02-26-11, 12:31 AM
Past, Present and Perpetual Permutation
Anime Relations: Mushishi
So I've been watching anime for a little over half of my life. I reached a peak in the earlier part of the first decade of our 21st century, where I was completing a new series every week and always watching the first episode of every new fansub release just so that I could inform friends about new anime series (even if that release didn't appeal to me). It was fun and all, but I found the overabundance of anime fandom, the mainstream oversaturation by R:1 distributors, and the extremely atrocious promotional tool of English dubs extremely deterring; so I needed a break.
I still continued to catch up on downloading series I had never got around to or collect the occasional DVD release from Rightstuf's most recent sales and check out the latest information at Animenewsnetwork, but for some reason I just found it difficult to find the drive to sit down and watch anything. The motivation had escaped me, and all I could blame was the westernization that US anime distributors have branded on my once favourite subculture. Honestly, there is a problem when I'm reading the newsletter for my favourite anime convention and there's not a single original creator on the guest list. It's all English voice actors and directors shining in the limelight and script adapters and western mangaka sponging off their 15 minutes of fame... There is definitely a problem. But as I grew older, I realised the problem wasn't in these people being recognized for their hard work that is clearly appreciated by the younger (lazier, in my opinion) fans who prefer their anime dubbed so they don't have to read... The problem lies in the fact that these young adults, who are so eager to learn about their favourite new trend, are not given the opportunity to be exposed to the creators of their favourite anime series.
It sounds silly, but I have met kids who actually thought Matt Greenfield directed Neon Genesis Evangelion or who had to ask me why I was standing in line for an autograph from Shinichiro Watanabe. People wonder why Geneon and ADV are defunct and I believe very much so that it is because they oversaturated the market with whatever they thought would sell, invested in marketing focused solely on the English dubs (I'm looking at you, NCM Fathom), and cutting off the fans from the creators in attempt to secure their position as middle man in a contemporary and progressive society that no longer needs a middle man.
Regardless, having taken that time off, I have a tremendous backlog of anime on my External HDD that I have not watched. Hell, it is likely that half of the anime I have bought on DVD I still haven't watched. I wanted to watch, but every time I gave something a shot I found it hard to get immersed in the world. I tried Full Metal Alchemist, Bakemonogatari, Baccano!, Summer Wars... Nothing worked.
So, finally, I decided to pick up Akira again; one of the first manga I had ever read was fresh and exciting, like reading it for the first time again. Anyone who says Akira is over-rated has not read the full manga. I had forgotten the feeling of releasing your concerns of the world around you as you leave your responsibilities behind for an hour or two to simply relax and enjoy a story at your own pace.
And apparently that was all I needed. Shortly after, I had a look at my "to-watch" list and decided I would throw down Mushishi. I had seen the first four episodes previously but, of course, decided to start from the beginning since it had been so long. What a soothing and reflexive story. Its calm pacing, direct and simplistic approach, gorgeous pallet, subtle and dark undertones and mysticism were enough to pull me back in to the fold. I feel all I have to thank are the internet community and fans who keep review blogs and websites like myanimelist and animesuki and ANN updated. In a world where commercialism and industry is failing, the social and global connectivity of the internet and all the little things we do to share that which we enjoy with one another fails to pass on. Hell, this is even evident in current events of late and reflected in streaming services and independent filmmakers and political movements...
So I don't really know what this rant is all about, but it's real nice to be actively watching anime again. I feel that I have given a new spark to a dying flame and I look forward to catching up on that huge backlog I have allowed to build up. I'd like to thank Yuki Urushibara for creating Mushishi, Hiroshi Nagahama and his Artland team for adapting that into an anime series, and the online anime communities for keeping it all alive.
And Funimation, learn from the mistakes of your friends and show subtitles and the Japanese creators, directors, scriptwriters and character designers the love and attention that they deserve.. and share that with the fans, expose them to the creative minds who have brought scripts into movement and given you a place in this world. You are not a middle man to adapt these creations for us, you are our bridge to guide us to the creators and their works.
I still continued to catch up on downloading series I had never got around to or collect the occasional DVD release from Rightstuf's most recent sales and check out the latest information at Animenewsnetwork, but for some reason I just found it difficult to find the drive to sit down and watch anything. The motivation had escaped me, and all I could blame was the westernization that US anime distributors have branded on my once favourite subculture. Honestly, there is a problem when I'm reading the newsletter for my favourite anime convention and there's not a single original creator on the guest list. It's all English voice actors and directors shining in the limelight and script adapters and western mangaka sponging off their 15 minutes of fame... There is definitely a problem. But as I grew older, I realised the problem wasn't in these people being recognized for their hard work that is clearly appreciated by the younger (lazier, in my opinion) fans who prefer their anime dubbed so they don't have to read... The problem lies in the fact that these young adults, who are so eager to learn about their favourite new trend, are not given the opportunity to be exposed to the creators of their favourite anime series.
It sounds silly, but I have met kids who actually thought Matt Greenfield directed Neon Genesis Evangelion or who had to ask me why I was standing in line for an autograph from Shinichiro Watanabe. People wonder why Geneon and ADV are defunct and I believe very much so that it is because they oversaturated the market with whatever they thought would sell, invested in marketing focused solely on the English dubs (I'm looking at you, NCM Fathom), and cutting off the fans from the creators in attempt to secure their position as middle man in a contemporary and progressive society that no longer needs a middle man.
Regardless, having taken that time off, I have a tremendous backlog of anime on my External HDD that I have not watched. Hell, it is likely that half of the anime I have bought on DVD I still haven't watched. I wanted to watch, but every time I gave something a shot I found it hard to get immersed in the world. I tried Full Metal Alchemist, Bakemonogatari, Baccano!, Summer Wars... Nothing worked.
So, finally, I decided to pick up Akira again; one of the first manga I had ever read was fresh and exciting, like reading it for the first time again. Anyone who says Akira is over-rated has not read the full manga. I had forgotten the feeling of releasing your concerns of the world around you as you leave your responsibilities behind for an hour or two to simply relax and enjoy a story at your own pace.
And apparently that was all I needed. Shortly after, I had a look at my "to-watch" list and decided I would throw down Mushishi. I had seen the first four episodes previously but, of course, decided to start from the beginning since it had been so long. What a soothing and reflexive story. Its calm pacing, direct and simplistic approach, gorgeous pallet, subtle and dark undertones and mysticism were enough to pull me back in to the fold. I feel all I have to thank are the internet community and fans who keep review blogs and websites like myanimelist and animesuki and ANN updated. In a world where commercialism and industry is failing, the social and global connectivity of the internet and all the little things we do to share that which we enjoy with one another fails to pass on. Hell, this is even evident in current events of late and reflected in streaming services and independent filmmakers and political movements...
So I don't really know what this rant is all about, but it's real nice to be actively watching anime again. I feel that I have given a new spark to a dying flame and I look forward to catching up on that huge backlog I have allowed to build up. I'd like to thank Yuki Urushibara for creating Mushishi, Hiroshi Nagahama and his Artland team for adapting that into an anime series, and the online anime communities for keeping it all alive.
And Funimation, learn from the mistakes of your friends and show subtitles and the Japanese creators, directors, scriptwriters and character designers the love and attention that they deserve.. and share that with the fans, expose them to the creative minds who have brought scripts into movement and given you a place in this world. You are not a middle man to adapt these creations for us, you are our bridge to guide us to the creators and their works.
Posted by ennui | 02-26-11, 12:31 AM | Add a comment