Hey, Answerman!
by Brian Hanson,
Hey gang! Welcome to another edition of the weekly Question-and-Answer-type Jamboree known as Hey, Answerman!
I've got some really interesting questions this week, and I've finally got a new Flake! Excitement!
Dear Answerman,
I am a Range Murata fan, and I would like to buy / import some of his art books, but the Christopher Handley case makes me a bit hesitant on the idea.
Without requesting legal advice, do you think that Range Murata's books would probably be ok to bring over, or could some of the art be enough to raise a red flag and get my butt in trouble?
Aw, see? That just makes me sad.
I think people are getting really, really hypersensitive about the Chris Handley case. Honestly, sir, import those Range Murata books if you're a fan. Import the hell out of them. You will be just fine.
Personally, I'm not entirely sure what to think about Range Murata's predilection for portraying scantily-clad young girls. But I do know what to think about his skills as an artist and as a designer - he is fabulous. His drawings are wonderfully soft and appealing, and his usage of color and composition is second-to-none. I absolutely love his stuff, loli subtext notwithstanding.
Not to mention that the "Robot" manga anthologies he created were officially published here in the US! Seriously, everybody - chill the hell out. The only people who should be shaking in their boots in this post-Handley world are the "collectors" of seriously sicko loli pornography. If you're a creepy skeeve trying to import gross and distasteful lolicon Strawberry Marshmallow on DVD seem to think like they're going to be raided by the FBI and tossed into a Gitmo-like gulag for their thoughtcrimes. You won't. The issue is not that the federal government has problems with animated underage girls, it's that they have problems with animated underage girls in gross pornography. If gross pornography doesn't apply to what you're doing with your life, then you're fine.
So buy that Range Murata artbook. Watch Hanamaru Kindergarten. Sleep soundly at night because of this. Everything will be OK.
Hey!
When will the second Evangelion movie in the remake series be available on DVD in the US? If you had to take a wild guess?
Normally I skip over questions about specific titles getting release dates - that's what our Encyclopedia is for, people! That, and far-off release dates are the sorts of closely-guarded corporate secrets that don't tend to trickle through my information filter - but I thought I'd chime in on this one. Specifically because I think I'm one of the few people that actually really, really liked Evangelion 1.0. It was just a retread of the TV series, absolutely, but I thought it worked much better as a feature film than I expected it to. I thought the subtle changes and fresh coat of animation paint was wonderful. And I can't wait for the second film to be released.
But, I'm sad to say, I'm pretty sure the wait for the next film is going to mirror the long, almost torturous wait the first film went through. These Funimation to literally come to the rescue and jump through ridiculous hoops on behalf of the licensor to acquire it. They had to strike up expensive film prints and lose money on a small theatrical run, for example, as part of their contract before they could release the DVD. And only now, several months later, is the Blu Ray being released.
So, sadly, I'm pretty sure that scenario is likely to happen again. Klock Worx probably wants the next film to open on 2,500 multiplex screens across the United States under the banner of a major Hollywood studio, and since that's not going to happen, there's going to be a lot of wasted time and wasted effort before the fans can finally get their salivating hands on it. Hopefully by the time the third film rolls along they'll realize the folly of this, but... probably not. It's nice to want things, I guess.
Hi Answerman. Some manga fans, particularly of Hellsing, have noted that Nick Simmons's comic Incarnate has some pretty uncanny similarities in regards to art, storylines, and even poses to the two manga. Some fans have even taken the time to overlay some Bleach s with Incarnate s to compare, and the two are almost line for line copies of each other. It's serious enough that the publisher has stopped production of the comic and is looking into the matter. Viz even has a legal team assembled to build a case if necessary.
In light of this, how do you feel about the situation? Has Simmons crossed the line between "inspired by manga" and "copying manga line art"? What might some of the legal consequences be if Viz or possibly Dark Horse charge him with plagiarism?
Oh, right.
This Nick Simmons story is one of my favorite stories ever. It takes a certain kind of douche-yness to so blatantly plagiarize a popular title like Bleach in the first place; it takes a whole OTHER kind of spectacular douche-splosion to so painfully melt down under the lens of internet scrutiny to start angry diatribes on Vampire Hunter D. He's a laughing stock, and his crappy Bleach rip-off isn't worth the time or effort to seek legal reparations for.
That said, I eagerly look forward to Nick Simmons' next project: "Ninja's Scroll."
This email came to my concer:
To Whom It May Concer:
I have a student that loves your cartoons. She thinks that your drawing of Daisy was taken from a dream that she had. She is convinced that she is actually a character in your cartoons. Please reassure her that this is not the case and that you created the character from your own imagination.
Time for Hey, Answerfans! Here's what I threw upon you all last week:
Starting us off for the week, Alex looks for that creamy, delicious core:
While it's true that I am a great fan of the "safe and predictable" - I stick pretty close to standard shonen and "real robots" mecha, since I have a lot of experience with those genres and they appeal to my own tastes in storytelling - I'm reminded that the reason I fell so utterly for anime and manga in the first place is that they, for the most part, have something inherently different at their core from any of the media art pieces I'd known before. In that regard, I have to say that I enjoy taking periodic ventures into the new and unknown realms of more "avant-garde" titles than I'm used to, if only for short stints at a time. I'm often intrigued by anime titles that use a less direct or optimistic narrative style and often find myself awed by new art styles and crazy manipulations of perspective. And hey, if whatever new-type title I'm sampling has something progressive or deep to say for all its artistic posturing, then I definitely feel as though I've gotten something out of "stepping into the larger world". You'll find a lot of people who balk at the unconventional stuff and an equal number of fans who thumb their noses at titles that go with the flow, but I've always felt that coming to fully understand and fully appreciate one helps to do the same for the other. Shoot 'em all; I'll sort 'em out for myself, thanks.
Don't judge me and my figurines, Susan:
When I first read this question I thought maybe it was meaning perhaps things having to do with questionable tentacles. But instead I'm gonna talk about Elfen Lied.
This is one of my absolute favorite anime. Ever. It is such a stark contrast to what I usually watch that when I first asked a friend of mine about it his only response was "You wouldn't like it". I'm probably somewhat more desensitized (or I guess you could say apathetic) towards violence and nudity then an average person, but it certainly pushed the boundaries of what most normal people would probably consider acceptable. I have to say it broadened even MY horizons a bit. In the end, I thought it really had something to say over top of all that ultraviolence...and I would never, EVER let my family or any of my non anime friends see it least they think I'm a psychopath.
On the other hand though we have Le Portrait de Petit Cossette. From reading quick summaries of it online it seemed like it had several elements I'd love. But then watching it...I guess they were trying to be artistic? It completely lost me with the main guy in it having a kind of moment of going Saiyan in a kind of...hallucination or something. Like the story just...stopped...so there could be these beautiful but utterly baffling dream scenes. I was just confused and had absolutely no idea what was going on. "Artistic" doesn't always mean "good". The only reason I even finished it is because it only had 3 episodes and I held on to some hope that it would eventually make sense.
So with just those two titles I ended up having the exact opposite reaction then I'd thought...since I went in to Elfen Lied expecting to hate it and Cossette expecting to love it. So ya, I'm willing to give anything a shot. Shame though that money talks and lonely people have money to blow on scantily clad figurines and body pillows, so there's only one boundary pushing show for every 15 utterly predictable harem shows.
I've got some Jan Svenkmeyer films to throw your way, Jesse:
I'm pretty much open to watching anything. Though the majority of the anime i watch usually conforms to a tried and tested genre or story track, i'll gladly go off and watch something unusual (or downright weird) if i hear good things about it, or a summary has got me interested.
I think the last time i watched an anime that broke the mold significantly was right about the time i started reading shelf life, and saw the reveiw for then they cry. I dont usually watch horror anime, and episode four sort of threw me abit, but its quickly become a favorite because of its unique storytelling.
In respect to all sorts of media, if you find something unusual throw it at me. Theres a great pleasure to be had in exploring all sorts of story concepts and storytelling methods, it greatly pleases the author in me.
I'm taking your "Enlightened Anime Connoisseur" badge away, Russel:
I think hearing other people discuss innovative, experimental, or artistic animation helps garner an interest in watching it. For instance, my willingness to watch different types of anime has greatly increased since I started listening to anime podcasts where they discuss all sorts of films that I probably would never have thought about on my own. Listening to reviews given by others in a similar demographic, where I'm aware of our shared interests, has prompted me to be more willing to "take a chance" with something I haven't heard of or haven't thought I'd be interested in.
It probably helps that my college education has left me with at least a basic knowledge and interest about art, literature, and philosophy. But, hearing intelligent people of a similar education level to myself discuss the ideas and techniques used by the staff behind a given anime is actually such a rare experience that when I hear it, I'm immediately more interested than I expected to be.
I think the biggest step towards an interest in other genres or styles of anime is to start caring about who makes anime. When I first started to pay attention to the names and histories of anime studios, anime directors, and staff it opened up a whole different perspective on the medium. True, most anime is just made to make money or to adapt a pre-existing manga. But animation is also made as a carefully crafted message between the artists and the viewer (just like art or film). And whether the message is primarily conceptual or visual, another kind of enjoyment of anime stems from the intimate experience of understanding the intent of the creators. To feel as though you've seen inside their mind a little bit.
Podcasts and web columns specializing in lesser-known anime (like the Buried Treasure section by Nobody's Boy Remi, etc...
Although, an interest isn't necessarily followed by an enjoyment every time. I recently watched Night on the Galactic Railroad" and can honestly say I "didn't get it." So much for all that talk of being an enlightened anime connoisseur...
Silrn doesn't like Noboteru Yuuki, apparently:
To answer this question, I'll answer it enigmatically outright and then explain myself I suppose. I'm incredibly open to something a little bit different, but reluctantly so. Totally contradictory I know, but I feel its the way I end up being with Anime and Manga. I should also briefly qualify the statement also that I still don't watch or read horror and gore genre, because I've never been able to gain any real enjoyment out of them. Moving on to answering the question clearly.
Some of the absolute best series that I've watched are series that I couldn't take seriously for a variety of reasons. To start with I'm actually going to use Perfect Blue. After months of buying movies and OVAs at 25-30 bucks a pop and steadily losing faith that anime was really as good as I wanted it to be, I decided to buy the first DVD of Love Hina, and needless to say I loved it. after getting a couple of the DVDs and enjoying them, I decided to take the plunge and buy my first manga (technically not truly my first, but I didn't really acknowledge the flipped pokemon manga as manga at that point). That was the establishment of me as a fan of Manga and Anime.
The next big example is art style. Once I got hooked on Escaflowne. I investigated this, and decided that the story sounded good, so I bought the super special edition box set with the black Escaflowne figure. That was one of my more expensive anime purchases ever (don't regret it now....). I got it home, popped in the first DVD and bwah, the NOSES my god the NOSES. I just couldn't get past it, it was terrible and I didn't watch it again for months or even possibly a year and change. Well my roommate got hooked on anime, and he heard the same stuff that I did, so he watched it (without me) and with fresh eyes and no prejudices. It irked me a little that he enjoyed my expensive purchase and I didn't, so I resolved to sit down and watch this series again, and somewhere around half way through the story, I realized that I couldn't enjoy this series any other way now. The artstyle was so unique that it just stood out and of course the story is phenomenal. So lesson learned here, don't judge an anime / manga by its art! I'll still prefer the artstyles of my favorite mangaka, but a good story is a good story!
I'm getting pretty talkative, and this is of course becoming a wall of text, but there are still 2 examples left that I've found. This one is concerning "boring" plot ideas. A manga (and anime) about a young boy playing an old, slow, boring game. At the point that I came across this series, things like Pokemon, Hikaru no Go. Even today with lots of other great stories out there, I still occasionally wish that the story was longer, but the story of Hikaru and Akira is the story that ends 50, 60, or maybe 70 years from now! In an odd way, Hikaru no Go, turned me onto the Japanese Sports genre, which leads me to my next and final example.
Old stuff is Old (also really long)! As I mentioned earlier, I truly started my anime & manga fandom with Love Hina, so ignoring some of the older movies that I bought as I was tentatively finding my way into being a true anime Fan, I'd always been used to so-called higher production values. I tended to stay away from things like Cross Game makes it across the pond).
In short, I might drag my feet, and delay and hem and haw about trying some new or different or artistic. But what I've learned is weird titles, unique (or not) artstyles, odd/boring plots, and old works still have the ability to captivate and entertain at a level that most modern, popular titles can't even compare. Does that mean I immediately jump on and watch "new" things to me that don't have that perfect art style or a cool plot right away? Well no, but I do know that when it comes down to it, I no longer judge a series by things that are meaningless in the long run, I wait to judge the relative value of something until after I've seen it. Silly old sayings like don't judge a book by its cover, turn out to be true after all!
Quincy lives for this stuff:
That is what I live for in an anime or manga. Something different, unique, artistic!! I have long since grown tired of the cookie cutter and marathon madness media like Naruto, Dragon Ball, or Absolute Boyfriend. I crave an interesting story that either creates a whole new plot or brings amazing twists to an overworked story. Plus the art HAS to be good. Since anime and manga rely heavily on pictures I have to like what I see in order to continue watching it. Sure the tired and true stuff helps fuel the system but I love it when something unique pops up and succeeds. It probably sounds elitist to average fans but I have limited time and so must be picky!
To me, part of being a fan is to find new and different anime and manga by shifting between period pieces, fantasy, science fiction, horror, comedy, shojo, and Spice and Wolf which combines fairy tales with economics. Basically I look for those "artistic" animes and mangas because those are the gems of the industry. Though ittedly not every one of them turns out to be a masterpiece.
Andrea's "safe zone" is safe:
When it comes to anime watching, I'd say I'm pretty willing to watch something differing from the norm. It's been exactly a year since I've "ed the fandom" and I believe watching a variety of anime would give a me an idea of which ones are considered good or bad or even just okay. I just want to expand my horizons a bit, ya know what I mean? I guess my anime safe zone would be comedic and sometimes dramatic, Katanagatari. It's very different than what I am used to watching: odd character designs (almost like local ones, even) as well as animation and coloring style, a mother load of dialogue, and historical/set in the Edo era. Needless to say, I'm in love with it. It's almost depressing that the episodes are monthly.
However, it is totally different when it comes to me and reading manga. Straight up and honestly, the only manga I know for sure I will enjoy and that is my safe zone is Nabari no Ou, but they are just a few compared to my shoujo romance collection.
And finally, Petrea kills it with her simple response:
If there is one thing I absolutely *hate*, it's safe and predictable. The thing where the review says "It's kind of unusual, but really good" is the one that goes onto my must-watch or must-read list. Keep your Tsubasas and your Narutos and your umpteen spinoffs of Gankutsuou!
Awesome job, as always! Here's what I'm curious about for next week:
Now you've got this week's question, and it's time to get answerin'.
For those of you new to Hey, Answerfans!, I'll explain the concept.
Believe it or not, I'm genuinely curious what you think.
That's right; as much as I love the sound of my own voice, I do love to listen to what other people have to say on a subject. I'm finding that over the last few years, the attitudes, reasoning and logic that today's anime fans use eludes, confuses or astounds me; I have so many questions for you, and I'm dying to hear what you have to say in response.
Welcome to Hey, Answerfans!
Basically, we're turning the tables. Each week I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to email me your answer. Be as honest as you can. I'm looking for good answers; not answers I agree with or approve of, but good, thoughtful answers. People feel ionately about these subjects and I'd like to see that in the responses I get. I'll post the best answers I get, and maybe some of the crappy ones. Sometimes there may only be one or two good ones; sometimes five or more. It all depends on what I get in my inbox! Got it? Pretty simple, right? Start writing those answers and email them to answerman [at] animenewsnetwork dot com.
We do have a few simple ground rules to start with.
Things To Do:
* Be coherent.
* Be thoughtful.
* Be ionate.
* Write as much or as little as you feel you need to to get your point across in the best possible way.
Things Not To Do:
* Respond when the question doesn't apply to you. For instance, if your email response starts with "Well, I don't do whatever you're asking about in the question... " then I'm going to stop reading right there and hit delete.
* Be unnecessarily rude or use a lot of foul language.
* Go off-topic.
Get crackin' on that, and to send any and all questions and responses and long-winded politically-charged diatribes to answerman(at)animenewsnetwork.filmscomplets.org! See you next time!
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