March 11, 2012

Anime OP: Part 1.5

By omo

You can read about part 1 here. I originally promised only 2 parts but I want to list some OP that is not on my all-time anything list. I think they’re nonetheless interesting examples, if not stellar ones. Or okay, at least educational. Maybe. Definitely if I removed more SHAFT crap in there.

Again, this is sorted roughly by age. And again, these are just here for your references [/butthurt disclaimer].

ef-memo OP1 OP2 ef-melo OP1 OP2

I think what’s remarkable about this … line of OP is how it works as a narrative device in the show, just like a pan or a dutch angle shot or the ED whiplash does to add dramatic tension and be just entertaining. Nothing is sacred. And if there’s one thing attractive about SHAFT x SHINBO, that is it: there’s nothing sacred on the visual field. I think Oomura took it to heart but judiciously applied it, with the results that we have.

I also admitted to cheating by listing 4 items under one. But it’s in the weirdness that the difference between the two OPs is a narrative device that makes this shebang remarkable. I mean, isn’t it beautiful? It’s like telling a story about our differences, and it is that difference that we have come together to celebrate, which is totally not ordinary and yet convincing. But yes, it is also weird. And I don’t really know of another example of this in anime.

Paranoia Agent OP

It’s the only OP Satoshi Kon did, and it’s, well, really good. What can I say? I guess for something relatively stiff it conveys such a sense of motion and momentum that probably overpowers one’s expectation of the show to some degree. Maybe that’s not so good given how the show was a bit of a mess, but hey, it looks pretty cool.

It’s also a good, pictorial example of trauma. And the more I talk about this, the fact he is no longer with us sinks in just that much more. *sniff*

Tsukuyomi Moon Phase OP 1 (any version)

It’s slim picking, and admittedly most of the strength comes from the surprisingly catchy song (Before Renai Circulation there was [insert thing]). I like the subversiveness of the visuals and that it is basically the show in a nutshell. It is probably the only time, as well, that I’ll confess to liking one of Shinbo’s lolipedo baits–as far as a tool to develop character, Shinbo’s OP do a great job here.

I’m also just struck at how timeless this thing is. The notion of moe traces back to the likes of Nausicaa and the magical girls of yore, but something so shamelessly cute is a benchmark of otaku pandering that later works will be measured against.

BECK OP

The music video aesthetics is always a crowd pleaser, like the GTO TV openings or the K-ON endings. I always thought that the Bebop movie OP would be memorable because of that, but damn, if something other than big jazzy intros can be catchy. I mean, it’s hard for that sort of tune to be catchy–it’ll be very annoying well before it can be catchy, as you’ll see in Part 2 of this post. BECK, instead, deploys some corny Japanese rock bands and the effects are pretty spot-on. Even if it was made to hit in America and fail at it.

The visuals and animation is some of Kobayashi Osamu at his best. It really works well with the style the show/manga has going for it.

Dokuro-chan OP 1 and 2 (but mostly the first)

PI PI PI PI RU PI RU PI RU PI PI RU PI~

It’s one of those shows where the OP literally is everything you need to know about the show. Believe it or not that’s much rarer than one would expect, but a typical anime OP is a lot more serious than this. The catchy gag vocals aside, the animation is nothing to write home about, and conceptually the animation follows the song almost to a tee. Thankfully the song is great, and it has a much more sinister take in which we see in its glory when animated. Fact of the matter is, you just don’t see OP like this anymore. Today’s shows just overshoot this sort of thing.

The second OP is a powered-up version of the first, but it doesn’t work by itself, so the first one is the one you want to watch. I mean, the second OP is almost the same thing; same song different verses.

Pani Poni Dash OP1

This one is a doozy. Any of the three OPs are good but I think OP 1 wins every time. And it’s really the first time that Shinbo did an OP where we get up and up on rhythm and less on animation, where the presentation becomes a thing we want over substance. I mean, in the end, anime OP are a mode of presenting the rest of the show. So it works. You can probably plot a chart where on-beat cuts per minute for each op and it’ll be kind of a straight line for every one of these, from Pani Poni Dash to Nisemonogatari.

I guess I should laugh at the metronome in the OP.

9 comments | posted in Modern Visual Culture

March 8, 2012

You Were So Close, Justin!

By omo

I rather like the lucid description of the home video business. It’s clear that this was Justin’s area of concentration in his feature describing the “Anime Industry.” Quotes, because it’s more about finance than industry.

