801 T.T.S. Airbats (Reviewed 2001-12-27)

New mechanic, PTE Isurugi, is posted to the 801st Tactical Training Squadron also known as the “airbats” which is an all-female aerial acrobatic squandron. The squadron is actually a joke, where problem or unwanted pilots are dumped and must constantly struggle against the local brass who want this embarrassment expunged from their formation.

The gung-ho mecha-freak Isurugi “accidentally” wins the romantic affections of the two most prominent pilots, the sweet Haneda and the tomboyish Mitaka, as well as acceptance by the other members of the unit.

Quite surprised that this series was made with the cooperation of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force since it deals with some very serious and biting issues like discrimination against women within the JASDF where it is nearly impossible for females to become combat pilots as well as the unfavourable portrayal of middle-ranking JASDF officers as bumbling back-stabbing bureaucratic rats/snakes. Could be why the series is of a rather unorthodox length (7 eps only).

Interesting characterisation, some nice aircraft animation and humour made this series a memorable one for me especially since it is a relatively not-so-recent anime as well. Isurugi is at least skilled as a mechanic and passionate about the Airbats so he isn’t as pathetic as normal angsty, self-centred anime males. The rivalry between Haneda and Mitaka over Isurugi is fun to watch as well (Though the subversive question could be asked “If an attractive female superior comes on to a loser-type male subordinate, is it improper? And does it constitute sexual harrassment?”). That ramen eating competition when the whole armed forces (and even the Soviets) tune in and lay bets was particularly hilarous.

The series does really overly on coincidence and deux ex machina to resolve a major problem. Also after ep 3 when the major threat to the 801st recedes, some of the dramatic tension was lost. However, still an enjoyable series.

The ramen eating ep is still my favourite. And while I used to be a tad put off by the sudden shift in mood of the final episode, my post-DVD purchase rewatch caused me to find a new appreciation for the bittersweetness of the memories and for the characters of Saginomiya and Konishi (beyond the immediate appeal of their seiyuu, Kikuko Inoue and Norio Wakamoto respectively); a pleasant case of ‘Truth Will Out’ But It Doesn’t Really Matter Anymore.

Abenobashi (Reviewed 2003-12-11)

Female lead? Arumi had a strong character which reminded of the young, often feisty, leading ladies from Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli productions like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky and, of course, Spirited Away. This is subverted towards the end when you realise how much Sassi is in the driving seat and how he as the male eventually “saves the day”.

Alternate universes. A friend made an excellent point when he decried how “garish and boring” the worlds created by a young boy are. I believe that some of this garishness is intentional in the way Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill borrows from, makes reference to, subverts genres like yakuza flicks, samurai movies and spaghetti westerns. Gainax, being its usual undiffident self, is probably poking fun at the stereotypes that plague anime, the lack of imagination and sterility. There are some references to how Gainax’s own work have contributed to such stereotyping and ossification – the use of the Evangelion OST in the third episode with the space city hitting the nail right on the head while being funny and ironic as hell. However, each world does seem to successfully capture the good and bad of the particular genre while using Arumi and Sassi’s attempt to go home as the central thread to hold the series together. Have to admit i couldn’t catch any of the in-jokes for the Kanon parody as i didn’t watch any of that ilk.

Onmyoji. Interesting exposition into this particular type of Japanese magician/priest which i previously only encountered in X-1999 in the form of Subaru Sumeragi and Seishiro Sakurazuka. Gainax also had quite a lot of fun with this by showing just how worldly and ordinary the mighty onmyoji Utasu/Abe could be and how a great onmyoji can be found in someone like Sassi. Underlying lead-in into the worlds which only became apparent later and was the instrument to bring the series to a resolution.

Now that I’ve seen Kanon (2006), maybe should I dig out and rewatch that episode. And my favourite onmyoji show is still Tokyo Babylon. Argh, the agony of waiting for Mouryou no Hako subs.

Angelic Layer (Reviewed 2002-02-??)

Players (‘Deus’, usually young girls) use brainwaves and willpower to control miniature robo-doll fighters (‘Angel’) inside an arena enfused with an energy field (‘Layer’).

Basically AL is a childhood/growing up story centred on Misaki’s quest to advance on the Layer, meet new friends and, most importantly, seek reunification with her mother. The Layer and the tournament becomes a metaphor for life, teaching the lessons of overcoming and affirmation. It is also the medium through which Misaki learns more about herself and those around her.

I found this series very charming and entertaining. Sweet but not saccharine; gently instructive but not preachy or condescening; character/plot development balanced with good fight scenes, and not a single wasted episode – plenty of backstory to build the entire series as a coherent and viable whole. I was also particularly impressed by the seiyuu who played Misaki (same one who voiced Yukino in KareKano).

There are the usual cliches (the Caucasian-looking idol who has a Japanese name and speaks flawless Japanese, a cast of ‘pick your favourite’ stereotypes, some contrivance on the romance angles) and the whole thing about “wings” in the finale but nothing too annoying or preposterous to detract from the goodness of the series.

Fun and heartwarming, even for someone with as black a heart as mine.

Over time, the issue of Hikaru’s wings in the final battle bothers me more and more. Mostly because of incompatibility with her colour scheme and chara design rather than any Real Physics (Not in my animu!) type gripes.

Black Heaven (Reviewed 2002-03-04)

Animation. Terrible. Especially the space battles. Augh.

Plot. Lame. Salaryman Tanaka Oji with mid-life crisis is whisked away by hot alien chick Layla Yuki to relive his glory days as Gabriel Tanaka the lead guitarist of a hard rock metal band, playing his guitar that inexplicably controls an Ultimate Weapon to kick evil alien ass. (Buries face in hands)

Two thumbs down? Certainly not.

I found the mid-life crisis theme very compelling. Though sometimes overdrawn, the crushing oppression of Real Life was brought home very well. Ordinary job. Wife and kids. The extinction of your dreams amidst the quiet desperation of normality. Tanaka is a dreamer gradually being crushed by the banality and entropy of RL.

Also the tension created by his escapades in Tanaka’s family and work life is also masterful. The gossip in the company, amongst the wives in the company dormitory/housing estate, how his wife worries etc. do seem to accurately reflect the social environment in Japan and chillingly portray the process of marital break down.

The characters of Tanaka and Layla were the main hooks for me. Tanaka could be whiny and pathetic but also charismatic and passionate – the series showed how life could bring out each side of him. Layla, besides being a seriously hot chick, represented the non-rocker point of view which gradually begins to understand the meaning of the ‘groove’ and the passion and interaction behind the ‘live’ performance. I found both the voice acting behind them to be very expressive as well. The last episode was quite satisfying. The main plot histories and lines were effectively tied up – definitely a relief from series that end abruptly without much conclusion or catharsis, an especially grevious sin when much of the series was stuffed with fluff and filler.

In conclusion, I think Black Heaven is an underrated anime but will probably not go down well with wider audiences. While I derived considerable enjoyment from it, your own mileage may vary.

I bought the DVD boxset during the RightStuf clearout following GENEON USA’s collapse but I haven’t rewatched it yet. Trying to find an anime blog that did episode posts on this series but no joy so far. LOL that Star Crossed’s review intro paragraph also heaped criticism upon the series before pronouncing it to be a great anime. One of the funnier reviews I vaguely remember complained about the number of times the Cautionary Warning instrumental was played; I was so sure it was BluWacky but I can’t find it on Cinnamon Ass.

Comic Party (Reviewed 2002-03-05)

Comic Party is really a microcosm of the world of doujinshi fandom. The various characters represent the types of personalities that this world contains:

1. The aspiring manga-ka (manga artist) who has some talent but is a newbie as far as the mechanics of the doujinshi world is concerned, learns through advice and experience.

2. The gung-ho manga-fan who doesn’t actually draw but gives his unsuspecting friend the crucial push to enter the world of fandom. Mainly provides infrastructural support and contacts. Think Largo from Megatokyo, well, that was before Largo fell off the wagon or got ousted, depending on which version you believe. (Piro himself had remarked how Comic Party really reflects the mayhem and madness that a manga project or online comic involves.)

3. The established, friendly manga-ka who is moderately successful and is more than happy to help, advise and just listen to the aspiring manga-ka. Another character is quite experienced but her work is not very popular but she continues to do it even if one person wants to read it – small scale, small but dedicated following.

4. The wildly successful manga-ka whose work is snapped up like hotcakes without much promotion effort because of established reputation and fanbase. The character in CP is rather snotty and arrogant though some very successful manga-kas are the best of #3 and #4. Central to the argument of which is the indication of the good/successful manga-ka – selling many copies vs. producing quality art for art’s sake even if it sells less well.

5. The con staff/gophers who organise the Comic Party that is the main social event for manga-ka and their fans/customers to meet and the event that allows new manga-ka to be inducted into the world of doujinshi. Mature cons and their staff function very much like a competent small business, think Otakon or ACen.

6. The printers who translate the one piece works of the manga-ka into enough copies to be sold and disseminated. The bit about ink-san and paper-san favouring those who draw with spirit rather than just desire to make money/fans was a laudable if rather romantic notion.

7. Cosplayers, who are often though of as ‘hen’ (strange) and fight against their stereotyped association with pornography and/or sexual fetishes, express their love for the manga by taking great pains to dress up well as their favourite characters. Due to their own perceived inability to draw doujinshi, cosplay is their avenue to express their love and creative urges.

8. Of course, the world of doujinshi would not be complete without its otaku fans. Represented by two bland loser-type nameless characters in CP, they show many of the angles of the otaku – knowledgeable bordering on (and even crossing over to) the obsessive, can very harshly critical (armchair criticism), encouraging, trollish, lecherous – difficult for the manga-ka to deal with, trapped as she/he is between the desire for popularity and the preservation of the integrity of his/her art.

9. There is also the outsider, represented by the aspiring manga-ka’s wannabe girlfriend, who sees doujinshi world as a waste of time and an unnatural use of energy and time. Such people view fans and fandom with the contempt that is sometimes heaped on Trekkies and the like, seeing them as losers and social/emotional cripples. In CP, rather happily for the manga-ka, the girl comes to realise the labour of love that these manga-ka are involved and accepts it for the good intentions and real effort behind it.

On the one hand, the fact I can hardly remember anything about the plot or charas of Comic Party seems to indicate it was a pretty forgettable series. On the other hand, on re-reading the review, the issues I picked up on then seem obvious now, which seems to indicate how deeply this series has influenced my understanding of how doujin circles work; though, of course, I have learnt MOAR since then. And I think it wouldn’t have enjoyed Genshiken as much if I hadn’t seem this first.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

The first shipment was a pre-order, made during the previous RightStuf Bandai sale, for the Haruhi Limited Edition boxsets 2-4 and joins the first Haruhi LE boxset in my anime DVD collection now. The second batch was a panicked order, a few weeks later as GENEON USA announced that they were closing down, for the first season of Black Lagoon, the Kannazuki no Miko and Kamichu! boxsets (with ADV’s 801 TTS Airbats and Bandai’s Onegai Twins also in this shipment).

RightStuf had offered terrific deals via studio sales for both Bandai Entertainment and GENEON USA products. In the case of the former, there were biannual (March and August) sales of up to 40% off for DVDs. For the latter, RightStuf was offering 10 GENEON releases for USD 50 or 25 for USD 100 in June and then a 35% discount for DVDs in August.

Both offered excellent value for money. Yet I only took Bandai’s bait. The GENEON 10 for 25 offer just seemed too cumbersome, and I was mildly put off by the 5% differential with Bandai later. Somehow I imagined that they would, one day, match Bandai’s offer. And besides I was also waiting for Black Lagoon and Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage to be released as a thinpak boxset before consolidating a humungous order under a sale that never came. In the end, I ended up paying full price for the GENEON order, the blow softened by the grace of RightStuf’s GotAnime? membership discount. While Bandai got a lower profit margin from my purchase, they had succeeded in repeatedly overcoming my not inconsiderable powers of procrastination rather too easily for my wallet’s liking.

Of course, Bandai had an advantage because of how much I was caught up in the Haruhi craze. But, with a speedy release, they did not just manage to ride the craze in just a nick of time but also actively fanned it further. I absolutely loved the antics of the ASOS Brigade and the moment Patricia Lee, channelling the Divinity of Haruhi Herself, said: ‘I’m cool with fans who download the series but please buy the DVD when it comes out.’ Cute girl, with divine power, saying please oh so nicely oh melting cannot resist I obey my master! GENEON’s marketing did not quite manage to capture my attention in the same way. But at least they did send out a bunch of threatening but legally dubious letters tarring its most likely customers with U R T3H CRIMINALZ.

It’s strongly contested and still uncertain if downloaders are indeed an anime distributor’s most likely customers but, as others have pointed out, who spends extra cash to buy Limited Edition goods of series that they’ve never seen before? The LE is a necessary marketing tool for Japanese distributors since most Japanese anime makes its debut on TV or cable and can be easily recorded by its viewers. Fansubbers and BitTorrent reproduce this effect in markets outside Japan by effectively making anime ‘free to air’. The marketing question then becomes how to induce fans who have the AVIs (or increasingly MKVs) to buy The Real Thing.

LE stuff, with their special packaging and assorted undownloadable goodies like mini-pencilboards, iron-ons, physical chara song CDs, pillow cases etc., helps to reduce the substitution effect of fansubs by increasing the otaku utility of the DVD (and its assorted goodies) relative to the fansub. This is not to claim that LEs are a marketing silver bullet. In my case, I’ll probably sit out the Lucky Star LEs and wait for the thinpak boxset. Unless they are giving out the chara Nendriods with the animal ears. orz

The previous two paragraphs were predicated on the assumption that fansubs and DVDs are competing with each for market share. Generally this assumption leads to another one: that the zero marginal cost of fansubs represent a threat to the DVD market share and an existential threat to the anime DVD industry. Yet downloaders still buy DVDs. Anime distributors often dismiss this as an abnormality or aberration, arguing that their sales would be higher if they weren’t being cannibalized by fansubs. This is certainly logical, based on the assumptions above, and can be supported by empirical facts – I haven’t bought everything that I downloaded and there are fans who have never bought a single DVD at all. In the world of music, it’s been reported that only 38% of those who download Radiohead’s latest album were prepared to pay for it. But turning this argument on its head, it could be said that 38% of downloaders paid for it despite them being under absolutely no legal obligation to do so.

Then there is the argument that downloading can have (but not always so) market creating effects, i.e. people becoming customers because they downloaded a product, as reported by this piece of research by the Canadian Intellectual Property Policy Directorate.

Leaving aside the moral economy of fandom (which I believe can be a powerful marketing tool if correctly tapped into), my top reasons for buying DVDs include (1) rewatching in higher quality, (2) backup against disastrous HDD failure, (3) improving my fair use defence for retaining fansubs on HDD. Certainly I can’t think of an anime DVD that I’ve bought where I haven’t seen the fansub first. It’s quite likely that if the noose grows too tight and I give up on downloading fansubs, my purchases of anime DVDs will stop too.

But one little animeblogger isn’t really much evidence of the market creation effects of fansubs (N=1 is waaay below any N-size confidence level). However if we can market ourselves to the anime distributors as well as Bandai has marketed to me, perhaps the relationship can become somewhat less confrontational and the discourse less shrill. I feel (and hope that) it will be helpful for fandom’s image if animebloggers like ourselves post more about our purchases, particularly of DVDs. I realize that some animebloggers see this as the swaggering of ‘epenis’, bragging, boasting etc. Certainly sometimes it is true, but posting about purchases is not intrinsically an obnoxious act – after all, tjhan claims that most animebloggers are docile grazers, generally a nice, genial lot.

Anime distributors may not like us much, but they will certainly like our spending dollars and evidence of our dollars being spent on their goodies. Lo and behold, the otaku yen has even induced the townsfolk of Washinomiya to, at least, hide their misgivings and roll out the welcome mat to the A(kihabara)-Boys.

One day, by the AWESOME power of the Church of Moyism, we will not have live in fear of yet another witch hunt. In the meantime, RightStuf is having a 30% sale until 2 Dec!

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.