Okay, so people might have a point about the retreat into the niche market when it comes to releases for shows that, by the Iyadomi interview, Bandai Visual Japan and Aniplex pricing.

But it’s times like this we need to remember why we don’t have a Tatami Galaxy release yet. Funimation’s release model doesn’t work for everything under the sun. If we are to agree that anime is just a style/medium sort of thing, like TV shows and films, then we have to agree that some films will sell to a mainstream audience and some will not. How do we bring commercial viability to the widest array of ideas in anime? Are there any limits? If we treat “freedom of animation” as a goal then I can’t help but to think that there are few, if any, drawbacks to Bandai’s retreat from the US market. Rather, we gain the benefit of either having other players picking up titles at a lower cost, or having Japanese releases for the titles that wouldn’t sell under a Funi-style or S23-style model. It opens things up.

The drawbacks, as far as I can tell, are mostly in how markets adjust for prices. For one, some anime might be more expensive to purchase in the future. I think expensive anime is inherently a bad thing in that proliferation of idea require a low cost of entry. Expensive and hard-to-obtain anime invariably means fewer people will be able to see it. This is partly remedied by legal streaming and fansubbing, except the latter doesn’t promote things as it brings no dough home to the creators, at least by itself. It’s kind of a wash anyway, if we prize the proliferation of ideas–people will be able to watch what they want, the means to do so is sufficiently liberated that even people in third-world countries can do media piracy with increasing ease. And it really is not related to Bandai Entertainment’s retreat anyway, since North America has no 3rd world nations…and Bandai’s business doesn’t really have much of an impact on piracy to begin with.

The other drawback has to do with someone stranding a bunch of titles. This is a legitimate issue. I mean I suppose Bandai will still take care of its Gundam titles in some way, at least to make it purchasable with enough localized content slapped on it. I’m not so sure if same can be said about bigger titles like, say, Haruhi (if there’s ever any more new Haruhi), or their newly-stranded shows like Nichijou. Let alone their more niche shows. But Iyadomi at least said the rights will revert and Kadokawa can go shop around once again, for the new stuff. I’m not sure how that is going to play out, but it seems at least some care was taken to it so that stuff doesn’t get “stranded” too badly. And given it’s just one show, I don’t see too much of a harm, at least compared to the potential sequels that will get their heads segmented by different companies releasing parts of it.

[And of course, there are the manga orphanages, but I’m going to focus on anime on this post.]

I think given those pitfalls, if we look at what Funi is doing with certain properties, it really isn’t so different. I think it still comes down to that somebody out there has to be at least doing the work of localizing the stuff, making it available, and selling it at the right price. Funi and what used to be Bandai Entertainment did this. It is still a loss that we now have one less company doing that, so I wish nothing less than more of what Funi does basically. But it’s not just Funi, but every other company doing it–including Bandai Visual over there, or Aniplex. Or those blokes picking up titles I want to import in the UK or Australia.

I think it is better to categorize Funimation’s licensing strategy as piecemeal as they start to work with new media and expand their revenue stream. I also think they’ve made some big mistakes, along with which their gravest is their poor agility in the online space and inability to rectify it. I mean if this was 2008 maybe starting your own social ecosystem may make sense, but not in 2011. It is worth noting that Crunchyroll has dropped that even before wasted attempts like Funi’s beta site (and things like, lol, Mikubook) even saw the light of day. They are trying to do all the right thing, just 2-3 years too late. Its chain of partners seems like a smarter move, but I think it exasperates the piecemeal problem.

By piecemeal I mean the same copyright issue that international media distribution has. And in anime’s case it happens all the time. Especially when you are trying to identify and establish branding–anime IP is so poorly marketed that it makes more sense for local distros to focus on lines and brands and squeeze titles under it, essentially have these titles work in a team to lift everything in the line. And it works well when you have marquee titles (Funi has a few to say the least). But when your shows is everywhere, and some shows are in site X and others in app Y, it paints a confusing picture that benefits more so for the sites that hosts them and give little long-term benefit for the company that actually owns the right. Of course, unless those people are already following what the company is doing–in other words, not really the mainstream.

On the bright side, nobody else doing physical distro is even close to what Funi has done. So uh, yeah.

I suppose that just can’t be helped. I mean I don’t know how Funi is run, but it sounds like a fun place to work. It also clearly doesn’t run like a start-up, at least from the top-down. So how can it compete in the new media space? I’m not sure it has the resources to do so, even if it is relatively inexpensive.

Inexpensive enough that Nicovideo is charging us $0.25 for some anime, and you get a lot of NASA programming for free! Weeee.

I think more relevantly, it’s inexpensive in that Japan can pony up and front it. They still will need help but it would be way better than, say, Toei’s failed attempts.

When we talk about, in a broad sense, what a market adjustment looks like, I think we’re just seeing it playing out in this marketplace. Sometimes it’s all internal, like what has happened to Media Blaster recently and its continuing rounds of HR issues. Sometimes it’s not. So I say let’s just keep our course and look at what will happen next.

Omohide Poroporo is clever. It’s actually quite like Ocean Waves in a sense–both are stories that set up a “head trick.” Only Yesterday uses the script to wrap things up with a well-projected and yet somewhat surprising anyway turnaround. Ocean Waves…well it literally turns around.

