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Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. Maybe from even your own mouth.
“Yeah the show seemed like it was well done, but I didn’t feel emotionally invested in it.”
Emotional investment, by nature of the words used in it, should be and is always a very personal thing, and yet the entertainment we read is supposed to do this for not just one person but many people.
This isn’t a topic that is terribly complex, the idea that people will enjoy shows that resonate with them better, but it always feels like such a dangerous thing to say that a show lacks that emotional connection. Is it your fault? Is it the fault of the show? Is it a fault at all? If not, how can any production compensate for something like this? Is this why in the end, art is art and science is science, and while there’s plenty of overlap some things are “just because?”
And then you have the other side, where people feel emotionally invested in a story. The setting, the characters, something about this piece of fiction you’re looking at strikes a chord deep down inside of you and you wonder how anyone could not like it. So when that story is attacked or trivialized by another, it feels like a personal slight, and saying that a show was unable to pull you in emotionally can sometimes sound like the ultimate insult to a show even if it isn’t meant to be.
There’s no real conclusion to this, no grand point I’m trying to make, I’m just using this post to collect my thoughts and record them as they are.
There’s some spoilers here, so I recommend those of you with an investment in Naruto and don’t want to ruin your experience turn around immediately.
2ch rumors abounded a while back that Imagawa Yasuhiro, famous for his work on the Giant Robo OVA, was being taken off of the upcoming Mazinger anime. It’s now been proven otherwise, but with the new announcement also comes a new title for this update to Nagai Go’s most famous giant robot: Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen or True Mazinger Impact!! Z-Arc. The “Shin” by the way stands for “True,” so like the Shin Getter in Armageddon and not the Shin as in New Getter.
Now, prior to this announcement, we all thought that the new Mazinger anime was gonna be based on Z-Mazinger, i.e. Mazinger with a Greek mythological influence, and it was touted as such. And even before then, there were interviews with Nagai where he talked about how he wanted to finish off the Mazinger saga he never could back in the 70s due to various difficulties. And now we have what looks to be a total original Mazinger Z remake. What a crazy journey for this show!
But then you notice that last crucial part of the title, “Z-Hen.” Hen means volume or compilation, I translated it as (story) arc, so I think the potential implication is that after these 26 episodes are up, we might get a 26-episode Great Mazinger series, and then possibly more and it actually might finally close out the Mazingers forever. Or until the next remake.
Also, Kabuto Kouji has a new voice actor. Much as I wish the great Ishimaru Hiroya to take the title role again, I’m fine with getting newer blood as well.
Seriously
Test results for the JLPT came in yesterday.
I passed, barely.
But I still passed!
What this says to me is that I did just the right amount of hard work, not so much that it took away from other activities, but not so little that I couldn’t make it. In a way, I’m lucky, but I also know that those months of reading little kanji cards on the train and studying with friends was validated.
And I thank you all for letting me talk about my trials and tribulations of learning Japanese, and not asking me to just talk more about anime.
I guess for now the jlpt category will lay dormant, unless I am insane enough to go for the level 1.
Maybe I am. Who knows?
Hisui and Narutaki over at the Reverse Thieves have an interesting project going, which they’ve called the Otaku Diaries. They basically want you, John Q. Otaku, to fill out their anonymous survey so that we can learn things about otaku beyond the trappings of anime and fandom. And you know me, I’m always a fan of these sorts of projects. Hisui and Narutaki introduce their own project better than I could, so I’ll let them do the rest of the talking.
We at Reverse Thieves are looking to do something a little different.
We are proposing a project called the Otaku Diaries. We are looking for people who consider themselves anime fans to participate in an anonymous survey. It will be profiling the lives, loves, and losses of these individuals and how their hobby has related to shaping them. We will also be looking for patterns as well as differences in the cases. We are looking for diverse people who are not afraid to get personal, questions will include topics like prior relationships, profession, and sexuality.
This survey is about a story, not about numbers.
If you are interested here is how it is going to work. Send us an email at otakudiary@gmail.com with a brief description of yourself include your age, sex, and location. No names need be exchanged and your anonymity will be protected, create a separate e-mail account just for this survey if you wish. If you are selected to participate, you will be given a case # to which all your answers will be attributed. After all the data is collected we will be doing several blog posts about the results.
We hope to start at the end of February, depending on the number of responses.
Thanks!
I’ve already filled out and sent in my survey! And you want to be cool like me, right?
Yes, she’s still Lena Sayers of course, and this time packing the Blue Sky Sapphire.
But she’s also Sänger Zonvolt.
And Hurricane Polymar.
And Asuka Eiji (Pilot of the SPT Layzner)
And even Kinnikuman!
And I haven’t even shown you all of the fighting that goes on in this episode.
Yes, Plot Stuff happens in the 3rd OVA of My-Otome 0 ~S.ifr~, aka the Lena Sayers Power Hour, and it’s all well and good, but the entire episode is just one continuous fight scene after another. If it’s not Lena fighting robots, it’s someone else fighting robots. If it’s not ships exploding it’s meteors getting rocked. In that regard, the episode really delivers, and just like the previous two OVAs you can really tell that a lot of care was put into it, especially in regards to lovingly rendered nipples and split kicks. Hey, that’s Otome for you. Probably the most significant thing that you find out in the third episode is that Lena is perhaps a little too powerful for her own good, and also that Shiro is further HEAVILY IMPLIED to be Lena’s future husband and father of her child. And who can blame him? If Lena Sayers is even remotely smitten with you, you GRAB THAT OPPORTUNITY AND NEVER LET GO.
Overall, it’s been a fun OVA series and everything I expected from a HiME series at this point, except the ending is incredibly open-ended… only it isn’t because I already know Lena Sayers’ ultimate fate. For some, cute girls fighting is not enough to carry a show, for others that’s all they really want or need. In the end, My-Otome 0 ~S.ifr~ is very well-executed Girls Fighting, and I mean it. You won’t see too many better sci-fi/fantasy mega fights. Take out of that what you will.
Before Green Gables, known also by its Japanese title Konnichiwa Anne, is a prequel to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Anne of Green Gables (Akage no Anne) anime. It’s even being done by the same production company that did the original. Obviously with the show a month or two away by this point I have no way to actually judge it, but what I can say is that its predecessor is a tough act to live up to.
If you look at the staff for the original Anne of Green Gables anime, you’ll perhaps see some familiar names, and none more familiar than “Miyazaki Hayao” and “Takahata Isao.” That’s right, this anime was made by the team that would go on to form Studio Ghibli. Sure it was back when they were younger and less experienced, but I really do not envy the current staff.
Perhaps they can benefit from the fact that it’s a 30th anniversary and many people today would be too young to remember the original. In any case, I feel like no matter how the show ends up I want to do my best to not constantly compare the two works. You know, despite this entire post being all about the comparison.
“Encountering a durian for the first time is not unlike encountering someone with an overbearing personality; the strong odor and strange taste are like a “facade” to protect a most delicate and delightful character.”
With that we can conclude that durians are, in fact, tsundere.
Did some serious hardcore karaoke yesterday with some compatriots, among them the Ninja Consultants, Sub, and Dave (but not Joel). It was a totally smashing (without being smashed) good time, and I’ve learned and relearned quite a few lessons on karaoke combined with my joining them briefly on Saturday at New York Comic Con.
-Alcohol while Karaoke-ing is fine but it does nothing to help you soothe your throat. After an intense, manly song, water or coke with lemon are good bets.
-I cannot sing Japanese rap without knowing the lyrics well in advance. Sorry, m.o.v.e., but I won’t be shouting THE DOG FIGHT any time soon.
-It’s all about the pacing. Can’t have every song be an intense giant robot super song or else you’ll wear yourself out early. I personally threw in a bunch of girly songs like the Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san opening and the Attack No. 1 opening.
-It is very possible to do an all-Lucky Star karaoke ending themes extravaganza.
-While knowing the song is important, you don’t have to KNOW the song. There were times when I thought I wouldn’t know a song went but as it was going I was able to find my place.
-Crystal King and JAM Project make everything a lot better. Or a lot worse, depending. See the part above about preserving your throat.
-Japanese karaoke is excellent for testing reading comprehension.
-For those who want to sing anime songs but can’t sing in Japanese, keep in mind there are plenty of mostly English anime openings.
-Sing whatever the hell you want but also be kind to those around you. Karaoke in a group is a team effort.
