This feature article is going to be a little more sobering than a lot of the ones that I normally write around here, but given recent events, I felt it was needed, no matter how uncomfortable it is to write.
Many of you out there may be aware of the situation that has recently come to light in the state of New Jersey, where the organizer of an after school Lego program has been charged with molesting four young girls, it's a terrible situation and one that has rocked the adult Lego fan community to its very core.
Past the cut we will discuss how adults with unique hobbies can protect both themselves and the young people we come into contact with on a regular basis.
Showing posts with label feature article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feature article. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Monday, July 6, 2009
New feature: The Dollhouse
After the overwhelming success of the article on the Dollife dolls from Volks I decided to add a new weekly feature article highlighting some of the latest news from Volks, this section is being called The Dollhouse and will run once a week. Each week we will post news from the Volks website or other user submitted content, highlighting this especially fascinating aspect of Japanese culture.
This is also a great opportunity for you the reader, as I am just now beginning to learn more about this hobby. I would love to have input from members of the community on what to post and where to get additional news, pictures, etc. so please let me know what we can add and we will get this aspect of the site growing fast as well.
Back later today with the first *official* installment of The Dollhouse.
Until then!
This is also a great opportunity for you the reader, as I am just now beginning to learn more about this hobby. I would love to have input from members of the community on what to post and where to get additional news, pictures, etc. so please let me know what we can add and we will get this aspect of the site growing fast as well.
Back later today with the first *official* installment of The Dollhouse.
Until then!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Where do you get your Anime/Manga?
I was busy over on AnimeNewsNetwork.com looking at some articles when I stumbled across a really interesting interview [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/chicks-on-anime/2009-04-07] with the co-owner of a video store in Colorado and her experiences with renters, and some pretty harsh words directed towards users of services like Netflx and those that stream online [legally and otherwise] This evoked a lot of emotion in me and got me thinking about the changes that we have been going through in the community in the last few years, and where we are headed going forward.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years you know that a lot has changed with regards to traditional media, streaming, piracy, scanning, e-books, and of course DVRs have changed how we look at much of what we watch, listen and read.
Anime and Manga has been a lighting rod for this issue, mostly due to the fact what was once a very small niche hobby has gone much more mainstream. For a little bit of backstory, lets do a bit of a retrospective to how we got where we are today.
My first encounter with Anime like many people was with Star Blazers as a child, it was one of the few cartoons that my parents supported me watching because they were impressed with the story and it wasn't a mass toy commercial, unlike most of the others at the time. After this I wandered away onto other more mundane affair, but my love of Star Blazers never ceased. [ask my father about desperately trying to get the antenna pointed in the right direction so I could still watch my favorite show when it was on]
When I was 13 I started playing the ROBOTECH: RPG from Palladium Books, which got me into watching the old show again. We started a ROBOTECH fan club in Jr. High, and one night we were at the local comic store and I picked up a copy of Protoculture Addicts and I saw all these articles on other shows that I had never heard of, there was this whole world of animation geared to the more mature person and I had no inclination it existed.
From here I spent the next two years trying to get access to anything I could of the Anime variety, it was at this point that Viz Comics was getting into stride and I got a hold of my first issue of Ranma 1/2, Crying Freeman [really glad the parentals didn't look at that too closely] I was in love. During this time my father [a commercial airline pilot] worked with a guy who knew of an Anime club near my house, my father at that time found the whole concept fascinating, probably due to the fact this stuff was geared to a much more mature audience, so he was willing to drive me to the club meetings once per month.
The Club meetings were the golden age for me in the mid 1990’s, here were all these series that I had never heard of, everything from giant robot drama's Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory to slice of life shows like Maison Ikkoku. to the magical girl genre of Sailor Moon. What also made this time so interesting was the fact that almost none of what we were watching was commercial releases over here, what we were watching were Anime that had been copied directly off Japanese tv then subtitled on an Amiga computer for fans.
