I'm not a listener of Hip Hop, but I do have an exception. That would be the legendary Run DMC, or at least the first four albums before they became like every other group and traded in their distinctive sound to be like everyone else. Their are few groups as fun as these guys at their best.
Marvel at how they don't need to use swearing, or obsess about sex and money in every song! It's almost a miracle. Not only that, they're generally a very creative group with an original sound that is as fun now as it was when it came out. And that's saying something from a genre still stuck in the early '90s in lyrical content.
Oh, and this happens to be my favorite Hip Hop song.
That aside, you know the words. So sing along!
Run's House
Written by: Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, David Reeves
We have a whole lot of superstars, on this stage here tonight
But I want y'all to know one thing: this is-- My House
And when I say who's house, y'all know what time it is.
Whose house?
Run's house!
Ah, once again my friend
Not a trend for then
They said, rap was crap
But never had this band
Till the ruler came
With a cooler name
Make ya dance and prance and drove the fans insane
Name is Run, my son
Number one for fun
Not a gun that's done and get done by none
The others act in fact ya just wack I kill
Why? It's fun, my son, and Run heads the bill
Whose house? (Say What?) Run's house!
Whose house? (Say What?) Run's house!
I'm in the house, y'all
I'm in the house, y'all
And this is how DMC turn it out, y'all
I'm in the house, y'all
I'm in the house, y'all
And this is what DMC be about, y'all
Well, my name is DMC, the all-time great
I bust the most rhymes in New York state
Reporters cry, producers die
They want to be down with the king!
The wanted man from the wanted clan
Wanted by every fan from across the land
Not a g-a-n-g off the street
R-u-n-d-m-c complete!
Whose house? (Say What?) Run's house!
Whose house? (Say What?) Run's house!
Run, Run, Run, Run
Get on the mic and (MC)
Another time I take for the rhyme I make
Make me mad and sad because the fad is fake
See I do this thing so come pursue this king
One minor rhyme is all you can spring
Cause I'm the best I'm def, ask the rest they left
That'ss my name, my game, and we don't need the rep
You get the booze, you lose, you suckas close your mouth
I set a trap for rap that's crap
It's Run's house!
Whose house? (Say What?) Run's house!
Whose house? (Say What?) Run's house!
Some underestimate and miscalculate
My intent to create what I call the great
Till I make a song that I prove them wrong
See, my song so strong it'll make em come along
Come in the door, get on the floor
Hard rock hard hitting hip-hop hardcore
Causing casualties and catastrophes
And tragedies for the sucker emcees
Use your strategies to get the best of me
You dirty rat MCs, whoever you may be
You need to go down south, you need to shut your mouth
It's all about, no doubt, just shout, cause we're turning out:
I was listening to the Geek Gab podcast as I usually do every week, and an interesting topic came up.
No, it wasn't retro gaming (the 8 and 16-bit eras are still king), but the topic of horror that the Gab spent most of the show talking about. It was quite an interesting conversation.
You can watch the episode here:
It's well worth listening to.
Daddy Warpig goes on to explain that horror simply doesn't work without innocence. It doesn't work without the possibility of true and terrible loss. It isn't simply about being killed--you can turn on the news and see that every day. The true terror of horror is the possibility of soul-sucking dread and the realization that there is something more to the world than what you see before you. Think of your favorite horror story, and there are very few chances it doesn't contain that essence in it.
And that isn't what horror is anymore. It hasn't been about that in a long time.
At least, that's what it's like in the mainstream. Horror has become about people being hunted down and gutted as messily as possible. Think of that terrible Rob Zombie Halloween movie where Michael Myers is not only given a detailed backstory, thereby missing the point of the orignal, but where the "scariest" kill involves him slamming someones head down viciously for a minute straight. That's it. Spooky, right?
Basically, these stories can be summed up as: Everything is out to get you, you will die bloodily, and there is nothing you can do about it.
How unique.
But it's also boring. And repetitive. And empty. And tired. And repetitive. And pointless. What made The Thing scary was the sense of dread and alienation rolled in heavy paranoia where even at the end you don't know who the real monster is, but you know there is one. What made the original Frankenstein scary was the implication of what meddling in things you don't understand can cause--and it can be horrific, and it can destroy you and everything you treasure. The universe is a mysterious place. There is more to these stories than mindless carnage and death. These stories show a wider world than the one we know of.
There are moments* like this:
Out of nowhere, here comes a supernatural invasion! There's mystery, intrigue, and unbreakable rules right out of the gate. You are in a new, wider world, where things are not what they once were. Everything is upside down, now how do we figure it out? Horror is the one genre of film that lives and dies by the scope of its moral core. A horror movie with a diseased conscience is a bad horror movie.
