it right now.
  • Knight of Sidonia – In Netflix hell. Probably will marathon at some point.
  • Brynhildr – Will catch up. I liked the first episode or two I saw, but it’s a little slow. I just know it’s really rewarding LOL.
  • Daimidaler – Right on top of this nonsense.
  • Fairy Tail – Nope.
  • Blade and Soul – Not enough boobs.

There are other entries I am following, like Jojo and Mushishi and Cap’n Earth and Diamond Ace, (and dropped, like all these sports shows that I would at most watch one ep.), but let’s just say I would rather blog less and watch more anime because of the limit on time and energy. I can add that this Spring, I found myself wanting. There isn’t that one anime that’s got all the hype. Ping Pong is the only thing truly remarkable in a sea of the usual stuff, but it isn’t exactly the most hyped sort of thing. Maybe it’s also that I haven’t had the time to watch episode one of everything I wanted to see, so there’s something still out there. I still wouldn’t say this season is particularly bad or whatever, because I think it’s more me than it, so to speak, but I certainly wouldn’t disagree if someone else makes that claim.

6 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Idolmaster, Modern Visual Culture

May 7, 2014

Love Live S2 E4-5

By omo

Let’s talk about Rin and Nico.

Arisa is the best Love Live

I really enjoyed episode 5. It struck me as the first episode this season that actually took a moment and gave a character some time to think about and make a change. Let’s just say that after episode 5 some people thought Hanayo might start wearing girlier clothes.

I want to bring in episode 4 as a point to compare. Episode is the Nico episode where we learn about her family situation and the various circumstances she has to struggle with. We got some nice back story going there too, along with her adorable younger sisters and brother (all voiced by Nico’s seiyuu too). But in the end, was Nico a reformed woman? Nope.jpg. She might be just too tsun to quit, so her μ’s friends gave her an out and helped her out.

I think the comparison only make sense because how the story play out so similarly between the two episodes. Both focuses on a girl in such a way that puts the spotlight/pressure on her in order to reveal some newly discovered issue, in which the team helps to resolve. And it’s done so in this weird surprise to the audience, kind of like a surprise happy birthday party minus the awkward secret sharing that the girl-of-the-week get suspicious on.

But the key here is just to highlight that Nico smoothed out her issues in terms of lying to both her group mates and her siblings by making this fairy tale transition that’s kind of an allegory of the idol identity versus the personal identity. Versus Rin having actual character development.

Com’on man.

Not that is particularly problematic; I am no Love Liver but I do like Nico more than most out of the cast (favorite is by far Alisa, partly because she has more of a concentrated dose of Nishida Asako’s flairs), and it isn’t the first time I’ve called upon Yukarin as “sekai iichi kawaii” so Nico’s tropes are all too welcomed. I’m just not sure how possibly this shallow shell of modern amusement can compare to what simple coming-of-age maiden problem that Rin has overcome, along with her dozens of other anime heroines, no less than every magical girl since…ever. The fact that Nico’s episode is composed so similarly to Rin’s just cracks me up every time thinking about it.

I thought the way the camera framed Hanayo at the end was brilliant; it’s like those “maidenly” shots of Haruka Amami where you see her slender but subtly remarkable body in motion, her head above her chin out of frame, for less than a second. Great way to cap off an heartful Love Live episode.

And I don’t know where to go with this post–I can conclude a half dozen different ways. Let’s just say that for those of you who think anime is primarily entertainment, just be aware that when you posit this philosophically, it is, to say the least, shallow? We can do better than that.

2 comments | posted in Love Live, Modern Visual Culture

May 3, 2014

Anison Sales Cycle, Plateau

By omo

In the mid to late 00s there has been an anison boom. The question is has it cooled since 2010? With the 8th Animax Anison Grand Prix canned this year, what do we make of it? How about Love Live S2 OP sales breaking records? Or the way different anison artists “being dropped” by different things? It’s intriguing.

Thankfully, someone already wrote it up, so I don’t have to.

maki

My own opinion of this is that, like all musical artists, the way people make a living vary depending on where you are at on the chain. As a “live lover” I appreciate solid acts and people who can put on a good show. Thing is, a lot of anison artists during the boom are hardly that different than the seiyuu idols themselves that are now replacing them, in terms of exactly that–their live abilities. Then there are those who are notably better, invariably because that’s their bag to begin with; they are the Angela’s and LiSA’s of the bunch; the super robot singers (because seiyuu are not quite there yet?); and the singer-song-writers (which includes bands like Angela too, but also Nano.ripe, Ali Project and Yousei Teitoku. And the occasional ZAQ).

I’m not sure if we can make a distinction between the seiyuu idols who are now more like regular artists versus “idols” who are seiyuu, like StylipS or Sphere for example. I mean I enjoy all their shows, but the way I enjoy say a Nana Mizuki live is not going to be the same as how I enjoy IM@S. It’s harder to get that drooling, wallet-opening fanbase going if you are Maaya Sakamoto versus the newly debuting Azusa Tadakoro. You know?

But I’m not really worried. I think anison is no different than other categories of music as far as market and culture is concerned. It might contract or expand in cycles like everything else, and we’re probably just seeing that play out. Maybe this is why when JAM Project tours the world, their message to us is that they want the anison base to expand. So it can accommodate more artists?

So. How about that I’VE SOUND 15th Anniversary?

Maybe meg rock should tweet more in English…

8 comments | posted in Conventions and Concerts, Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

April 22, 2014

The WUG Life Chose Me – P Culture: Definitions and Scope

By omo

http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=42902043

As mentioned earlier, at Sakura-Con there was a P Culture panel about IM@S. After said panel I thought about exactly what this really means. What makes a Producer? What is an idol? Should I do an Otakon panel?

I think there’s a lot going on here, rich enough to definitely do all of that. But before I run headlong into it, some definitions are in order.

As you might know, P-culture really did start with IM@S, even if people were doing similar things well before then. In that sense, in post-otaku boom Japan there really is nothing left meaningful to define by the term otaku besides by their sub-niches. You have people who like mecha anime, for example. Or people really into waifus and moe crap. Or the 2.5D sei-buta-idol types. Or the plain variety of idol otaku. Or military. Or trains. Or BL. Or Yuri. You get the idea. These are not representative but elements to that otaku database where people can subscribe to various different things, and they do mix, kind of like a RSS feed of a set of RSS feeds.

Which just reminds me that Google Reader Shared Item is the best representation of the otaku concept. Anyway, RIP.

In that sense I would define P culture as a specific group of “feeds” that are bundled together. That’s what’s novel about P culture. That, and within this overlap, in the sense that many of us subscribe to this set of not-that-well-defined ideas, we find a sense of identity/unity common to these kind of identity affiliations (like, I dunno, gothloli and kogals). Or in the US, “anime fans” and cosplayers.

So more specifically, I mean:

  • Idol/entertainer culture, maybe specifically anison culture and wota culture
  • 2D otaku culture “in general”

Which, if you know what being a P means, has nothing to do with what being a P means–basically you are a fan of the IM@S games. And you can be a fan of the game (and now, anime) and have nothing to do with P culture. It’s kind of like being fans of old(er) school gaming, crunching things out on a NDS or X360, than on a mobile device grinding up some Million Stars. There’s already a pretty big gulf in terms of what being an IM@S fan really means, how that fandom manifests, and if it even makes sense for all of us to hang out together.

Which is also different than what being a P means, in the vocaloid scene, even if that nomenclature is not so different. Like what a Nicom@sP has to go through versus just some dude who likes the anime. Maybe this is why we’re so hot on danketsu in IM@S.

Perhaps it’s a lot more interesting to see how diverse this fandom is, and how the 2.5D fan category really exploded in the post-AKB48 era.

Ren is Yyo's buddy eh

To those ends, does it make more sense to look at Ps from a deductive way? Let’s profile a few people and see what they like, why they are Ps. Ethnography, or whatever. I wonder if there are some Japanese-language data out there…

Anyway. I think the approach to look at, present or even enjoy P culture is to do it on a more personal level. If you live like an otaku of some sort, it’s just “yet another vertical” of sorts. There are things you do, modern-day rituals, that facilitate the process. And then there are other things you do that’s just for the heck of it. Like buying flowers.

Why do we buy flowers, other than to make the concert venue smell good?

Why do we make business cards, besides that it’s useful to follow up with people online afterwards?

If invariably expression and identity are intertwined in these kind of instances, what does P culture say about us?

Is The World All One?

Continue reading

5 comments | posted in Idolmaster, Love Live, Modern Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop, Wake Up Girls!