This was an amazing time, Arctic Animation the parent of our club was an North American power when it came to fansubbing, they were one of the only games in town, since at the time the few VHS releases available cost a fortune, it wasn’t uncommon for tapes to cost in the $50+ range, and we certainly didn’t have DVD’s. There wasn’t Netflix, and video stores were terrified of it [I was there when they had to explain to an angry parent that they thought Akira was a childrens cartoon] there was so little in the range of sources it was scary at times.
But the seeds were planted, even though the tapes cost a fortune, Manga Entertainment, Viz, Animego, Central Park Media, US Manga Corps, Central Park Media were the pioneers, they saw the future and jumped on it.
Manga was a slightly different story Viz had been around for some time releasing a few select titles, along with Dark Horse Comics but there was even less selection on this front, and what was available was fairly expensive.
Fast forward to today, and the landscape is much different, we have companies dedicated to bringing out Manga in its original digest form, for far more palatable price, and one only needs to walk into their local Best Buy or FYE to see the selection of Anime available. Even the video stores are getting in on the act with Blockbuster and Hollywood Video renting large selections of Anime.
Going a step further are the legal online services such as Netflix and Crunchyroll [though their background is a little more than dubious] offering on demand streaming, or direct to mail rentals.
Times they have definitely changed…
So my question to you is this, where do you get your Anime/Manga? Tell me where you like to buy, and why, what makes for a great experience, and what makes for a bad one.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years you know that a lot has changed with regards to traditional media, streaming, piracy, scanning, e-books, and of course DVRs have changed how we look at much of what we watch, listen and read.
Anime and Manga has been a lighting rod for this issue, mostly due to the fact what was once a very small niche hobby has gone much more mainstream. For a little bit of backstory, lets do a bit of a retrospective to how we got where we are today.
My first encounter with Anime like many people was with Star Blazers as a child, it was one of the few cartoons that my parents supported me watching because they were impressed with the story and it wasn't a mass toy commercial, unlike most of the others at the time. After this I wandered away onto other more mundane affair, but my love of Star Blazers never ceased. [ask my father about desperately trying to get the antenna pointed in the right direction so I could still watch my favorite show when it was on]
When I was 13 I started playing the ROBOTECH: RPG from Palladium Books, which got me into watching the old show again. We started a ROBOTECH fan club in Jr. High, and one night we were at the local comic store and I picked up a copy of Protoculture Addicts and I saw all these articles on other shows that I had never heard of, there was this whole world of animation geared to the more mature person and I had no inclination it existed.
From here I spent the next two years trying to get access to anything I could of the Anime variety, it was at this point that Viz Comics was getting into stride and I got a hold of my first issue of Ranma 1/2, Crying Freeman [really glad the parentals didn't look at that too closely] I was in love. During this time my father [a commercial airline pilot] worked with a guy who knew of an Anime club near my house, my father at that time found the whole concept fascinating, probably due to the fact this stuff was geared to a much more mature audience, so he was willing to drive me to the club meetings once per month.
The Club meetings were the golden age for me in the mid 1990’s, here were all these series that I had never heard of, everything from giant robot drama's Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory to slice of life shows like Maison Ikkoku. to the magical girl genre of Sailor Moon. What also made this time so interesting was the fact that almost none of what we were watching was commercial releases over here, what we were watching were Anime that had been copied directly off Japanese tv then subtitled on an Amiga computer for fans.
This was an amazing time, Arctic Animation the parent of our club was an North American power when it came to fansubbing, they were one of the only games in town, since at the time the few VHS releases available cost a fortune, it wasn’t uncommon for tapes to cost in the $50+ range, and we certainly didn’t have DVD’s. There wasn’t Netflix, and video stores were terrified of it [I was there when they had to explain to an angry parent that they thought Akira was a childrens cartoon] there was so little in the range of sources it was scary at times.
