Without knowing quite what to expect I decided to give Initial D a try after it coming highly recommended by a friend. Seems that the last few anime I have chosen to watch have been based on recommendations but when someone things of a series so highly I can't help but give it a shot.


Knowing that Initial D was an older series I was prepared to face some questionable looking old-school animation and I was not wrong. In the early episodes there are some interesting stylistic choices in regards to the facial expressions. Not exactly what I have come to expect from the various anime styles out there. More than anything else I must admit that the mouths kind of bothered me. Fortunately this is only the case in the first season, with the series' overall quality improving significantly in the remaining seasons or "stages." No other visual aspects of note stood out, save perhaps that this was one of the first anime to implement the combination of traditionally drawn cells and CGI.


Having gotten only a few episodes into the series I quickly realized that I was getting hooked, and fast. The story is very strong and the way that the characters get into the technical side of street racing kept me interested. In a way, the first season was perhaps also the best because most of the character growth happened within those episodes. Later stages continued to get more and more technical and battle focused, with character development eventually becoming secondary. Still, the Extra Stage OVAs did try to make up for this by focusing on character relationships.


While the introduction of protagonist Takumi as the clueless and inexperienced protege, though genius behind the wheel, was a brilliant hook for starting Initial D off, the technical minutiae and drawn-out racing battles eventually became repetitive as the series drew to a close. Not to mention that this anime lacks an actual climax and ending. Maybe that's because each battle is a climax in itself. It would have been nice to see the completion of "Project D" as the proper ending of the series but perhaps audiences had lost interest at that point.


Personally I would have loved to see more development in the romantic relationships between many of the characters instead of breaking everybody up and trying to ingrain the notion of "the lonely driver" into the viewer's mind. I also would like to have back the couple of hours spent watching the live action movie. All the characters were so different by having the production be Chinese that I had a hard time enjoying the film after spending so many episodes with the anime's characters. It's not that the actors didn't do a good job but rather that the characters were portrayed very differently.


So here I am again. Another anime series that I enjoyed quite a lot and can't seem to stop complaining about. This tends to happen quite often for some reason and maybe I just don't like seeing so much potential not being reached. When it comes down to it, I really had a lot of fun with Initial D and would recommend it to anyone with even a small interest in automotive sport. Not only is it entertaining but it's also informative and has made me pay more attention to my driving technique. Oh, and now I want to own a late '80s sports car. Probably a Subaru XT6.  Go figure.

In an effort to try and still keep somewhat informed of what's what in the anime world I one day came across an article on Otaku2 where Sato Dai, storywriter for some of the best series out there, voiced his discontentment with contemporary anime.  Can't say I haven't done the same on occasion, reminiscing about days-gone-by when the likes of Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, and Lain were the big titles for an audience interested in substance.  What caught my interest in particular was Sato's mention of Eureka Seven having been dismissed in it's day as an Evangelion clone.


Not the best quality video, but probably the best trailer out there.
Having posted about NGE here in the past, as it compares to Lain, I couldn't resist digging up Eureka Seven to see what all the fuss was about.  A friend's mention of Eureka being his favorite anime nudged me further in that direction.  The initial similarities between Evangelion and Eureka are pretty obvious but they are mostly superficial.  The two series employ some genre-specific conventions but each has a very different feel to it.


While I can see how Eureka could be dismissed as just another mecha anime in the post-Evangelion days, it is less dark much of the time and ultimately resolves to have a more amicable outcome for its characters.  Now, I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty details of what happens in the series because you should just watch it but I definitely enjoyed Eureka thoroughly.  It may not have quite the psychological depth of NGE, nor does it have to.  The cast tends to be more archetypal and draws on our basic desires and ambitions with a healthy dose of romance thrown in.


The thing that I probably enjoyed most of all is that it was such a well executed series.  Within its fifty episodes you will find a great deal of character development in a steady progression.  It's well paced, provides plenty of tension, and an equal amount of resolution.  The animation is solid throughout and the last episode even kicks it up a notch with especially well done cells for key scenes.  When it comes to how Eureka wraps up it has Evangelion beat.  Not that it would take much to improve on Evangelion's original series ending, mind you.  Even so, Eureka delivers a great climax with plenty of heart-warming resolution to leave me feeling good about having invested my time in an anime of this length.

Over the last couple of months I have been watching the new-to-me anime series Welcome to the NHK, and loving it.  The story is the best part about the series and the premise is entertaining in an "it's funny 'cause it's true" kind of way.  Once you take away all the superficial content, some of which can be on the gimmicky side, NHK seems to actually present and address the real-life hikikomori issue.


In terms of visuals, you won't find anything spectacular here.  There are in fact some flaws in the animation which are pretty hard to miss.  The overall art style is mostly run-of-the-mill with a few episodes that clearly had some problems.  These tend to often be budgetary issues as I understand it, but it has been some time since I have seen such crudely done cells in a contemporary production (more screenshots here, via Tyler Junky).  Luckily those sequences tend to last for only a few minutes at a time, making them bearable.

Some of the content also seems too belabored.  This would fall under that "superficial content" category mentioned earlier.  The first and foremost is perhaps rather central, being the whole Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai angle and the series' namesake.  It is derived from a conspiracy theory which comes up time and time again as a metaphor that is truly developed all too late.  While the motif is presented many times as comical, main characters continue to reference conspiracies in a way that almost tried my patience.  I say almost because it wasn't a deal breaker by any means, yet it remains as a non-essential element that gets in the way of what is truly important.


