Random Musing on Intellectual Property, Franchising, Aya Hirano’s Non-Stick Pantry, and the Un-Mainstream
This rant is brought to you by my drive to find the reason why some people care about Lucky Star the extent that they do.
One thing that keeps me glued to my computer & fansubbing is that every 4 months we get a wave of entirely new shows, new concepts, new set of characters, new setting, and a chance for the various studios and production companies to slug it out for our attention (and eventually our money). From a money & business perspective, this is shooting yourselves in the foot. Free market & competition aside, it makes a lot more sense to just find one winning formula, milk it as long as possible and run with what you’ve got as far as you can. That’s what Shounen Jump does (and how they’re losing subscribers is just natural), and generally what franchise management focuses on. This doesn’t mean you keep a show on the air or manga in publication as long as you possibly can, but the longer you do it the more economical it becomes, in a lot of ways.
And that’s true for a lot of the media we consume in the US. It’s only with the influx of new sources of revenues (like home video sales, network television) that we’ll see more divergent shows catered for a new market, and as a result a more diverse set of shows.
Don’t get me wrong I’m making no comment on the quality of shows that are short or long; in other words, it applies to every show out there. Also, there’s a sense of emotional and time investment with the typical shounen jump formula. Once you become intimately familiar with a series, you now have an emotional stake in the story, and you will come to like it forgive it more. You will also become easier to amuse by the said show.
But on the flip side, there are always things that defy these explainations. Lucky Star is probably something that sort of does. While once you crack its crazy-sugary candy shell laced with loli, the content is really not at all different than the relatively-sane competitor Hidamari Sketch, strength of the Kyoani Brand coasting on the good will of its success with Suzumiya Haruhi, Kanon and Air go a long way to explain (at least, one of several possibilities) the situation we have right now.
Oh wait, I’m suppose to explain how it defies that? I guess that’s the question I have that I can’t answer. Perhaps this is all just me trying to grapple with a psychological complex. Like how people who invest in mutual funds should have invested in, say, index funds instead. Or how the only subber for Hidamari Sketch is 2/3 of the way through the half-season series but there are almost as many releases of Lucky Star episodes one and two combined. Or is it just an omen that only one or two group will finish off this average slice-of-life 4-komi comedy fluff show, once people realize Lucky Star is, lack of a better word, average?
But I don’t think average is really the right word. It does have Aya Hirano (so what?). It is a show by Kyoto Animation (okay, that’s a bit more relevant…). It’s got a darn catchy opening sequence with an equally odd (but grows on you…like fungus) song to go with it. It’s got no taint of TEROGE so the lolitastic character designs don’t get its way (but somehow it bothered people in Manabi Straight? WTH?). Some of us who are more “LOL otaku” laughs at the fanboy jokes and enjoy Konata’s mythical incarnation (she’s a sphinx–aside from being a permanent loli x otaku), but the otaku jokes and references are the stupid-funny kind of references (and lame; real otaku do it PPD way). I guess that’s why people get those jokes.
Perhaps that’s the rub. Lucky Star (and to some extent, most of the other Kyoani works) is like teflon. While it’s unclear as to how the mechanism works and the reasons why, our expectation when we think about, watch, or discuss a Kyoani work is different than how we would talk about someone else. I don’t believe this myself, but when you watch Lucky Star the negative expectations just don’t stick. The very good production quality coupled with a very solid execution helps to give you that near-perfect first impression, especially if you walk into the show without prior expectations.
Of Choco Coronet and Porche 911 - New York International Auto Show 2007
Growing up in the United States means that what’s native and comfortable for me is, well, what’s around me and not what’s not around me. But my slightly more complicated life circumstances as a Chinese-born American (still nothing compared to Manabi’s travels) may make me more accustomed to yakitori and some strange Asian pastries as well.
But nothing about my middle-class upbringing will dim the shine off a showroom Porche 911 Targa 4.
Well, that’s not quite the car Misaka Kirihara drives (is it?), but you get the idea. (By the way I :wub: the Cayman, it’s probably the dream car in my overly practical imagination).