But the seeds were planted, even though the tapes cost a fortune, Manga Entertainment, Viz, Animego, Central Park Media, US Manga Corps, Central Park Media were the pioneers, they saw the future and jumped on it.
Manga was a slightly different story Viz had been around for some time releasing a few select titles, along with Dark Horse Comics but there was even less selection on this front, and what was available was fairly expensive.
Fast forward to today, and the landscape is much different, we have companies dedicated to bringing out Manga in its original digest form, for far more palatable price, and one only needs to walk into their local Best Buy or FYE to see the selection of Anime available. Even the video stores are getting in on the act with Blockbuster and Hollywood Video renting large selections of Anime.
Going a step further are the legal online services such as Netflix and Crunchyroll [though their background is a little more than dubious] offering on demand streaming, or direct to mail rentals.
Times they have definitely changed…
So my question to you is this, where do you get your Anime/Manga? Tell me where you like to buy, and why, what makes for a great experience, and what makes for a bad one.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Dollfie: Figure Collecting at its extreme
So browsing around the net the other day and I stumbled upon http://www.dannychoo.com/ and noticed a section for something called Dollfie, they looked like regular anime figures with actual hair, so I figured I would take a quick peek to see what this was all about.
Dollfies are Japanese fashion dolls, not unlike Barbie's, that range in size from 22 - 60 cm and use ball joints that allow for an amazing level of articulation and posability. They are produced by Volks in Japan, and available through their USA site http://www.volksusa.com/
Dollfie dolls generally come blank, ie, their heads are not painted. When an artist paints a Dollfie, the technique is referred to as a "face-up" or "make-up". This is usually done using acrylic paints and special sealer to keep the color from coming off with play.Volks has multiple lines, everything from realistic looking people to the far more stylized Anime inspired ones. Super Dollfies are also available, 60 cm tall and made of resin they are considered to be some of the most collectable.
Looking through their site you will see that the Dollfies don't come cheap, they are most definately a premium product! Volks from time to time does what they call Dolpa's [Doll Parties] where limited edition figures and accessories become available. I saw a limited edition Mikuru from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya listed for $598! [I saw this same figure on the secondary market for nearly $1500!] Add into this the price of clothes and accessories that can rival the prices of major brand label clothing and its not impossible for a single Dollfie to cost over $1000!
I have to be honest, if one day I have the funds I am going to try and get my hands on one of these for a mascot for the site, they are wonderful pieces of art, and a definate crown jewel in any Anime/Manga collectors collection.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Sign of the Times
Anime Expo 2008 has come and gone and there is real reason for concern when it comes to the North American Anime/Manga market:
1) ADV Films is in serious financial trouble, they are in the process of restructuring and saying all the right things, but the reality is that they are selling off properties and right now and are in a state of flux with regards to their product offerings.
2) Geneon is now effectively gone, while their employees are completing a number of the properties for Funimation [the new liscensor] their existence as an independent studio is now basically over.
3) "Fansubbing" was a subject of an entire panel with studio execs and legal council, who while they understand the past need/history for fansubbing, are seeing larger and larger losses on products that have been fansubbed before they have ever been released commercially in the North American market. Not to mention the rampant sharing of commercial episodes via Torrents and P2P systems.
4) The Manga industry is having its own issues as well, with the reorganization of Tokyopop, and the well documented drop in sales in major chain booksellers, along with the continued presence of "Scanlations" the Manga industry is feeling the pinch as well.
Not exactly the rosiest picture in the world is it? With the downturn [some would say nosedive] of the US economy the situation isn't going t0 get better, and may in fact get worse, so what can we as fans do to help the industry survive these lean times? In short, we need to start paying for the hobby that we love so much.
I have been around since the early days, when "Fansubbing" was the only way to get any Anime other than the odd offerings of the then fledgling ADV, Viz, Animego, and Central Park Media/US Manga Corps. I understand that there is a lot that has never been/ never will be liscenced over here in Anime form, so I understand the downloading of stuff like that, however, if and when those series get picked up, we owe it to the commercial companies here to buy the DVDs and delete the fansubs. The same goes for Manga, its one thing downloading a "Scanlation" when a series isn't liscenced, but as soon as it becomes available commercially we should be buying it, thereby supporting the company going to the trouble of releasing it in this market.
Now I know that the economy is weak and everyone is trying to find ways to cut back and still enjoy their hobbies [trust me I know how that is] and people feel that Anime is overpriced [unless you used to pay $65 for a 30min VHS personally I dont't think you should cry too much, but thats me] but the reality is that this is still a niche market. What this means is that the costs are going to be higher, we need to be able to live with that if we want the domestic industry to survive!
What does this mean? It means buying your favourite shows on DVD, buying that Manga instead of downloading it, or even worse going into a store and reading without buying! We have all got to do our parts. If it isn't liscenced this isn't an issue, but as soon as it gets liscenced we owe it to the producers to pick up the commercial copies of the shows that we enjoy and makes sure that they are able to keep bringing more and more quality products to these shores.
With any luck the industry will manage to survive this down period and come back as strong as ever.
1) ADV Films is in serious financial trouble, they are in the process of restructuring and saying all the right things, but the reality is that they are selling off properties and right now and are in a state of flux with regards to their product offerings.
2) Geneon is now effectively gone, while their employees are completing a number of the properties for Funimation [the new liscensor] their existence as an independent studio is now basically over.
3) "Fansubbing" was a subject of an entire panel with studio execs and legal council, who while they understand the past need/history for fansubbing, are seeing larger and larger losses on products that have been fansubbed before they have ever been released commercially in the North American market. Not to mention the rampant sharing of commercial episodes via Torrents and P2P systems.
4) The Manga industry is having its own issues as well, with the reorganization of Tokyopop, and the well documented drop in sales in major chain booksellers, along with the continued presence of "Scanlations" the Manga industry is feeling the pinch as well.
Not exactly the rosiest picture in the world is it? With the downturn [some would say nosedive] of the US economy the situation isn't going t0 get better, and may in fact get worse, so what can we as fans do to help the industry survive these lean times? In short, we need to start paying for the hobby that we love so much.
I have been around since the early days, when "Fansubbing" was the only way to get any Anime other than the odd offerings of the then fledgling ADV, Viz, Animego, and Central Park Media/US Manga Corps. I understand that there is a lot that has never been/ never will be liscenced over here in Anime form, so I understand the downloading of stuff like that, however, if and when those series get picked up, we owe it to the commercial companies here to buy the DVDs and delete the fansubs. The same goes for Manga, its one thing downloading a "Scanlation" when a series isn't liscenced, but as soon as it becomes available commercially we should be buying it, thereby supporting the company going to the trouble of releasing it in this market.
Now I know that the economy is weak and everyone is trying to find ways to cut back and still enjoy their hobbies [trust me I know how that is] and people feel that Anime is overpriced [unless you used to pay $65 for a 30min VHS personally I dont't think you should cry too much, but thats me] but the reality is that this is still a niche market. What this means is that the costs are going to be higher, we need to be able to live with that if we want the domestic industry to survive!
What does this mean? It means buying your favourite shows on DVD, buying that Manga instead of downloading it, or even worse going into a store and reading without buying! We have all got to do our parts. If it isn't liscenced this isn't an issue, but as soon as it gets liscenced we owe it to the producers to pick up the commercial copies of the shows that we enjoy and makes sure that they are able to keep bringing more and more quality products to these shores.
With any luck the industry will manage to survive this down period and come back as strong as ever.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
How I came back from Anime burnout...
I was sitting here the other day thinking about where my renewed love for Anime/Manga came from, and how I got through my burnout phase.
When I think back to my beginings in the early 90's I can't help but feel like a bit of a pioneer, at the time there was very little commercially available over here. Sure you had the staples of Robotech and Akira, but other than that it was slim pickings, Animego was just getting started as was US Manga Corps, ADV was barely a blip on the radar and Viz was still concerned mostly with over priced Manga translations separated into monthly comics. There wasn't much there...
