May 10, 2012

Wave of Unbelievably Random Novels Invade Japanese Shores

By omo

[Inspired by this intrepid list of insipid plot-generator-type titles. So, here goes nothing.]

Wave of unbelievably random novels invade Japanese shores

Tenth grader Rinko Kobayakawa is just your average, middle-class Japanese high schooler who likes rock music, fashion and walks to school every day. She, like millions of others like her in junior high school and high school in Japan, spent on average dozens of hours a month reading on their commute or spare time between classes.

“I don’t really remember when it started, but I’ve been reading these light novels ever since fourth grade. All of the sudden these new sorts of books are everywhere and I can’t even find a normal book, like that book about vampires that’s so popular a couple years ago.”

Rinko is more avid of a reader than most, and in a month she can read up to 10 of these light novels–pulp novels in a small form factor, made for teens to read on their commute, often featuring mystery, fantasy and romance as subject matters. Although teens of Japan flock to video games and shows on TV as much as their counterparts in other developed nations, Japan has always been a country that treasured its print media, boasting the largest newspaper in circulation and a publishing industry at about 1.8 trillion yen, or over 21 billion US dollars. However, as with other print markets in developed nations, it is slowly giving way to similar things–games, and mostly, the internet.

“This is an emerging market,” said a mid-level executive at a premiere publisher, name withheld to protect his employer’s image at his request. “Over the past three years we have seen nearly three-fold growth in our light novel imprints, and while the growth is slowing it remains highly profitable. Kids will eat this up, and it gives a wide variety of authors a lot of opportunity to publish something interesting.” Compared to the short period when cell-phone published works like keitai-shousetsu was popular, light novel was still, after all, printed on paper. It gave this particular print publisher some comfort in an increasingly uncertain world in print publishing.

Cellphone novels are not the last attempt for Japanese publishers to make way into the digital realm. However unlike other bigger pushes in recent years, or even Amazon’s recent deal to bring the Kindle to Japan, the cellphone novels attained popularity from its young writers and their convention-breaking styles. Usually using a pseudonym, these writers were able to reach the teens and connected to today’s youth trends and styles. Compared to more traditional print published works, which are stiffer and takes a less familiar tone to the reader, these cellphone novels are written with a casual, if entirely informally or with an experimental voice, as they were given more leeway with what they could write. It narrowed the gap between the reader and the writer, and for many teens that was the connection they were looking for in their entertainment.

Light novels, naturally, quickly took to this style and have also seen its popularity rise as a result. “There are all kinds of light novels out there, but some of them I really don’t understand how or why they could ever be published. I mean, I understand a few of these little sister novels are pretty popular, I read one series and it is pretty funny. But these other ones, I don’t know.” Tabata, another 10th grader, is much more skeptical. “Why are these stories are being published? I mean it feels like anybody can write a light novel these days, and some publisher will print it, and worse, someone will always buy it.” Tabata’s concerns are not unfounded; during the years of explosive growth, new titles are in high demand, and the forgiving readership made it possible for a wide variety of mediocre performers to stay on the market.

As with most pulp fiction, the racy and controversial often sell best. How would parents react to this trend of light novels? Governor Shintaro Ishihara of Tokyo Prefecture, a published author himself, proposed a bill in 2010 that pushed the formation of a government panel that deems certain print work to be adult only. The controversial ordinance, prefaced to protect the youth from exactly the seedy and questionable print content in manga and pulp magazines, solicited mixed responses from the public. “I’m not for censorship, but sometimes I wonder if the comic and novels my son buys in the convenient store are really okay for a minor.” Yoshino Kousaka, the mother of a teenage boy and girl, does what she can to support their hobbies and development. “I know my daughter sometimes like to buy some of these very girly, urban fantasy and romance books, but somehow I’m just more worried about my son getting into it. I mean he is at that age, you know? Maybe it would be best to limit those things. Sometimes I read the titles of these books and I really wonder what is going on.”

