Nice Bodies
Perspectives are what make all this noise about blogging and the words of strangers from the internet useful to me. That hass always been one of my favorite thing about the ‘net in general. It brings all different sorts of people together under some new banner, a new way to organize thoughts. May it be anime or said anime on DVDs or yuri voice actresses from Japan or indie galges, we’re a diverse bunch and we come together for some reason. But when we hide behind that ubiquitous anonymous mask…or even when we don’t and we wear our hearts on a blogging sleeve, we aren’t so different at a glance. They call us by sweeping names: Kimo-otaku, fansubbers, pundits, geeks, fanboys, consumers, a drop in the bucket, /b/tards, leechers, trolls, idiots, and whatever else fitting for this people on the internet. Probably because it’s a comfortable way to cope with the diversity, I imagine.
But I think the same can be said of anime studios. Author brought it up and a few others posted their thoughts over time (scroll down for trackbacks).
Why are we still talking about it? I suppose it’s natural. There are those of us who adore some product made by one branded manufacturer (say, Apple), while others actually pierce the manufactured identity and see what’s inside to make judgments (say, they’re all made in China). Apple is just a good example. Or Sunrise. And most of the time, people are just reacting to people reacting to that concept of brand. You could call it a meme. Because it really is just an idea that is associated with a cloud of other ideas: fanboys, quality, people who can’t solve their own computer problems, stylish, fad, kill-them-all giant robot shows, their personalized experience outside their personal context, etc.
It means very little substantively. Saying Gonzo sucks doesn’t explain why I like Tower of Duraga or why Strike Witches sells, as true as it may be. Seems to me, they are two different levels of discourse talking past each other.
Indeed, to the consumer, companies primed to sell products won’t tell us the nuances behind a product unless it’s a “feature.” Much like how anime producers will tell you “hey this new anime is from a cool game!” but little else unless it is a plus in their perceived consumer’s books. The rest are dug out by people who read 2ch for insider tips and scour the press and events for juicy insights. To speak their language, labels like “Sunrise” or “ufotable” are short hands for groups of people, organizations and their methodologies more so than their impression about the products those studios produce. And by products I mean project or portfolio or CV or whatever. It is notably disassociated with our perceived notion of entertainment. Kind of how some people watch movies just to criticize it, because it’s their job to write articles doing so. It’s not that critics don’t enjoy movies–they all do. They also all honor that distinction between personal enjoyment and professionalism.
So let’s talk about people, organizations (as in, how organizations are organized) and methods instead of labels? Focus on the creative process? Or the business end of it? To me that seems like the places a serious discourse about anime studios has to go. Anything less is like scratching at the surface and coming up with very little. It’s one reason why I don’t go into this, at least in the blog format. I just don’t have that much information besides the occasional con Q&A sessions and stuff I read on the internet. I am no anime critic, even if sometimes I think critically.
Let’s kick up a gear. In a recent episode of Kannagi, Tsugumi was recalling a moment she shared with Jin back in middle school. Jin was being perfectly honest and discloses something he ought to be insecure about, but I guess that he told Tsugumi was the insight that shows a degree of security he felt being with Tsugumi. Anyways, to Jin, a certain somebody has a nice body that Jin didn’t have–height, muscle mass, and what else your too-shy shy-boy and girl can only imagine. It’s moments like this that makes me appreciate the subtle difference between a mainboard made by one company and the same mainboard, with 90+% shared components, made by another company’s factory on the other side of the town. I mean how else can we dare to compare artwork with enterprise-grade server components? Or the differences between different types of uke and seme? Or the difference between KyoAni and A1 Pictures? How about Mari Okada and Hideyuki Kurata? I guess we do it anyways because it is fun? But that’s no longer serious business.
You know what is serious business? The fact Jin picked somebody. This message is brought to you by Sheryl Nome’s Fan Club. The More You Know.
>This message is brought to you by Sheryl Nome’s Fan Club.
Argh, you had to remind me!
I think anonymous is not suppose to ever forget. So yeah.
LOL WUT
Anonymous never forgives. Or forgets.
…and he has over nine-thou…..
Why do we keep bringing up old posts? Well, our definitions of old are different. You’re several years old, I started blogging after IK wrote that post - it’s like in a totally different realm of “archivedom” to me. Years and years of theory/knowledge/discussion that you really have to binge to get a good historical sense of the ’sphere. On the one hand, I think recurring discussions are good because it brings history back up from the depths for newer bloggers to read if they otherwise wouldn’t have gone on an archive binge. On the other hand, it probably is redundant noise to you, sorry, but that’s an irreconcilable difference.
Another thing I’d like to think of more is the memetic quality of things, not just the representation of studios. How essential are memes? Is there some kind of “stasis of memeticry” in the ’sphere that must be upheld? How do memes, developed and disintegrated by us, battle each other for popularity? What does that say about us? I dunno…
I was also very pleased that Jin actually picked somebody….very very pleased!
Well, it is natural. Age notwithstanding. Nor do I think it’s bad to bring it up. I just think it’s a roundabout way to look at something simple.
Almost fundamental, really. Fact trumps opinion kind of thing.
Tyrenol Blog Post:
http://tyrenol.livejournal.com/138997.html
I think he’s talking about something not related at all to anything my post was saying.
It’s hard to take him seriously when he is preceded by his ignorance. He makes a point, but it’s a point older than Shakespeare and adds little to the discourse. That it’s not tempered by all the important facts, and he even got some stuff wrong, just means I’m better off ignoring him.
Thanks for the manual trackback though.