The real substance in NHK is to be found in its character development.  Perhaps that is not saying much as this is true of any good story, especially those in episodic format.  It comes to mind here because I do wish the creators had put more time into it.  Less time on adding fantasy conspiracy theory sequences, and more time on the characters' actions and back stories.  The protagonist and supporting characters are relatively well developed but the female lead is left a mystery for far too long.  Creating suspense is one thing but providing little to no back story on Misaki's character for two-thirds of the series risks your audience loosing interest.

Pointing out the animation problems, filler content, and under-developed characters is starting to make NHK sound like an anime not worth watching after all.  That is far from the case here.  It's precisely because I liked it so much and care that I would have loved to see it done better.  These flaws are merely areas that could have been improved and pushed NHK toward greater success.  Besides, none of its problems stood out so much that I didn't want to continue watching.


When it comes down to it, this is a series that takes a good look at the otaku and hikikomori life-style and pokes a little fun at it.  Not in a judgmental way but with a little Otaku No Video flare.  It doesn't take itself too seriously and at the same time tries to present a message about the actual hikikomori phenomenon.  At one point NHK concludes that hikikomori exist because they are supported financially, only getting a job and re-joining the world when forced to support themselves.  Either way, once you get past the superfluous content and execution issues, Welcome to the NHK becomes a captivating story whose characters can speak to you and touch your little otaku heart.

Because there aren't enough end-of-year lists on the internet and because everybody wants to know what I think is important, you will now be subjected to yet another somewhat useless post.  On the other hand, for those who are looking for something they haven't read, watched, listened to, or played yet this may prove of some usefulness.

In retrospect, 2010 has been a hugely eventful and crazy year for me personally but I seem to have covered that already.  So instead lets talk about some of the memorable media that's come out this year, and some which I have only gotten to this year that has been out for some time.


Manga...

In the world of manga there have been several notable releases.  The biggest of these for me was PLUTO by Naoki Urasawa.  It has been a while since any manga grabbed me like PLUTO.  Since it is a reimagining of Tezuka's Astro Boy it consequently turned me on to a reading of the original Astro manga as well as Urasawa's 20th Century Boys. I'm still planning on getting around to reading Monster as I can't seem to get enough of the complexity Urasawa weaves into his characters and plots.

Meawhile, the English version of Biomega by Tsutomu Nihei, one of my favorite artists, was also released.  While it is unfortunately not a sequel to Blame! but rather a reinterpretation of the story to some extent, this is Nihei we're talking about so I can't complain.

Absolute Fav:  Definitely PLUTO.


Anime...

Which brings us to the wonderful world of Anime.  Something that was rather momentous which occurred in my small world of Anime was the huge changes that were made to the Aniwave festival.  Since leaving Wilmington and passing on the Aniwave torch to another dedicated group of individuals, the festival had well over 400 attendees this year!  What unprecedented growth.  This made me superbly happy for the future of my humble creation.


Several films that I was watching with selection for Aniwave in mind seemed well suited for the festival.  Summer Wars was thoroughly enjoyable, brought to us by the people who created The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.  Makoto Shinkai's 5 Centimeters Per Second was absolutely superb and I wouldn't have expected any less from him, though I realize that is not actually a 2010 release but it has been floating around in licensing limbo.  Similarly, I was impressed by the somewhat older Mind Game, another excellent title from Studio 4°C, which satisfied my hunger for progressive anime.


Once the holidays were upon me and the winter blues came around for a bit I was looking to watch another anime series and check it off my entirely-to-long list.  For some reason I decided to give Death Note another go.  I couldn't get past the first few episodes when it came out originally because the entire premise struck me as juvenile, causing me to dismiss the whole thing.  After some reports of the story getting good later on I persevered through the series' initial lull and was pleased to find some substance after L joins the plot.  The detective-story styled back and fourth was fun while it lasted, though the ending seemed slightly contrived. Overall Death Note was good in part but still left me with mixed feelings and the occasional wondering of how I could have spent my time better.

Absolute Fav:  Shinkai does it again, going with 5 Centimeters Per Second.


Movies...

Few can deny that 2010 has a pretty significant year for Hollywood.  Not only did we see a lot of blockbusters hit the screen, but they were actually pretty good it seems.  This was also the first year that I saw a movie in 3D.  Naturally that made an impression on me and regardless of what people say I loved Avatar for being such a visual feast.  Yes, I'm still counting it as a 2010 film as it was re-released in theaters this year.


As far as definite 2010 releases go, Inception was a great film to get lost in.  While nay-sayers decried being left hanging at the end, I had no problems with its ambiguity in hopes of a sequel.  On the serious side of things, I saw two excellent documentaries as well.  Inside Job reiterated some information I was already familiar with while making explicit much that I was not aware of.  It served well to inform but even more to stir the emotions in light of the frivolity with which actions were taken by those in power to make the recession happen.  And while we are on this emotional note, Tibet in Song was also rather heart-wrenching at times.  It brought me up to speed on the current situation in Tibet and the Chinese influence there.


Lest I become to involved with reality, I ended my 2010 in film with my first visit to an Imax 3D theater for a viewing of Tron: Legacy!  Both nostalgic and new, Tron was visually fantastic and had my nerdy heart in its digital hands.  I loved it enough to come home and watch the original again.

Absolute Fav:  This is a tough one.  While I want to say Avatar or Tron I think I'm going to have to give it to Inside Job.


Games...