I watched Only Yesterday only once before, about 12 or 13 years ago. Back then I thought it was a long and tedious affair with some really outstanding moments. I also thought the ending was clever because it has a consistent theme that is wrapped up in such a dramatic but subtle fashion. Unexpectedly, my opinion didn’t change at all after this rewatch.

I think it boils down to the whole farming concept, growing, etc; while that allegory is much clearer this time around, it isn’t any more exciting. Maybe it is clearer because the official subs translated the ending song? I don’t remember if the fansub I saw back way back had that. Probably did.

Other things still did not change:

Rainy day, cloudy day, sunny day, which do you like best?

Best pickup line from anime ever.

Actually, it feels almost like 5cm/s in the way the song encapsulates a strong feeling of nostalgia yet conveys succinctly what the movie was trying to say. The ending theme to Only Yesterday might be my favorite out of all of Ghibli’s endearing list of end themes.

Well, Pom Poko has a great theme too. And I guess my opinion of Takahata might have improved over time. Still my least favorite director from Ghibli though.

Surprisingly, I also felt zero ounce of nostalgia rewatching Only Yesterday. I guess the problem still is that ultimately Omohide Poroporo is about growing, nurturing a flower or some such, and growing plants is, well, boring. Among miracles it is by far one of the least exciting.

Pom Poko #2 was really a bonus watch. I actually bought the tickets well in advance but unintentionally. It worked out since I was going to see Only Yesterday anyway. The dub is quite excellent, even if it toned things down (with the ball jokes especially). Only if more anime get Disney quality dubs…

One more observation: I saw Pom Poko earlier just the day before I saw it again, and it was during prime time, with a bunch of adults in the theater. There were maybe half a dozen kids. There’s this group of people (I’d guess college kids) that laughs really inappropriately; that’s fine for Pom Poko. The second time I saw it was during the afternoon with the dub, and all the kids laughed only when the right cues came on. And there were like a ton of kids, like two or three dozens. Kids are definitely better behaved than adults! Don’t let Taeko tell you otherwise.

The eight and ninth (it doesn’t look like I’ll hit 12!) so-called challenges are 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.

Redline, the Madhouse anime film, is making its round in the States with a couple screenings here and there. The NYC one was on Friday and I skipped out on work early (probably with some consequences to face me later on this weekend…) and caught a late matinee, and that gave me enough time for a quick bite before catching the subbed version of Ghibli’s Pom Poko during prime time.

So, yeah, that Mexican truck just up the street from the IFC Center…not too shabby with reasonable prices! I’d recommend it. Or maybe I’m just weak against a nice, piping fresh tamale.

Anyway; Pom Poko is probably the most cartoony film with Miyazaki’s name to it, to me. It’s a goofy story about animals that behave like human beings. About their conflicts with actual human beings. It’s kind of trippy in that the humans in the show acts in ways, by the time you’re neck-deep in the film, that betray their humanity. It almost seemed the Tanuki clans are more human than human. Only if they were androids or some such.

I’ll leave the eco-preaching (to be fair, it really isn’t preach as much as directly saying it to your face) and grinding of inaka value into dirty, evil, material and inhuman urban values to people with things to grind against. I’m just going to say that this is also possibly the funniest and ballsiest Ghibli film. And unlimited pun works is in full play.

I mean it takes some special kind of “kintama” to make a film basically decrying the urban sprawl and irresponsible transformation of Japan’s hilly urualscape in the name of serving the expanding population. The whole only-humans-kill-tanuki thing is kind of like Proco Rosso’s srsbzns about war and fascism, versus pirates and bounty hunters actually shooting machine guns at each other. Indeed, they are not fighting a war. Or are they? This pacifist but actually physically violent sort of thing is a consistent Ghibli imagery. So instead of beating up humans, the Tanuki should take a cue from Wikipedia and post some really sad looking faces on website to solicit money to buy out land for a conservation?

I just call this the fundamental driving mentality behind what is more commonly called “soft power.” Is soft power dangerous? Does it even work?  See, I like that narrative–the Tanuki go and do their magic things, wow humans, but some guy just takes all the credit. Is this kind of like the animated work that Ghibli (or pre-Ghibli) did for oversea works and they get no credit? It’s kind of ironic but at least it fits properly. How about the foxes? Are they those Japanese people who has turned their backs on their countrymen and tries to make a profit on it?

There’s all kinds of reads into this film. It’s ballsy. But unfortunately it’s also kind of all over the place. That’s on top of how half the humor doesn’t come through unless you also have the cultural background; albeit it is already funny as is to this gaijin.

Switching gears, Madhouse’s Redline is fluid, 21st century animation. I don’t know, it’s kind of like dipping your eyeballs into this crystal clear, sugary solution that cools the soul and tickles it dizzy. I still find the middle portion of the film dull (basically the segment after you see Sonoshee’s tits until the cars drop from the spaceship), but the big screen presentation blows the Blu-ray presentation away. It’s just incredible, and I highly recommend it if you are remotely interested in some of the best animation last decade has to offer.

The seventh (and maybe 8th?) 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 and Redline from Anchor Bay.