I have a no-longer-hidden agenda about this: if people can learn and be equipped with how the finance end and the way money moves between parties in this industry, they would at least try to only whine about intelligible things and say things that makes sense. Or so I hope. Actually any improvement from the status quo is desirable, and I was hoping a home videos guy like him can at least answer this question:

Why didn’t anyone buy Kaiba?

Let’s recall Crunchyroll’s troll graphics reposted from /a/

It’s oh-so-easy to believe that the success of an anime project is based on how well it sells on DVD or BD or what have you. After all, it’s true. But it’s also not true in a bunch of cases. There are a lot of nuances and it’s not always the same thing even if we narrow things down to only late night anime bankrolled by the typical production committee. It’s not even always the same thing if we narrow it to just, say, noitamina shows (maybe a topic for another day). The break-even factor is also a big deal; by default a production committee show doesn’t need to make all its money back from home video (with exceptions). Anything that is an adaptation already is going to have the original material being pushed by some marketing person trying to sell it.

Anyway, the point is, this is not so simple! It may not even make the kind of logical sense you think it makes (or I think it makes).

So when I’m reading this pretty neat essay about the home video business (kind of wished he went into BD vs DVD a bit, but oh well) and you see this chart:

I’m like, great, now everyone is going to think somehow home video sales to break even equals the cost of the production equal a production that doesn’t lose money. It’s not even what Justin was referring to at that point.

Which is, actually, okay. Because people who don’t know much about the finances of all this wouldn’t know what the Manabi line is. But those who do would be like, wait, why is it so high?

Actually it is always good to be critical of stuff you read on the internet. And Manabi line was born on the internet. So let’s go to the best write-up we have so far about that.

2301~3000 
Many titles fall in this category. Marginally performing shows, many of which didn’t sell as much as their popularity would make you think they would.
Ex: Manabi Straight!, true tears #1, Sketchbook, Gun X Sword, Yami to Boshi to Hon no Tabibito

3001~4000
The line of profitability. Also the line at which one could say a title is doing okay, but some may call some titles that sell this many a failure, so it’s quite hard to judge.
Ex: Denno Coil, Soul Eater, School Days, Linebarrels of Iron, Super Robot Swars OG, etc

First thing, easy low-hanging fruit: the Manabi line is the oricon first-week figure. Note that in Justin’s write up there is a big point about how even some poorly sold show can break even in the long run, and that’s really at play here. To that end, some numbers I read suggests that for the typical late-night anime we’re looking about maybe 10-15% additional Oricon-recorded sell-through until it gets lost in the noise. So the 3000 or 2900 figure for the Manabi line is ballpark enough.

Second, it is quite hard to judge, even for 2ch types in general. That kind of accounting is just off limits to outsiders. And it would be expected that different productions break even at different points, even if they may be within the proverbial ball park. So given that I am not the 2ch type, I am not going to make a guess here. Or rather, should you?

Man, she really is a problem child.

So when it comes down to it, it’s not extremely difficult to break even. I think that is the whole point behind late night TV anime. There are a lot of juicy stuff that supports this in detail that is left out of Justin’s first part write-up, so maybe one of these days we can talk about it. For now, please just don’t get the wrong idea about something something BD/DVD sales something profit. It is not so simple.

I know I know I just linked to a simple ranking where BD/DVD sales something something …wait, just what does it mean? It’s kind of a trick question isn’t it? Significance, I think, is the metric. Which may not be the same thing as profitable or success. Something to think about.

I’ll leave you with one more thing to think about: Manabi Straight is getting a Blu-ray box. It joins the rest of the cast of digitally-created anime from before Macross Frontier. I mean, most shows break even is a pretty safe bet I’d say.

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

March 8, 2012

Anime OP: Part 1

By omo

I was just thinking how well encapsulated anime OPs are as both a pleasing thing, a teaser, and a pitch about what the show is. It’s also a pace setter and even at times a way to mislead the audience. It is a marketing tool, as well.

It naturally goes on that I thought about my own top 10 anime OP under those lenses. I used to update my top 10s, as they were actual lists of things, not just vague recollections or rose-tinted nostalgia disguised as some metric about how #1 is better than #10.So I’m going to just talk about a few of these OP that I like. I will try to proceed systematically for greater fun and enjoyment++ but this is probably not going to turn out to be a “your OP is worse than my OP” kind of ranked list.

This is part 1 of a two-part post, mainly because it’s taking me a long time to just come up with them, and the older I dig the harder it gets? Maybe it’s just that I have been not getting enough sleep (damn you iM@S). Who knows?

And maybe I’ll think about the other categories at some point later. No promises.