Admittedly, my gaming time tends to be limited these days and most of the year was little to no exception.  The most notable new game for me in 2010 was undoubtedly the Cave Story release on WiiWare.  In all honesty, I still occasionally pick it up and try to do the old Hell run-through.  While I always die at the hands of Balrog, this game has been for some time now and will always be a classic in my book.


My other gaming escapades tend to be relegated to older titles that I can get for cheap.  As such, I played some BioShock, Oblivion, and Gothic 3 this year on PC.  On the Wii I had some fun with SSX Blur, and splurged on Metroid Prime: Trilogy on account of it being out of production.  Two new titles that I ended up getting are Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, a great shooter with a nice old-school feel, and A Boy And His Blob, also nostalgic and with nice 2D artwork.  I have yet to spend sufficient time with the latter two before I can make a proper assessment.

Absolute Fav:  That's easy. Cave Story all the way!


Music...

While the previous year heavily featured more mellow indie music on my speakers, 2010 had we wanting heavier beats and more electronica.  Though I would find occasional respite in the soundtracks from the anime Mushishi and the indie-game Machinarium, I began to prefer chiptunes from 8bitstellar and Leeni.  Much of the year seemed to be dominated by Lady Gaga and the various volumes of Tecktonik which eventually made way for a return to Daft Punk, Justice, Uffie, and Electric Six.  Most recently I have discovered Capsule's fantastic electro fusion of Jpop, house, etc.


Absolute Fav:  Not sure I can make a choice here. Somewhere between Lady Gaga, Tecktonik, and Daft Punk maybe.

Having posted my new work from [peripheral/interface] on DeviantArt not too long ago, I was happy to find positive feedback from many people I know on that website. In addition, a number of strangers also enjoyed the new pieces and commented on them as well. Shortly thereafter I was contacted by one DA user who enthusiastically asked permission to print out copies of my "Economics" painting and hand them out at Anime Expo.

Happy to receive the request, and having already planned to print out some "bills" for myself, I put together a template for these and send it off to him. As these things go, I didn't really think much of it at the time and only asked for some photos in return. So, as weeks went by I completely forgot about this until I received an email last week. At first I thought it was spam and almost deleted it until I saw the photos!



I trust you'll agree with me that these are great shots, and I think the idea was brilliant. "Economics" has gone on a mini tour to Anime Expo this year. Even though doing this series made it impossible for me to attend a con this year, it would seem that a little piece of me managed to go nonetheless. Big thanks to you DarkAssasin, you made my day! This was a great idea, and one that I hope we can repeat.

If anyone else would like to receive the template for printing these, I will be happy to send it to you. Simply contact me here or anywhere else online and we will exchange information. I would love for these to go to lots of other places and cons, providing of course that you can send me a photo!

While purchasing some more anime on Amazon, I ran across a little gem that I had never heard of before. Sky Crawlers comes to us directed by Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell, Jin-Roh, and Avalon fame, and the two hour long feature includes some stunning animation. The aerial combat scenes are beautifully and very realistically rendered.

The story focuses on a group of young fighter pilots in an alternate historical setting. The meat of this film truly lies in the story of its characters however. In light of this, I think some may find themselves wanting more action scenes and not getting their fill. Again, as with so many war related anime, I find that Sky Crawlers really questions the purpose of war. This becomes evident when the secrets of the story are revealed.

Throughout the film I felt a sense of familiarity with the aesthetics. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until the latter portion of the film where the characters visit another town. The buildings immediately jumped out at me as being remarkably like those in Poland. Sure enough, signs in Polish and even characters speaking in Polish appeared shortly thereafter. I had no idea that this was the case when I order the film, and I was very pleasantly surprised!



One of the most recognizable Polish buildings is the tower like structure in the film. It is actually the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. Shown above is a comparison between the building in the anime, and a photo I took of the actual building last year. As it turns out upon viewing the "Animation Research" featurette, Mamoru Oshii took his staff to Poland in order to experience the culture and take a slew of photos and video in order to base the film's designs on them. I am thrilled that an anime director of his caliber has taken such great interest in my home country.

I am rather excited to have found this film, by chance really. I highly recommend it as a more serious film to watch, but also for it's incredible visual quality. Of course if you are an Oshii fan, then you probably already know about it. Either way, don't pass this one up!

Though rather late, I finally got to watching all of Mushishi. I became rather excited about it a long time ago when Nikki found it online, right around when it actually came out. For some reason though, I just couldn't get to watching it all this time. Nevertheless, I just got the urge one day recently and went through the whole series within less than a week.

Mushishi is a rather different kind of anime. For one, there is essentially no over-arching plot to speak of. Each of the 26 episodes is a self-contained plot, with very few recurring characters between them. This is anime at its low-key best. Like Niea_7, by and large it presents us with the daily struggles and mundane efforts of common people. No end-of-the-world scenario here, and to me that's rather refreshing.



The main character, Ginko, is a traveling Mushi-shi, or bugmaster. His primary role is to find and control or eradicate mushi. While the word mushi itself is translated as insect, it also means to disregard, or ignore. I find this of significance, because the mushi of this anime are essences of life that are neither animal nor plant. They are ghost-like creatures comprised of energy. Most of them are harmless, but like animals and plants can have negative effects on people if disturbed in some way.

Since only a few characters in the anime can see them they are often feared and misunderstood, and therefore also ignored as the translation suggests. Mushi can exist harmoniously and in balance as part of the natural world. Undesirable consequences only come to pass when humans interfere with the natural order of the world, which has created the need for those who can control the mushi in some way and restore balance. Enter Ginko-san.