Even something as simple as Nightmare on Elm Street (only the ones directed by Wes Craven, the others are trash) have a moral center. Simply watch them and pay attention to what hurts Freddy Krueger and what ends up getting other characters killed. There's a moral core at play. The Dream Warriors is set up specifically as an anti-Freddy force where good finally triumphs over evil. As far as Wes Craven goes, and most fans, that was the final film in the series. There was nowhere else to go.
But then they screwed it up with the next movie. To go into spoiler territory, because you shouldn't ever watch the other films, every single one of the surviving Dream Warriors from the previous film is unceremoniously murdered in the next movie. This is done because of a lack of imagination. They simply couldn't figure out how to tell a story without a bunch of people being murdered for no reason. As a result, Nightmare on Elm Street became standard slasher fare.
Just as in Alien 3, which is a movie that might exist in some alternate dimension, kills off everyone from Aliens. The creative staff completely rejects the rules and themes of the previous film in order to make what they want instead. And what they want is always a rehash of a previous entry in the series. Every movie after Dream Warriors (except Wes Craven's satire, New Nightmare) is essentially just another slasher movie with nothing to say except to show stupid people getting murdered in gruesome ways.Yawn.
Horror works because of clear cut rules that the filmmaker is never allowed to break and because of a sense of wondrous dread, a conflicting atmosphere, that pulls the viewer in and doesn't let go until the credits plays "Bad Moon Rising". Books are the same way, as are comics. Rules exist to lock the audience into the universe.
If a rule is broken, a price is paid. If the universe is disturbed, it must be explored as to what caused the disturbance and what can fix it. There has to be a moral status quo as the baseline to contrast with the horrors going on. If the "real world" is as hopeless and empty as the encroaching horror is, then, what is the point in partaking in the horror?
If the end result of the story is the same as if every character blew their brains out in the first five minutes, or pages, then how can I be invested in the story? There has to be more than a hollow shell for a story to work. The story has to be working towards something. The characters and story have to go somewhere.
There has to be a reason to fight the darkness, and there has to be a reason for the characters to do so.
There has to be a soul worth fighting for. And that, is what horror is about.
*Yes, The Devil Rides Out is my favorite horror film. How did you know?
It's no secret that the manga and anime industry are shrinking. However, before it shrivels to nothing, there are a few series I would like to see licensed to North America.
This is sort of in response to an article I read on Anime News Network recently which managed to list 7 different series that no one will buy instead of classics and series that deserve a legitimate chance at release. I'm not linking to that article, because there is really nothing there worth bringing up here. I'm only doing this because I want to highlight series that actually deserve licensing.
If this blog has seemed a bit overly focused on Japanese animation and manga recently, I can only apologize as it is not the focus of Wasteland & Sky. There's simply been a lot of stuff posted recently that have opened up old wounds into how badly the industry has stumbled. If you want to know why the industry is not as healthy as it was in the '90s, here is a good sampling as to why.
None of these classics have ever been licensed.
1. Ushio & Tora
by: Kazuhiro Fujita
Genre: Fantasy Adventure
Length: 33 volumes (17 re-release)
This series has gone 25+ years without being licensed even once. Now, why should it be licensed? That's easy. The series is an action adventure fantasy that predates many of the cliches current manga and anime are reveling in. I even wrote a whole article about how great the series is. Whether modern fans want to admit it or not, the whole reason North America even has an anime and manga industry, is due to series like this one. A boy finds a magical weapon and goes on a journey to find his destiny. This is adventure in a nutshell, isn't it? How it has been consistently ignored over 25+ years is proof of blinders in the industry.
2. Karakuri Circus
by: Kazuhiro Fujita
Genre: Fantasy Adventure
Length: 43 volumes (23 re-release)
Same author, same result as the first. Karakuri Circus is the story of an abandoned boy, a martial arts master, and a living puppet, who become entangled in an evil plot. Karakuri Circus features a long winding story separated into acts that ends up in some very mystical places. Once again, it was never licensed despite being released during the late '90s and early '00s when the industry was at its most popular. How it was passed over is completely inexplicable. And it still hasn't been given a shot.
3. Rokudenashi Blues (Good-For-Nothing Blues)
by: Masanori Morita
Genre: Sports Drama
Length: 42 volumes (21 re-release)
A long time ago in Japan (the late '80s to early '90s, specifically) there was this fad in entertainment focusing on "Delinquent" or "Yankee" characters. These were tough guys who were dissatisfied with the world and wanted to rebel against it by doing whatever they wanted. This sub-genre was so popular that you still occasionally see characters like this pop up in anime and manga now. What makes Rokudenashi Blues different is that it took the concept seriously. It defines the whole delinquent sub-genre. These are lowlifes who know what they are and aim for something better than that. Taison Maeda wants to be the best boxer in the world, but can he do that and still be a nobody, or will he have to search deep within himself and reach for the stars? That this was never licensed is a mystery to me.
4. Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe)
by: Ikki Kajiwara (writer) & Tetsuya Chiba (art)
Genre: Sports Drama
Length: 20 volumes (10 re-release)
This is probably one of the most important manga series of all time. No wonder it's never been licensed. It's about an orphaned boy named Joe Yabuki who makes his way up through the world of boxing facing all sorts of trials along the way. Basically a story about facing down the impossibilities that life throws at you, the series is a classic. Ashita no Joe's ending about triumphing over the endless hurdles of life is iconic for a reason. We get trashy and disgusting stuff licensed here all the time, but we have yet to get this classic released here. There's simply no excuse for it, unless the manga buying public here is really nonexistent and not worth catering to.
5. City Hunter
by: Tsukasa Hojo
Genre: Action Comedy
Length: 35 volumes (18 re-release)
This was licensed, botched, and never actually released in volumes. It is also probably the single biggest missed opportunity in the entire industry. Now, tell me if you heard this before: Ryo Saeba is a Sweeper, a private detective paid to do impossible jobs, who obsesses over pretty girls, rides a sweet car, and fires an awesome gun. It is as cool as it sounds. The series follows Ryo as he completes crazy missions that wouldn't be out of place in an '80s action film. It's quite frankly amazing that this series never had any sort of push over here in North America. Even the anime's release was utterly botched. I have a hard time believing it wouldn't have been huge over here. I still think it can be if someone would wake up and license the thing.
6. Kyo Kara Ore Wa!! (Today, it's My Turn!!)
by: Hiroyuki Nishinori
Genre: Action Comedy
Length: 38 volumes (19 re-release)
So remember when I said I like delinquent series that are about tough guys who grow to be something more? Well, this takes that concept in the other direction while still following it. Takashi Mitsuhashi arrives in a new town and decides to take up being a tough guy. He meets a fellow wannabe named Shinji Ito, and the two stumble through high school as they make more and more enemies who want their heads. The series is as nutty as it is funny. It can get serious at times with some dynamite action, but as a comedy it's quite hysterical. It still manages to have character development like Rokudenashi Blues, but never fails to be as funny as it is good with drama. Honestly, it was a real shame this was never picked up over here. They just don't make manga and anime as wonky as this anymore.
7. Urusei Yatsura
by: Rumiko Takahashi
Genre: Comedy
Length: 34 volumes (17 re-release)
If you're a fan of anime or manga, you've undoubtedly heard the name Rumiko Takahashi before. If you don't, then you probably know her works. Ranma 1/2? Maison Ikkoku? InuYasha? Mermaid Saga? Her early works in particular are classics, but the one work of hers that never got a shot over here is ironically her first. Urusei Yatsura is a gonzo comedy that started so many trends in the medium that it's hard to keep up with. The series stars a pervert named Ataru who meets an alien girl named Lum and hijinks ensue. The best part of Urusei Yatsura involve the situations and characters, and I can't exactly spoil them here. Nonetheless, it is a series that was never given much support over here and probably never will.
8. Ring ni Kakero
by: Masami Kurumada
Genre: Sports Action
Length: 25 volumes (13 re-release)
Recognize the art? Yes, this is by the artist of mega-hit Saint Seiya / Knights of the Zodiac. You want insane action sequences? Creepy ninjas? Over the top fights? Insane references to real life people transposed to the boxing ring? Kurumada is the master of weird, and one of the pioneers of action manga and anime. The story is ostensibly about Ryuuji Takane and his climb up the boxing world, but there is so much other weirdness going on beyond that that it is well worth reading just for the creativity and the manliness. This series changed everything when it originally came out, and it is strange that it still remains an elusive release for North America.
9. Ghost Sweeper Mikami
by: Takashi Shiina
Genre: Fantasy Comedy
Length: 39 volumes (20 re-release)
Another series that has been ripped off a lot, Ghost Sweeper Mikami has only had a movie release over here way back when the anime boom first happened. The thing is, GSM is the type of series that is my Achilles heel when it comes to manga. Serialized action comedy adventures that change from story to story. There's no overarching plot here (like City Hunter), but that doesn't matter. The atmosphere and the characters pull it along all the way to the end. The series is a ball. Ghost Sweeper Mikami is about a Ghost Sweeper named Reiko Mikami and her assistants as they deal with paranormal issues throughout the city. That's all there is, and that's all there needs to be. It's only a shame it never got a proper release here.
10. Rookies
by: Masanori Morita
Genre: Sports
Length: 24 volumes (12 re-release)
The last one here is actually the strangest series on my list. It's because it's the most typical one here. Written by the writer of Rokudenashi Blues, Rookies is about a new teacher who inspires a baseball team to greater heights. That's all there is to it. Good drama, good characters, and a great read. Despite its basic premise, Rookies always had the chance of being a big hit over here with crossover appeal, but was never given a chance. It still might succeed now if licensed, but I wouldn't hold my breath over it.
Now, here's the big kicker. All those series I listed? They were all mega-hits in Japan. All of them. Every one. None of the series are obscure, or should be unknown to those in charge of licensing series for North America. And yet despite proven success, none of them are licensed or are even on the docket to receive a translation.
So why do these series lay untouched for the shrinking market while material that will not sell is given the chance instead? I don't know. I don't work in the industry. But I do know that those series I listed are all of the kind that made both manga and anime popular over here in the first place, and they still are not licensed.
Nonetheless, they are all worth your time. It's only a shame they you might have to find an unofficial translation (or learn Japanese) in order to experience them.
I'm pretty sure anyone reading this is probably aware that I'm a fan of anime and manga. I've been a fan since watching the original Dragon Ball and Robotech as a kid, and have been watching ever since. That said, it is hard to be a fan these days, and I'd like to discuss why.
So, it's time to dissect one of those articles written by industry insiders every two months or so to reassure otaku that nothing is wrong with their hobby. Despite all outside factors showing it is undoubtedly getting worse year by year, industry insiders remain in their shrinking bubble while their industry runs full-tilt down a dead end road.
Let me just mention: This is not a fisk, but a legitimate attempt to find common ground on a divisive issue that has been going on since Moe overloaded the airwaves in Japan.
But first, take a gander at this video from a few years back when the Moe boom was in full-swing. It will help bring this article into the proper frame.
Be warned: The video can get a bit risque.
Long story short, otaku pandering makes easy money for the studios. All these otaku want is to watch good looking girls (and boys) doing nothing at all. But because of this narrow focus, anime and manga have lost much of their international audience to a small cadre of superfans that aren't having children. In other words, the industry is playing to a shrinking audience.
To say the industry is not in trouble and should keep going the way they have been is foolish. At this rate, they will eventually run dry of profits and the industry will tank.
Starting on that foot, let's get started:
"Last week, popular internet writer FILM CRIT HULK published a very interesting article on Captain America: Civil War in which he also touched on the general strokes of where the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going ever since The Avengers."
I won't be touching that article, since it has nothing to do with my point here, but I do recommend reading it if you want to see where the authors are coming from.
"Now, while I cannot vouch for or argue against his specific points regarding the Marvel movies since I haven't seen any that have come out since The Avengers, one thing that caught my attention was his argument that Marvel Studios has is currently engaged in the making of movies that deal in "basic audience placation." Here's a quote from the article (and, again, I have no opinion on whether or not this is actually true of the Marvel films):
"MARVEL STUDIOS SEEMS TO HAVE FIGURED OUT THE SECRET OF WHAT HULK WILL CALL "BASIC AUDIENCE PLACATION." I.E. YOU MAKE FUN CHARACTERS. YOU HIRE GREAT ACTORS. YOU PUT IN THEM IN SITUATIONS WHERE THEY ALL HAVE TO INTERACT. THEN YOU LET THOSE SITUATIONS PLAY OUT IN AS FUN AND DELIGHTFUL A MANNER AS POSSIBLE. WHICH HULK READILY ADMITS IS NOT AN EASY THING TO DO. AND THE HEART IS IN THE RIGHT PLACE. [...] BUT HULK HAS TO POINT OUT THAT THERE'S NOTHING ABOUT THE "BE DELIGHTFUL" MANTRA THAT INHERENTLY MAKES FOR GOOD STORYTELLING EITHER. IT'S JUST AN AFFECTATION. AND IT'S GOOD FOR ENGAGING AN AUDIENCE ON A BASIC LEVEL."
This is all well said, and it reminded me of some arguments I've seen leveled at the anime industry in recent years. "Moe is killing anime," is a common (if ofttimes tongue-in-cheek) refrain, but in my experience what it typically masks is a dissatisfaction with not merely changing aesthetics in character design, but with the types of stories that have come to be associated our moe overlords in the fandom conciousness—and with the way those stories are being told."
