Aug. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM
JEN GERSON
Say what you will about Stephen Harper, Canada will be spared the indignity of an anime-loving head of state.
The people of Taiwan were not so lucky. In 2004, former president Lee Teng-hui dressed up as the stubborn kendo master Heihachi Edajima from a popular Japanese comic book series Sakigake!! Otokojuku. With flowing martial arts robes, bamboo sword and sidekicks in tow, Lee strutted his stuff for publicity pictures.
At this year's Fan Expo Canada lovers of anime and manga, Japanese cartoons and comics respectively, will be out in force. And they'll be eliciting groans from the more established echelons of sci-fi and fantasy geekdom.
"To a lot of people, (anime fans) are on the lower rungs of the nerd ladder," says Dave Alexander, from Rue Morgue, a magazine that showcases the horrific and macabre and also hosts the Expo's Festival of Fear wing. "Closed quarters do not make a good arena for giant props ... when you're walking around in a crowded convention centre and you see a guy with a sword made out of papier-mâché twice the size of his body, it can be pretty annoying."
Full article is here.
Even in Malaysia, anime fans were tend to be viewed with derision and laughter from general public. You can say it is geek discrimination.
Monday, August 28
Saturday, August 26
Bob Leddy: Japanese culture for Americans
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, August 19, 2006
Economic power is self-explanatory. So-called soft power applies to a nation's cultural influence beyond its borders. Japan has the world's second-largest economy, behind the United States; its products are part of Americans' daily lives. But its soft power is another matter. Except in some academic circles, Japanese literature, music, and theater (kabuki) are little known in this country.
Apart from karaoke, Japanese cinema has the strongest foothold here. Indeed, Japanese animation (anime) enjoys a near-exalted status in American pop culture. It's been thus since the 1970s, when Astro Boy appeared on our Saturday-morning televisions. The anime director Hayao Miyazaki (sometimes called the Japanese Walt Disney) is a U.S. household name; his 2001 film, Spirited Away, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Full article is here.
Economic power is self-explanatory. So-called soft power applies to a nation's cultural influence beyond its borders. Japan has the world's second-largest economy, behind the United States; its products are part of Americans' daily lives. But its soft power is another matter. Except in some academic circles, Japanese literature, music, and theater (kabuki) are little known in this country.
Apart from karaoke, Japanese cinema has the strongest foothold here. Indeed, Japanese animation (anime) enjoys a near-exalted status in American pop culture. It's been thus since the 1970s, when Astro Boy appeared on our Saturday-morning televisions. The anime director Hayao Miyazaki (sometimes called the Japanese Walt Disney) is a U.S. household name; his 2001 film, Spirited Away, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Full article is here.
New Straits Time coverage on anime in Malaysia
See: In anime heaven
25 Aug 2006
DEBRA CHONG
Finally! Malaysians hankering for Japanese animation now have a whole channel going for them 24/7. But wait, there’s more. DEBRA CHONG gets the lowdown on what’s new on Animax from vice-president Betty Tsui.
GOOD things come to those who wait. But two years is still asking a lot when one’s neighbours keep flaunting it in one’s face.
Originally, Animax was to have launched here in 2004, same as in Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Unfortunately, said Betty Tsui, the satellite broadcast provider in Malaysia lacked the capacity to support the Japanese animation network back then.
Tsui is the vice-president in charge of programming and production at SPE Networks Asia, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment and the regional branch handling cable networks Animax and AXN.
No matter, on the stroke of midnight ushering in Merdeka (Aug 31), Astro will begin the long-awaited transmission over Channel 75 at no extra charge, at least until next year.
The delay has worked to Animax’s benefit, and perhaps ours as well. In the two-year interim, the general perception towards J-animation (anime for short) has undergone a significant and positive change.
Full article is here
Ah, finally in my home country something like this is more available than usual.
25 Aug 2006
DEBRA CHONG
Finally! Malaysians hankering for Japanese animation now have a whole channel going for them 24/7. But wait, there’s more. DEBRA CHONG gets the lowdown on what’s new on Animax from vice-president Betty Tsui.