I was a member of a local Anime club at the time, watching 3rd generation tapes sent over from Japan and then fansubbed using an Amiga computer. We would get together for 7 hours once a month and pour through the latest stuff. It was a good time to be alive, I ran a small fanzine at the time and had a lot of fun perusing BBS's for all things Anime related...Then something happened...
We started to see more commercial releases, not just regular Anime, but Hentai as well, there seemed to be a real march towards legitimacy, much of it was dubbed, and horribly at that, but the inroads were there. The problems for me began when it became more and more commercial and there seemed to be a movement to market towards the teenagers. Our monthly club meetings began to feel more like the local highschool social, and it wasn't in a good way, the kids were rude, disrespectful and all the wanted was the "new dubbed stuff" our older membership waned, I stayed for awhile and then went my own way. By this time I had been to Japan a number of times and started collecting, working on my own more anyways.
Then like all young people I ended up going to college and tried to help the Anime club there, but I found more of the same, and even worse as they would ban all sorts of stuff because people didn't like the content. Some I agreed with, but others I didn't. It was hard, I couldn't really afford to collect what I wanted as VHS tapes were costing a fortune, and what was being released was skewing more to the "Big breasted girls and giant robots" than anything with much substance. I saw Princess Mononoke in theaters and loved every moment, but still I felt that the industry had passed me by.
So I walked away...
My ex wife was into some of it, but not the way I once was, I would catch bits and pieces here and there collecting the odd bits, but the passion was gone. I spent the next few years lightly tracking the industry but for the most part not caring. I did start watching a few more series again Please! Teacher and Vampire Princess Miyu: The TV Series but I still felt more on the outside looking in. Then I started reading Megatokyo and found myself wanting to draw again, of course in an Anime style, which led me back online to see what I could find. I started purusing the stores again and found how much had changes and for the better at that, it was exciting again. Not only on the Anime front, but the ability to buy Manga the way it was intended and at a reasonable price was very cool as well.
What got me through the burnout was realizing that what I enjoyed was still there, and with the advent of DVD I could still enjoy it as it was meant in the original Japanese, but still have the ability to throw the dubs on for people that preferred it that way. There was so much new to be explored and amazing people to do it with, and it seemed that age didn't really matter, which is nice since I turned 30 this year, people don't really care, if anything they enjoy having someone around who has seen more of the hobby than they have.
Its good to be back!
When I think back to my beginings in the early 90's I can't help but feel like a bit of a pioneer, at the time there was very little commercially available over here. Sure you had the staples of Robotech and Akira, but other than that it was slim pickings, Animego was just getting started as was US Manga Corps, ADV was barely a blip on the radar and Viz was still concerned mostly with over priced Manga translations separated into monthly comics. There wasn't much there...
I was a member of a local Anime club at the time, watching 3rd generation tapes sent over from Japan and then fansubbed using an Amiga computer. We would get together for 7 hours once a month and pour through the latest stuff. It was a good time to be alive, I ran a small fanzine at the time and had a lot of fun perusing BBS's for all things Anime related...Then something happened...
We started to see more commercial releases, not just regular Anime, but Hentai as well, there seemed to be a real march towards legitimacy, much of it was dubbed, and horribly at that, but the inroads were there. The problems for me began when it became more and more commercial and there seemed to be a movement to market towards the teenagers. Our monthly club meetings began to feel more like the local highschool social, and it wasn't in a good way, the kids were rude, disrespectful and all the wanted was the "new dubbed stuff" our older membership waned, I stayed for awhile and then went my own way. By this time I had been to Japan a number of times and started collecting, working on my own more anyways.