Character designs are becoming uniform and sterile. Particularly Moe designs.
Here are a few pictures from MyAnimeList comparing designs:
And finally:
Character designs have changed, true, but since this article wants to focus on storytelling, this will be the last time I'll intentionally bring this up. I realize these examples are cherry-picked, but it really can't be helped. There were no Moe-like series in the '90s, or earlier. The most similar series would be the Tenchi franchise, and it still doesn't look like any of the examples on the right.
As said before, it isn't that "Moe is killing anime", but that studios are catering to a minority of uberfans that don't buy anything else at the cost of their larger audience. This is why studios have gripped so hard on the success of anime like Blood Blockade Battlefront, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Ushio & Tora, Knights of Sidonia, Tiger & Bunny, Parasyte, and such, for overseas success in recent years. If they want to cater to the wider anime fanbase that isn't aware the industry still cares about their bucks, then they need to start producing more material for them, and less for fetishists and Moe fans.
"The same day HULK's piece came out, I also read an interview of long-time voice actress Megumi Hayashibara (Evangelion's Rei, Cowboy Bebop's Faye, among others) on her thoughts regarding the changes in the industry since the 1990s. Her reflections, again, echo phrases and complaints I've heard many times before. She says, "Anime in the ‘90s was overflowing with ambition…Anime [today] which are trying to be similar to previous hits can never be better than the originals.""
The article then posts this picture:
I think this would make me Team Iron Man
Do I even have to mention that they all have the same body-type and face? It's quite an uninspired picture full of uninspired designs. This proves Megumi Hayashibara's point of sterility on its own.
"Hayashibara laments contemporary anime's constant derivations on past hits while HULK argues we shouldn't settle for "basic audience placation" from our entertainment."
Actually, her point was that anime does not have the drive it once had to be creative. The industry rests on cliches and lack of ambition. It has nothing to do with the past except as a point of reference.
I'm really hoping this author doesn't sidestep the issue to make it about nostalgia. It's not really a point worth making, nor is it much of an argument.
"Films, and anime, have the capacity to do more than just be likable and fun for the audience (whether that's by storytelling choice or deliberate imitation). And if they have that capacity, shouldn't they do so? Shouldn't they be as ambitious and creative as possible, reaching for the heights of the medium?"
Blood Blockade Battlefront did. Ushio & Tora currently is. Tiger & Bunny was a mega-hit a few years ago, and still sells now despite fans endlessly awaiting a second season. My Hero Academia is a top ten selling series in Japan and is getting popular here in North America. Now tell me why I see more articles on mainstream anime sites about yuri series, video games, clothes, and Moe, than I do about any of the above series?
This season is the first in years where the non-Moe material has swamped the Moe material, and still the anime press insists on covering only it at the expense of higher sellers and series with more international appeal.
They're living in a box.
Ushio & Tora: Supernatural battle spectacle
Articles written about it: 0
1. One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (6,470,105)
2. Assassination Classroom by Yusei Matsui (4,391,966)
3. Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama (4,370,941)
4. Haikyu!! by Haruichi Furudate (4,016,578)
5. Kingdom by Yasuhisa Hara (3,561,489)
6. The Seven Deadly Sins by Nakaba Suzuki (2,712,499)
7. One-Punch Man by Story: One / Art: Yuusuke Murata (2,553,331)
8. ERASED by Kei Sanbe (2,332,110)
9. Tokyo Ghoul:re by Sui Ishida (2,179,345)
10. My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi (2,135,591)
I see a bunch of different genres up there from Sports to Fantasy to Science Fiction to Superhero to Historical Drama to Horror. What do I not see? Moe.
The closest thing you'll see on that list will be Yotsuba & I in the 30th place, and that is a slice of life series that features characters of different sexes and ages. It's not Moe. There is also Dagashi Kashi, though that is a harem comedy.
"I'm not interested in applying HULK's specific issues with the Marvel films to anime as a whole (talk about comparing apples to oranges!)"
That's too bad, because I am interested. And they're easily comparable. Castle of Cagliostro is one of the best action adventure films of all time; Captain America: Winter Soldier is one of the best action adventure films of all time. Daredevil is one of the best action adventure television series of all time; Trigun is one of the best action adventure television series of all time.
Seems like apples to apples, to me.
"To begin, his phrase, "basic audience placation," is one I think can easily be applied to many anime that have aired in the past 5-10 years. In practice, HULK says the appeal of this concept is that it "makes the audience feel good and like they're hanging out with the [characters]." Well, maybe Marvel's behind the ball, because there are (and have been) an entire anime genres based around these precise goals (creating a cozy show where the audience can feel like they're just hanging out with the characters) for a while now."
Deliberate misreading. His point was that you are following characters as they achieve a goal or work to overcome a problem. You get invested in them and their problems as they fight to make things right, or put order back in place. Moe series by design are not like this.
How you went from Marvel's action films to a "cozy show" is beyond me. It's an apple to oranges equivalency. Neither aim to do the same thing.
But the MCU and anime both used to do the same thing. That's the problem here.
Audiences don't want to "hang out" with characters who do nothing except drink tea, make ham-fisted jokes, and have no story to advance, or character arc to get through. That is why Moe does not sell over here, and why Marvel movies do.
That is why Dragon Ball is so popular with fans the world over, and why no one except hardcore otaku know, or care, what K-On is.
My Hero Academia is the type of thing that would hook the MCU audience.
So, why isn't it being pushed?
"Although iyashikei anime and moegirl comedy slice-of-life anime differ in that they use atmosphere and comedy, respectively, as their primary means of achieving the goal of good audience feelings, the goal is ultimately the same."
Slice of life, is. But slice of life usually involves a plot that has a goal. BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, for instance, is about a boy who grows into a rock star. Kimagure Orange Road is about a romance. There's a drive and a goal.
But, Moe? What genre do you think has the highest sales of bodypillows? What audience are those aimed at?
Here's a hint: It's not the average anime fan.
Some of these shows may have the goal of being entertaining, that's true. So why is it that those "inventive" and "imaginative" plots are never discussed? Why is it that they all feature the same archetypal characters that have the same personalities? It might possibly be because that is not why otaku watch those shows.
But then, the majority of international anime fans don't watch them at all. They don't sell.
"And yes, when you compare this particular creative priority to some of the great dramas of humanity that appeared in 1980s and 1990s anime, one could perhaps argue that these "cute girls doing cute things" shows are unambitious."
How is that an argument? They all feature the same character designs. They all feature the same (lack of) plot. They all have the same setting. They all feature the same character archetypes. The anime made in the '80s and '90s (and the '70s . . . and the '60s) do not have these problems.
Moe shows are unambitious. Whether you like them or not, is a separate argument.
"But are they?"
Yes.
"And, if they are, is that bad?"
That wasn't your original argument. These are cookie cutter shows that appeal to a fringe segment of an already small audience. Fetishists and otaku in Japan might be willing to spend the equivalent of $120 on a three episode Blu-Ray, but the common fan and the international fan, are not. As mentioned before, catering to this tiny crowd is BAD for the industry. Catering to a shrinking demographic is bad business.
These are not the signs of a healthy industry. Neither is it something Marvel Studios* engages in.
*As an aside, Marvel Comics does engage in this, and their audience is now so tiny that they have to rely on shock storytelling to try to hook a larger audience. Marvel Comics is not a model for success.*
Moe shows themselves are not inherently bad. But their overall affect on the industry is a bad thing.
"What we have here is a conflict of what certains audiences want in their entertainment. In asking, "should anime be vast, grand space operas or should it be cute anime girls arguing about cats?" we are essentially interrogating two (supposedly) opposed ideas about what anime should be like. In common use, then, ambition as a term has become simply one way of phrasing a specific system of entertainment values, one that values creativity, scope, and depth above all else. In other words, when people talk about "ambitious anime," they typically use it to point to anime that are not in the business of derivation for the purpose of basic audience placation. Ambition is used to describe shows that are wildly creative, strive to be insightful or poignant, and actively try to tell meaningful and worthwhile stories. And, of course, the reverse then becomes true—any show that doesn't ascribe to this system can be labeled as "unambitious," which more simply can be equated to "bad." Ambition, as defined within a strict set of criteria, is good. Unambition is bad, or at least lesser in value."
What we have here is one approach that doesn't make enough money to be the focal point of the industry, and one approach that did, and still does. Everything you wrote here is completely subjective and doesn't really mean anything in the overall argument.
Ambition is about aiming to do more than be complacent. Moe shows, by design, do not aim to be anything above baseline. The only one that did was Azumanga Daioh, the first Moe show, and that has since become the single most ripped off anime series of all time in the process. Not that you'll ever see anyone in the anime press approach that elephant in the room. It's no wonder that the writer of that series doesn't write stuff like that anymore.
Made in 1999.
Yes, Moe is riding off a series that is 17 years old.
So much for the "new" anime argument.
Good and bad has nothing to do with it. But a pile of cliches and fetishistic character designs are not ambitious when they are literally the same as the majority of the anime currently being produced for consumption.
"To be quite clear: there is nothing about "ambitious" stories as defined above that makes them inherently better than "unambitious" stories. Fullmetal Alchemist is not innately better than K-On simply because Fullmetal Alchemist wants to tell an epic story and K-On wants to create a particular kind of relaxing atmosphere."
Full Metal Alchemist is a series that fans around the world wanted, and bought. K-On is not.
So, you tell me why there are more shows like K-On being made than shows like Full Metal Alchemist. If the quality of the two is entirely subjective, then it shouldn't make a difference. And yet, there are still far more shows like the former being produced than the latter. "Ambitious" stories are clearly getting left out in the cold.
Fans want ambitious shows that aim above the typical. That is why Full Metal Alchemist was an international hit. It doesn't matter how good K-On is if the international market isn't interested in it.
"It's to each their own—but, of course, we often struggle to see things from different perspectives."
No, I know why people like Moe. And, I mean, I know the many different reasons people like it. But I think it's you who doesn't see it.
One audience wants something they are not being offered, but once were. The other is swimming in what is being offered. The former is a large audience, and the latter is minuscule.
It is simply bad business.
"In the modern anime fandom, the tension between these different sets of entertainment values seems like it will never fade away. And, often, I see this dynamic arise in the form of "old anime was better!" Why? Because there are certain groups of anime fans, particularly (at least in my experience) those who have been fans of anime for much longer than I have been, who associate older anime with the epic story kind of ambition. And, from their certain perspective, they're not wrong—old anime was better."
The only tension here is that the majority has been ignored for years, while the minority got everything they wanted. The majority is not looking for old anime (unless they're collectors), they want new anime made with the ambition of the old.
And it doesn't help that the anime press ignores what that audience wants when it actually is made. World Trigger was the 20th top selling manga in Japan for the first half of 2016. It sold a million in less than half a year. Take a guess at how many articles Anime News Network has written about it recently.
And there you have it.
I've met many people online who were anime fans. They fell out of it because the industry stopped offering what they liked. But then, when I'd tell them about a newer show that has what they're looking for, they get excited again. You know why that is? Because they WANT to watch new things. They WANT to be anime fans. They aren't just sitting around waiting for a new Blu Ray release of Kimba the White Lion.
The anime press simply ignores them and continues focusing on their own niche tastes instead. Meanwhile, the industry closes in on itself, and those fans get nothing.
I don't see how that makes sense.
"Modern anime most certainly is not the same as it was in the 1990s, or even in the early 2000s. I'm a relatively new fan myself, so I've not seen as much as I'd like from those eras, but my limited experience has more or less seen the basic fact that anime has changed to be true. There has been a general shift in priorities in the medium, both commercially and in terms of what sorts of stories (or non-stories) are being told. While claims that moe schoolgirl anime (alongside the perennial whipping boy of magic high school light novel adaptations) is taking over the industry don't quite line up with the facts, the message behind them is actually rather obvious: there's an audience of anime fans that isn't being reached by the offerings of today—and they'd like their stories with ambition, high stakes, and audience challenge back, please."
Watch the video above. Moe anime is not made in proportion to the amount of anime fans that exist in the world, and that was a deliberate choice. It's a choice that is costing them now.
This "shift in priorities" has only succeeded in shrinking the industry of international appeal for a small audience that has no growth potential. Zero.
Anime in the '80s and '90s sold more because it was what more people wanted. The fact is, in recent years, we have been seeing a slow shift away from Moe and back into the types of stories that made anime big in the first place. This is what's needed for a healthier industry, both for storytelling and for sales.
This isn't hard to do. But as long as you in the anime press continue to push Moe that isn't selling well over Fantasy and Science Fiction that will, you're only hurting your own industry and turning away more potential fans.
And don't get me started on light novels. We went from Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Slayers, and Full Metal Panic, to Asterisk War, Chivalry of a Failed Knight, and Lance N' Masques, since the '90s. That is a full on downgrade of ambition and scope. Not to mention all three of the latter tell the same basic story.
Light novels are not in a good place right now, just like the anime industry. But they are just as much a part of the same problem.
"Again, we're talking about fundamental differences in audience priorities."
Yu Yu Hakusho, or Lucky Star.
Yu Yu Hakusho
Lucky Star
Which one do you think is closer to what Marvel does? Which one aired on a popular television block? Which one is popular worldwide? Here's a hint, it's the one that is still selling for its North American license-holder despite being a series over 25 years old.
So which direction should the industry be leaning? Because it's not leaning to the one that makes more money from a bigger audience.
If we're comparing the Modern Anime Industry to the MCU, there's the problem in a nutshell.
"The contemporary anime industry, to generalize in broad strokes, is catering to an audience that is seeking "basic audience placation" instead of epicness. One kind of ambition has been replaced with another."
There is only one kind of ambition: one that seeks to do better than the baseline average.
This is the baseline
Moe anime is the baseline. It is not ambitious, because it isn't made to be.
As for what the audience wants, well, it's not Moe. That's already been beaten to death in this post by now.
"I note this because I think it's important to understand where the nostalgia for a past era of anime and the slams of modern anime that sometimes accompany it are coming from. I mean, just look at recent comments from famed anime director Mamoru Oshii! An ungenerous read might call him a troll or a grouch, but read carefully! These are the words of someone who feels alienated from an industry that once had a place from him:
"I’m not watching anything. There are zero titles I’m interested in. I mean, I’m over 65. Trying to get into anime aimed at young people is impossible. That’s true for Japanese films in general, not just anime. Everything is made for a young audience.""
And what anime would Mamoru Oshii watch these days? Nobody is even making anime like he used to because the industry made a deliberate choice not to.
Even if you want me to grant your premise of this valid complaint being nostalgia and age-related, it doesn't explain why Moe anime still sells worse internationally than Action, Adventure, Thrillers, Fantasy, and Science Fiction. It doesn't make sense.
It also doesn't explain why Megumi Hayashibara's earlier assessment was wrong. She voice acted both then, and now. She watched anime both then, and now. Mamoru Oshii does not. Which one do you think would have a more accurate opinion on the way things are now, as opposed to then?
Let's not make this into an age argument. Those that bring up nostalgia goggles arguments are usually not looking at what the disagreement is really about.
"There are no easy solutions to that, but my hope is that I've established both the right for "unambitious" stories to exist and for those who wish for the days of yore to be dissatisfied with the current offerings of the medium. I don't think the answer is that the fans who are unhappy with the current state of anime should shut up and go find a new hobby. Nor do I think unhappy anime fans should give in to uninhibited bitterness about the current state of the medium. Both of these options are short-sighted and, as I see it, pretty dumb."
The easy solution here is not one the fans can make. The industry has to look in on itself and realize what is the best way to make it healthy again, and provide the majority of their customers what they want.
This doesn't mean they have to stop making Moe anime. This doesn't mean dismissing the majority of anime fans as old people who should not be catered to. This means looking at what sells best worldwide, and which audience has the greatest growth potential for the future.
I think recent shows like Knights of Sidonia, and The Seven Deadly Sins, are the best indicators at the direction the industry should look into. There's a reason Netflix jumped on them for exclusives, and not the newest Moe anime.
And before anyone brings up Glitter Force (or Pretty Cure), that is Magical Girl anime. It's not Moe by virtue of it having a plot, action, characters with goals, and a moving story. It also has broader appeal worldwide than Moe does, and has been around a heck of a lot longer.
"The "good old days" were good. It's not wrong to miss them and the types of stories that were being told then. On the flip side, anime today isn't all "unambitious" moeblob. The proportions have shifted, but there's still cool and ambitious stuff being made all the time—just look at Concrete Revolutio. Both of these things are valuable on their own terms, and any individual person has just as much a right to cherish one as the other."
Concrete Revolutio is what I'm talking about, though. It's ambitious. It's also made by the director of Full Metal Alchemist so there's an obvious audience for it.
Want to take a guess at how hard the anime press has covered it?
The problem is that the proportions have shifted. The majority is getting table scraps, while the minority gets a ten course meal despite not eating most of it. This is a shrinking industry, and continuing down this path is killing it faster. This needs to be fixed before things can ever get better.
This article shows to me that, while a lot of it is well-meaning of the industry's troubles, it is completely missing the point. No one is saying old anime is better because it is old.
The fact is that anime used to deliver experiences at the level of the MCU on a reliable basis. That was when it was at its all-time sales high in Japan, and internationally. When they stopped making those series in the mid-00s and moved on to Moe, sales slumped, and the industry suffered worldwide. It should be obvious to any objective observer that it was a bad idea, and it is a path that should be abandoned.
It's a problem of priorities. Should the industry keep catering to a shrinking base with overpriced merchandise, or aim for the level of the MCU that anime used to be at? Should it continue to whither, or reach for the stars again? Both are risks, but one is a proven wash.
They have to make a decision eventually, because things cannot keep going the way they are. Not if they want their industry to live to see the future.
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