Omonomono

March 18, 2013

From Up on Flag School

By omo

From Up on Poppy Hill hails as the first full-length animated feature helmed by a father-son combo. The Miyazakis did a pretty good job here, with its usual features that we’ve came to expect of the typical Ghibli production. Even if it’s an adaptation.

The US dub is, as usual, competent. It falls just short of being a really great dub, but I think it suffices quite well nonetheless.

Watching it on debut weekend on the coattails of the NYICFF takes a bit of air out of it because the screening didn’t count for the box office numbers. It’s kind of weird but those screenings are eligible to be watched by festival pass owners (It’s like $250 or something). Maybe that is why they counted separately.

The real angle I have on this movie is that it has a strange cultural bubble that the narrative swims in. My first reaction after finishing the film was “man, I need to get the JP version and rewatch it.” Thankfully, it will make a fun rewatch. The subdued and awkward teenage drama is as cute as quaint can get. I mean, only if Hyouka was even 10% as cute as this. It’s too restrained to catch up to Whisper of the Heart but this might be the very first Ghibli film since Kondo’s masterpiece which attempted at real teenage awkward-laughing-at.

Poppy Hill makes a very strong parallel with Umi’s home at theÂ Coquelicot ManorÂ and the Quartier Latin, one that is made explicit half way through the movie. I guess it’s typical for the movie to help us out in this way.

In Porco, there was a scene (or two?) where you see these shiny American bombers doing rounds in the sky. I wonder if this is how it feels when Poppy Hill shows us its smoky, 1964 landscapes in Yokohama. It’s all this figurative “flag language” that surrounds the film which makes it doubly more interesting if you knew what it spoke.

PS. I wonder if we can say, fairly, that the difference between Miyazaki Sr.’s film and Jr.’s film being the difference between Shun and Oreki.

Leave a comment | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Kokurikozaka Kara

March 14, 2013

JManga, 2010-2013

By omo

I wish I have something to add to JManga’s last announcement, but I don’t. It’s the imagine conjured up in my mind whenever Japan tries to innovate regarding media. Which is to say, yeah, as much as I love you for trying, you guys just got that proverbial long ways to go left to go. I hope the people who were working for JManga find a nice landing place. I also hope I get to read all the stuff I bought off JManga but didn’t finish reading yet, before they cut the cord.

The saying also goes “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” I think we’re pretty much stuck at that stage of the game when it comes to new media. You have to execute. In fact just willingness of these big corporate dudes in playing the game, as another saying goes, is just half of the battle. It feels none of the execs or corporate bodies on the list of controlling entities are known for innovation. Manga publishing? Hah.Â Maybe you could point and say it’s in the DNA.

It takes an incredibly different mindset to be able to serve the world beyond Japan’s borders, and the truth is nobody over there has proven this is something possible domestically. It’s not that they are incompetent, but it seems like they just don’t get it.

I’m also tired of this naysaying. So instead let’s see what JManga did right after all. It’ll help me switch gears from whining about Google’s decision to kill Reader.

Open up the service more like a title library than a catalog – They listed a bunch of stuff they didn’t translate, but were possibilities. It’s a nice touch.
Bring over guests to cons – You do this, you’re all right in my book–it’s about connecting fans with creators.
Mobile apps – They eventually had this, and it’s increasingly a must for new media to cater to relevant platforms.
Regular communication – For the most part they’re pretty okay at this.
Sales – It’s nice to have. Especially periodically and at first.
High definition images – They exist, although it could be better, it’s good enough.
Translation options – It’s good to have the option to read in raw and in English or any other language available.

…and I’m spent. Fact is I just haven’t used it much. Certainly not enough to really get to know the service–as much as you can after reading a couple volumes and browsing for a while. The downsides and things it got wrong held me back. And that’s the temptation–for every one thing it did right I can probably name 2-3 things it did badly or wrongly. It’s so easy. I remember when JManga launched in 2010 I sent feedback to them about their point system, and in some ways they never outgrew that. Maybe they were doomed from the start.