When the Taiyaki Thief made her rounds, some people were cheated this staple snack for young people (I’ve never seen an old person eat a taiyaki, now come to think of it). It’s a pure coincidence that after doing my annual visit at the New York International Auto Show that I went into a bakery and see, for sale, choco coronets. What’s odd is that the store is more than half way across town from the Javits Center, and yet, fate would have it that I stepped into it, unplanned.
The auto show is a fun fare. It’s definitely something you take your kids to, and for people looking to buy a car, it’s the sort of research opportunity that you shouldn’t pass up. I mean, you really could compare side by side something like an Audi S6 next to a Caddy CTS V, then plant your butt inside a Ford Fusion because the line for the Shelby 500 is a bit long. All for fun and not for any kind of chance of buying those cars (well, this year’s Ford Fusion is a nice pick if you’re looking for a new car I suppose).
Highlights (no pics because, well, didn’t really take many):
- The new Sienna is like the old one, but with a lot more juice; too bad you can’t tell sitting there. The new-new Town and Country, though, wow. Dang. That is pimp.
- The prices for those overly expensive Ford pickups are going down, which is good. Honda’s Ridgeline is still the top pick for mid/full size “refined” ride, although I can understand why you’d buy an Avalanche.
- The new Acura RL channels a lot from Mercedes, and for the price it’s quite the luxury.
- But for some more, the Infiniti M45 is still tops. The new G37 is, well, rewarding for those who are patient; it really blows the G35 away as far as interior and, most importantly, body styling. If you think the G35 coupe is sexy, well the G37 is way sexy. Too bad I dunno if I could say the same for its new 3.7L engine.
- The two Nissan/Infiniti concepts, Rogue and the EX, respectively, is going to cater to your Murano-buying crowd without the excessive price tags. Look for them probably late this year.
- Surprisingly, BMW manages to wow me with the 3-series convertible. It is very sweet if you are looking for that kind of experience. If you like the VW Eos and wanted something more luxurious, this is worth looking into. Speaking of which, the Eos and the GTI (I like the pimped out one on the floor…forgot what special name it had) were nice, but Rabbit totally disappointing.
- Which is a lot more than I could say for Mercedes this year. You go, woah, S67 AMG. And like, move on to cars they actually let you sit in? If I wanted to stare I’d go stare at the very sexy Lexus LF-A concept or the Ford Interceptor concept; or the Audi R8 which was out a year ago but didn’t make the show last year.
- The new Audi S5 gets me excited. Being a minor fan of Audi’s designs and looks for some time now, seeing the RS4 repackaged in a more reasonable (but probably still overpriced for its lower-than-expectation performance) S5 is something to hope for, as more data roll out for the new car slated for later this model year.
- Miscellaneous things…well, the new Accord 2-door reminds me a lot of a much better looking Altima for some reason (with a dash of Toyota’s FT-HS prototype mixed in). Hopefully this is the new “break” they need. Funnily enough the Altima 2-door concept is going the same places. The new Saturn Astra looks less ridiculous than the prototyped(?) Scion xD, for what it is worth. Subaru, this year, really toned it down; the Tribeca and WRX for 2008 both looked much more “normal” and less oddball. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing but I don’t hate it. I did really like the Demon concept. Very sweet.
The day ended for me with some powerwalking to both catch restaurants that closes too soon and trains that didn’t leave too early (thankfully). I went into a Nathan’s by the train station and had a chili dog with a corn dog (no pictures necessary I hope). Cheers to some Coney Island memories.
…..Right. Back to the choco coronet: it is what you think it is; a bread outer structure that is then filled with some kind of chocolate filling. As with most Asian pastry, the filling isn’t very sweet, so the chocolate-ness isn’t overwhelming with the fairly light bread. I was surprised that I wasn’t totally disgusted with it. Maybe because the place I got it from was Korean, but there was a lot of filling which made eating it the “smart” (by Lucky Star’s standards) way not very practical, as soon you will be licking both sides. In the end, I’m with Konata; head first.
Sort of like this post.