The Idol Master OP 2

Since I’m listing by date, some of my “honorable mentions” (it’s not like I’m doing a top 10 at any rate, so maybe it doesn’t matter) gets mentioned first. This OP is something I thought about a lot before putting it in here. Mainly, I just didn’t think it’s got a lot of staying power. So it’s just an “honorable mention.”

What it has, though, is catchy direction, solid character animation, and a very cool bridge. You don’t hear many cool bridges in anison. Yes, OP1 is catchier and the song is probably better. I just don’t think it’s got what OP2 has overall. Plus, they dance a lot more! That must count for something right?

  • Pleasing? DANCING!
  • Teaser? Well, not much left to tease.
  • Pitch? 8/10
  • Pace? Very spot on
  • Marketing power? As much as Takane’s hair is white

Rank: A-
Rank comment: ENCORE WA NAI LIFE

Hourou Musuko OP

I think this one is listed here because it’s one of those story-element things where it does a superb job setting the mood for the show, but also hides within a possible narrative that says something about the story itself.

The magic is in the music, yes, but it is also in that strangely distilled, but masterfully directed framing. When combined with witful color direction and a restraint that you will only find in anime for actual adults, the end product is remarkable just like that, even if there’s nothing to remark…or is there?

  • Pleasing?  I love “less is more”
  • Teaser? Kinda, yeah
  • Pitch? It’s really opaque but it’s there.
  • Pace? Slowly and methodical
  • Marketing power? 5/10

Rank: B
Rank comment: For srsbzns OP analysis and OPED types only

MariaHolic S1 OP

This OP barely makes the inclusion mainly for so succintly and stylishly express the overall concept of the story. Majority of the animation in the OP is 3D CG, and it looks fairly competent, if oversimplified. The song and the visuals just merged like a couple that were made for each other.

There is violence and anger but also fun and just the right amount of sarcastic despair that signifies the average SHAFT adaptation. Don’t take it so seriously.

  • Pleasing? Sorta
  • Teaser? Totally
  • Pitch? Parabola
  • Pace? Just like the song
  • Marketing power? 7.5/10

Rank: A-
Rank comment: Kobayashi’s big break

Xam’d OP 1

I think the song was the most striking thing about this OP. It is not your everyday anime with an electric-rock pumping the animation engine. It helps that the Xam’d had an unique presentation, being one of the only anime available to Americans before it was available to the Japanese, digitally available. It was the one watershed moment where I can now point and say “the future is here.” The future was also $4 a pop. It definitely served well as a marketing tool, and I have a couple t-shirts and an autograph from Boom Boom Satellites to prove it. Sony made the OP the primary trailer for the show, and I guess that goes to show the OP being, well, good.

The animation, however, is actually the crown jewel for the OP. It’s worth repeating that animating the OP animation is time consuming and relatively expensive compared to the remainder of a TV series. I’m not sure if Xam’d counts as a TV series, that said. It is a pleasing thing visually, especially given the moving camera treatment, the perspective changes, the way the mailman ran. It kind of sets up your expectation for some mysterious action slash Nausicaa naturalism nonsense, which Xam’d was. The pacing, though, I guess is up to debate.

  • Pleasing? Yes
  • Teaser? Sure
  • Pitch? 8/10
  • Pace? Fast and explode-y
  • Marketing power? Lots.

Rank: A
Rank comment: I’d loop it. Repeatedly.

Kannagi OP [LOL gimme a link]

It sure is plain, that OP. This is what I would also consider as “honorable” mentions but taking digital pens to a choreographed idol dance is probably old hats by Kannagi standards. The post-Haruhi ED generation (that probably should also be a honorable mentions) craves this nonsense, just like how the special episode 6 ED of Kannagi was kind of one of a kind. Or how the two OP for the idolM@ster was just the…best?

The song is catchy, if plain. The dance is simple, but the animation makes it outstanding and mesmerizing. The end result is that it kind of hampers the overall experience? You feel like there can be so much more to it but in the end it’s kind of just a plain anime OP.

  • Pleasing? Sure.
  • Teaser? Like a whore
  • Pitch? 95mph
  • Pace? 9/10
  • Marketing power? Some

Rank: B
Rank comment: There are a lot of better OPs out there.

Manabi Straight OP

It’s probably the last Megumi Hayashibara song that I will sing to myself fondly, marking the end, hopefully, of the era when I didn’t really know any better. Well, I probably don’t still. The more important thing about this OP is that it is similar to another quality work in recent memory, Hourou Musuko OP, where the OP tells a story if you dig deep enough. Perhaps a controversial story, even. It did stir up some legit controversy at first when people complained that it was outright glorifying graffiti, tagging up a school. Most people opt not to dig any deeper than Manabi Straight’s strangely deformed exterior and moe/kuukikei style filling.