Part exterminator, healer, and part teacher, he travels without end. Due to his past with the mushi, he tends to attract them and must always be on the move. Yet in each episode he presents the characters with reason, a cure, or solution. Sometimes he also presents a difficult choice, as being rid of the mushi in the scenario may mean having to give something up. Something that may be very important to the characters.

This brings us back to the nature of the individual plots in the series. Each episode introduces a new set of characters who have been somehow affected by a mushi, creating a significant obstacle. Often times, individuals' lives are at stake. Yet to save a life, they may have to give up something dear. At times it may be a part of their body, and at other times their entire village. In all cases, people's attachments are laid bare and difficult choices are the only resolution.



I suspect that each episode's story harkens back to Japanese folklore. They all sound brilliantly fantastic and reminiscient of kami in the Shinto tradition. Whether it be the wandering swamp that comes down from the mountain, or a guardian being of a particular area. Each mushi is neither good nor bad, but simply exists as a necessary part of the world.

The bottom line is that this anime is wonderfully idyllic and relaxes me in a similar way as Niea_7 does. It doesn't depict epic battle scenes, but rather presents us with a set of tales that are soothing and in some way bear a message we can learn from. I don't want to call it educational, because that sounds too dry, but Mushishi does have a lot of depth for anyone willing to look beyond the lack of fancy sword fights. And for those familiar with Eastern though, Mushishi holds yet another interest which will be quite apparent and stimulating. My only criticism would be that the series isn't longer. It seems to have come to an end all too soon. Still, more resolution at the end may also be a plus.

Based on the short talk I gave at the Anime & Manga Art Workshop at the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia. This is a cursory treatment of anime and manga, it's historical and cultural background, and the art movement that has resulted therefrom.


0. Introduction

Some might find it strange that a Polish artist, living in America, is making art based on Japanese culture. Because I grew up living in many different countries, and have this multicultural background, I look at the world in a multinational way. I see the flow of media across continents, and my work is based on my observations from that very multicultural perspective.

Culture is integral to any art that is created, and so too with anime and manga there is a lot of history and cultural context that has shaped it over the years.


1. Ukiyo-e

The Japanese art form of Ukiyo-e, which began around 1620, essentially laid the groundwork for a Japanese sensibility in art that would later find its way into manga, and then anime. This form of painting which started some 400 years ago had already established the use of flat colors and black contour lines.


2. Hiroshima & Nagasaki

In 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forever altering the nation of Japan and its people. The motif of the atomic bomb and destruction on a massive scale would come back in anime and manga again and again, and continues to resurface to this day.


3. Westernization

Having lost the war, Japan starts out on a rapid process of rebuilding and industrialization. In order to survive in this new world, many Japanese ideas are replaced with American ones, and the country undergoes a significant Westernization. This process permanently changes Japan into an economic and technological superpower. In essence, this was and is a realization of the stuff science fiction is made of.


4. Disney & Tezuka

Post-war Japanese artist Osamu Tezuka, often referred to as the founding father of manga, saw what Disney was creating in the US. He was then inspired to create work of a similar character, but with a more distinct Japanese sensibility. Enter Astro Boy, as it came to be known in English, which cemented Tezuka's career. It's interesting to note how Astro Boy shares some visual similarities with Disney's work of that time.


5. Robots & Technology

Tezuka at this point established the popular themes of robots and technology with Astro Boy. These themes would evolve and persist to this day, culminating in their own genres and sub-genres of anime and manga.


6. The Anime Boom

The 1980s saw a boom in the anime industry in Japan, as well as a growing popularity stateside. With more money flowing, experimental film begin to be created. Among those, the cult classic Akira sets new standards. With Akira, we yet again see a resurfacing of the atomic bomb motif portrayed by recurring scenes of large scale destruction, intricately linked to the presence of technology.


7. Serious Themes

Works such as Akira presented a seriousness which became more common during the period of the '80s and '90s. Further elaborated in the film Grave of the Fireflies, dealing with the issues of war, bombing, and destruction more directly became more accepted and applauded.


8. Experimental Anime

Building on the trends of experimentation with the successful films of the 1980s, the '90s saw further exploration into uncharted waters in a serialized format. Neon Genesis Evangelion took those serious themes, and combined them with technological science fiction elements and motifs of robots and atomic bombs. It went one step further, by putting all these subjects under the umbrella of metaphysics.


9. Serial Experiments: Lain

The period of experimentation culminated with the creation of Serial Experiments: Lain. The series built on multifaceted approach of including technology, but then advanced into a league of its own by becoming heavily cerebral. Lain embedded over a hundred references to literature, philosophy, history, and more. Its content is in my perception some of the most artistically created in the anime industry. So much so, that it served as the impetus for my shift toward this subject matter in my art. In 2000, I created my first anime styled painting, inspired by Lain (pictured above, right).


10. Japanese Pop-art

During the '90s, artists Takashi Murakami (pictured above, left) and Yoshitomo Nara (above, right) spearheaded a new movement of art based on Japanese popular culture. Using the visual vocabulary of anime and manga, this movement gained a lot of momentum in the 2000s. The international success of these artists has served as inspiration for other young artists the world over who have become fascinated by anime and manga as it flows across national and geographic boundaries.


11. Powerful Means of Expression

It is interesting to me that I did not know about Murakami and his Superflat movement until several years after beginning to create work based on anime and manga. Personally, I found anime and manga imagery to be incredibly powerful as a means of artistic expression. Yet it would be difficult to deny the fact that knowing Murakami's work later on did not have any impact on my work. While I never tried to emulate his style consciously, I think it still exerted its influence on me in ways that I was not aware of.

