Form Without Power
[It’s weird to be posting things you’ve written 3 months ago.]
When things are done for the sake of itself, depleted of its underlying purpose, it is a type of powerlessness.
That is what a cliché is, and that is why they are bad. But cliché only are cliché when they become a form that lost its significance. The same form, but infused with importance, ceases to be a cliché even if the two looks exactly the same.
Before I got derailed by HaruSummer 2008, I think I was trying to say something about following through and having good form is no substitute for solid storytelling. But at the same time I praise Denno Coil, I end up reminding myself that I still am no fan of its gorgeous production and intelligent weaving of a child’s fantasy with adult sensibilities. Because, at the end, it still feels like a fable used to teach kids to look two sides before crossing the street. (Which, if you think about it, is Denno Coil in a nutshell.) The adult-child that I am longs for intercontinental ballistic missiles going off or long-necked dinosaurs going extinct, not admonishment for spending too much time in front of a computer. It was a blessing that I got both, but it feels like deception, like coating bitter medicine in a candy shell. And maybe it would sit well with me if I was younger. A lot younger.
The wholesale invalidation of its fantasy construct in Denno Coil’s conclusion may be repulsive to me simply because I’m an old geezer, beyond reprimand, but it is still good storytelling. It’s solid. It’s got style and it’s meaningful. Wall-E’s simple, Green and independent message is much the same. I just dig post-apocalyptic Earths much more than I do angry (or worse, worried) Asian parents. Or maybe it’s the inherent message about resistance to change in Denno Coil that bothers me?
The fact that one can discern and make an argument about Denno Coil’s message about resistance of the changing way of life is a testament of its quality. And in some twisted sense of ego-stroking sophistry I think the innate quality of an anime story can be measured in such a way…
But to me, that speaks power. But power here doesn’t mean merely having the guns and knives and bombs and tanks to do war, but the will and meaning behind the threat of force that can drive a nation to win one. Indeed, that is the ultimate problem with fanservice in general; porn and things like Megami Magazine–all for show. The whole moe subculture. There’s nothing behind it (at least at first).
But that isn’t to say it is meaningless to have in-house artists do sexy renditions of popular anime characters in a magazine. Maybe for the next installment?
One of the reasons I highly regarded Dennou Coil, was not necessarily it’s message, which may, and should, be overlooked by adults*, but the way in which it carried on (how it was presented).
Production, creativity, story, and character development were solid enough that I didn’t need it to be late 20th century statement pop-art. It needed not be a life-changing message for me, as it was simply something true about character and beauty.
*In a similar fashion that Catcher in the Rye doesn’t connect/target post-teen life.
Definitely “will and meaning” is what makes something great, and the struggle should be to find the form to fit the message (as WallE does so nicely).
My feeling is that in terms of form without purpose behind it there’s a distinction to be made between the inherently hollow (fanservice) and the duplicitous (cliché). The thing with the latter is that the adopted form implies meaning even when there’s none. Hollow art denies its own structures, which is why it’s so bad.
Fanservice though can be truly hollow - and the obvious ideological blankness of it can be useful. I like your phrase “nothing behind it (at least at first)” - because where there’s an obvious lack of intent there’s a sort of idiot compulsion in being left with the vacant, free from the power of the author.
coburn: well said. Maybe this is the right place to plug that Touhou spiel.
Ryan: I think a work needs to be judged on the whole. While one can excuse Denno Coil to a degree, ultimately it still mars the work.
I was hoping you were going somewhere further with this : O I get your point, though, and agree. At first, for instance, Denno Coil seemed rally awesome to me for it’s production and writing and all but a week later I found that I didn’t really care about it because nothing that had happened was all that interesting or powerful because there was none of ^^^
Dennou Coil had “something”, but it didn’t really go anywhere with it when all was said and done. I think that’s the sort of feeling that I’m getting with Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, and that’s why I’m not really feeling it as much as others seem to be. And it’s why I can understand the struggle that you have with Strike Witches in terms of where it stood. Or do you still have those struggles? Or did you have an struggles about it in the first place? :/
What do you think about fanservice in it’s application to Kanokon? Did it have any will or meaning behind that? Fanservice with substance behind it doesn’t equal fanservice anymore?
I don’t really think about Kanokon. I recommend that no one does. :)
Haruka’s secret is something different. I guess I still owe myself a post on it.
Strike Witches…never really had a struggle with it beyond that I would have liked it to be a bit more like Sky Girls. In other words, less of an ensemble magical-girls-cutesy-lolz and more a military anime. And more pants/skirts. But not really confused with it now that I’ve seen all of it.
“I recommend that no one does. :)”
I guess that’s why fanservice works. :P
“Haruka’s secret is something different. I guess I still owe myself a post on it.”
I think that would be helpful to me too as much as it would help you.
I don’t think it has anything to do with Kanokon’s fanservice as to why I don’t think about it. It has more to do with Haruka’s Secret, which may work well as a segue into the next bit I hinted in the post.