July 30th, 2008
I was getting dinner at my local Subway restaurant the other day when I was overhearing the people in front of me. It was a mother and her 8-year-old son. The boy was acting like little boys do, a little hyperactive, loud, and very annoying to the people around him. So the mother came up with the best way to calm him down:
“You better behave,” she warned him, “or you’re not going to be able to watch Avatar tonight. You want to watch Avatar, don’t you?”
“Uh huh,” the boy said, and he did quiet down and behave himself after that. I was a little tempted to tell the boy, “I also want to watch Avatar tonight,” but I’ve learned from my days of selling DBZ toys at Toys R Us that this kind of cross-generational fanboy talk never goes so well with the mother…
But I was actually taken aback a little bit when I overheard this conversation. I have been a huge fan of the series for a couple of years, and I’ve seen it become so widely accepted among my peers. I’ve talked about it with my anime club back in college. I’ve seen it cosplayed many times at anime convention. I’ve been to convention panels where fanboys would go nuts over the action sequences and fangirls would coo over various coupling… including some yaoi pairings!
In my mind, Avatar has become just as much as part of the American otaku culture as any other mainstream anime show from Japan. So now that the show has finally ended its run on TV, I’m left to wonder just how does this series manage to become such a huge part of the otaku community yet still appeal to your average American boy?
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July 23rd, 2008
Within the past couple of months, I have became a total fanboy for the new manga publisher Yen Press. With their manga anthology Yen Plus coming out in a couple of weeks and the release of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya coming out next year, I really see a great future ahead for these guys. But my first taste from this publisher actually came at the suggestion of Del Rey’s Dallas Middaugh. During a Q&A panel last year, someone asked Mr. Middaugh about his favorite manga series not released by Del Rey. His answer was Yen Press’s With the Light - Raising an Autistic Child by Keiko Tobe, and he was quite adamant about how much he enjoyed it.
With this suggestion, I picked up the first volume of the series shortly afterwards. Yen Press combines two volumes of the Japanese edition for each American release, making each volume much larger than your average manga. But you only pay $15 for what’s pretty much two entire books, and trust me, it is worth every penny of it…
Mr. Middaugh’s suggestion was dead on because With the Light would become the best comic I have read in years… and that’s saying a lot considering just how much manga I’ve read during that time.
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July 16th, 2008
Darkness falls over the poor lands of the American anime market. What was once a prosperous and thriving area was now facing mass famine due to the abandonment and neglect of its people. Now the land’s most terrible foe, the evil giant Fansub monster, has grown so big that even the mighty warriors of the industry struggle to survive.
“It’s too much, I can’t go any farther,” calls out the Geneon Ranger as his giant robot becomes the first to crumble to the ground.
“I’ve lost all my support,” screams the leader, ADV Ranger. “I can’t continue on like this. Fall back! Fall back!”
But through all this chaos and destruction, one underdog steps forward to rally the others together. “I might not have enough to defeat this monster,” says the lone FUNi Ranger, “but my robot still has enough juice to fight! Let us combine our powers to take down this beast!”
“Right!” confirms the others, and they join their battle machines together to create the FUNizoid - savior of the market and fighter of the Fansub monster!
And unfortunately for everyone, this massive mech is the last hope left for the struggling industry.
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July 9th, 2008
Note: Because I’ve been spending so much time responding to my essay from last week, I haven’t been able to finish a new post for this week. So instead of just posting nothing, I would like you all to enjoy one of my personal favorites from the Anime Almanac archives. Originally posted on September 9, 2005.
At first I was going to post a review of the live-action TV show entitled Train Man (”Densha Otoko”), but then I realized that doing so would not give this story enough justice. This simple story about a nerd turning towards the Internet for romance advice has become a phenomenon that is currently rocking the Japanese and American otaku culture. It is a representation of the geek and nerd lifestyle and where our hidden passions truly lie. I will take a look at the history of the Train Man, the kind of impact it has made in Japan, and just what makes it is so significant.
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July 1st, 2008
In a darkly lit room at the AnimeNEXT convention on Saturday, English dub voice actor Greg Ayres enters to applause from a full room of otaku. “No, it’s not my final panel for this convention,” he announces to the audience, “but it’s the only one I think is important.” The topic he is going to be discussing is fansubbing and illegal downloading of anime in America.
When he asks the audience whether or not they download fansubs illegally, a majority of them raise their hand to say yes. He assures them that it’s okay to admit to doing so, but he just wants to hear their reasons. One-by-one, fans talk about why they do it, giving reasons like “I can’t afford to buy”, “the show in unlicensed over here”, or “I don’t want the show to be spoiled by all my friends who have already watched it.” Greg listens to each one, jots it on a list, and addresses each point for as long as time will allow him. But the audience is so eager to talk the most of the points will not get covered in the two hour limit.
The only stipulation he has when it comes to audience participation is that everyone treats each other with respect and hold back any unnecessary bashing and name calling. It’s a taboo subject to be speaking about so publicly like this, and it causes some very emotional and spiteful reactions from both sides when it’s being argued about. As expected, the actor is dissected, taunted, and harshly mocked by his critics on the internet in the days that follow this panel. But for the next two hours, this audience of otaku listens to the actor’s message and feel safe enough to speak out openly about their own views and doubts on the subject. And when it’s all over, most of them leave the room vowing never to download illegally again.
I got to have a interview with Ayres prior to the panel to discuss his views on illegal downloading, the people who take part in it, and the people who are damaged by it. In attending these panels and talking to the participants, I learned just why his message has such a huge impact on the community all together, in both positive and negative ways.
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