Currently, my work is beginning to move away from the style I have been developing over the last few years. I am now on the verge of a significant change, looking at what moved me all those years ago when I first began creating this type of art and then opening up to let in a multitude of other cultural influences finally make their presence known.


12. Conclusion

The most important thing in all of this, is to realize that while anime and manga may seem like a shallow consumer product at times it is in actuality a product of hundreds of years of history. Major cultural changes all contributed to the creation of a visual work that we are seeing today. This is true of any art form, but it is important to understand how this work has been influenced by the world we live in today and all that has come before us.

After about a two plus hour flight delay I finally got into Roanoke, Virginia on Friday night. The purpose of my visit was to be a guest teacher of an anime and manga art workshop at the Taubman Museum of Art, which took place on Saturday. Following my late arrival, my host picked me up and showed me around a few Roanoke art exhibitions.

First we caught the tail end of the opening for an exhibition at Roanoke College, which features gallery space of a significant size and quality. We intended to see another show at The Water Heater but ended up missing much of that due to my flight's tardiness. Finally, after fueling up on some sushi after a tiring time in transit, we pretty much called it a night.

Saturday was the big day, and we got up nice and early for it. The Taubman Museum of Art is a gorgeous new building, completed just last year. Designed by architect Randall Stout, the building's forms are reminiscent of designs by Frank Gehry. Apparently Stout studied with Gehry at some point, as indicated by the museum's literature. So came as no surprise that I found the museum's interior spaces light and inviting, and find myself wishing this type of structure existed in Wilmington as well. The education spaces were very well designed from a utilitarian perspective, but seemed a bit small in comparison with the large open halls of the central atrium space. This became clear when the room filled with students attending the workshop, of which we had more than expected. I think we had close to 20 students, which got a little crowded but still manageable.


I opened the workshop with a short talk about the historical and cultural background behind anime and manga. Starting with a mention of the foundations in ukiyo-e, and then moving onto the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I intended to show how Japanese traditions, World War II, and the country's industrialization process were all major contributing factors in the creation of anime and manga. I then moved on to give examples of Astro Boy's connection to Disney, as well as popular motifs of robots and technology in the anime that followed.

Half-way through my talk I touched on the anime boom of the 1980s, and the experimental work that came out of that era and the time after it. My examples included Akira and Grave of the Fireflies, as bringing back serious and historical themes dealing with Japan's history. This served as a transition into Neon Genesis Evangelion and Serial Experiments: Lain as taking experimentation in anime one step further. At this point, at the mention of Lain, I shifted gears and talked about the fine art movement that essentially started with Murakami in the 1990s.

I showed images of work by Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami, and then moved onto examples of my own paintings at the end of the talk. It was probably only ten or fifteen minutes of speaking, which I think was the right length of time for this age group. Any more history and background information and I think they would have been bored to tears, but this seemed just right to hold their interest. We followed the talk up with some drawing exercises, a subject matter lottery, and continued to draw "cover" ideas for a comic book or manga. The workshop concluded with a short tour of the museum's exhibitions, which weren't all open unfortunately.

In addition to the above photos, I put up an album on Facebook of the workshop. I should be getting a few more photos of that at some point, which I will add when the time comes.
All in all it was a very productive workshop, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. So much so, perhaps, that some of them wished it had been longer. I on the other hand was more than ready for lunch at that point. We ended up eating at Norah's Cafe in the museum, which had excellent food and a very pleasing atmosphere. It felt cheerful and bright, even with the rainy weather outside.

The rest of the day we spent with more visiting of art shows and gallery spaces. Most notably, the current exhibitions at the Hollins University's Eleanor D. Wilson Museum struck me as the best that I had seen in Roanoke. In light of only some of the Taubman's galleries being open, the exhibition at Hollins proved to be better than what the museum had to offer. The work of Vietnamese artist Binh Danh was especially powerful, warranting further examination and contemplation.

That Saturday was naturally the highlight of my stay, as Friday and Sunday were marked by mostly being in transit and feeling funny. Altogether, the weekend was a great experience, but remained a fairly exhausting venture. I would have to say that what struck me the most about Roanoke is how, even though its size is not that much bigger than the Wilmington area's, the arts have taken on so much more of a vital role in that community. With the Taubman, a multitude of private galleries and alternative exhibition venues, and several school art facilities, Roanoke seems to be a very art oriented community. They even have an arts focused alternative high school (albeit not a cheap one). Most of the people I spoke with seemed to be very involved in the arts there.

All of this served to contrast sharply with the tiny art scene of the Wilmington area, which makes me yet again dissatisfied with my current place of residence. I am now again thinking of the move that we feel might be coming up at some point this year. But for now I think I must simply remain patient.

Shortly after posting about anime availability on Hulu, I received an email from a representative of Joost.com, informing me that they too have a number of anime titles. "I saw your post today about Hulu and its anime library. I work for an online video site that also provides legal anime, like Hulu," writes Kerry of Joost. I hadn't actually visited Joost in a long time, and so I headed over to their anime section to see for myself their offerings and how the site functions.

As it turns out, Joost has in their library all of the anime that is also available on Hulu, plus a few more. Here's a list of their currently available titles...