2 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Modern Visual Culture

March 12, 2013

Eroge Fandumb, Let’s Choke on Maple Syrup

By omo

I was reading Bamboo’s latest blog post about the ailing sales of this stuff over there, and how it’s harder to make a living doing it now than before. Figured I probably should hit up some usual visual novel/bishoujo gaming conversational haunts I looked and then lost my motivation in trying to talk about this stuff. Why? Because the retard to sensible ratio is up in there. It’s not that people are stupid–most everyone have a good point or more they want to make. But that’s all they want to do. They don’t want to actually discuss stuff. I’m probably unfairly characterizing things but it’s sad and pathetic how people bicker over things like translation quality or release dates. It’s like they’re on a sinking ship, arguing what the shade of blue the sky is. It’s also probably a sign: that it’s a scene increasingly drowned out by the “vocal minority” given how it’s a very small scene to begin with.

So instead, I will just link to it here. It helps to have read Akira’s translation to this news bite to get the general background of what’s happening.

For what it is worth, after the interview with nbkz went public, I did buy a copy of ef. I think a big reason is that I realized it’ll never get a physical copy, which is what I really wanted, so I stopped holding out. This is why it will probably never get a physical copy.

Still, I think it’s such a pain to read these forums–it’s like you get the totally clueless-about-game-dev types (are they from the FGC? Please be from the FGC) crossed with the super-entitled pirates crossed with dirty redditors and on top of that, fansub snobs. It would not surprise me that this is partly why we can’t have nice things.

And if Bamboo calls it quits, we may very well have way fewer nice things! I mean, I think I spent like $100 minimum at the MG booth at AX every year. And that’s just AX. I’m seriously hoping that will not be going away. I hope someone can do Bamboo’s rant a reasonable translation, because as you know I can’t.

Finally playing the beginning of ef now, it’s really just aÂ tortuouslyÂ beautiful version of the anime. Should be a fun ride going through it on a flight or something. It’s also in some ways painfully ironic in regards to the severity of the situation.

Edit: I just found out I was linking to the wrong post. So the maple syrup thing probably didn’t make sense. This is the recent rant from Bamboo that was kind of an interesting read. This is another follow up that is, well…

8 comments | posted in Bishoujo Gaming, English Language Modern Visual Fandom

March 12, 2013

The Rehabilitation of Juju Tsukuyomi, Episode 9

By omo

Very mild spoilers. In fact the title of this post is probably more of a spoiler.

It’s hard to put my finger on the pulse of Sasami-san@ganbaranai week after week. It’s like there’s some imaginary point out there in space, where if I stood there and took aÂ panoramicÂ photograph of what’s surrounding me, the end result will be a coherent narrative about what it means to be human and what it means to be god, all at the same time making sense what it means to be Japanese. It’s like one of those 3D perspective artwork that canvasses a sidewalk, where when you look at it from a certain angle, it makes up a different image. Right now I’m just waving my head all over like an idiot, trying to find that perspective.

My Shinto-fu is just not strong enough bro.

Still, I found the whole story behind Juju’s death and rebirth, either via time traveling powers or via a deal with the devil, strangely remarkable. She is a spiritual woman with spiritual powers, even without the super-god-powers and theÂ responsibilitiesÂ it comes with. Maybe it was also because it is one of the biggest Asakawa Yuu roles that I enjoyed in a while. I don’t know.

In the anime we see the story told from Sasami’s point of view. It’s relatively linear as she jumps from timeline to timeline, event to event. Tsurugi met her at one of these points in time. Juju tagged along because somehow she is resurrected in the present and thus also available to be summoned? I’m not sure how it works–probably similar to howÂ Tamamo-no-Mae did its tricks. But I wondered how it seemed from Juju’s point of view.

I guess in the end Sasami handed her powers to Juju, so she can continue to “ganbaranai” lol.Â Sasami’s explanation on the take regarding her attitude is a good response to the “ganbare” notion. It’s awfully Japanese I guess, both ways. But it is at least a thought that could, arguably, be construed as modern criticism. And how can you have an anime about religion without criticism? I thought not.

At the same time, Juju’s spiritual characteristics has to be constructed in some way that transcend merely her religious position and duties. It’s not just that she has, as what the kids call it these days, super powers. It’s not that she can lead a super-shinto cult-like group, although she’s got what it takes. It’s more about how she embodies both what humanists cherish and what religious people cherish, and it expresses itself in a Binding of Isaac kind of piety but also a “Mom will take care of her worthless child so she can blossom” kind of way. Otherwise she would seem like a pale villain rather than someone who Sasami can honestly seek approval from.

It’s both super gross, super offensive, yet somehow everything works. It’s magic. And in truth that’s the real value of spirituality when expressed as a religious belief. It is supernatural, and I don’t just mean the time traveling; I mean how it can deal with things like regret. But that’s just me speaking.

Lastly, I guess this was more Episode 8 material, but it’s good to see Amaterasu owning up being a hikki in rehab. Now that is true divine humanism.

1 comment | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Sasami-san@ganbaranai

March 10, 2013

Ame And Yuki

By omo

Caught Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki, or simply Wolf Children by the way of the NYICFF, from FUNimation. The sold-out showings today also came with a side of Mamoru Hosoda presenting his works to the crowds. He was much more affable this time around than last I saw him for Summer Wars three years ago. I guess he is receiving things well, having won a Japan Academy Prize just a couple days ago.

I’m going to just dive in to the Q&A-related material, because it explains the film very well. Unfortunately it probably won’t make a lot of sense if you have not seen the movie. To that end, let’s just say it’s a great film and you should watch it.

But yes, Hosoda did a great job explaining the film. One of the very first questions during the after-film Q&A was like this:

Q: Why did you make the film so depressing?

*Everyone basically laughs*

Hosoda: How old are you?

Q: I’m 8 years old.

Hosoda: Well, people at different ages might see things differently. While you might think the film is depressing now, when you watch it again when you are 15 or 20 years old, you may no longer think it’s depressing.

There were a few more notes from that question but I don’t remember exactly what they were. What I do remember was that one question/answer lit the lightbulb in my head and it helped me “get it.” I’ll just paraphrase the rest. Basically the idea behind Wolf Children is that he wanted to do a film from the parents’ point of view, and carry it across to the audience (who might very well be children). In fact one of the questions point out exactly how rare it is to have the mother’s point of view throughout the entire film, for the for-the-family, children-friendly animation genre.

The thing with the parents’ point of view is that it is a perspective that is incredibly foreign to children. I don’t really think kids can possibly appreciate it. They might see the film for what it is–which is kind of the story about a single mom raising a pair of wolf-kids. It’s not much for show, and in a lot of ways it’s also not obvious as to how the film’s plot ties in thematically towards the end. But I think if we speak about themes, it’s a truck load of parent-angst. I think that’s one of the most brilliant thing you can do for this genre of films, coming from the “something for the parents and something for the kids” point of view.

Another important theme to the film has to do with how people change as they grow up, much like how Yuki was much more like a wolf but went with humans, and Ame was much more like a human but went wolf. It’s another thing Hosoda explained to another curious actual-kid. On that point I thought Ame’s call of the wild was especially well-done.

At least if you find your dad dead in a ditch after him not coming home one day, you now have something to couch your feelings in. And yes, this was one of the more subtle commentaries Hosoda raised at one point to explain the reason behind that scene.

Lastly, 2 more notes:

It took Hosoda and his team three years to make the movie. Before beginning he and his wife was trying to have a kid. After post-production, he became a dad. It’s a pretty cool coincidence given the nature of this film.

The rain animation was top notch. It’s not CG but it’s definitely the miracle of some quality digital composition. The whole dream-land-flowerscape stuff, just visually wonderful.Â Â Shinkai’s new rain animeÂ might not even top the rain animation here, although it will have to come down to a side-by-side comparison to make a final call.

2 comments | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki