Category Archives: Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

April 23, 2008

I Am a Bad Seiyuu Junkie

By omo

Confession: I watch anime, at times, purely for the voice actress.

It’s really sad. I almost wish I want my time back after some of these experiences.

I want to make a distinction, though. A lot of people like a certain voice–Norio Wakamoto is one popular example–because they like that voice and the way the actor does his or her thing. And that is great. There are some actors like that for me, too, and I would go out of my way to check out a show done by that person. What’s interesting is that a lot of people who don’t normally pay attention to voice acting still gets hooked by some of the more amusing performances, and that is remarkable. If I was Mr. Wakamoto I’d be surprised that all these non-Japanese speaking people like my works.

But what I’m confessing is worse. For example, as much as I’m all “notokawaiiyonoto” about it, I think Mamiko Noto’s boy voice really … isn’t all that. Perhaps the voice itself is exactly what the director wants out of that character, but it hurts to watch. Still, I’m going to watch Kanokon. And I respect the Ayako Factor. Or recall how Kawasumi did her Mahoromatic role with such vivid memory and superimpose that onto Kanokon.

Times like this I wish I was a green, mean pet alligator.

But being human, we are called to a higher level of existence. We should recognize how funny episode 3 of Kanokon was, not just because it lampoons, but because of how it lampoons and what it lampooned. Is this what people get out of radio shows? Or phone sex? WTB more Saito Chiwa lines. Or Mai Nakahara lines, if that’s more appropriate.

But all that is second to what some junkies get out of a fairly pedestrian comedy affair–by all means, don’t watch shows like this.

Why can’t these enjoyable voice actresses just work on shows that are worth watching? Nana Mizuki finally stars in a show that I can stand to watch, so I guess I should be glad for what I can get.

Maybe I should be content about Kanokon’s massive dose of fanservice, and watch Kanokon in silence. Sadly it just doesn’t work.

 

1 comment | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

April 16, 2008

Nine Years with Maaya Sakamoto

By omo

It’s weird, but today I thought about Maaya Sakamoto.

Her debut in Escaflowne was back in 1996, a journey of 12 years. I took notice of her pretty soon after that and was following her pretty much since then. Whoops?

But what was especially memorable to me was the song she released along with Platinum on the single, named simply “24.” If you recall Platinum was a bit of a hit and it rode the CCS wave during its hottest hour. That was 1999. I thought 24 was a cute song in a clumsy “lol engrish” way and the general idea behind the song was encouraging. I guess that was a time in my life where I had a lot of personal struggles, so it stuck.

Sort of like how every time I listen to Break of Dawn I think of Everquest, because I’d be listening to it hours on end on EQ binges. (…often when the dawn breaks…) Sigh.

Perhaps it is just that I listen to her music quite often, it’s gotten to a point where I’ve started to associate her songs to random memories I’ve had. It isn’t like I particularly like her songs, even if they are pretty soothing. It just sticks?

Still, what’s amusing is the continuing development of Sakamoto as a musician over the past decade or so since her first solo album. It’s hard to say for me, as I did not really keep a detailed tab on her career. And there was always the Yoko Kanno factor to consider. But others have, and that’s all we need.

But man, recalling seeing some early day videos of Sakamoto when she was barely out of high school, compared to her more recent sighting in musicals and in American con appearances… she’s doing well.

So why “24″? I thought it was a clever dual-use of the number both as a time notation and as an age limit. You can think of it in terms of the societal norms of women in Japan, but I think of it more generally–as a generation of young adults looking for direction in a rapidly changing world. Maybe you can interpret it differently. But that’s what is so great about it.

 

5 comments | posted in Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

December 10, 2007

Crying Manly Tears – The Confession of a Makkun Fan?

By omo

I love anime songs for some reason. I blame my weak will power under attack during a period in my life when I was impressionable (freshman in college).

I’ve spent some time thinking about it on various occasions–and often while listening to anison while doing that. The conclusion, every time, was pretty much that music (and creative expression as an outlet of my generally repressed personality) was a growing part of who I am. I find myself surrounded by it and it’s a black morass, an endless pit of artistic swirls paving the fun, enjoyable, but fruitless sinkhole of time and energy. Music is the language of the soul, but where is my soul going?

And I’m not alone. Things like MySpace speak volumes of the similar spiral towards destruction traced by countless others. Having some idea how a recording are made in this day and age we all question the authenticity of artistic expression in its most common mode–radio and CD recordings. The simple act of making music is mixed into the industry of producing music celebrities. It’s the timeless dilemma of a pursuit of truth and beauty.