• Angelic Layer [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Aquarion [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• AstroBoy [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Avatar [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Basilisk [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Bastof Syndrome [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Best Student Council [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Black Blood Brothers [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Bleach [watch] [info], subtitled and uncut.
• Blue Gender [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Buzzer Beater [watch] [info], subtitled.
• Cosmo-Warrior Zero [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Death Note [watch] [info], subtitled and uncut.
• Galaxy Railways [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Ghost Hunt [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• Gun Frontier [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• Ikki Tousen [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• Izumo [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• Jyu-Oh-Sei [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• Kaiji [watch] [info], subtitled.
• Kiddy Grade [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Moonphase [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Naruto [watch] [info], subtitled and uncut.
• Naruto Shippuden [watch] [info], subtitled and uncut.
• Origin [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Peach Girl [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Rumbling Hearts [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• Saiyuki [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• School Rumble [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Shigurui: Death Frenzy [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• Shikabane Hime [watch] [info], subtitled.
• Shuffle [watch] [info], subtitled and dubbed.
• Slayers, The [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Slayers NEXT, The [watch] [info], dubbed.
• Super Milk Chan [watch] [info], dubbed.
• xxxHolic [watch] [info], dubbed.

That's a pretty good lineup, and I guess streaming rights are available for mostly the same series, which is why we are seeing so many duplicates on both Joost and Hulu. The only series missing are Mushishi, Speed Racer, and Suzuka, which are available from Hulu.

However, Joost seems to have a department that is working a bit harder on getting new material than Hulu. Kerry also informed me that they "add new anime every week (and are adding a number of new series in the next couple of weeks)." In addition to the above mentioned anime, Joost also has streams of news videos from Anime News Network [link], as well as Wizzard Media's Track-shun.tv video reviews [link].

At this stage, it does in fact appear as though Joost is paying closer attention to demand for streaming services. So here's a "Thanks!" to you guys. And if you are reading this, I have a couple of suggestions. First, it would be helpful to know on each series' thumbnail if it's a subtitled or dubbed anime. This could be easily accomplished by adding another mini-icon. Second, it may be prudent to take to heart Marc Andreesen's proposition to link a free service such as this with purchasing options. Adding the ability to buy the anime on DVD or via digital download would not only be beneficial to the industry as a whole, but I also imagine it would bring more partners on board for Joost. The end result should be additional revenue for all parties involved.

So good luck to Joost, and good job. As for the rest of you, enjoy the free anime out there, and feel free to let me know if more series are added to the lineup.

A few days ago I caught an episode of Charlie Rose which presented guest Marc Andreessen. I found the conversation highly informative, and it got me to thinking about how the struggling anime industry could use online content delivery methods to do precisely what Andreessen was suggesting.

I thought to myself, "wouldn't it be great if there was a website that streamed all the anime for free?" Yes it would. But then somebody might say, "oh but then why would anybody want to pay for it?" The fact of the matter is that a lot of people don't pay for their anime. It's pretty easy to get it online for free already, and that seems to be one of the primary reasons why the industry is having a hard time.

Andreessen mentions how Napster, once the bane of the music industry, was really just an opportunity for the industry to cash in on the downloading rush. Instead, they shot themselves in the foot by crushing Napster. The same case can be made for the anime industry, in that they should use this as an opportunity instead of fighting it. If you end up distributing the content online, for free, and then offer the option of purchasing that content, you just might have a solution here.

That's when I remembered Hulu. I've already been watching a few things on Hulu now and then, and it seems that they are doing very well if they can afford those high-profile TV commercials. What I hadn't looked into was if they had any anime. It just didn't occur to me yet, but lo and behold, as of this time they have 23 anime series available!

Here is a list of currently available anime series on Hulu, which you can find in their Animation & Cartoons section. Listed alphabetically, the "watch" link takes you to the appropriate Hulu page, while the "info" link leads to the show's Wikipedia entry. Update: I went back and check which series where subbed or dubbed and made note next to each below. Enjoy...

• Astro Boy [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Black Blood Brothers [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Bleach [watch] [info], subtitled.
  
• Blue Gender [watch] [info], subtitled.
  
• Cosmowarrior Zero [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Death Note [watch] [info], subtitled.
  
• Galaxy Railways, The [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Gun Frontier [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Ikki Tousen [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Kiddy Grade [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Moon Phase [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Mushishi [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Naruto [watch] [info], subtitled.
  
• Naruto Shippuden [watch] [info], subtitled.
  
• Peach Girl [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Rumbling Hearts [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• School Rumble [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess) [watch] [info], subtitled.
  
• Shuffle [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Slayers, The [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Speed Racer [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• Suzuka [watch] [info], dubbed.
  
• xxxHolic [watch] [info], dubbed.
  

Granted, they are not all full series. It also looks like they are all dubbed many of them are dubbed, while some are actually subbed, which makes it less appealing to me personally (thanks to Atwood for correcting me on this). Which doesn't mean that this won't change in the future. "Streaming rights to the subtitled/dubbed version of this series aren't available at this time, but we will continue to pursue both dubbed and subtitled versions of all anime series," informs a message at the top of some series' episode lists. If that is true, it is certainly good news to me. Admittedly, I haven't have at by now checked every single series for subtitle availability, but it is a safe bet at this point that looks like most are dubbed.

This is a step in the right direction, however. If anyone has the resources to pull it off, it's Hulu. While not exactly the implementation I envisioned for this service, it's close enough for now. I still think that a purchasing option for both DVD and digital format for home computers and mobile devices is the way to go. In the future, I imagine they will be adding more shows to their library at as well. It would only make sense.