Then like all young people I ended up going to college and tried to help the Anime club there, but I found more of the same, and even worse as they would ban all sorts of stuff because people didn't like the content. Some I agreed with, but others I didn't. It was hard, I couldn't really afford to collect what I wanted as VHS tapes were costing a fortune, and what was being released was skewing more to the "Big breasted girls and giant robots" than anything with much substance. I saw Princess Mononoke in theaters and loved every moment, but still I felt that the industry had passed me by.
So I walked away...
My ex wife was into some of it, but not the way I once was, I would catch bits and pieces here and there collecting the odd bits, but the passion was gone. I spent the next few years lightly tracking the industry but for the most part not caring. I did start watching a few more series again Please! Teacher and Vampire Princess Miyu: The TV Series but I still felt more on the outside looking in. Then I started reading Megatokyo and found myself wanting to draw again, of course in an Anime style, which led me back online to see what I could find. I started purusing the stores again and found how much had changes and for the better at that, it was exciting again. Not only on the Anime front, but the ability to buy Manga the way it was intended and at a reasonable price was very cool as well.
What got me through the burnout was realizing that what I enjoyed was still there, and with the advent of DVD I could still enjoy it as it was meant in the original Japanese, but still have the ability to throw the dubs on for people that preferred it that way. There was so much new to be explored and amazing people to do it with, and it seemed that age didn't really matter, which is nice since I turned 30 this year, people don't really care, if anything they enjoy having someone around who has seen more of the hobby than they have.
Its good to be back!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Gashapon - The new collectible drug
Figure collecting and building have always been staples of the Anime/Manga scene, from the garage kits of old [see feature article next weds for their history] to the PVC figurines of the last few years. However probably the biggest change in the figure scene have been the collectible Gashapon figures of the last 6 years or so.
These figures have become the latest Otaku craze in Japan and overseas, primarily due to the advancements in PVC casting and painting the figures are realistic looking and of sufficent detail to make them deisrable collectibles. Some of them have been known to fetch quite a decent amount on the secondary market, where limited edition "Secret figures" go for quite a premium.
I am more than impressed with their quality, you do pay a fair chunk for them, about $10 US shipped for the most part [based off of eBay] there are places selling them new in the capsules, but they are harder to find.
If you fancy getting into Gashapon collecting I would try looking on eBay, and put in "Gashapon, Figure" and see what shows up, you might even find something from a series you have never heard of but think look cool none the less.
There are a few collector sites out there as well, they are a bit hit and miss, one that I found to be somewhat useful is http://www.gashaponcollector.com/ they have a nice selection to show what has been/is available and a news section as well.
Have fun collecting!
Gashapon figures are similar to the vending machine toys over here in the USA except for the fact that unlinke here where we spend .25 for a piece of junk they will spend anywhere from $3 - $7 for a wonderful collectible figure.
These figures have become the latest Otaku craze in Japan and overseas, primarily due to the advancements in PVC casting and painting the figures are realistic looking and of sufficent detail to make them deisrable collectibles. Some of them have been known to fetch quite a decent amount on the secondary market, where limited edition "Secret figures" go for quite a premium.I personally have a small number of them, mostly from the series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya they are wonderful little figures and I am supremely happy with them, here is a picture of one them that should be arriving any day now.
I am more than impressed with their quality, you do pay a fair chunk for them, about $10 US shipped for the most part [based off of eBay] there are places selling them new in the capsules, but they are harder to find.
If you fancy getting into Gashapon collecting I would try looking on eBay, and put in "Gashapon, Figure" and see what shows up, you might even find something from a series you have never heard of but think look cool none the less.
There are a few collector sites out there as well, they are a bit hit and miss, one that I found to be somewhat useful is http://www.gashaponcollector.com/ they have a nice selection to show what has been/is available and a news section as well.
Have fun collecting!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Golden Era [From a matter of perspective]
This article goes hand in hand with my one from last week, trying to explain in more detail what I mean about "Golden Era"
You hear people talk about "Golden Era's" all the time in history, the Rennaisance is the big one, the Roaring 20's being another. So what do some people consider the "Golden Era"of Anime/Manga fandom? The result may surprise you.