Mrs. Kousaka’s concerns are not uncommon. Titles such as I Love My Older Brother But as Long as We Have Our Love It’s OK Right?, A Sister’s Virgin Lips Are Only for Her Brother!, It’s Not Like I Love My Brother at All!!, Am I Not Allowed to Play Footsies with My Sister?, or Why My Tsuntsun Koakuma Sister Became Dere Before Becoming My Waifu are just a small sample of a much larger pool of today’s light novel offering that may draw a discerning parent’s eyes. It’s with caution that Japanese children, teens and parents approach this new trend of media proliferation in the new decade.

[This post is also called “My Big Brother/Boyfriend Is Also an Idol Producer.” I guess that could be the subtitle.]

[And if you can’t tell this is a fictional work, well, you have bigger things to worry about.]

4 comments | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai

May 9, 2012

That Media Blaster Thing

By omo

So basically last week before I took off on vacation the word was that Media Blaster got tagged by the NY State for non-payment of taxes. Knowing MB I didn’t think it was a big deal, since they were probably just putting off taxes as much as they could and probably missed something. But in the forum thread of that ANN post the ignorance came about about how so-and-so is no longer a corporation or whatever. The juice also got juicy when Media Blaster got back to them and stuff that happened that I don’t really care for. There was even some mention of something about some paper at some trade show? I don’t know, but it sounded juicy.

So now I am finally reading it. You can read this, but I think ANN just got it wrong by giving it the wrong spin and obviously Sirabella did not take to it in a way that is all that diplomatic.

If they want to cover legal crap like this, they need a tax lawyer or a tax accountant at least. I mean, seriously, corporate tax law is not exactly the most transparent thing. You’ll need experience to interpret this stuff because it’s more about process and what happens than what some paper may actually say. This is not like getting a traffic ticket. And that goes for the rest of us–if you see coverage of commercial legal preceding that does not have some lawyer being quoted on this stuff you will need to take it with a grain of salt. Furthermore, if you see someone quoting from the statute (as opposed to just referring to it) in a news article that is not actually about the statute, it is usually a red flag that whoever is writing about it is not a subject matter expert. I mean, com’on now, the average state tax code is already an alien language to most lawyers, how can you expect the average anime geek to understand it?

Well, I don’t want to be too harsh. This sort of thing happens all the time now, especially in tech reporting given the various patent and copyright wars being waged by these tech firms. But it really is not an easy thing to understand. I can say with good confidence that at least when it comes to copyright, even lawyers don’t understand it, it’s that complicated. So to me there’s a great need, an unfulfilled need in reporting in this area, especially when you have these horde of poorly paid, inexperienced bloggers writing up the news online, may it be Gawker or ANN or any other site.

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

May 9, 2012

CD Shopping List: May 2012

By omo

It has been forever since I did one of these. So, just a list of things to talk about–some I ordered, some I physically have, some I am thinking about of ordering. Some links with CDJ affiliated codes.

Third Planet – One thing that I like a lot about Sphere is their ability to put out an okay-sounding album despite being a gaggle of seiyuu idols that on paper didn’t seem like that they could. The two previous releases were so-so on average but they do grow on you, as opposed to a lot of the idol stuff that I just find outright repulsive and at best indifferent. I haven’t been excited about any Sphere singles since Now Loading Sky, so I’m going into it with a lot of caution. Hazy is probably the only bright spot for me. And just like last time, I’m going for the middle-tier instead of those crazy expensive sets.

The iDOLM@STER crap – Speaking of repulsive… I’m probably equally repulsed at my desire to purchase them and the quality of the music itself. I am able to keep my spending at bay largely because the two forces balance out each other. It’s not like there aren’t any iM@S music that is worth listening to, it’s just by and large this is not the case. If broducers out there think otherwise, I apologize, but I have no illusions. That said, comparatively speaking, the iM@S stuff at least have good production value. Between the DLCs and the sparse amount of music for purchase (often packaged in that low-value, suck-you-dry methods) I’ll probably buy very little. Also, I’m not really hooked into the marketing train for this and I don’t really keep track what is coming out besides the G4U discs and the DLCs.