It's hard to say whether this will have any impact on the anime industry, especially since there's no purchasing options at this stage. Only time will tell, and if enough people start watching anime in this manner, rest assured the folks at Hulu would notice. For now, we can just sit and wait. Or maybe create our own more competitive service?

The new British flag was voted in an online poll at the Telegraph.co.uk to be inspired by the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. This is surely a sign of how popular anime has gotten in the world.

The Norwegian designer, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he intended the flag to represent the union of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in a modern, cool light.
The dragon itself was inspired by a Japanese anime television series.
"It represents shouting "UNION!" and joining together; kicking reason to the curb and doing the impossible; fighting the power, and piercing the heavens," he said.

Read the entire article, via Telegraph.co.uk.

Having watched Black Lagoon, on loan from a friend, I am not quite sure what to make of it. Meaning, that I am unclear as to the premise of this anime. What is Black Lagoon trying to be? Initially, it would appear that it is an action series set out to romanticize the outlaw life, glorify organized crime, and generally make heroes out of bullet spraying criminals of questionable psychologies.

On the other hand, throwing in a main character who isn't really down with the kill-everybody lifestyle does change that a bit. Rock isn't a criminal, and starts out as a hostage in fact. Through a lack of choice he become the unwitting new member of Lagoon Company, and a dualistic relationship between him and Revy is established that lasts for the entire series. Like Yin and Yang, Rock and Revy are essentially opposites that feed off each other.

The episodes delve into most of the unsavory aspects of violent societies in the world today. From drug and arms trading, torture and racism, to human trafficking and child pornography, Black Lagoon tackles some pretty hot issues that few anime have dared to include in the past. At least not all together. Mix in a gratuitous amount of blood and violence, and you got yourself a show that isn't for the faint of heart. This is why it becomes easy to think that the underlying idea is one of glorifying violence and its perpetuation.


Every once in a while, however, the characters are brought back to reality from their action-thriller rides with the rawness of their actions. The brutal outcomes in some of the episodes and the characters they add serve to offer an alternative interpretation of Black Lagoon. Could it be that this is really an anti-violence anime?

Whether intentionally or no, the series succeeds in proving one simple fact: that violence begets only violence. Character after character, from Revy, to the unnamed twins dubbed "Hansel and Gretel," and particularly Yukio Washimine, demonstrates that they are mere products of violence filled circumstances. While these characters may enjoy momentary heroics and excitement, they all result in being emotionally or physically dead. Or both.

Ultimately, I commend Black Lagoon for tackling issues which American animation wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. That in itself is quite a feat. In retrospect, it doesn't seem as though the original intentions were to either condone or condemn violence, but rather to demonstrate a bit of cultural relativism by doing neither. Yet it appears not to have done so well in remaining neutral, with emotionally pulling the viewer back and forth, and does go a long way to proving that you cannot fight fire with fire. The series begins violently, and ends violently, without any indication of things having changed for the better. That, is the self-perpetuating cycle of violence.

However, one cannot overlook the well hidden message behind Black Lagoon's lessons. Though it appears to be hopeless in light of every episode's death and destruction, the final plot arc reveals the only remedy to this chaos. That remedy, is choice.

In the interest of time, I am combining my thoughts on the three most recent anime I have seen into one post. That, and maybe I don't think one of these deserves that much thought anyway. But mostly it's in the interest of time, and because these are pretty long overdue.



Saiyuki: Journey to Nowhere

This summer we somehow made it through Saiyuki. I wanted to watch it, because I have been a fan of the original story. It's a good story, and serves as a good basis for much creative work. When I saw that an anime had been done based on Journey to the West, I was pretty excited. Of course, that was some time ago now, and we just now got a chance to see this anime.

Little did I know what I was getting myself into! Overall, Saiyuki was little more than a giant waste of time. So where do I start? Well, let's see... This anime is a formulaic journey to nowhere. It's low production values show in the first episode with the animation quality seriously lacking. On top of that, the plot is boring, since most of the episodes don't connect to the main plot arc anyway. After getting through two box-sets I came to the conclusion that the characters are pretty static and trite, and that this anime has little more in common with the original story than the name itself. So there's a good chunk of time I'll never get back.

In the end, the only purpose which Saiyuki serves is to present all the fangirls with a handful of bishonen. Yet it doesn't even do that well, as the animation never approaches the quality of the cover illustrations. The irony, is that the women are drawn much better, and even the guys all have a feminine look to them. Some episodes even move towards yaoi, which is where I just shake my head.



Bubblegum Crisis: Still a Classic

This fall I had finally gotten my hands on almost all of the Bubblegum Crisis DVD's out there. I say "almost" because the only thing I didn't get is BGC Tokyo 2040. That was more of a choice though. So other than that ommission, this includes the first AD Police Files, the original Bubblegum Crisis series box-set, Bubblegum Crash, the name-recycler AD Police, and Parasite Dolls.

The first series of OVAs, AD Police Files, is an excellent three part animation. It's gritty and mature stories gave it a Bladerunner-esque feel. Probably one of the best pieces of the whole franchise. The BGC series was also very good. Originally, the story didn't jive with me as well, back in the day when I first saw this, but somehow it made more sense now. I'm not sure why, or maybe I realized that it was more about the action and animation quality than plot. Following this up with Bubblegum Crash made for a much more complete package and left me pretty satisfied with this classic. The latter still had the animation quality of the original series, though some of the voices, most notably Priss, were different and of lesser quality.

The next installment, AD Police, was nothing like the rest of BGC. Low production values brought this series down, and much like Sayuki, I couldn't wait to be done with it. What I didn't expect, however, was to be pleasantly surprised by Parasite Dolls. Set in the same universe, but pretty far removed from a lot of what makes up BGC, this feature-length film went back to the roots. As in, back to the style of AD Police Files, with enough gritty cyber-punk action to satisfy most GitS fans. With top notch animation, sound, plot, characters, and plenty of gratuity, Parasite Dolls is a definite sleeper hit. Don't pass up this gem, especially for the cheap price tag it's got on Amazon.

Maybe some day I will give BGC Tokyo 2040 a shot. But I don't know that I can ever get over the fact that they butchered Sylia, one of the best characters from the original. So for now, my recommendation is to stick with the classics, and to save Parasite Dolls for dessert.



TekkonKinkreet: Wow!

The wonderful Nikki was kind enough to surprise me with TekkonKinkreet for Christmas. And after watching the film I can best summarize it with the word Wow! No wonder it grabbed so many awards.

This film oozes creativity and originality. It's plot is set into a simple enough framework, gang rivalries, but it's core is pretty heady. I'll have to watch it another time or two before I can really wrap my mind around it better. For the time being, I can only marvel at the awesomeness. With excellent animation quality, not to mention a unique art style that I haven't really seen in anime before, and fantastic characters, TekkonKinkreet goes in the direction of struggles between good and evil within the self.

It's heavily metaphorical, allegorical, and symbolic. Since I'm not Japanese though, all of the metaphors and allegories and symbols will inevitably elude me. Maybe with some time I can decipher more of the meaning behind Black and White. I love that those are the names of the two protagonists. In fact, there is nothing bad I can say about this film, so if you still haven't seen this phenomenon then it's about time you do!

I must admit that overall, 2008 was a good year for me. Art-wise, it also brought several anime culture related art exhibitions which are worth mentioning. Most notably of all these was the Takashi Murakami retrospective which opened earlier in the year at MoCA in Los Angeles, then traveled to the Brooklyn Museum for the summer.

My hope was to see this exhibition in person during our trip to New York, but by the time I got there it had already left. Alas, I will have to look for another opportunity to see Murakami's work in person. Until then, I will have to content myself with my humble collection of the Superflat Museum figurines.



Incidentally, those have been on display at the Cameron Art Museum here in Wilmington since the fall, in the Toy Crazy exhibition. While it may not be exactly all art vinyl, which is what interests me more, Toy Crazy does have variety going for it. The majority of the toys on display are vintage, with a small part comprising more contemporary fare.

Another big exhibition took place in Vancouver, under the name Krazy! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art. I managed to pick up the accompanying book at the Whitney, which allowed me to get a better sense of the art included. The scope of the exhibition was truly great, encompassing various comics, animation, video games, and so on from all over the world. This was not simply a Japan-centric show, as one might expect, but included contributions from multiple countries.



What was perhaps a bit of a surprise to me was the inclusion of highly commercial projects in the "Computer and Video Games" section, such as Super Mario World, Zelda, GTA, The Sims, and Quake to name a few. No one can deny the iconic nature of the jolly plumber or the little boy in his green hat and tunic, but I'm not sure about its place in this exhibition in light of the thousands of other possible choices. Perhaps I'm too much of a stickler about the indie scene, but still. It makes me think of an analogous attendance of an art-film festival and being shown Harry Potter.

The good news is that there is plenty of work in Krazy! to redeem its commercial tangent in electronic gaming, such as the fantastic Satoshi Kon film Paprika. That film does embody the indie spirit as far as I'm concerned. Other notable artists included were Makoto Shinkai, Junko Mizuno, Art Spiegelman, Roy Lichtenstein, and KaiKai Kiki artists Chiho Aoshima and Mr.



Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, at the Deutsches Filmmuseum, 2008 saw another exhibition focusing exclusively on anime. Anime! High Art - Pop Culture showcased some of the most important Japanese animation to ever be created. Separated into genres of Kodomo, Shojo, Ecchi, and Shonen to name a few, the exhibition showcased numerous important titles. Akira, Mononoke Hime, and other works by Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, and Yoshitaka Amano get my vote. While it's apparently necessary to have exclamation marks in the titles of anime related exhibitions, I'm still unclear on whether the museum was showing the actual films or single cells from the films in question (based on this collection of photos).



Lastly, the folks at MCAD kicked off another SGMS, or Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits: Culture and Creation in Manga and Anime. This sounds like a fascinating event to attend, with the major guest speaker in 2008 being Yoshitoshi Abe. It's hard for me not to be envious of hearing him speak, as he has served as such a major inspiration to me. Yet that is one more opportunity I have missed and will have to look for again.

The three day event bears some resemblance to a con, yet with the focus shifting more towards an intelligent look at otaku culture in the West it reaches a maturity that cons probably never will. Among the scheduled programs at SGMS are fashion shows, lectures, academic paper presentations, and your more traditional segments like screenings and panels.

The success of SGMS has also given rise to the publication with a similar focus. Mechademia is an annual journal of writings on this very subject which I'm going to have to try and get my hands on. Maybe it's time to put my degrees and experience to some better use and get on board with them.

So there you have it. Three major otaku culture exhibitions around the world, though there's probably more that I didn't come across. Add to that the SGMS event, and my fledgling Aniwave, and I think this anime thing is going up to another level in the cultural strata. A pretty good year for anime culture, even if the anime industry wasn't doing so hot.