For ME and a lot of old timers the "Golden Era" was when there was very little commercially available on the Anime/Manga front, yes the prices were astronomical on stuff released over here and we were watching 8th generation tapes poorly subtitled, but there was something special at the same time, blazing a trail, opening a new frontier.
I was a member of the Vancouver Japanese Animation Club [VJAC for short] that was responsible for a group called Arctic Animation, this is the same Arctic Animation that would go on to do the complete fan sub of Maison Ikkoku, Patlabor, Record of Lodoss War and others. If you were a fan back then, chances are you saw a lot of our clubs work. This was a really neat time to be in fandom, we would get new series all the time and see them sometimes completely without subtitles [let me tell you The Five Star Stories basically make no sense without them, but it was fun anyways] but we loved it all because we thought there was something really special about what we were doing.
Trying to aquire merchandise was also a nightmare, really the only major places that you could get them were in California here in the USA and then from overseas, quite often in the UK, it was insane. But we loved getting each and every little piece that we could aquire, they were treasures to us.
There wasn't activism then about certain series, in fact it was precisely the opposite people were excited about anything new and unique that came down the pipe. There wasn't the whole "My series is better than yours" it didn't exist because we were thrilled with anything that came out.
We hung on every new release, hunted down Gundam kits like they were going out of style, these were great times to be a fan, maybe one day we will get back to them...
You hear people talk about "Golden Era's" all the time in history, the Rennaisance is the big one, the Roaring 20's being another. So what do some people consider the "Golden Era"of Anime/Manga fandom? The result may surprise you.
For ME and a lot of old timers the "Golden Era" was when there was very little commercially available on the Anime/Manga front, yes the prices were astronomical on stuff released over here and we were watching 8th generation tapes poorly subtitled, but there was something special at the same time, blazing a trail, opening a new frontier.
I was a member of the Vancouver Japanese Animation Club [VJAC for short] that was responsible for a group called Arctic Animation, this is the same Arctic Animation that would go on to do the complete fan sub of Maison Ikkoku, Patlabor, Record of Lodoss War and others. If you were a fan back then, chances are you saw a lot of our clubs work. This was a really neat time to be in fandom, we would get new series all the time and see them sometimes completely without subtitles [let me tell you The Five Star Stories basically make no sense without them, but it was fun anyways] but we loved it all because we thought there was something really special about what we were doing.
Trying to aquire merchandise was also a nightmare, really the only major places that you could get them were in California here in the USA and then from overseas, quite often in the UK, it was insane. But we loved getting each and every little piece that we could aquire, they were treasures to us.
There wasn't activism then about certain series, in fact it was precisely the opposite people were excited about anything new and unique that came down the pipe. There wasn't the whole "My series is better than yours" it didn't exist because we were thrilled with anything that came out.
We hung on every new release, hunted down Gundam kits like they were going out of style, these were great times to be a fan, maybe one day we will get back to them...
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Community in Anime/Manga fandom
NOTE: This was a response to the Answerman question "Do you feel a sense of community with fellow Anime fans?" over on Anime News Network, they published it so I thought I would share it as this weeks article...
Enjoy, and give me your thoughts...
You know, when I got started in Anime fandom some 15 years ago there was a real sense of community, we were a bunch of people dedicated to a very niche hobby trading tapes and stories, honestly for me and many others that was a golden age. Now, the times have changed…
Commercialization of Anime has brought about some wonderful advances [go to your local DVD store of note FYE, Fry's and you will see] but at the same time its caused the soul of the community to vanish.
