Category Archives: Modern Visual Culture

February 11, 2014

The Trip, 2014

By omo

I never got to wax much nostalgia about my trip last April when I went to see that PA Works show, along with Coorie and Tamayura. I traveled for about 10 days and did the otaku mecca thing, while focused on taking it easy, eating (and didn’t even do much of that beyond local recs) and hanging out. Watched a couple anime movies, at least. It was actually quite a blast, but I definitely could’ve done more if I was more organized or adventurous.

Makoto goes traveling on a Jitensha w

This year I’m going with a herd of other foreigners and in the span of about also 10 days, I would have hit up 2-3 theater greetings, probably will watch the same two anime movies like, in four different occasions (funny considering I could also watch Buddha 2 or the new Tiger & Bunny film that’ll get a theatrical run in a month), will attend a radio recording, plus at least five concerts. FIVE. Maybe more if I want to do that underground idol thing. So most likely this means I won’t have time to try my luck at Kancolle cafe, just a couple days for shopping, and who knows how many places I can go eat? I get the feeling those things will take care of themselves however.

Here’s the event list, at least the confirmed ones. A few are not yet and are marked TBD:

There are a ton of events that I wished I could attend, either because it runs against one of the other events, or because I can’t get the proper tickets (like WUG handshake sessions…or Yui Ogura handshake sessions…or Milk Lariat S conflict with KOTOKO…or Kanon 2014 conflict with IM@S with Yanagi Nagi live etc).

And that’s just events! There are tons of other stuff on the agenda, none perhaps less epic than the chronicles detailed here. But I will do my best with the whole enjoy Japan thing. Food, scenery, shopping, you name it. Definitely want to revisit A-Button and Garten once.

Anyway, if this blog stops updating the next 2 weeks, you know what’s up. Actually I will still be updating the non IM@S stuff here, so watch for that; but as you can see there’s not a whole lot of that.

4 comments | posted in Conventions and Concerts, Introspectives, Modern Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

January 26, 2014

Truth in Reporting: Winter 2014 Report Card Meta Edition

By omo

I am watching them anime. Other than Buddy Complex being the most notable omission, I think I’m ready to roll.

I just want to take a minute to point out Miao’s thin slicing this season. It’s your formulaic ANN-style review trolling which is to say, it’s based on narrative truths that reasonable people find agreeable rearranged without sense (or all the sense, on the other hand). I want to just highlight it for that–this is a relatively “weak” season in a long time. I think part of it has to do with a general shift in late night TV anime. Just compare it with 2010 (or even 2011). But ranking it seems like a futile exercise at best, so there’s no symbolic gesture of not putting Nisekoi in the first spot.

FWIW, he called Wake Up Girls Movie an OAV.

New shows (and long-absent sequels):

World Conquest Zvezda Plot – I’m on the hook for this show. The magical reality unnerves me. It’s uncomfortable. It’s too good to drop. Its vintage too accomplish to expect a “turn off the brain and have fun” show. Except when I try to run this by the grey matter, it is giving me all kinds of warning signs.

Wake Up, Girls – My favorite of the season. I’m not sure if I like them as an idol group however, even if by all means the anime has done its job. I also like how they sneaked in that Tohoku disaster reminder in there. Also blogging over at Jtor.

Seitokai Yakuindomo 2 – I marathoned the OVAs or whatever they’re called just before episode 1. So I went in with a lot of feels and fresh memory. I wonder if this is why nobody licensed it, by the way–the book publisher must own the rights of episodes 13-18. Is this the new licensing hell (say hello to YZQ)?

Wizard Barristers – So far so good. Miss Piggy is a very nice touch. What kind of a man gets nicknamed Hachi Mitsu? A Honey & Clover dropout?

Witch Craft Works – I am glad to be able to lay my eyes on this show. The manga is a terribly boring thing but the anime is a blast to watch; the comedic timing and direction are great. It is fun also to see by how much can the anime exceed its source material. Manga usually is created by one person or a small team of people; maybe half a dozen even for some weeklies, plus some editorial staff. On the other hand up to ten times more people work on an anime adaptation. Odds are any anime production team have at least enough creative power and experience to do the same, simply because so many more people work on any given project, and the core creative team are made up of some or all fire-tested veterans. So what happens when a lame but popular manga gets animated? Speaking purely from a point of view of “animators are people who draw a lot” I think this is what actually happens.

Nisekoi – Similarly. Although it isn’t comedy but just well-executed character drama, see also Bakemonogatari. You know Shaft.

