The Stuff I Like, the Stuff You Like
There is this post on Jtor which basically copies from some other site (NSFW?) which copies from 2ch about that there are two types of anime otaku, and what they look for in an anime. And then there’s a response from a Japanese site which talks about the posts on Jtor and SC. It’s a weird circle of communication in which I’m hoping will make into a full circle yet again by having somebody (me?) posting on Jtor to discuss this.
But before I (or hopefully someone else) do that, maybe we can discover something more substantive about the nature of the Western anime fan-beast, in contrast with the Japanese variety. Let me reproduce the list of criteria here–
Type A
- A person who simply enjoys “anime.”
- Is proud of Japan’s anime.
- Evaluates anime based on direction, voice acting, art, etc.
- Hates shallow anime with no real content.
- [Plot] emphasis >>>>> Moe anime.
- A recent example would Higashi no Eden. Fans of anime who like Lain or Ghost in the Shell would probably be this kind.
Type B
- A person who simply enjoys “characters.”
- Will watch an anime if it includes cute or beautiful characters.
- Doesn’t care if story is awful, as long as the characters are of interest.
- Evaluates anime based on which seiyuu are in it and what the characters look like.
- Loves moe elements. Doesn’t like complex anime.
- The otaku the media picks up on are usually this kind.
- Doesn’t know that much about anime and so is often criticized by Type A otaku.
- However, they make much better customers than the more discerning Type A otaku.
- People who like K-ON!, Queen’s Blade, Strike Witches and so on would be in this class.
- Recently there has been a huge increase in anime targeted at Type B otaku.
Seems pretty simple, besides the one change I made. However the picture in the west is cloudy because anime fandom is significantly more insular and strongly branded than in Japan, I believe. During the blooming years, there were people who consumed anime just because it was anime. ADV’s now infamous slogan (”STRAIGHT FROM JAPAN!”) pretty much hits it on the spot. And after all there are no such things as a Japanese weeaboo.
But even if we discount the “Cool Japan” influence, I am sure there are still a lot of people who are interested in anime and manga, because they tell very different stories, targeted to teenagers and young adults, than what is available in the west (especially in American, I believe). The boom of manga in big box bookstores of America is evidence enough.
It’s much the same in Japan, I suppose, that there is a bundling of two philosophically different types of anime fans. In some ways the 2ch distinction is half-trolling, so we can’t take it too seriously; but all good trolls incorporate at least a modicum of truth in their statements, so let’s look at that. In interest of length let me just bullet them–I’m going to just basically combine what is said for type A and type B to draw some statements that are more universal.
- Persistent characterization is content that is often missing in western works for young adults and teens in the west, but it is a strong draw of manga and anime.
- Cuteness is not an aesthetic cherished by western culture, let alone popular media, past the pre-teen segment. In contrast, Japan is all about the cute (and later on expanded by moe and related stuff).
- Fans evaluate anime usually on bifurcated layers–conceptual and superficial. The best example of this is Ponyo, which is conceptually average but visually jaw-dropping awesome. For some, a strong plot is a must-have (why are battle manga and things going to Koushien becoming gag tropes?), others care more about theme, production value, aesthetics, and context.
It is probably fair to say that most Western fans operate within these spaces, at least in my own experience over the past decade or so. It’s a little more perplexing trying to apply these principles to explain the appeal to me of four shows this season. So lets.
Seikon no Qwaser - actually, this entire class of violent and pornographic anime, dating back from the 80s and onward, is something that made anime both world-famous yet hard to approach. It also slowed anime’s gain in mainstream from the get go, since “violence and porn” was what some early adapters of the west thought of Japanese animation well into the late 90s. It probably doesn’t fit with type A or type B fans per se, but it does for type C fans, who embraced anime because it was simply different, controversial, and clearly cartoons not for kids (C is for “Cool Japan” types). At the same time, these sorts of anime also embodies other characteristics found in less violent and sexualized works, such as distinct characterization of its leads, fantastic settings, or outright regurgitation of some western lore for superficial purposes. Vampire Hunter D comes to mind, yeah? As a character driven mystery with action and shocking scenes, colored by an European-inspire set of aesthetics, I think Qwaser fits the bill pretty well superficially. To that end, we can think about Queen’s Blade, D, Qwaser, and others like them as thin on plot (although at times thick on intrigue).
So Ra No Wo To - Sora no Oto is more a hybrid creation than what it lets on. This is a good beginning to explain its uniquely Japanese appeal. It is truly authentic “Japanese” if you will, rather than simply what is known as weird or edgy or exotic. On the other hand, the weird, edgy and exotic is attention-grabbing, and an anime about nothing much except its healing properties (albeit in a weird and exotic setting) is probably less so. Think to yourself: will a mainstream audience enjoy this show? They will probably be bored to death first. But just like Qwaser, Soranowoto also exhibits an overt attempt at characterization and a distinct visual appeal, like many other anime. To use a different example, 2ch’s type A otaku might have a less difficult time agreeing with type B otaku on Denno Coil’s appeal, except that type B people won’t find it visually absorbing or nitpick at the theme, and type A people will grumble about the plot, or stupid kids, or something along those lines. In other words, it has some objective merit on its own. Likewise, the setting and production value in Soranowoto are remarkable to say the least…and the jury is out for the rest of the show, as we are only 3 episodes in.
Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu - As with a large number of manga/light novel turned anime in the past decade, there is a concerted effort from manga creators to appeal to a large number of readers. This is particularly true with works from competitively circulated serialized magazines, where success depends on amassing as many type A and type B fans. Due to the nature of Japanese TV anime, the end result tends to shift a tad more towards type B than type A, but we can see that concerted effort in Bakatest regardless. Take a tried-and-true formula of high school battle with virtual avatars, add in your tropes, mixed up with theatrics and comedy, and the end result is something different yet so familiar. The mix-a-trope description isn’t an entirely fair thing to call any anime (even if anime tends to be very trope-focused), but somewhere in that concoction is a very plot-driven narrative, and that’s what most type A fans crave.
Hanamaru Yochien - This is an anime made in the disguise of a for-the-family comedy. In reality it is laced with that controversial aspect–the eroticism of child-like characters. Of course, most of the time in any anime, the notion of that knowledge is just tongue-in-cheek. In Hanamaru’s case, it goes nowhere even that far; perhaps just a step beyond typical toilet humor. The appeal of Hanamaru, for the most part, is simple but strong characterization coupled with appropriate humor. Much like a similar and well-heralded comedy Azumanga Daioh, the “in the know” factor adds a humorous, albeit darker edge to the jokes. As one would expect, the rest of the show’s production and designs help to accentuates these elements in the story. Admittedly that alone may not be enough for most type A audience; at a glance it is an anime with childish humor. But for those who may enjoy either the aesthetics or the hidden edge to the jokes, there is something to be enjoyed. That said, I’m not sure that characteristic can be fairly associated with type A or type B otaku.
You get the idea. It’s like calling Psgels a type A and Kurogane a type B. But in reality they’re not that different.
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).
Of Children and Layered Reality
I started writing this post pretty much right after I saw Wall-E on opening weekend. It is now my favorite Pixar feature-length movie for several reasons. But I’m still having some trouble to come up with a narrative to describe what I want to say in response to seeing it.
We all know that Denno Coil is about today, more so than the future. In some ways it is a cautionary tale for children and parents, about getting lost within virtual reality and both the benefits and trappings an augmented reality brings to the next generation.
Augmented reality is a reality today. Just looking at what the various iPhone applications are out there, it brings me some degree of confidence that soon enough kids will play hide and seek with GPS, play catch with accelerometers, and tell ghostly stories with its reflective screen.
Just like the last generation of kids, I suppose.
But like Wall-E, Denno Coil’s story is a layered thing. I say layered rather than multi-faceted because one thing has to build on another. It’s not so much there aren’t aspects of Wall-E that are tangential (such as the romantic side plot), but there are both themes and settings within the show that commonly come in bundles. Nations run by corporations? A pollution-ravaged Earth? Mankind’s exodus into space? Intelligent robots doing our bidding? Rogue AI? Search for leafy vegetation? and All it needs is more sex, technobabble and a katana-wielding kayak maker. Or a GECK.
Denno Coil’s layering is probably just as ingenuous, but it’s not subtle. It paints a near-real-life picture with AR, but at the end it’s about a bunch of kids doing the Tom Sawyer thing about some urban legend. Parents are probably still better off spanking them and spending the time to figure out what is going on, rather than just letting them be kids. It’s quite Japanese in a way.
Where the two are different is in the order of things. For most people, Wall-E is a cute story about robots in love, about loneliness, about standing up for your inheritance, and the usual heroics. But its science fiction trapping paints a impressive and cautionary imagery about the world today–pollution, the addiction to luxury, and growing isolation of individuals with his or her heritage, neighbors, and the environment. Yea, the irony is there how it’s telling this to a bunch of theater goers and eventual couch potatoes.
Denno Coil, on the other hand, draws the viewer in with its imaginative altered reality. The murder(?) mystery element and its impressive setting are major draws. But the show is mostly about human relationships, about adolescence, and what happens if you do something dangerous on your own without heeding any warning. There’s the heroics and a very brave dog (Densuke FTW) but what of the actual human beings who suffered the very real consequences? That stuff is what is going on in the back drop of Denno Coil–a real person laying in a hospital room, in an unending coma.
What’s more disturbing? The happily glossed over, post-apocalyptic Earth? Or the fact that little girls can lose their lives to … internet predictors? I guess neither really is unless you pick them out like that.
I think the layering presentation is particularly good because it gives the audience a wide variety of takes. Making good children’s entertainment that adults can enjoy is hard; the layering allows people to combine ideas and filter the experience using the audience’s level of experience and sophistication.
This layering is characterized by the integration of common themes across layers, however. Without it we would just have a bunch of not-so-related ideas. I think Wall-E works because they do well integrating that whole theme about loneliness. In Denno Coil, a similar thing goes on with loneliness and that whole Japanese character stereotype with personal responsibility and no manYoko is an island.
It’s fair to say these two shows are examples of powerful storytelling styles and they use the form wisely in family entertainment. But what happens when these forms are powerless? We’ll find out hopefully in the sequel post of this two-part series. It should also answer how I stumble upon a way to focus on a narrative about Wall-E.