But as someone who did, the OP was rewarding beyond expectation. There’s a beautiful thematic symmetry within the show and the OP expresses it just as well. It sums up the soul of the show. It’s only then that the lightness of the OP theme song made sense, under the harsh light of reality that it parodied.

For clarity’s sake, the OP I linked is the original; a “digital ink” version replaced the original OP after the graffiti complaints.

  • Pleasing? JET SET RADIOOO
  • Teaser? It doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination at first, but much more in context.
  • Pitch? 5/10
  • Pace? Just like the show
  • Marketing power? It cries forget-me-not.

Rank: A-
Rank comment: One single tear

…. and I think that’ll do for now. I have like, 9 OPs to mention that I think are worth mentioning but kind of fall below the threshold (I’m not even sure MariaHolic falls above or below that) between Manabi Straight OP and the first on the list in the next post. Sigh. This is going to take forever.

5 comments | posted in Hourou Musuko, Idolmaster, Modern Visual Culture

March 4, 2012

Geometry, Women in Anime, Aquarion EVOL

By omo

In order to crank up the hole puns and symbolism to over 9000, Aquarion Evol episode 9 is… well, over the top to say the least. With the facts and concepts presented in that episode you can play some neat thought experiments/assocation games.

So, random rambling incoming.

Phallic symbolism: I think it’s important to remember the genre trope of having a robot made up of combining parts. Voltron, etc., tend to establish this kind of system of symbols. I think Aquarion likewise play with these ideas in the usual postmodern way that the late-night anime of 10’s have been doing. There is the famous Mugen Punch from the first season, but ever since the OTL we know EVOL is out to do something with these attacks that slightly deviates from the original. Well, maybe not so much, if you consider how the Mugen Punch was used in Aquarion S1’s finale.

So what does that say when Mix will fill all your holes? It’s like instead of being cut by Blazing Sword, it gets stuck up your nose and butt and ear? And gave you really bad acne all over? More importantly, is this any kind of thing that could be interpreted as a sex-distinct literary treatment?

Feminism: I guess one thing that underlines Aquarion is that there’s always a sense that men and women are different, but they have to do the same things. It’s like humans and Zentradis are different, but they end up living together. But who is like the Zentradi? If we consider that public education in Japan is closer to a canning factory than a breeding ground of the diverse, new or exciting, it almost seems like Aquarion is a festival that cheers for the difference between men and women in the context that once they leave the school they’re going to get sucked up, helplessly by alien abductors [using lingo from another show: sent to the child boiler?]. And there’s no telling apart between men and women in some figurative sense after that. At least while in school they can entertain fighting these manifestation of real worlds using metaphoric countermeasures.

Rape is definitely a plot device: How about the mind-controlled (I’m guessing this is what it is meant by those colorful eye highlights) solders looking for some nubile women to, uh, abduct? I mean, right, the SF mumbo-jumbo aside, they’re just looking for some women to bear their children, and you get what I’m getting at.

Andy wants to save his first gattai with Mix. Okay, I think he isn’t really isn’t in a position to be picky, but I think he said what he said just to be cool (from the POV of the writer; Andy may very much want his first to be with Mix) and impress the lady. But if we understand what Aquarion’s gattai is, isn’t this back to re: Rape? Well, maybe not rape, since it doesn’t work unless people “consent” by “synchronizing” (see how rape can totally be reworked into a plot device here lol).

My sex harassment can’t be this cute: Compare that with, say, Andy being consistently lecherous. Or is that just a biological thing? Or more importantly, a harmless thing? How does that compared trash talk by some douche fighting game guy?

As an aside, this is kind of not what I want to see how Andy is written. Andy is kind of the guy who moves forward despite setbacks. But it’s the trick that he does so by digging, figuratively and literally. Well, it’s kind of weird that he got the low-down about Mix by eavesdropping, you’d think he would just ask another girl like Mikono. Or maybe they could’ve written a scene where Amata tells Andy what Mikono said. Anyway.

And I think I understand why Andy is called Andy W. Hole. Because all his holes are the same size. Also see: canning factory.

EVOL has, from the start, written it so that Mix does the usual tsundere act. I also think it is no coincidence she looks just like Kirino. It was in a fairly stereotypical way that, like OreImo, you were kind of expecting it but the show rides that expectation all the way to the bank. And Mix’s got bank.

