There’s a bit of spoiler for Madoka and Vandred in this post, but it’s actually about speculating Vividred Operation. Go figure.
Winter 2013 on Short Attention Spans
Maybe it’s because there’s almost a dozen short form anime this season that is getting unrivaled amount of attention, but there are not too many things keeping my attention, speaking purely from an anime perspective. Here are a few things that I’ve been gnawing on mentally. Bullet-bolded style?
I really enjoy Maoyu, but somehow it falls short of compelling. I guess it wouldn’t be right to say it is not compelling, as after each episode I wish I had the next one queued up ready to go. To me this is the #1 healing anime this season, partly because it models this really romantic take on a couple whose lives are driven by what they do, not by the romance between them. It is illustrated best by Maou’s hug pillow, both in a literal way but in a way where you actually see what’s going on. In my own experience interacting with people like this, it’s not always obvious. It’s kind of how two working couples can stand their time apart but really treasure when they are together, and the hug pillow is a short hand for that togetherness. It is also some other things, but Maoyu can speak to that itself. I also love how it’s just straightforward, unabashed plot and setting crap 80% of the time.
However it’s not compelling in a way where the Zettai Karen Children spinoff is–that’s just some solid anime. If there’s a quotient for “anime-ness” in anime, this show is full of it. The direction is competent and the plot, while somewhat veering into the path of way-too-familiar, stands enough between the ZKC references and that the setting does have some meat to it. It’s a great primer for people who want to engage the franchise and story without their skeevy-radar go off too much. Not that is a real problem for me anyway. It’s one of those rarely-sung title that somehow pops up on my to-do list every time a new episode comes out, and I make the time to watch it as soon as I reasonably can. For the record, I watched all of 2 episodes of the original Zettai Karen Children.
The Infernal Cop skit where they’re shooting underwater is still the best.
Is it me or Osaka Mama is actually a really serious moe anime? I mean it is serious about moe, not that it is serious.
Magi on CR seems uncensored. Magi on TV, maybe not?
That’s some choice words, Alibaba, for your animator-gods. That got me wondering–if we were to treat Crunchyroll (and by extension TN and FUNi) as channels of their own rights, shouldn’t fansubbers actually care more about raw sources? A Girls und Panzer with and without Katyusha is a world of differences. The broadcast’s calls impact these things, things that can drastically impact the viewing experience  (besides givens like the translation).
Cancer watch: I mean, is there some kind of cancer that is killing anime this season? Vividred Operation? Oh hey. I think if people actually cared about “moe cancer” they would’ve long figured out that it’s just the same handful of people making all this stuff they’re supposedly peeved about.
I thought Sasami-san episode 4 was wonderful, as usual. But I have no words for it this time because there wasn’t any room to talk about it outside the meta. Unless you got a creation tale or some legendary myths about Amaterasu’s body splitting into two or something. You would think given enough time, Shinbo’s work might actually approach that FLCL-esqe sensibility where it only makes sense because you’ve seen the anime in this exact way. This might be the closest he has gotten to that, yet. I mean, it made sense, right? I think another reason why I had little to say about Sasami-san episode 4 was because it is full of fanservice.
Anko mochi is the sweetest. And by sweetest I don’t necessarily mean taste. Tamako Market made sure of that, although in the end it may still sell short of its universal status as the default combination between mochi and filling.
Confession: I was never a Yukarin fan. Outside of Galaxy Angel I just never had anything to latch on. Her solo performer act is a spectacle but for me it was more relatable as an incubator of wotagei moves and an area of study of 2.5D culture than the content. I was still impressed at her moves in Oreshura though. As for Oreshura, unfortunately besides the Jojo references and how the girls may be cute, I’m not sure what else it has going for it. Oh, right, I love the color designs in the OP and ED.
It’s just the me who wants to play Ni no Kuni talking. He knows there’s no way I can watch all this anime and finish the game before 2014. The other me says that Kurousagi deserves my time every week. I’m inclined to agree. It’s not just that she’s a, well, bunny girl in the purest sense. She also is a very alpha-female kind of character that fanfictions would ship for protagonists and self-inserts. I mean, perhaps, if SAO had her instead of Asuna, I might have actually finished watching it. Maybe that’s it–I like girls who are treated like guys by the story (as opposed to the narrative)? I would ice her any day (speaking of games).
It’s kind of like, when people compare Maoyu with Spice & Wolf, I would say, “Horo would’ve eaten the two serfs.” I am kind of glad I skipped on Dog Days completely to go to that camp with Mondaiji. Maybe it is for the best.
Vividred Operation: Vivid Green is Miku, Vivid Blue is Kos-Mos, and Vivid Yellow is Mami (with a hint of Saber). I think that is really cool and I am almost shocked, after the fact, that it took this long for an anime to pull it together.
And that’s the end of my blogging attentions span. Maybe playing long, grinding JRPGs help to grow that. Somehow I doubt it.
PS. I’ve got to stop reading Peter King on Mondays. With the American foosball season over, maybe I will.
The Confession of a Ni no Kuni Flipper
I probably shouldn’t, but I feel kind of weird for flipping a copy of Wizard Edition of Ni no Kuni on eBay after receiving it from Namco Bandai/Digital River. One sentence summary of the situation: Very limited edition release of a popular game gets massive mark-up on eBay, I ended up flipping my copy because I feel bad for the suckers who didn’t get their copies legit. The money is nice and I simply didn’t care for the bonus items that much, as nice as they were. I only got Wizards LE mostly due to Ninostarter and I wanted to support that concept, plus I planned to play the game. It would have been nice if I kept the Wizards LE anyway, but it’s something I can live with.
I’m not concerned about the moral calculus of this transaction so much. I’m more concerned about the nature of this transaction given the price and content. First, if we go by the general idea that Kickstarter is basically a micro-patronage model, then Ninostarter is a fake, a “we wanna let you feel patronized” model. In US terms, $100 for a console game is not cheap, although going by other LEs on the market, it’s well within the ball park.
The thing was, well, it’s  going for over $350 on eBay right now. To put it into perspective, I’ve been tracking the price of the Limited Edition of iDOLM@STER 2 PS3 box, a Japan-only release–that is still roughly about $250 to $320. It retailed for something like 16000 yen. Once it sold out in retail, the price quickly hit about $200-300, supply pending. It just happens that both games are the two only instances that I pondered buying a game that’s actually worth over $250-300 when it was still “new.”
[Is it a coincidence that both are Bamco products? ]
Imagine if we had a Kickstarter for “Amazing Ghibli-animated Level 5 RPG” project, it would probably fund oodles of millions. As it should. And if we had a $200 tier that says “You get this super ultra KS-only edition that has all this good stuff and limited to like 3000 copies, plus only this tier gets the stretch rewards” I bet it will sell out. Which is, I think, what Ninostarter kind of wanted to put the feelers out for.
I think you get what I’m thinking about. Granted a PS3 exclusive JRPG with quality pedigree probably means we’re talking about a pretty big demographic, much bigger than the western anime-buying market. But how is this LE version of game any different than any BD anime (like, say, OreImo) from Aniplex? Other than that people are simply accustomed to buying anime cheaply? Or in most of the cases, I think, serious console gamers often have affinity to anime but aren’t hardcore DVD collectors? Well, I don’t want to justify any kind of price gouging from Aniplex’s side. I just want to point out very simply, that the market for very expensive LE box sets exist in America. I see it. I think the core issue is that people are used to paying for video games on the PS3 (or whichever platform). And even at “collectors only” prices, because video games have long since reached “collectible” status. On the other hand, I think this guy makes the point that anime on home video in America is priced for disposable. Far majority of anime is worthless after a few years out from release.
So the question is: why should it be this way, when it’s clear the very same people who would watch anime (and if you enjoy Ni no Kuni…you probably enjoy anime to a degree by default) can and will pony up the big bazookas when they think it’s worth it? And maybe more importantly, why we should let the anime companies raise the value of anime? And by that I mean not necessarily raising the price, but its value–so it is not so disposable. Think of it like a car–the price of a car is quite high, but it will still maintain a large % of its value after a few years. Or better yet, think of it like comic books. If you got a limited edition of some AAA title that was popular and well-loved, it should not be worth next to nothing 10 years later. I’m not saying it should happen for every single case like this, and I know there are some sought-after R1 releases, but in those cases the company doing the releasing didn’t capture that value (most aren’t LE), so it’s a waste anyway.
The more I think about it, the more I feel there are really 2 sides to this, and that Kickstarter-style of patronage can really bring both together. On one hand, you have the post-retail market forces adjusting prices accordingly, but on the other hand you also want to make it accessible to as many people interested as possible. The KS concept (as it doesn’t apply only to KS, but various variants) can, at the same time, allow pre-retail marketing to both improve value (and thus improve the bottom line) for the seller/licensee/licensor/whoever, and also add value to collectors (eg., Kickstarter backer rewards), meanwhile providing a way for people who aren’t collectors to still enjoy the product (eg., when a Kickstarter finishes and goes retail).
It makes me wonder why FUNi hasn’t tried it yet (a true tiered release). Maybe they have some logistical problem or philosophical issue? I don’t know. I wonder about FUNi because they already employ a  tiered system, but their current system simply undermine the price for their higher tier and devalue their LEs by reducing demand for them.
PS. There is a Zepy slant to this story. Zepy knows a thing or two about retail and video games. I took his advice on selling the Wizard Edition now rather than later, partly because he says the game is more likely disappointing than not. I don’t really have an opinion on it (besides that while I am wary about the grind, the rest of the package is A++) but if the game really takes off, there’s a small potential for the Wizards edition to go up in price by a lot more than even what it is now. However, if we’re to generalize, most of the time LE that sells out and gets artificially inflated in price tend to plateau and drop. People who want the game now will pay more than people who can wait, in a nutshell.
PPS. I rarely go to GameStop, but I did to pick up a copy of the game (regular edition) there. Rare I mean once in a few years. I talked to the guy who sold me the game and he likes it a lot. He even recommended me to use the English dub, saying it’s good. And then he talked about how in the JP dub, it says “ni no kuni” when in the EN dub it says “another world.” I was like, ha. I’m sorry if you are one of those anti-honorifics or pro-honorifics person, but both of you lose. This is too hilarious.
PPPS. Being a long-time reader of Penny Arcade, I found this endorsement a strong one–except I often disliked the games he liked and I align much closer to Tycho (as you may figured). (Also, I wondered about ducks.)
The Tunnelvision of Long Tails
It takes a lot of effort to know what is not popular–what is big and exciting for a niche is often invisible from anyone outside of it. In the rare case, a passer-by can walk around a sprawling and diverse neighborhood and spot a poster at a local theater saying something like this. But I struggle to think of some other means in which someone who is not actively seeking to know a very niche subculture can come to know about it.
On the other hand, everyone knows about the big, mainstream, truly popular stuff. It’s what is on TV when we turn it on, or big video or banner ads at major sites that we read online. It’s what my coworkers talk about during lunch. That stuff is, again, truly popular. Even if what is truly popular often comes across not so different than the very niche when examined purely on content. I mean, what’s special about K-drama or anime versus American soaps and TV serials? I’m not entirely convinced, but some people do consume one or another interchangeably. Maybe for someone who watches a lot of TV shows and is familiar with anime, s/he might miss watching anime after a long  sabbatical. You know, the people who watch anime very occasionally (5 IP or less a year) who occasionally asks another friend about what’s good or popular these days.
Even in this case, there’s a wide gulf between anime and even the trashiest trash Hollywood mass markets to the world. It’s not to say a 20%-scoring film on Rotten Tomatoes is any good, but a work like that is infinitely more “mainstream” entertainment than all but the most remarkable anime. By the same metric we could say that sort of crap is popular. Did it gross $10M in the box office after a month? Yes? Well that’s like, 4 1-cour TV anime series worth of money. It’s just a matter of time Happy Science gets a TV show.
Joking aside, I think I’m just trying to build the case to explain why asking anime to be more “mainstream” is basically asking it to do the impossible. It’s just nostalgia talking. I think if Pretty Cure can last another 10 years it would’ve truly achieve “mainstream” even if it is already mainstream by most definitions. Isn’t this what these people are asking for (admittedly now more strawman than ever)?
Or is it a fanservice-oriented, late-night, adult-only sort of fair like OreImo I mean Game of Thrones? Oh they’re different? Yeah, 50-60 million dollars different. Okay, it was a joke, but I think the core point stands. Call me jaded but what makes mainstream is merely either a delusion in terms of some rosy old-lens of a time when you didn’t know any better, and a lot of money. The most expensive anime TV series ever made only goes up to 10M or so, and I’m not sure if it was considered mainstream by any empirical means.
If we just simply delete the notion that things could be mainstream and boil it down to simply an exercise of finding out how big of a demographic you can get to watch your show, anime in the 21st century comes across as something not so much regressive, but forward-thinking. Let’s set aside the fundamental problems with anime and the way it’s funded–isn’t the current model of anime basically the shotgun vertical approach? You have a bijillion IP going live every year (there were over 200 anime TV and movie titles last year), each title is comparably inexpensive to produce, and sold to niches. It’s like cable and satellite TV in the US–given its capability for great number of channels simultaneously, it encourages programming diversity.* (Here is a list of all TV shows/movies/miniseries that returned and debuted in the US in 2012.) It makes you wonder: a similar list in Japanese would mean ~half of new/returning/ending/reruns of 2012 are anime, wouldn’t it?
Of course, I’ve also ignored all the problems with this model and its limitations. But from a commercial speech diversity/proliferation perspective, anime is really good as a platform. I mean, again, Happy Science? OreImo and the proliferation of the light novel drivel adaptation? Is this what “anime is a medium not a genre” really means? It spans from the highest high-brow creators (see: Yuasa’s Kickstarter) to the most base stuff you can find in a porn shop (joke: maybe see: Yuasa’s Kickstarter). It stretches from high budget, multi-million Ghibli stuff to independently made stuff on Youtube (as thin as commercial speech gets). Because it is made so cheaply on average, it employs cheap looks to tell its stories, and thus enable more people to use these cheap techniques, and enables more people to be able to churn it for profit. It’s a separate question if people actually do make a profit or not, I guess.
In a sense, anime’s distribution problem overseas in the last 10+ years also has to do with that until the west copes with New Media (caps), there wasn’t a stable distribution channel for anime, at least a truly sustainable one. This is why when Suncoast and Borders blew up, or when Best Buy scaled it back, things went to hell. Today retail is heavily online focused, and the rest is being picked up by streaming and digital services–not all that different than other niche programming. And maybe that’s how it is suppose to be. Things like Toonami coming back only signifies that diversity (and to its credit, the anime niche as well) has only increased in the net aggregate on cable television, enabling Cartoon Network to expand back to the future of first-world-focused, for-profit media.
* I think in an earlier post (now in the ether) I’ve written about why increasing number in channels increases diversity, but if you want to know about how it works please ask in the comments. Or any other questions really.