Still, I believe people have this innate programming that makes us recognize truth as confronted by it, and praise those that are beautiful. Is why I cry manly tears of hotblooded courage while watching a JAM Project live? Is this why Heart Shaped Chant is so enthralling (and it’s not even my favorite Nana song)? Is that why XKCD is my favorite webcomic for some time? Or find fellow Asian-kins quitting their jobs in search of a living by using good ajax code and promoting the indie sort of fun? Is this why people care about that open letter?

It’s silly. But it’s about soul. Maybe that’s what made me a Makkun fan in the first place. Being an oversea Makkun fan was hard as for a long time she was pretty much just your typical Star Child artist. Seeing her music evolve was interesting as she switched producers and tried to inject more of her personality in her works (at the cost of fans, probably). Eventually she slowly switched from a typical idol kind of promotion to a rock musician type of promotion. Some of it was corny but some of it was pretty fun too. It’s like she’s actually serious about this, but from my outsider perspective I don’t really know anything concrete.

But I think the anison scene can use more people like her. And people like the rest of JAM Project. And people who are willing to come together for passion and also for a living. I’m not sure why people like myself react to them the way I do. I’m not sure if anison is for people who are still kids inside. I’m not even sure if anison is something to be taken seriously. But for the passionate, the young-at-heart and the responsible folks out there, if they have a blast doing the thing they love and still make enough money to support themselves and be responsible human beings, well, then all the power to them.

And yeah, that is why the anison scene can use more Animelo Lives, as a corporate testimony of a meeting of spirits, of fire-branded souls screaming for joy at a festival of epic awesomeness.

6 comments | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

December 2, 2007

Attempting to Write a Holiday Shopping Guide Is Harder Than It Should Be

By omo

So this year, like the past few, I’m doing some gift-giving over the internet. There are some charitable causes I usually support, such as Penny-Arcade’s Child’s Play. I also do my usual holiday gifting just to personal friends and family. It can be hard to find a good present for the occasion, for the person, and for the price.

So I’m not going to worry about it. That’s part of the charm point of a thoughtful giver, after all. Instead I will share a couple things.

Secret Santas. Secret Santa is sort of a North American/Europe thing that’s caught on the recent years. It’s yet another true example of retail-driven culture but this one is fun over the internet. I know some of my RL friends do it just to save money because it makes no sense spending little money to give little presents to all your friends and they to theirs, when we can do a gift chain and buy something nicer. But in some of my online circles we do this just because it becomes the only way feasible, once you include shipping and the fact that we may be in very different circumstances financially.

If you don’t know what Secret Santa is, you can read it on Wikipedia or something. The way we do it online is using some smart guy’s code (who…should really package this as some kind of web service and make a killing selling ads…) that will allow people securely sign up, deposit their names and addresses without anyone knowing, during a set period. At the end of the period everyone comes back and confirms their participation in the SS, in the period of a week or so. After that the software will automatically create a Secret Santa chain. With a computerized service you can add preferences such as shipping (in the country? out of country?), gender matching (if necessary, such as in a professional/business setting), and even cost of gift desired. Within the limitation of the friends you participate with, of course. You may have one administrator who keeps the ball rolling and keep the participants up to date, but the system can even keep the personal information of everyone secret from the admin until you get someone who is delinquent on sending presents. Unavoidably, your Secret Santa will have to know your address to get your present delivered, but that’s part of the game.

It’s fun! Over the years I’ve gotten all kinds of things, and found others who received all kinds of things. And sometimes it’s good to receive random Simoun DVDs in the mail >_> Anyways, just wanted to share with you all another mean and reason to give and share. It’s good stuff.

The other thing I want to share is, well, along that “Simoun DVD” line of thought. And hopefully not too, heh, harsh.

That’s right, it’s a shopping guide. Sort of.

For your mainstream seiyuu-pop fan who doesn’t import much: Nana Mizuki – Great Activity. It’s probably the best selling seiyuu album since who-knows-when, if ever. Go buy it for your friends if they don’t have it already.

For your seiyuu-pop fan who imports way too much: Claymore Character Songs Image Album. It’s not something you want to be caught buying or listening, but that’s why it makes a good gift. If asked you can feign ignorance by listing the famous voice actresses that’s a part of that monster of a CD, from the likes of Houko Kuwashima to, hey, the 17sai oi oi club.

For your Yoko Kanno freak: AKINO – Lost in Time. Not to mention that a typical Kanno freak would have had all those songs on their soundtrack collection, isn’t she pretty on this cover? Plus there are two more tracks unique to this CD that won’t be worth their money, but would make a pretty good present. And you can always borrow it from them afterwards!

For the anime soundtrack soaker: Heroic Age – Original Soundtrack 1 and 2. I ranted on this before, but for that grand symphony stuff, Naoki Sato is doing something right with these. The vocals aren’t too terrible either, IMO. Regardless if you’ve seen the anime, this is some great stuff.

For the old-school anime pop fan: Halko Momoi – Kappa Densha Cover Best. It’s an older item but I recommend it only because I’ve yet to see anything this year that held so much sentimental potential in it. I’m not really a Momoi fan but this CD manages to get a hold of me simply because she choose some very, very remarkable songs and delivered them well. And I mean it not just in the vocals (as she’s a bit of love-or-hate) but also in the arrangement by other musicians.

For your epic live goer: Animelo 2007 – Generation A. This is probably one of the best DVD of anison show this year. And if that doesn’t do your I CAN FLY, scream-your-lungs-out fanboy or fangirl, last year’s Animelo DVDs are half the price! (Ok, so they add up to the same, but that’s way less than what I paid.) Oh, Animelo also features a good bunch of anison artists, from Momoi (this year) to even Chiaki Ishikawa (last year), so there’s a huge range of ’em on these discs.

For your old school hardcore anime connoisseur: Escaflowne Remastered Box. The problem with this set is not just the price but also lack of the English language subs. But if you’re like me, you probably don’t need subs for a show that’s been viewed so many times. And if whoever you’re giving it to is old school enough, you can just whip that genlock out and plug the script in, and sub it yourself?

For the well-traveled, neophyte otaku: Pop Japan Travel tour. They’re a LA based travel agency that does…well, you know. It’s probably too late for fuyukomi but there’s still time for Jeff Lawson to sign up for their Sapporo Snow Festival. Kita E amirite? I think they’re taking sign-ups for some silly gothloli tour and a trip to Otome Road, too.

For the figure collector’s girlfriend: A. Oryzae plush. If that is too hard to find, then you can just buy the first volume SE as it comes with a talking version of said thing. From your latest Noitamina show about agriculture, Moyashimon, bacteria and microscopic fungus take shape and leap off the pages of your biology textbook.

For the yuri-inclined: Oh, right, I mentioned Simoun ($14 for like 6 episodes!), but there’s this Candy Boy nonsense that might be a good buy as well, which you can view for free before buying from the Amazon link there. The 8-minute feature is on a DVD and comes with a CD.

Lastly, for the tame anime fan who does not import: Kamichu boxset. Get it while it’s still available! Totally not because I’m biased or anything, but this is the rare little gem people just don’t know about. From what is used to be Geneon Entertainment’s DVD distro branch.

And that’s it (for now). I hope that helps.

6 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Modern Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

November 29, 2007

Touka Gettan Episode 21

By omo

Wow, WTB moar Notokawaiiyonoto.

Colorful

The name of the colors are lovely.

So is the simple b&w trick. Actually all of Touka Gettan has very good color, and it conveys this sense of an exorbitant fantasy to the atmosphere of the show.

Thanks to tenacious fansubbers with a love for the strange, Touka Gettan has been fully subbed for some time. However its backwards (literally) narrative and a fancy towards the silly makes Touka Gettan a difficult watch. It’s especially difficult to take seriously when you have such straightforward characters mixed with an otherworldly sense of humor.

But at the same time, enjoying Touka Gettan is possible if you abandon some of the more traditional limits to viewing anime. There’s no reason why you can’t skip around and just watch the episodes you like. There’s no reason why you can’t fast-forward through the episodes focused on the overall plot, and take your time and refresh yourself with older episodes. There’s also no reason why you can’t just watch episode 21 over and over again. And there’s no reason why you should watch all of it. Its narrative confining the backward story makes it possible to enjoy many of the episodes stand-alone once the viewer obtains some introductory knowledge about Touka Gettan’s world.

And as a novelty, Touka Gettan episode 21 is penned by the voice actress Mamiko Noto. Episodes 13 (lol onsen episode) and 11 are penned by voice actress Maria Yamamoto. Episode 18 (lol beach episode) is penned by also voice actress Ai Shimizu. Plus, some of the episodes in the series are basically Yamibou cameos. What surprised me was when finding out which episode exactly Noto wrote only after watching it. Needless to say the fans who found this gem generally praised it.

I guess it’s episodes like these that makes Touka Gettan so good. And it’s probably why I’ll continue to watch it even now, albeit with a slow and premeditated pace, at a random order. To Touka Gettan’s credit, most of the episodes I watched commanded my attention to some extent, so I think any order is a good order.

5 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop, Touka Gettan