So here’s the real interpretative thing you could do: when Andy was convincing Mix about the hole in her heart, what does it mean in a “fill” context? Is Mix the one filling it? Is Andy trying to oblige? He “digs” into Mix’s personal construct, and I think the symbolically consistent interpretation is that Andy is still the phallic aggressor but it is up to Mix to change her mind. He only showed her the way. It is amusing that in the end Andy doesn’t get any farther and it is Mix that actually takes the dominant position, but with Amata/Mikono. I think this is as close to a progressive/compromise sort of deal as we can get in anime.

Knowing this is Aquarion, I probably should not be expecting any interpretation that is really progressive in regards to sex and gender, but it provides at least the tools to do so.

Leave a comment | posted in Aquarion, Modern Visual Culture

March 2, 2012

Covering Anime News: What?

By omo

This is something I normally don’t think about but it is something I make decisions on everyday.

Just what is “covering the news” for anime? What is “anime news”? I mean let’s get it out of the way first, by anime I mean how I tag my posts by the moniker “modern visual culture.” It’s like why Genshiken is more about lounging around, a lifestyle and perspective, rather than just content–games, manga, anime, whatever. Culture sounds like the right term, but I don’t think it conveys the message in a direct, intuitive way.

But anyway, you know what I’m referring to by “anime news.” I think such kind of trivial game is what defines the coverage provided by Anime News Network. When it comes to the culture, though, that’s how everyone else covers the news. From ANN’s new  “interests” posts to half the stuff on Sankaku Complex (as the other half is outright porn). I mean with Kotaku East, it’s already well within the same target.

When I started writing for Japanator back in ’08 I wanted to see a Gawker-style blog covering the news. The usual 2ch coverage blogs were really where most of the goods were at–in fact if we took that away the amount of online news for “anime” (which I will continue to use quotes for when used in this context) would drop by like, 75%. But in 2012 terms that isn’t really a problem. The time gap between when something hits 2ch and something hits our intrepid ANN news team to the time it hits the 9001 blogs that repost from the same group of blogs is trivial. I mean the REALLY big news break on twitter just as fast, these blogs merely provide text space beyond the 140th character.

Plus I would imagine most people reading that are more interested for IP they like and for overall amusement value. Well, I guess I’m going to ask the handful of people here: do you even care about “anime news”? Do you read it? Why do you read it?

I’m more inclined to think that there are a few modes in which we consume news. It’s therefore first order of business to cover news that satisfy these modes of consumption. Obviously it still can be informative even if people are just looking for some LULZ in their “animu newz”; some news need the right spin on them, and it’s up to a news site to put the right spin on them. I think that’s the biggest problem to “anime news” in general: I’ve not seen too many people crunching out these blurbs doing that. I mean I guess this is partly why Artefact gets readers.

By right spin I mean simply putting it in a way where it gets people to realize that there’s more to it. To do it in a way that doesn’t make you the laughingstock is not easy, and at least you would want to at least be banking it if people are going to look down on you. And to some extent ANN is just too tied up with its corporate interests to rock the boat much. Such is the catch-22 of hiring full-time writers. There’s no money in this business as far as I can tell, besides to basically work half way as an advertising agency, or as a social network/media piracy site, or something in between.

There’s nothing wrong with that per se, let me quickly add–anime (and game and manga etc) in English-language is a poorly, horribly covered thing. It can use all the ads it can get. But it becomes a limit in terms of actually covering the news. You can’t piss off Funimation, you can’t piss off the cons you sponsor, etc.

Personally I’m getting pretty tired of it. At least there is a distinct improvement over years past in terms of the overall primary news sites being able to elevate news from merely ads-disguised-as-news (even if it still happens). We have to accept that “anime news,” by default, involves some amount of that. But I don’t know what can be done; it seems nobody really gives it a damn.

What I want to see more, as I probably have mentioned elsewhere, is original coverage. I want to see more American/western news. I want to see more of, say, MAL covered by American sites than 2ch, LOL. I think this is exactly the problem that “anime news” coverage in English language have–we’re not shameless enough to dig everywhere for everything, and those who are shameless enough aren’t interested or is unable to do so (eg., porn). Curating the news in a way where we take the information we see everyday and repack them as “news” is ultimately what I want to see. I want to see a lifestyle being written up, where the pieces of new information such a news site bring us edifies us and tells us important things, but also make us aware what goes beyond just the grinding that happens to be the life of a poorly paid online blogger.

I guess it’s all about having the right narrative after all.

And this is not to say anything of features and editorials, which slinks over to a different kind of mindset.

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