One first has to understand what made the community what it was back 15 years ago, we were people that were interested in Japanese culture as much as we were the animation, there was an understanding that we were watching things that were as much a cultural window as entertainment. The problem with now is that the fans really don't have a clue where its all come from, they complain about the $30 DVD with 4 episodes, I remember paying twice that for VHS tapes with one episode on them! We never would run around calling each other “Chan” and “Sama” honestly, we would have felt that to be an insult to the culture not the least making fools of ourselves. For us it wasn't a fad so much as it was a hobby that we really didn't care if it was understood or not. Now, all you hear is people calling themselves Japanese names and glorifying series as the greatest ever without even looking at what came from the past.
I recently saw it first hand when I was in our local comic shop, one of the employees was there and I looked up at the screen and saw an AMV playing of Oh! My Goddess The Movie. He proceeded to tell me how amazing this show is and how it's the pinnacle of modern Anime, and wanted to know if I was interested in coming to the store's Anime night. I asked him what they would be showing and he listed the episodes of Naruto and Bleach along with Bubblegum Crisis. I politely declined, he asked why, I explained that for me, when I used to go to club meetings, it was to see something new, not the same stuff from the TV. He looked at me and said “How can you call yourself an Anime fan and not love Naruto?!” I couldn't believe my ears. It underscored to me how today there is far more activism in Anime than there is community, I shouldn't have to defend not liking Naruto to be a fan, but its more of a “Look at me I'm an Anime fan!” than anything else anymore. Call me old and jaded, but being told by a couple of kids how everything prior to Bleach sucked is more than a little annoying.
There is community to be found, but its in the smaller niche groups, Cosplayer's, Fansubbers etc. honestly I would love to see the community go back to smaller more focused groups without all the commercialization. Where true fans could really enjoy themselves and not be lumped in with the kids who don't know what fandom really is.
I would love to see community rise again, truly I would, I just don't see it happening anytime soon.
Enjoy, and give me your thoughts...
You know, when I got started in Anime fandom some 15 years ago there was a real sense of community, we were a bunch of people dedicated to a very niche hobby trading tapes and stories, honestly for me and many others that was a golden age. Now, the times have changed…
Commercialization of Anime has brought about some wonderful advances [go to your local DVD store of note FYE, Fry's and you will see] but at the same time its caused the soul of the community to vanish.
One first has to understand what made the community what it was back 15 years ago, we were people that were interested in Japanese culture as much as we were the animation, there was an understanding that we were watching things that were as much a cultural window as entertainment. The problem with now is that the fans really don't have a clue where its all come from, they complain about the $30 DVD with 4 episodes, I remember paying twice that for VHS tapes with one episode on them! We never would run around calling each other “Chan” and “Sama” honestly, we would have felt that to be an insult to the culture not the least making fools of ourselves. For us it wasn't a fad so much as it was a hobby that we really didn't care if it was understood or not. Now, all you hear is people calling themselves Japanese names and glorifying series as the greatest ever without even looking at what came from the past.
I recently saw it first hand when I was in our local comic shop, one of the employees was there and I looked up at the screen and saw an AMV playing of Oh! My Goddess The Movie. He proceeded to tell me how amazing this show is and how it's the pinnacle of modern Anime, and wanted to know if I was interested in coming to the store's Anime night. I asked him what they would be showing and he listed the episodes of Naruto and Bleach along with Bubblegum Crisis. I politely declined, he asked why, I explained that for me, when I used to go to club meetings, it was to see something new, not the same stuff from the TV. He looked at me and said “How can you call yourself an Anime fan and not love Naruto?!” I couldn't believe my ears. It underscored to me how today there is far more activism in Anime than there is community, I shouldn't have to defend not liking Naruto to be a fan, but its more of a “Look at me I'm an Anime fan!” than anything else anymore. Call me old and jaded, but being told by a couple of kids how everything prior to Bleach sucked is more than a little annoying.
There is community to be found, but its in the smaller niche groups, Cosplayer's, Fansubbers etc. honestly I would love to see the community go back to smaller more focused groups without all the commercialization. Where true fans could really enjoy themselves and not be lumped in with the kids who don't know what fandom really is.
I would love to see community rise again, truly I would, I just don't see it happening anytime soon.
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