Sakamichi no Apollon OST – I love the soundtrack. This is like what I wished Bebop would have been. White people jazz, man. The real question is, given how Watanabe and Kanno obviously know they can make good scratch from the music (and half of it are just improvs of existing songs!), how will they do it? A splashy web site just for the soundtracks? It’s really telling when they barely have that info in the “music” tab, leaving you to ponder if it’s worth buying Yuki’s single, more because of the trumpet solo and being penned by Kanno, instead of her signature screech. At least they’re giving some props to the drummer and pianist responsible for the in-anime pieces, which is great. I think the breakdown is that Kanno plays the keys for her compositions and Matsunaga Takashi plays the jazz standards. And what is up with that outtakes thing?

Red Planet – So from earth we go to mars, and Akino Arai is always a trustworthy source of moody stuff. This one reaches way back to Aria S3? I was never a fan of hers but I always thought highly of her music, so this is like, the one opportunity for purchase I probably shouldn’t pass up.

Owari no Wakusei no Love Song – Anyone like this? On paper this sounds like audio gold, but when I tried out the PVs none of them were particularly interesting. Seemed pretty much a waste of Nagi’s big guns. Nonetheless I am still kind of interested.

IA/01 – BIRTH – Speaking of weird things, I picked up that IA album. I mean, just in general: LIA in a can? That’s like, a chicken that lays golden goose eggs. And now you get this 4-disc set with a set of 2-disc IA mixes (half of it is just like your average vocaloid dance pump), a demo of IA, and then a disc of data from that delicious PV from Hosogane Takuya? This is good bang for the buck.

Birthday – ClariS’s first real album is just mostly a singles collection. Out of the new tracks there was one that I liked. But overall this is pretty solid dancy pop stuff that I can listen to for a long time. I like to think of tiny hats, partly because of this man, but more because it sums up the feeling when you listen to this crap. I think this album marks a precious moment in time in which this perfectly 2.5D mystery 2-person group captures the imagination of a bunch of people despite being nothing really extraordinary in themselves. Things can only go downhill from here, I think.

Aquarion EVOL OST – This is on the horizon, and it reads like the same Macross Frontier nonsense that Kanno and Kawamori cooked up back then–a bunch of vocal songs along with background tracks here and there. BLESS4 should provide eerie equivalence in terms of the approach to vocals as Mamegu and May’n–the FULL POWER TO ENGINES approach–except that there are dudes in the group, and that would be pretty cool for a change.

Petit Pas – This is more like a semi-mini-album with its play time, but it’s surprisingly good. I guess I went into it expecting the abyss, and it ended up being okay. It’s still a case where the voice is holding back the music more often than it is helping the music, I’m afraid. Maybe next time Aoi-chan. Actually this is kind of how I feel about both Hoshizora Destination and Sinfonia Sinfonia, except the former has pretty decent sounds thanks to Round Table-ness, working well with that sweet moe koe.

That Tell Your World single? It’s actually pretty good, which would explain how well it sold, Google ad not withstanding.

The two Chihayafuru OSTs are terrific. On one hand the tracks run the range necessary for a show that is quite exaggerated with both comedy and tension, on the other hand there’s this classy feel that the sound tries to maintain, making you feel all… 100 poets and what not the whole time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s still pretty good. It’s definitely one of the best, among solid, traditionally themed anime soundtrack available that I liked, in recent years.

Perhaps the most disappointed thing I heard lately is Artery Vein. In a way I didn’t expected much about it going in, as someone who never was quite wowed by Mingosu’s vocals; I didn’t come out with a better impression. I think KitaEri did admirably but the two together did not scratch any kind of itch. To put it in perspective though, it is still quite good for “seiyuu music.” I think the potential is there, they just need to get someone to write something good.

That’s it for now. There are probably some stuff that I left out, but oh well.

5 comments | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

May 7, 2012

Racism By Polity, Racist Jazz

By omo

Japanese people have a reputation when it comes to music. This is clearly not the case as Japanese students seek to hone their arts in world-class schools all over the globe, on an individual basis, but as a culture we do stereotype that group with certain inclinations. Well, from the eyes of Americans, maybe it extends to all East Asians.

I mean, here’s another way to say it. If you want to talk about the music in Sakamichi no Apollon, you better be, at the minimum, racially aware of the things that comes out of your mouth. Because saying things like this is…unfortunate. Please just don’t.

Let’s try again. Talking about jazz in Sakamichi no Apollon is fundamentally a discussion that will involve race. And what makes me laugh is when I heard that “coon” language in episode 4, I laughed. It’s an Inception meme of a Japanese attempt at portraying American White-Black racism IRT jazz. Which is to say, Sakamichi no Apollon plays like an Asian when it comes to racism. And in case my point isn’t clear, that phrase is no praise. But just like Japanese automotive engineering, it is almost invariably the case that we’ll get a quality product that will satisfy many, but doesn’t quite get to the heart of it. The soul. There’s nothing wrong with Sakamichi no Apollon, certainly no more wrong than being Japanese can be wrong. But it reminds me more of your average shoujo manga than anything that I’ve seen or read in media that deals with racism. Much like hot rods like the 2014 NSX or the IS-F are likely no match to their European or American counterparts.

But as far as the game of race-music association goes, I think much can be said of jazz music and who played it in 1912, as well as who played in 2012. That it has got some kind of race tag to it. Except it’s kind of like how more white people listen to rap than black people in America?

Personally I could not really get myself to care about Apollon’s race themes, as I mentioned before, it feels like fanservice. Repeat it with me:  a Christian, half-American [boy] born out of wedlock. When I visited my alma mater a few years ago the undergrad jazz majors were putting on a show in the atrium of the building where I was. It is a school with a strong tradition in jazz, and the jazz majors there were predominately black (more because it is a cheap state school located in an urban area). But I saw a couple white dudes at the drums–which reminded me of my undergrad roomie who played the drum for the jazz club (at a different school), a white, upper-class New Englander. Does it matter? Do we even know what it means, as Akira pointed out?

Now when it comes to classism, I can expect anime and manga to get it right.

22 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Modern Visual Culture, Sakamichi no Apollon

May 2, 2012

Seiyuu Senryaku

By omo

About 2 years ago I begin to follow some people, either via tumblr or twitter or soup or some such, who post pictures of seiyuu. As more and more radio shows and events get broadcasted via Nico or Ustream or whatever, more images have been popping up beyond the usual semi-pin-up scans from the various seiyuu magazines, blogs, and what have you. Actually with things like twitter and iPhone proliferating in Japan, there has been a lot more images floating out there just because. There are even more seiyuu mags nowadays compared to 2 years ago.

I’m not sure why this is the case, but as I alluded previously there is a distinct 2.5D advantage for seiyuu. The recent seiyuu boom, at any rate, coincides with me trying to learn the names of all the “popular” voice actresses via following image blogs. You know, the average blog might label the people in the photos, and half the time it’d be written the way it is. And it’s as good of a time to learn it as any.

It was somewhat of a learning curve since as far as recognizing kanji it is not a big deal for me. What was the big deal is remembering what the name is suppose to spell out as. Names are tricky after all because they don’t always say what you think they say. I still remember when I first started I probably recognize only 20% or so of what’s out there. Now?

Here is a list of popular voice actresses that I saw this morning (sorted by the # of roles they had in 2011 I believe). And I can recognize them all now! This is notable because for the longest time I have followed the seiyuu scene (albeit from afar) but it isn’t until recently that I started recognizing their names in Japanese.

I might still make fun of people learning Japanese through anime, but I don’t doubt its impact (which seems to be proportional only to how much effort you put in learning and working with the foreign language). Perhaps, this is more a demonstration of the power of mokkori in the educational context. I think.

 

3 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop