Hey, Answerman!

Y'all Ready For This

Hello and salutations, dear readers!

This week's questions are a bit of a doozy - and prone to some "controversy" as some might say. Which is to say: I'm probably going to set a few people off. Not to pre-stoke the fires of a forthcoming flame war, but let's face it, people's views on dating sims and their opinion on women are decidedly mixed.

But that's also putting the cart before the horse. I've got two other questions to get into first!

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Hey Answerman,

As a follow-up to one of your questions you got last week, I wanted to say I understand what you are saying: that as time and technology advance, so would technical quality naturally. But I'm concerned about a few points.

Do you think this rule extends to manga, which seems to have, much more than anime, an "upper limit" when it comes to technological advancement? Certainly new tools are being used and invented regularly to aid in the drawing process. Still, it seems like working within the confines of a static of manga doesn't translate perfectly to working within the confines of a television screen. Would you argue that for the same reasons as anime, manga also continues to improve as time and technology go on, leaving older works obsolete?

Do you think the rule holds true for story and writing? When a popular genre is invented or revitalized by a hit (like say, Evangelion or Sailor Moon), there will often be many imitators that come later treading the same ground, adding their own twists on the story in order to just barely make it unique. Both Evangelion and Sailor Moon have been out for so long now that imitators have come and gone. Would you say the formula/genre they helped to popularize were perfected with the repetition of other shows? At the same time though, Evangelion never really died out, and seemed to be immune to the ing of time. Its popularity never really waned and it was never really forgotten. Would you say this because it was the first, it was the best, or simply because they have been updating it with more current animating methods?

You can ask the same question about the franchise, as characters like Amuro and Char remain popular while their other, technically superior works go ignored: 30 years later and people are still focusing on the one year war. What's more, the original Gundam, as horribly dated as it looks today, wasn't even made popular until the movie trilogy debuted after the series was cut short due to bad ratings. It is also being updated with the help of current technology with "Origin", and it's not the first in the franchise to get that treatment.

What about outside the realm of anime/manga? Would you say a genre like Samurai films has generally improved with time from say Kurosawa's work? You can extend that to older western films like Casablanca or Citizen Kane. Or better yet, there's always Star Wars: (though I doubt there are many people that would rate the new trilogy over the old). Perhaps the best example though is the Artist, which placed severe limits on itself technologically (though in fairness, it did break the silence a couple times) and managed to have a big presence at the Oscars, even winning best picture. Could such ironic technical choices find an audience in anime/manga?

Woah, way to throw down the Citizen Kane card!

"Well, [blank] might be popular now, but it's no Citizen Kane."

Yeah, well, Citizen Kane was no How Green Was My Valley, which was the Academy Award winner that year, to much 2012 historical revisionist teeth-gnashing.

My point last week was that, in of pure entertainment product,, by and large, we don't need to go back and watch old stuff aside from Pure Nostalgic Joy. Sailor Moon and Saber Marionette J? That was a huge hit at my anime club in the late 90's. Why the hell would anyone wanna watch that today? It's not hard to find a contemporary anime show about a dude and a harem of robot babes that is better-looking and less clumsily executed. Aside from Pure Nostalgia Joy from old farts like me who enjoyed it at the time (actually that's a lie, I thought that show was boring), there is no reason to revisit it. And the proof, as they say, is in the pudding - is Saber Marionette J available anywhere? Is it on DVD? Streaming? No? Okay then!

Much like how, honestly, if you like watching disaster movies, you can live happily just watching whatever new Things Blow Up movie Hollywood will happily throw at you en masse every summer. You don't need to go back and watch every Airport movie that was made in the 70's. The technology has improved for that genre of pure entertainment. The effects are obviously better, there's better sound, and the characters are obviously much more relatable to a modern audience. Sure, there'll be a bunch of persnickety old-timers who'll wave their canes in defiance about KIDS WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE GOOD OL' DISASTER MOVIES STOOD FOR but... who cares? Saber Marionette J was a middling mediocrity that filled a fine void in the 90's and early aughts that is now being filled by shinier, nicer shows a decade or so later.

I think, though, with manga, there's a bit more of an opportunity there to expose people to older titles. If for no other reason than the fact that... well, for one thing, the time investiture to picking up a manga volume and flipping through it is a lot less daunting than sitting through a half-hour episode. Also, manga readers tend to be a bit more voracious in their consumption and are more likely to pick up something off the shelf on a whim if it catches their interest.

But how to do it? Hey, that sounds to me like a nice segue to the next question:

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Hey there Answerman,

I have a question for you about digital manga using Naruto, etc) or the titles that might not be selling well but are still new enough. My question is why hasn't a U.S. manga publisher used digital formats to prolong the life of a manga that is about to go out of print?

Let's say that Viz still had Jojo but the contract would be completed next year. Wouldn't putting the series on-line, maybe have a big promotional push, at least get the series out there for fans that missed it and make the company a little extra bit of money? Could that be a way of prolonging contracts on titles?

Well, sure, it could. The problem is: demographics. (There it is again! The D-word!) Also: the Japanese publishers themselves.

Using your Hirohiko Araki didn't put the kibosh on the digital publishing idea himself? A lot of older manga creators are notoriously anti-digital, citing piracy concerns of course, as well as a general displeasure of the idea of people NOT looking at their artwork on paper. As with anything else, you could probably change their mind by giving them a huge chunk of the profits - but at that point, why bother? The profit margin for publishing something digitally would probably be so slim it wouldn't be worth the bandwidth it costs to host. Not when you're charging five bucks a volume, anyway. Charge any more than that and the fans will mutiny and ignore it.

For every argument that releasing something digitally is "free money," in all honesty, there's just as many other reasons not to. Because, of course, it's not really free, and digital distribution has just as many contractual hurdles as physical distribution. They might not be as cumbersome and certainly aren't as expensive, but they're still there - and sometimes, they're just enough that it's simply Not Worth It.

(That said: please Viz please release JoJo's Bizarre Adventure digitally so I can buy it and read it again, all my books are back home in Tucson, thanks, Brian)

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Hello Answerman,

I have a two part question for you that I consider to be kind of a "minefield" topic. I've been surfing on Strike Witches for the aviation references, but I try to completely ignore the fact that the main characters are bare from the legs down. One of my friends believes that the Japanese are mostly about Sexualization of women, and that the only logical explanation to this is the notion that "Sex Sells." I know this to not be entirely true, but still it makes me wonder. So my two part question is this:

1. Could the indie games I described above give a bad rep to the general public, and give the image that anime is nothing but sexually driven nonsense?

2. What is your take on my friends thesis that Japan is mostly about the Sexualization of women, if you don't mind me asking? Not trying to put you in an uncomfortable position. I'm not an avid watcher of anime, so I ask that you forgive me if I may be ignorant towards anything. I really would like to enjoy watching anime for years to come, but this issue has me really bothered.

Okay! Here we go!

Before I begin, everyone, I need you all to click this link here and keep it looped for the duration of however long it takes for you to read this answer.

Y'all ready for this?!?

I'll begin by saying that, yeah, "Sex Sells," and your friends aren't entirely wrong. They're not entirely *right* either, which I think is an important distinction to make.

Since we're talking about the objectification of women, as a Straight White Male I'm not exactly in the sort of position to make a judgment call on that front. So! I took to the internet, to try and find reviews of Strike Witches written by women. I could only find three, which I think is sort of... telling.

First, I found a LiveJournal post by Aniekins:

"When I first started watching the episodes, I had a hard time stomaching some of the in-your-face fan-service until I got used to it, or rather put on my denial goggles and began not noticing it. It's a shame too because this show has WONDERFUL storylines, character development, historical references, and action galore."

So - a positive review, but with some hesitation about the fan service. Next, here is popular anime blogger Yi, from Listless Ink:

"Strike Witches sets out to be a fun, bold character-driven anime. There is no pretense of deep social commentary or mind-blowing plot. It simply tries to charm the audience with all the lovely girls and fan service. And it works! Just as I love the witches' personalities and pants-less outfits (… panties)"

That's another positive. Lastly, here's Alexandra from Zone-SF.com:

"As far as I can make out, the creators have not really made any effort to pull together a particularly cohesive story-arc. Instead, the focus is on the witches' rampant lesbianism, boob-grabbing, underwear-swapping and fantasizing about each other. In fact, I would say that approximately 50 percent of the anime is comprised of what can only be described as a lot of 'crotch shots' and boob jiggling, some of which is really quite full-on. I think it fair to say that it becomes clear very early on in this series that I am not the intended audience for this anime, and as such, a lot of what may attract the target audience does nothing for me."

So that's two positive, one negative, and two that bemoan the fanservice. Sounds like your average mixed reaction about any anime series, I guess. BUT: It took me a good hour and half to find those three reviews. Why the heck aren't there more women writing reviews about Strike Witches?

Probably because, to quote Alexandra, they are "not the intended audience." Shocking though it may seem, but when a solid majority of women see a show that is comprised almost entirely of half-naked women, they tend to stay far away. Because it's obviously not made for them. I'd try to find some reviews of Fate/Zero. Why can't we have more of that? Why isn't the message more of "The story and the characters are what really matter" instead of "It has cute characters in little clothing so I'll watch it"? I understand the biological impulse of looking at nude or near-nude women, but all the time? In everything?? Is this my Howard Beale moment??? Will Ned Beatty yell at me in a conference room now??? WHAT IS GOING ON????

Look, whatever I feel about it, I will say this to the guy who wrote the question - you're not wrong. These things aren't "mainstream," but the problem with the sexualization of women isn't exclusively the fault of Japan and anime - it's a global one, and it's in every geeky subculture out there. (NSFW link, FYI.) I'm hopeful that at some point our surprisingly gender-diverse industry won't feel the need to objectify women (or men, really) for the sake of a quick buck. It's nice to want things, I guess.

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Hooray! I get to stop ranting about sexism now! Off to Answerfans we go, as I set you all to task in answering This Here Question:

Beginning our Tales of Terror and/or Delight is insaneben;

Dateline: Katsucon 2005 (February 18th-20th)
Location: Marriott & Sheraton Crystal City

This was my first Katsucon. Granted, it wasn't my first anime convention, having attended Anime USA for the first time back in 2004 and Otakon continuously since 2001, but this convention had a number of firsts (none of them good)- it was split between two hotels (as mentioned above), and it was the first time I had to endure 20-degree weather for the entire duration of the con.

Now, one would think that having a medium-sized convention split between two hotels would be a good idea, right? Guess again. One hotel hadn't finished renovations to the lobby, so not only was it out of commission, it and the entire first floor had no heat (thus marking the only time during a convention where I've had to wear a coat indoors). To make matters worse, lines to the Dealers Room barely budged (especially since the Dealers Room was assigned way too small a space to begin with), but that wasn't the weirdest thing to happen to me.

On Saturday, February 19th, I open the door to my hotel room after taking a short nap to discover a line of people snaking around the hall. Now, I'd already seen my fair share of long lines throughout the convention, but had things gotten so out of hand that lines stretched as far back as the front door of my room? As it turned out, due to lack of space, Katsucon was holding Guest s in a larger room a few doors down from mine, and the long line was a result of Kirby Morrow to show up for next year's Katsucon. Surprisingly, the following year, both Mr. Cox and Mr. Morrow appeared at the same con.

DaisakuKusama went to Comic-Con in '98, way before it went LAMESTREAM:

Convention anecdotes, did you say? My friend, have I got some stories for you. Tales which I would not believe myself, were I not there; easily dismissed as falsehoods if the person they had happened to was somebody else, and not me.

Many of these memories took place at Anime Expo; since I live in California, both AX and the behemoth which is known as the San Diego Comic-Con are almost literally in my back yard. Factor into the equation that in 1993, I made the move from otaku to protaku when I got my first job in the animation industry, and I was really meeting some movers and shakers. I found myself hanging out in the green room at Anime Expo chilling with GOH's, at restaurants or parties with people who were creating the very anime I was watching!

Usually I would not find out exactly whom I had rubbed elbows with until long after the elbows had already been rubbed: A group lunch at Bakers Square in Anaheim during AX99, sat directly across from a GOH whom I later learned was Utena fame (I wasn't hitting on her, Guys -- honest!!!); Many such incidences and several that will remain untold because what happens at The Con...stays at The Con!

However, my all-time favorite happening took place at San Diego Comic-Con in 1998. A group of us decided to partake in some dinner and Gaslamp festivities in downtown San Diego. Along the way, we ran into three people who ed us because we were all mutually acquainted. The first of these persons was Jan-Stu Levy.

There I was, hanging out with basically The Rat Pack of Anime - the Sinatra, Sammy of the otaku world, dining and drinking and dancing and conversating and basically having an all-around amazing time that was, like I said, something that I wouldn't have believed if I wasn't there myself. But it gets better!

The next day, Jan was already jetting back to Japan, where she lived at the time. I decided to swing by the SDCC Exhibit Hall and say hello to both Steve and Mixxzine arranged in neat rows. Mr. Levy did me, and in fact, his first words to me were "I really have to go to the bathroom - do you think you could watch the table for me until I get back?" I said sure, and that's what happened. stu returned, shook my hand and said "Thanks so much - I owe you one!"

Fast forward two years... I had just finished up working on a film about a Giant made of Iron, and I was out of work. Several months ed, and one day whilst browsing Monster.com, I saw an opening at Tokyopop for a Graphic Assistant. I called them up, and shortly thereafter was interviewing in the T-pop offices, when stu walked by. He glanced into the office, saw me, and said "YOU!" I shook his hand and said Hi, and he looked directly at the people who were interviewing me and very firmly said "Hire him." And thus, I spent the next year as a Graphic Assistant at Tokyopop, working on manga such as Sailor Moon, Parasyte, until animation called me back into its clutches. For the record, I enjoyed working and hanging out with stu very much during my time there, and will always fondly Tokyopop.

So, in the words of a very wise man, be kind to everyone you meet, Kids, because one day, you too will have a story or two about how a chance encounter led to a great opportunity. I can scarcely believe it myself, but I was there, and it's all true!

This would be where I say "SOUNDS LIKE LORI HAD A REAL 'BLONDE MOMENT' FOLKS" if I were the sort of person who hated comedy:

As part of my costume for Anime Boston 2011, I had dyed my hair blonde since my character had a "normal" hair style and my natural hair was roughly the same length, so I could get away with it. This is an important detail to the punchline of this story.

When I was in an autograph line for the Evangelion cast (Eden of the East" DVD for Tatum to sign because I had just bought it downstairs). As I'm going through the line, I asked them to sign it to "Lori." Since it's one of those names where people automatically want to spell it one particular way, I usually have to specify which spelling it is. But I was amazed when Brina and Tatum got it right without me having to specify how to spell it.

By the time I got to Trina, I said, "Wow, I usually have to spell it for everyone!"

Trina just looked at me sheepishly and said, while pointing, "It's right there on your badge."

I looked down at my con badge and suddenly ed that my real name was on it.

I did a quick facepalm for myself, then announced to the rest of the table, "I'm dying my hair back tomorrow!" Which cracked up the entire table as soon as I made that announcement.

Andrea has reminded me that all of *my* favorite convention experiences involve being drunk and running into people (sometimes literally) as well:

All of my favorite experiences with guests of honor happened at a tiny convention held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, called Sogencon. This convention is pretty small, with probably not even 1000 attendees, but has managed to get some pretty cool guests over the years.

Running into Greg Ayers at a hotel ice machine while drunk off my ass AND in my pajamas was pretty fun if awkward. Being a shy Midwesterner, myself, it was also pretty short, basically a hi/bye. And that elevator ride with Crispin Freeman where I insultingly referenced Jonny Bosch's band Eyeshine without realizing I was sharing an elevator with the guy's colleague was an entertaining experience, though I can't decide if it was good or bad. Speaking of Eyeshine, those three Eyeshine concerts were pretty fun (and funny! because "Jesus brought the nachos" is an actual lyric on one of their songs) too, though again I can't tell if they were good or bad, because dang, that's some kind of music. It sure was interesting. Yup.

So any way, guest of honor story. Probably my second favorite experience with a guest of honor occurred during a . The set up here is that, the same weekend of Sogencon the hotel was also booked for a wedding, so mingled amongst the cosplayers on their way to the rave on Saturday night were the wedding guests in full formal garb heading to their banquet, which was a hilarious sight. The next morning, Greg Ayers held his fansubs , which was pretty interesting in and of itself. It was pretty cool that pretty much ALL the other guests of honor for that year were also part of the too. Anyway, during the the wedding party gathered outside and sent their bride and groom off in a horse drawn carriage, and we could see it all through the window of the conference room. I even have video proof! In this youtube video! It was a short but hilarious cap to an entertaining and informative , a type of which seems like a rare bird at anime cons, in my experience at least.

The last experience involves Chris Ayers, who is pretty cool! My friend and I were taking a break from drinking the alcohol and had just gotten out of the nothing going on in Ballroom A (veni vedi Mon-Mon) I think, and I had a strong craving for pizza. Being overwarm and, in my friend's case, in need of a smoke, we were sitting outside the hotel on one of the benches flanking the doors. On the bench on the other side of the door happened to be Chris Ayers and a posse of fans. As it was one in the morning, my friend insisted that no one was open because it's Sioux Falls, South Dakota. However! I happen to live in a much smaller town than Sioux Falls, and the Dominos there is open til 2 am on Friday nights. This argument was ineffective. As I was somewhat intoxicated, I was also speaking rather loudly, and the group across from us could hear every word. My argument was won when a delivery driver pulled up and delivered a pizza, and my victory shout caused laughter from the other group. After the car left I dragged my friend over to say hello to Chris Ayers, and to get her to ask the question that had been burning in her mind for several years: whether they shared an ancestor in a silent movie actor or circus performer or something, whose name escapes me because he's not MY ancestor. Anyway, they do happen to share that ancestor, so there you go. Also he gave her a hug (aww) and was just all around a really cool guy.

Also, we ordered pizza the next night instead, so all was well.

George, meanwhile, highlights the sad downfall of regular con guests over the age of time:

I live in a very small country, we have a few thousand anime-fans at most, and most of these just follow the big popular Naruto, Bleach and One Piece. Nevertheless, there are a few cons every year, and in the community's "Golden Age" (2007 or so) we'd actually sometimes get two cons during the same week, absolutely crazy.

Since no big-shot from Japan will ever get here, and not even from the USA, we have to be content with what we have for Guest of Honor. Now, I it I haven't been to a con in 4 years or so, but when I was still going EVERY con would have the same guest of honor - that one Japanese guy who lives in our country and used to work in animation. And he pretty much always talked about the same things, he had like 2 or 3 lectures he would juggle around, and that one presentation he had in every con.

My best experience was the first time I saw him, it was incredible to find out someone related to the big anime industry in Japan was so close. My worst experience is probably my 10th and up time seeing him, re-realizing every time it's going to be another terrible convention with nothing new to offer.

And finally, Kaycee reminds us that if you want people to like you, Macadamia Nuts, all the way:

Hi Answerman,

I think the best experience I've had with a Guest of Honor was at Sakura Con in Seattle this year. But I should backtrack first. I've been a fan of Hard Rock Cafe before anyone else came up to chat. That's simply an opportunity you don't really get with celebrities, much less foreign ones. I'll never forget it because it probably won't happen again to me with anyone else! :)

That's delightful. And lovely!

...I wish somebody and their husband would give ME macadamia nuts.

Jealousy aside, let's take a gander at what I want you all to answer for me next time! This one was obviously sparked up by the last question I answered, so please folks, take your time with it;

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.

Alright guys, I need to log off and eat food IMMEDIATELY. I literally haven't eaten anything all day and according to most people, that's a bad thing. While I stuff myself full of comestibles, don't forget to plug all your questions and answers into my answer-box over at answerman(at)animenewsnetwork.filmscomplets.org! Food night, everyfood!