Sakura Trick – Surprisingly engaging in the yuri fanservice way. Not sure if there’s enough to keep me interested, because unless they escalate it’s all a little boring. And if they do escalate every episode, they would be spending half the episode kissing each other by episode 12. Not that is a problem I think.

ImoCho – Okay, it’s actually kind of fun watching the timid, confused and probably traumatized girl trying to climb out of it. I’m rooting for her. It’s also kind of fun watching an anime trying to depict this communication gap between the two step-siblings. I wonder which kind of boys would take note?

Nobunagun – Surprisingly fun to watch but I think this anime belongs to the 1990s.

Nobunaga the Fool – I would watch this if it was actually faster paced. Right now it’s like Horizon S1 eps 1-4, which is just kind of confusing, dreary, but minus the shock factor of huge balloon boobs and the trope pandering. Jeanne is attractive looking and all but so far she is not really a part of anything because the show hasn’t revealed anything that interesting. It’s gotta hurry it up before it loses all its viewers. Needs its clinching moment.

Space Dandy – It’s hard for me to watch–I canceled my DVR service some time last year so it’s week-late Hulu for me. On the other hand maybe it allows me to try watching it like a normal person, which is…I guess people my age group generally don’t watch Toonami. I mean, I don’t remember the last time I was watching cable TV on a Saturday night other than the Space Dandy premiere. Anyway, it’s okay, I’ll probably ride it out if there’s an easy way to watch it.

Noragami – I would be repping this hard if it was on CR. I guess I will give Funi’s EVS some prop for having actually a good enough lineup, but what can they do to earn back my trust? I guess they did have that great holiday sale. I suppose the worse I could do is pirate it, because it sure is better than not watching it at all, right? Maybe? I guess it’s important to note that I basically don’t buy shows I haven’t seen before (other than, say, Mardock Scramble, because I read the book).

Nourin – I can take it or leave it. It’s one of those shows that I would probably watch it if it’s on CR. I guess maybe next year or next sale, EVS or not. 

SoniAni – Kind of like, the show I would drop except if I don’t watch all these shows on EVS, I would have time for this. So I do have time for this. And it’s hardly the most horrible anime. It’s like the most model anime, heh.

Pilot’s Love Song – Same. This show is weird in that while watching it, I’m okay. But after I’m done watching that week’s episode I kind of regret the use of my time. Probably would dropped it a long time ago if not for said EVS issue since this is a CR show.

D-Frag – EVS problem but it’s a pretty okay show. Very “bro” I guess. I think the problem is that it’s a little to convoluted and if you miss the internal logic it’s not that fun to watch.

Chuunikoi Ren – 2chuu2koi as I’d like to call it, but this is a nice change. Much more interesting right off the bat than season 1.

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha – I’d pirate this any day.

Mahou Sensou – Dropped because I don’t have the time. Seems okay though.

Hamatora – Dropped because I don’t have the time. Seems okay though. Actually fun to watch in episode 2, if a little predictable.

Houzuki no Reitetsu – Good, solid comedy. Dropped because I got over my Dilbert phase back in the 90s. This stuff is kind of like remaking it for kids going into the workforce in this decade. As an anecdote, when I find some kid at work who falls into all of the usual Dilbert traps, I just sigh and “berate” him directly. Watching Hozuki is like a waste of time.

Saki – Magical girls meets mahjong, the “we don’t have enough episodes so we’ll compress all that we skipped between S1 and Achigahen in 3 episodes but now we can get down to business” edition. Also a Jtor item.

Ongoing:

Nagiasu – AAAAAAHHHHHH

Ace of the Diamond – This is a pretty okay koshien baseball anime. Literally.

Samurai Flamenco – It’s still interesting enough.

Silver Spoon – Yep. One season is hardly a break.

Magi – Yep.

Gundam Build Fighter – This is the Gundam of our generation.

Tokyo Ravens – Okay.jpg

Log Horizon – Finally, story.

Golden Time – Dropped because I don’t really have the time and can’t really be bothered with that Ghost Banri stuff.

Shorts:

Enjoying them all. Even Pupa (whose OP has that “Fantasista Dolls” effect). I think Strange+ and Seki-kun are neck to neck.

Canon

And that’s all for now!