GOOD things come to those who wait. But two years is still asking a lot when one’s neighbours keep flaunting it in one’s face.
Originally, Animax was to have launched here in 2004, same as in Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Unfortunately, said Betty Tsui, the satellite broadcast provider in Malaysia lacked the capacity to support the Japanese animation network back then.
Tsui is the vice-president in charge of programming and production at SPE Networks Asia, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment and the regional branch handling cable networks Animax and AXN.
No matter, on the stroke of midnight ushering in Merdeka (Aug 31), Astro will begin the long-awaited transmission over Channel 75 at no extra charge, at least until next year.
The delay has worked to Animax’s benefit, and perhaps ours as well. In the two-year interim, the general perception towards J-animation (anime for short) has undergone a significant and positive change.
Full article is here
Ah, finally in my home country something like this is more available than usual.
Friday, August 25
Neon Genesis Evangelion long discussion
"Neon Genesis Evangelion"
Television animation work. Broadcast by 5 networks associated with TV Tokyo Corp. Wednesday 6:30 p.m. October 6,1995 - March 27, 1996. Altogether 26 episodes. Draft, Scenario, Direction, by ANNO Hideaki Produced by GAINAX Ltd.
Basically this is the absurd story of a meaningless battle that takes place while riding on a puzzling machine against an equally puzzling enemy. The scene is the near future of 2015 in the 3rd City of Tokyo which is located at the foot of Mt. Fuji. The beings called "Angel" who were each crowned as Old Testament angels, relentlessly go on the offensive against the 3rd City of Tokyo. The purpose of the offensive and the true identity of the angels are totally unknown; sometimes the angels are giant creatures, sometimes they are big floating pyramids, and sometimes they are computer viruses, and at other times they are circular rings that emit light. "Evangelions" (nicknamed Eva) giant-shaped living weapons, often drive like maniacs, and because they transcend human technology like the Angels, are the only ones known who can oppose the Angels offensive. There are 3 bodies of Eva, and 14 year old children (Shinji, Rei, Asuka) were chosen as exclusive pilots for each Eva. The story develops centered around 4 people; in addition to the 3 kids there is a 29 year old woman named Misato who appears. Each of them has a trauma and not being adept at communicating with others humans, rather than humanity, etc. they consider internal existential questions such as "Why do we do battle with the Angels?, why do we ride Eva?" more imporant. Therefore the production mainly focuses on character psychology.
Full article available here.
I have to say this, if not for this anime hallmark, we won't have modern anime as we know today. Hideaki Anno's vision is disturbing yet compelling.
Television animation work. Broadcast by 5 networks associated with TV Tokyo Corp. Wednesday 6:30 p.m. October 6,1995 - March 27, 1996. Altogether 26 episodes. Draft, Scenario, Direction, by ANNO Hideaki Produced by GAINAX Ltd.
Basically this is the absurd story of a meaningless battle that takes place while riding on a puzzling machine against an equally puzzling enemy. The scene is the near future of 2015 in the 3rd City of Tokyo which is located at the foot of Mt. Fuji. The beings called "Angel" who were each crowned as Old Testament angels, relentlessly go on the offensive against the 3rd City of Tokyo. The purpose of the offensive and the true identity of the angels are totally unknown; sometimes the angels are giant creatures, sometimes they are big floating pyramids, and sometimes they are computer viruses, and at other times they are circular rings that emit light. "Evangelions" (nicknamed Eva) giant-shaped living weapons, often drive like maniacs, and because they transcend human technology like the Angels, are the only ones known who can oppose the Angels offensive. There are 3 bodies of Eva, and 14 year old children (Shinji, Rei, Asuka) were chosen as exclusive pilots for each Eva. The story develops centered around 4 people; in addition to the 3 kids there is a 29 year old woman named Misato who appears. Each of them has a trauma and not being adept at communicating with others humans, rather than humanity, etc. they consider internal existential questions such as "Why do we do battle with the Angels?, why do we ride Eva?" more imporant. Therefore the production mainly focuses on character psychology.
Full article available here.
I have to say this, if not for this anime hallmark, we won't have modern anime as we know today. Hideaki Anno's vision is disturbing yet compelling.
Anime misconceptions don’t stop its popularity
By Aaron Burkhart - The Northern Light
August 23, 2006
Japanese culture has a large impact on the entertainment industry. Anime sales in the U.S. are over $5 billion annually, according to a 2005 BusinessWeek article, and video game sales are estimated around $7 billion in 2005. Anime and video games are closer to mainstream than ever. As the first generation to grow up with video games and anime, today’s young adults and their children are likely to be much more accepting of these entertainment forms than older ones.
Hollywood is starting to catch on too; movies based on video games (“Silent Hill,” “Doom”) are increasingly common, while big names like James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson all have different anime- or manga-related projects in the works (manga are essentially Japanese graphic novels, which many anime are based on).
While most people are familiar with at least the concept of video games, many don’t know exactly what anime is.
Full article is here
Another discussion on anime impact on arguably most sophisticated consumer market in the world, USA. Misconceptions or not, I suspected that it maybe part of author's bias. Maybe.
August 23, 2006
Japanese culture has a large impact on the entertainment industry. Anime sales in the U.S. are over $5 billion annually, according to a 2005 BusinessWeek article, and video game sales are estimated around $7 billion in 2005. Anime and video games are closer to mainstream than ever. As the first generation to grow up with video games and anime, today’s young adults and their children are likely to be much more accepting of these entertainment forms than older ones.
Hollywood is starting to catch on too; movies based on video games (“Silent Hill,” “Doom”) are increasingly common, while big names like James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson all have different anime- or manga-related projects in the works (manga are essentially Japanese graphic novels, which many anime are based on).
While most people are familiar with at least the concept of video games, many don’t know exactly what anime is.
Full article is here
Another discussion on anime impact on arguably most sophisticated consumer market in the world, USA. Misconceptions or not, I suspected that it maybe part of author's bias. Maybe.
Wednesday, August 23
News: Anime fansubbers warned by Bandai
Bandai Entertainment is taking action against illegal fansubs and issued a statement saying that it would be now carefully monitoring the market for creation and distribution of illegal fansubs or other pirated Bandai titles, with emphasis on Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society.
In its statement, Bandai cites that fansubbing licensed anime constitutes as copyright infringement and said that it will “take all measures available to stop the illegal distribution of titles” which include taking people into court and fining charges for the loss of sales if suitable.
“Fansubs, even those not sold for profit, are harmful to our properties and industry overall and we will be watching closely to make sure our rights regarding SSS are not infringed,” said Ken Iyadomi, President of Bandai Entertainment Inc. “We are prepared to take legal action against fansubbers and illegal download and other distribution sites if this notice is ignored,” he added.
This is the first time an anime company has publicly announced a warning and stated that it would take legal action. Bandai Entertainment wants big success from its Ghost in the Shell series, and its not going to let fansubbers cut sales. Be prepared, because whether you like it or not, a time is coming where people will have to start buying their own anime.
Source
In its statement, Bandai cites that fansubbing licensed anime constitutes as copyright infringement and said that it will “take all measures available to stop the illegal distribution of titles” which include taking people into court and fining charges for the loss of sales if suitable.
“Fansubs, even those not sold for profit, are harmful to our properties and industry overall and we will be watching closely to make sure our rights regarding SSS are not infringed,” said Ken Iyadomi, President of Bandai Entertainment Inc. “We are prepared to take legal action against fansubbers and illegal download and other distribution sites if this notice is ignored,” he added.
This is the first time an anime company has publicly announced a warning and stated that it would take legal action. Bandai Entertainment wants big success from its Ghost in the Shell series, and its not going to let fansubbers cut sales. Be prepared, because whether you like it or not, a time is coming where people will have to start buying their own anime.
Source
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