PS. Several blogs I follow waxed poetic on Space Dandy after watching the first few episodes. Basically they all say the same thing, like what I said earlier on. I guess the thing is, it’s just a TV show, like everything we’re watching, you can take it or leave it, and you certainly don’t have to watch everything. Only tortured fans of the medium would, beyond “a thin slicing.” As long as you’re mindful of the usual disclaimers (ie., judging books by covers etc) you are okay. It’s not about “right enough” but knowing what you are in for and getting things working for those purposes. And I think with that in mind, 11:30 PM is way too early for Space Dandy. Proper late night anime is like, 2AM! Imagine watching an anime about putting your arm inside a cow’s anus at 2AM…

5 comments | posted in Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!, Gin no Saji, Golden Time, Inari Konkon Koi Iroha, Log Horizon, Modern Visual Culture, Nisekoi, Noragami, Saikin Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga., Saki, Sakura Trick, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Sekai Seifuku: Bouryaku no Zvezda, Space Dandy, Super Sonico, Tonari no Seki-kun, Wake Up Girls!, Witch Craft Works, Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil

January 21, 2014

February 2014: True Anime Japan

By omo

This morning I woke up to the news about how AnimeJapan is trying to pitch to a billion different IPs and attract 100ks of visitors. And that is well. I mean putting aside the splinter years of ACE and all that dark history, I think when cons like JX and AX have 100k+ of visitors (turnstile), while Japan doesn’t quite have a con like that (ie., Comiket is not like that), it’s sort of an industry pride issue. I mean, they’re calling it “AnimeJapan” and that can’t be more obvious. AnimeUSA peeps should be like, hur hur hur.

You know they mean business when one slide says basically this:

Anime Japan

I think they’ll hit their 100k count handily. I just hope AnimeJapan retain ACE’s liberal policy of region-free live streams.

But forget about that. I want to write a real life tourism plug for Japan for February 2014. Why? Here’s the list of things I personally want to see (of varying amount of interests, granted):

  • Sapporo Snow Festival/Snow Miku Feestival (Feb. 5-11)
  • Yui Horie’s next live (touring)
  • Love Live @ SSA
  • Ray is touring
  • KOTOKO is touring
  • Mingosu is touring
  • There’s a full-blown Uchoten Kazoku event (fhana!!) (I even could have applied for a ticket w)
  • iM@S @SSA (but you know this)
  • …there’s a MariIro event? LOL
  • ChanYui “Charming Do” promo meet&greets
  • FictionJunction YUUKA lives (with other FJs), and later individual lives for her and Kajiura teams in Feb.
  • Sumipe event
  • Yanagi Nagi live event (FFFFFFFFFFF can’t go, conflicts orz)
  • JAM Project is touring
  • Sakura Taisen Paris team kayo show (FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF I would totally go to this if I can get tickets) (Aipon is even in this) (Feb. 13-16)
  • Sphere 5th anniversary events
  • May’n is touring
  • Aoi Eir is touring
  • Yukarin is touring (with 2-day SSA live)
  • Milk Lariat 6S (lots o anime idols)
  • Yuki Aoi commemorative event
  • Junko Iwao birthday live
  • Chiaki Ishikawa concert
  • Nakagawa Kanon live (Kaminomi event)
  • Sakakibara Yui live
  • Steins;Gate events
  • ….And a lot more I didn’t list.

Despite being the shortest month of the year, February 2014 has way too many good events. And I’m not even listing things like movie screenings (Mouretsu Pirates!) plus not even everything has been announced yet. Granted on a typical month, there are a ton of events going on at any given week, but this is just crazy.

If you had to go to Japan for events, this month is it! Really, I mean, it has something for everybody. And a lot of something for a select group.

Leave a comment | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

January 18, 2014

Crowdfunding Is Just Danketsu, Isn’t It?

By omo

As someone who consumes a lot of iM@S crap, the word danketsu (団結) gets floated around a lot. The term just means unity in this context, but not knowing Japanese that well I can’t give you all the nuances of the term.

ricebowmic

In my mind, the joy of fandom is partly based on sharing. It multiplies; it’s not a zero-sum game. It might be a zero-sum game regarding your bank account, but the things you get in exchange can be priceless, or so I think. So when the opportunity came for some bros and I to set up a flower wreath at the iM@S SSA concert this February, how can I say no? And by extension I want to share that joy with you as well.

You here meaning the fans of idolm@ster, and people who want to partake the joy of fandom. And it’s easy. The opportunity here is that you can financially back our plans to set up a ring of flowers decorated with a catchy English phrase (in the usual Japanese tradition of 2 or 3-liner plate) and a commissioned fanart, AND, send a message to the idols of iM@S.

What we will set up in the very near future is a page where you can donate via Paypal and it will give you a field to put in a short message. You can donate any amount (although Paypal does charge a fee so you have to exceed that) and then put in your message. It’s that simple. What we will do with your money is put it in our pockets to reduce our out-of-pocket costs of paying the flower vendor, the commission artwork, and making a booklet of your quotes. What we will do with your message is to screen it (this ain’t no im@s confessions), translate it into Japanese, and put both EN and JP text in said booklet. Because we aim to translate your words, you have to keep it short (maybe < 300 characters) and get it in before Feb. 1. Also because we plan to print it in a neat booklet. The flowers will be delivered by a flower vendor in Japan (Ever use an internet flower service to buy flowers for a wedding/funeral? Same basic idea). The booklets will be given to the idols at SSA (there’s a gift deposit box system setup for this).

We have been working at this for a couple months now, so things are already pretty much set design-wise. We are in the process of finalizing the deal with the flower vendor and figuring out how to print and deliver the commission artwork. We got an experienced call book maker on the booklets, so it will probably follow that kind of format. The total cost is still in flux but we’re looking at at least $400. Probably a chunk more depending on printing and shipping costs.

We’re also planning to print a bunch of the booklets for people who donated over a certain amount. Like $10 or $20. Not important but it just means we’ll have to pay for shipping LOL and do fulfillment. Also, we’re open to taking your donation in person if you happen to run into one of us, and you can send us your quotes via ordinary methods. We’ll figure out something.

At first, we want this project to be limited to American Ps. But it slowly expanded to English-speaking Ps on this side of the Pacific. Or NATO. Whatever. It’s kind of funny because our project has a USA-bent to it but I hope that doesn’t stop anybody. It’s also funny because we can’t just keep this to ourselves, by force or by will, it’s naturally “The World Is All One” kind of a thing. We do, however, hope that people will take this donation seriously. It’s not a big deal if you are not a fan, but I hope you consider liking iM@S! It’s the one thing that brings us together, and by contributing you become a part of it. This is not Kickstarter. This is danketsu. 

If you have any questions, please post in the comments below. Hopefully the site will go live next week. The deadline will be ~Feb. 1st, so think about what you want to write!

1 comment | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Idolmaster, Modern Visual Culture

January 15, 2014

Wizard Barristers: On Consent Searches

By omo

In the United States, the Fourth Amendment puts a limitation on what the government can or cannot do when it comes searching a private individual. TL;DR – what cops can or can’t do to take your stuff. And it’s actually not that hard to get a good grasp of what governs when can a cop take some evidence from you in order to use it against you in a government proceeding (read: trial/prosecution/hearing). The rule of thumb is probable cause. TL;DR #2 – is there a reason to be suspicious of you?

In Wizard Barristers, Cecil basically recites this in front of the two officers who wanted to look into her bag after learning that she’s a Wud. I’m glad Umetsu didn’t use “Wug” because HAHAHA. Aside from that, it kind of occurs to me that anyone who can spit back the general rule for consent searches in a spot like that is probably pretty cool. From a law nerd point of view. And she did it with just a couple sentences.

I mean I can’t do it.

Cecil & Familiar

That said, all I know about Japan’s laws in terms of consent searches is that they’ve modeled their constitution with part to the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution, which includes the Fourth Amendment. (See Article 35.) Which is probably why Cecil spit back the same legal rule (at least, in the Crunchyroll subtitles) as the American version of the issue.

You guys have your guns and tanks. I have my law stuff. Can I get a Penumbra-of-Rights-chan mascot? How about Ford v. Dodge-chan? But I guess since Cecil is just an average anime character, we have yet a long ways to go. By combining a crim-pro procedural plot and a magic sub-class of humans we are maybe half way there. Maybe the Butterfly partners (Chouno & Chouno?) have special powers regarding to law. That’s one level of meta that Umetsu can overcome for sure. It might be dumb, but I’m ready.

Episode one? It’s great, I like it, both jarring and unpleasant yet surprisingly fulfilling at the same time. This is the Umetsu that I know. It also takes the crown for the most “IT’S NOT FOR KIDS” anime this season in terms of the “ADVFilms” era of anime barometry. [Of course the most family unfriendly anime this season is Nourin.] So much for Watanabe’s new show.

PS. The site is kind of useful?

1 comment | posted in Modern Visual Culture, The Law, Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil