The Importance of Music in Anim

An important tool of any visual medium is the use of music. Because, while real life may not have a soundtrack at any given moment, our emotions and ideas do.

This couldn’t be truer when it comes to anime. While most watchers will only remember the opening or the closer, music performed either in the background or by the characters is especially worth note. It becomes part of that world – insert your own Disney reference – and it becomes difficult to separate the plot itself, or even that scene, from the music itself.

For a drawn world that has to be created from scratch, the music the producers grant entrance into has some very important jobs. As always, these are my theories and interpretations; I’m open to different opinions.

• Put You In The Character’s Head

In both regular television and movies, music is used for mood manipulation. The idea, at least in theory, is to give you an inkling of what the character is feeling so that you can sympathize, empathize, or even feel the exact opposite if the director is clever enough. Either way, music is a great tool to slow down the action to allow the audience to reflect.

Now imagine doing this with a series of 2D drawings. You have to somehow connect this facsimile of a human being with real people behind the screen, and convince them it’s feeling something.  I present exhibit A, The Green Bird.

From the anime Cowboy BeBop, this scene comes from the episode Ballad of Fallen Angels. To keep the spoilers to a minimum, the episode involves Spike confronting a rival from his days in the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. Things go very south and Spike ends up blasted out the window. As he falls, this churchy ballad kicks up and slows the entire scene down. But, as the song lulls you into this sleepy place, we flash back to several scenes from Spike’s past, all involving Vicious, himself, and a mysterious blonde woman.

By making use of the on-screen music, Watanabe slows down the action to give us small story snippets in the same “flash before my eyes”, dream-like state Spike experiences.  The sad but peaceful melody may even reflect Spike’s mind at that very moment as well. Either way, a bridge is successfully formed between audience and cartoon.

 

• Adds Depth to a Character

 

Characters in a story are to be great “impersonators” – I.E, words on the page need to trick your audience into thinking they’re speaking of and to real people that existed Once Upon a Time™.  But if they’re about as deep as the kiddie-pool you bought at the local supermarket then you can kiss your reader’s suspension of disbelief goodbye. And hey, what better way to add some depth to your character than to use a little music? Writer Eiichiro Oda certainly figured that out and practically weaponized all the feels that can generate:

Trust me, it doesn’t matter if it’s dubbed or subbed. You’re gonna cry either way.

This scene has inspired many a Manly Cry from One Piece Fans, and for good reason. Sure, it’s a moment of celebration, but it’s also yet another flashback. Brooke remembers his final moments with his last crew while playing their favorite song, adding the necessary layer of tragedy that follows Luffy’s crew. This humanizes our strange, walking skeleton man quite a bit, as it’s clear he has so many painful memories attached to everyone’s favorite drinking song.

 

• Extra Chance for Fantastic Visuals

 

But I can hear all of you already: A.C, all you’ve shown us are flashbacks. Flashbacks are slow they make things come to a screeching halt, right? Anime is a visual medium after all. What does music have to do with that?

Well, you’re right. Anime is indeed a visual medium. And music provides an opportunity to bring that out. It’s sad when anime doesn’t make use of its limitless boundaries to provide eye-catching scenes. And that’s where a pretty song can make all the difference. Behold, from the new anime Ancient Magus Bride, a mage making use of a song to cast some magic.

Magus is especially good at being downright beautiful when it comes to characters, magic, and cute creatures. This scene really makes that pop by giving a realistic scenario for a character to break out into song. The moment gets emphasized thanks to the song and the magic that comes with it gives a fantastic excuse to break out some really sweet eye-candy. Music makes us far more forgiving of strange and unusual happenings, something anime could make sweet use of.

 

• Yay, it’s a conclusion!

 

Music in anime has one job: adding an extra dash of “art.” Putting a song front and center of any show not only gives these 2D drawings more emotional impact; it also helps take your watchers on a little mind-voyage when needed. When you have limitless possibilities for story and visuals, it would behoove a content creator to engage his audience’s ears alongside their eyes and brain.

Death of Long Anime?

I wanna take you all back, yet again, to ye olden days of early anime. I’m sure many an 80’s and 90’s child can recall spending months upon months on the likes of Dragon Ball Z, G-Gundam, and other such long shows. The kind of TV that used to keep you glued to your couch day after day, ensuring that money would be coming in and more content would be coming out.

And now it seems like that kind of anime may be going the way of the dodo bird.

Someone queried the Answerman about how long anime appear to be happening less and less on the scene. Answerman gives a great explanation of what’s going on behind the scenes financially, link here if you wanna read it. But I decided I’d like to focus on what could be happening with us, the lovely audience, that could be shaping this change.

Because, at the end of the day, we direct what we consume.

So, do I think long anime aren’t around thanks to changing financial landscapes? I believe they play a part, but that those changing landscapes came from a different type of audience.

 

• We’re Smarter and Less Receptive to Filler.

 

I’ve always believed that the worst thing anyone could do to a story is stretch it past the natural ending. But, back in the day, doing just that was a fairly common occurrence. Now… well, now we tend to spot that a million miles away.

Back, useless story, BACK!

That’s right; we are, collectively, better at spotting when filler episodes rear their ugly heads. The idea of filling your anime with episodes that do nothing for the overall plot is now considered lazy, and an overpopulation of it becomes the Kiss of Death. Word spreads that the show has lots of filler and you can bet the view count will take a kamikaze dive.

Even the likes of One Piece has some filler to it – a risk given the insane length of the show – and fans don’t put up with it much anymore. It’s a bad move, but a necessary evil when you just can’t keep up with the manga.

 

• Binge Culture

 

Though, if you really wanna get down to brass tacks, I believe the real culprit for a lack of longer anime is our streaming-services and how often we’re encouraged to devote a day to devouring television.

All the anime at my weird fingertips

A loooong time ago, pirating had a different means than it does now. Back in ye olde 80s and 90s, you were only gonna get your anime if you were a proper nerd: tuning into Toonami at, like, 1 am or knowing a guy who knows a guy who can get you video cassettes from Japan. Now, you can just jump on Netflix, Crunchyroll or some other streaming service and watch all those shows you missed as a kid and the new ones that roll out. But, as a consequence of this freedom of information spread, we’re encouraged to sit down and watch almost all of it in one or three sittings.

And you’d think this would have the opposite effect and make them want more long anime, but how many people are gonna sit down and watch 80+ episodes in a binge session? The likes of Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon and other Monster of The Week anime would never survive this rapid-fire culture we have now.  

 

 

• So What Do We Have Instead?

 

As much as the landscape for anime has changed, this is far from a death knell for large-size anime. On the contrary, I believe there’s a golden opportunity if writers and producers can get extra creative.

If you just look around, you’ll note that anime with long lists of episodes haven’t vanished; they simply changed their formula to reflect the changing times. Shows like D-Grey Man and Attack on Titan do their best to stray away from the Monster Of The Week Formula and, instead, give the audience small chunks of a huge, overarching plot. By taking small plot points and expanding them, they manage to stretch a show out to several episodes and, most of the time, avoid making the audience feel like their time is being wasted. Granted you’ll still find filler episodes here and there – occasionally more often than any of us would want – but the majority of time is devoted to fleshing out a multifaceted plot. This was the key that made shows like One Piece so interesting back in the day, mainly that they just broke a very intricate story down into small, digestible chunks.

Not that that stopped it from filler. *sigh*

In short, I don’t feel long-standing anime are dying; I think anime with thin plots and lots action are dying. The creators are just following the flow of their audience and making their plots more complicated/convoluted to keep those dollars coming in rather than throwing out random fights with non-important mooks.

Do you think long anime are going bye-bye? Feel free to comment below! And don’t forget to like and follow for more content like this.

My 2018 Anime Resolutions

The old year has finally shuffled off its mortal…mortal-ish coil and slunk off into History’s Hall’s. 2018 will soon be upon us, a chance for a new start. And I got to start my new year with the influenza virus from Hell. What a way to start.

It is also my excuse for why we’re a day late. My bad.

So, while I try to recover and get back to regular breathing status, it’ll be about time for you to start thinking about what promises you’ll make while super drunk. Some of you may even avoid the alcohol and take those new year’s resolutions extra seriously. I personally see it as a chance to set some new goals for the year and that includes my little blog here on the internet

So, these are my new resolutions for the Otaku-don as we enter the new year, and anime as a whole. My 2018 Anime Resolutions promise more content, experimentation, and judgment aplenty.

Party on and don’t get dead!

1. WATCH. MORE. ANIME.

Yeah, this sounds like it should be a given. But my track record for keeping up with new anime has shown that I am super slow on the upkeep.

The problem mainly stems from some ADD issues, but it’s fair to say that it takes me awhile to get around to watching shows, even when I like it. I have work and so many other things I like to do that watching a show for a review, or even for pleasure, sometimes takes a backseat to that new video game I gotta play for the Otome review or that new video by a YouTuber I totally haven’t been stalking.

Well, not in the legal sense. But I MAY hang around a channel or three….

But seriously, I miss those days from high school where you sat down and watched the entire Arlong Saga from One Piece in a single sitting because you were avoiding your homework. I’m going to make a conscious effort this year to sit back and relax more, kicking up some Nana or Ancient Magus Bride along the way.

Speaking of Shojo vs Shonen….

2. Explore Genres I Tend to Ignore

So, hey, you may recall a while back when I did a post about how Chobits Changed My Anime Experience. Mainly, I watched a show that featured lots of sexual innuendo, Real Robots (™), Magical Girlfriend Tropes, and some harem elements. Nothing about that list had appealed to me before – in fact, the likes of Tenshi Muyo turned me off harem completely  – but I watched this particular show because people who equally disliked those things told me the show was really freakin good. They were right and my entire landscape changed.

I appreciated the show’s sense of humor about its blatant moments of accidental perversion.

It’s time I shake off what makes me nervous about other anime genres and get some new titles under my boots. I’d have missed out on one of the sweetest shoes ever had I let the harem tags scare me away from Chobits and I need to remember to give every show the same fair chance. There’s no reward if there are no risks.

1. Hold the Terrible To The Fire

And, as I venture into the unknown, my final resolution is to not be as forgiving as I’ve been before. As I explore genres I’m normally not used to, this means that a few of them will be fantastic and others will be… horrific.

Some things were doomed from the start

But I enjoyed the brief times I got to sink my teeth into a real stinker, so I vow this year to watch more and hold more terrible shows to the flames, as they deserve. Because it seems people enjoy seeing a furious reviewer more than a happy one, and what I want more than anything is to keep people happy. So,I hope that your joy comes from either finding a new series or seeing me suffer. Happy new year, fellow Otaku; let the good shows roll.

 

Some Anime with Odd Beginnings

The origin story of a tale can be quite fascinating.

The media we see are ususally the result of shaping an idea, through blood, sweat, and a lot of coffee. But the starting point to all the work occasionally comes from some very bizarre places. And that’s saying something, given anime’s propensity for the weird.

This is still one of my favorite gifs.

For some fun, today we chronicle some anime that got their start from unconventional places or were inspired off subject matter that isn’t common. The quality of the shows themselves isn’t in question, but the fact that they came from some truly odd places.

• Fate/Stay and Hellsing – Erotica

To say erotica isn’t new would be the understatement of my amateur career. People have been depicting the human body in sexual fashions as far back as the first century; the moral outrage associated with it is also nothing new. But no one really suspects that anything much will come from it, other than some people with a satisfied urge and a dirty secret.

You’d never think that two kickass shows/series would come from someone’s porn stash. But sometimes, if the story is that good or the characters are just that awesome, amazing things can bloom. And only the astute internet digger would be all the wiser to its risque origins.

And who should have such “humble” beginnings but two series known for extreme, over-the-top violence? The Fate/Stay series began with a singular eroge visual novel, the company’s first commercial product, and spawned censored sequels, prequels, and even spin-offs. Then, we have the gore-frenzy franchise Hellsing, whose creator was a hentai artist in his early career. From that, the prototypes for several Hellsing Characters came from a rare book of his called Hellsing: The Legend of Vampire Hunter.  

I don’t wanna read it; I’ll never look at Seras the same way.

In both instances, what worked from the original pieces  was salvaged and repackaged in a way that was more “accepted.” A censored version of the first Fate/Stay novel was released and The Legend’s characters were scooped up and repackaged for horror and comedy. Both became massive successes, proving once again that good writing conquers all, including prudishness.

• Astro Boy – Disney/Scrooge McDuck

Any anime blogger worth their salt needs to be aware and respectful of Osamu Tezuka. His work on manga pushed the industry forward to so many places, and his dedication to his work was astounding. If it wasn’t for the Godfather of Manga – a name not given lightly – all that we see in anime now would not be here.

Here is where your JoJo’s and your Edward Elrics all started. The age radiates off it like smoke.

But where did his influential shows even start? Well, truthfully, a lot of Tezuka’s work started in America. Tezuka was heavily inspired by the likes of animation giant Walt Disney and, reportedly, saw the movie Bambi 80 times. Not only did he take heavy inspiration from the movies, he was also a fan of the Scrooge McDuck comic books done by Carl Barks. Astro Boys big-eyed, cutesy style came from the WWII era Scrooge comics Bars was doing at the time, as did the looks of Kimba and several others. 

Disney was so impressed they offered Tezuka a job. He declined and became one of Japan’s most celebrated creators.  But the fact still remains that Disney had, once again, birthed a larger than life giant that’s still loved to this day: anime.

• Welcome to the NHK and Gintama – Sometimes Life is Fiction

 One of the biggest (and honestly most unhelpful) tips I get in writing is “write what you know.” And while my life is far too boring for a novel, some people can take that and make some great narratives from it. But not many people consider anime to be based off real events, or even autobiographical. As things get weirder and weirder in the medium, the idea that it could be a reflection of real life becomes ridiculous.

But, sometimes, creators just get sneaky. Or the comedy is a ruse for something very real and very sad. There are shows that are based off real-life events (like Grave of The Fireflies) and then there are shows that are far closer to home than any of us would care to admit. Case in point, the dramedy show Welcome to the NHK, which follows the struggles of a Hikikomori who’s under the strong impression that his life of misery is all due to the evil organization of the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai (NHK). The story comes from a real-life Hikikomori – the author – who still struggles with these issues. He’s admitted even now that he lives as a NEET under the book royalties.

That series is probably close to home for a few people

Ah, but I mentioned Gintama on top of that, didn’t I? The overtly silly and absurd comedy of Gintama, a sci-fi-historical series about samurais and aliens, is actually based on several different historical events. Sure, they get twisted in silly ways, but sometimes people have made lists of all the different times they referenced an important historical event. So, remember kiddies, sometimes that smile is hiding something real and not so funny.

• Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventure – ALL the Pop Culture

 

Anime dips its toes into Western Culture quite a bit (as my Scrooge McDuck story proved). I made a post awhile back of some nifty shows that have an “east-meets-west” theme all through them. Most shows pick only one part of Western Culture to work with (hip-hop,  film noir, cowboys, etc) but how often do shows take almost all of western pop culture and just swim in it?

Well, I know of one.

SONO CHI NO SADAME!

Of all the places to start, creator Hirohiko Araki chose the near entirety of western pop culture. Several characters are named after American Bands or singers (“it was I, Dio, all along!”); villains riff on American horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street; and there are entire episodes dedicated to riffing American classics as “The Phantom Blood” did with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s a gigantic love letter to American entertainment as opposed to one small section of it, spanning several generations of characters and protagonists.

Why does this count as odd, you ask? So often we focus on how Americans may view Japanese culture through manga and anime – which usually segues into Weaboo bashing – but it never really occurs to some that Japan may be big fans of several things in western culture. Art is never made in a vacuum, and it’s inevitable that some of our favorite popular media will be the starting point for someone overseas. It really does prove what all of these shows do: good art can come from anywhere.

 

Do you know any shows with strange origins? Feel free to share below! And don’t forget to like and follow for more content just like this.

 

Ajin: Demi-Human Season Two (Review)

One of the things that always amazed me about anime is how two seasons of the exact same show can be so different in their themes yet be very cohesive. While the transition sometimes isn’t seamless, the overall goal is usually for the two different tones to juxtapose or complement each other, making a story that’s unique in both meaning and execution.

While I can’t say for certain that the transition is seamless, I can say that Ajin: Demi-Human has constructed a very intoxicating second season for viewers, one that trades the darkness for absolute chaos. The Netflix original series, inspired by Gamon Sakurai’s manga, has stopped tossing around horror and has begun a full-blown action drama that will still leave you mighty uncomfortable.

As a small warning, this part of the review is where the mild spoilers from season one come in. If you don’t care for that, now is the time to jump ship for about two paragraphs.

See you at the end…

We arrive again in the aftermath of Sato’s devastating display against Japan’s special forces team, ultimately proving that the Ajin are a force to be taken seriously by the government. Through his more technically minded helpers, Sato creates a video on a website dedicated to helping Ajin, demanding that his people gain their civil rights. If ignored, he has a list of higher-ups responsible for the suffering of Ajin (who happen to be big names in the government as well) and they will be killed, one by one.

Enter Kei Nagai, again, surviving another drowning travel-season with his newfound partner, Kou Nakano. Nagai has come to the conclusion that he won’t get his quiet, normal life as long as Sato is in action. But, since Nakano is anything but smart and logistical, the two can’t come to any kind of conclusion on how to do that. But Kei finally decides that the only working solution is to enlist some resources, so he decides to force Yu Tosaki into teaming up with them. Threats are exchanged, but deals are struck, and a new Ajin fighting force has formed. They’re going to need all the help they can get because Sato’s dedication to Ajin rights may be just another facade. 

As you can tell, we’ve traded in the psychological horror for drama and lots of suspense. The fear is no longer of an uncanny supernatural sense but of a primal nature, watching a downright diabolical individual run circles around everyone with a serene smile on his face. It’s near anarchy to watch the newly formed tactical unit try to stop Sato, but it still retains that suspense that glued the first season together. It’s a drastic change – indicative of mood whiplash – but still has the same flavor overall.

With a super brutal ending, by the way. I had Princess Mononoke flashbacks.

What they did keep was the drama between characters. Only now, we’re hardcore peeling back the layers for everyone, support characters included. Since the show has a propensity to ask some really difficult questions, the answers provided by characters put their inner demons out; they come out literally with the black ghosts, who’ve gone from creepy unknowns to reflections of their masters. We’re elbow-deep in the character study that season one hinted at and the end results are downright intriguing. We got well-rounded support characters aplenty, something I last saw in Death Note, so this is a big plus for me.

Even tiny characters get their own episode

But as the tension mounts, and as more and more bodies get added to the death toll, the show’s main theme of “what is human” has gone under the water in favor of asking when people should make decisions “above morals and emotions” for the sake of battle. I feel this feeds into the previous question, and the idea of what makes a person “human” certainly remains on the back-burner, but I’m a tad disappointed more time wasn’t devoted to it. Thankfully, the rest of the plot was so well constructed that I am willing to give this a pass. I’m sad for a rushed ending but the manga is still going, so, a third season could be made.

Though, I still haven’t gotten used to the animation, or the funny moments it accidentally causes.

Pfffffft

While I had hoped for more horror, I still enjoyed what I got out of Ajin: Demi-Human. I got a really fascinating look at a character who was horribly repressed, a peek into the absolute terror from a well-written villain and a story that knows how to keep audience attention. While the animation will always be my least favorite part of the affair, I think your average viewer can move past it.

Why I Still Watch Mainstream Anime

Welcome, my friends, to the Otaku-war!
It’s an argument as old as anime itself: You are not an Otaku if you only watch mainstream anime.  I can agree that “Otaku” implies that you’ve seen more than the likes of One Piece or Fairytale, but I draw the line at those who say you still aren’t an Otaku even if you watch the more obscure shows on top of the popular stuff.  It’s the stuff of hipsters and it’s extremely annoying.

Safe to say I don’t do that. In fact, I make a conscious effort to see the more nerdy, obscure shows and the mainstream success stories. Both are equally important branches of the medium as far as I’m concerned, but for very separate reasons. 

• Hype is Not Always a Bad Thing

Hype aversion is the tendency to fly far away from that which has massive fans. Media that suddenly finds itself surrounded by admirers tends to scare off casual interest, mostly because said fan base has a chance of becoming… obsessive. Take, for example, the My Little Pony franchise that suddenly found itself surrounded by grown men, grown men who used to have a reputation for being insane. Not so much these days, though the few who went the extreme end certainly didn’t help.

Ah, but if my time spent watching shows like Stranger Things and Avatar has taught me anything, it’s that sometimes those crazy fans have gone crazy for a reason.  Sometimes, the hype is legitimate. Sometimes, the hype is undeserved for a mediocre product. But you won’t know one way or the other if you don’t sit down and watch it for yourself.  You could miss out on some golden writing if you avoid everything that has a huge return to it, something any anime fan should find disappointing.

• You Can’t Hate What You Haven’t Consumed

But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that it wasn’t that good. Let’s pretend that we found Light to be pretentious and cliche (he’s not) and that L is annoying and childish (he can be). If the story were really this preachy, over-edgy monstrosity, one that deserved a proper thrashing for being overrated, how the hell would you criticize it if you’ve never seen it? Furthermore, what if it started good and then crashes later, and you weren’t there for the ride?

Let the hate-watching commence!

Anime is a strange beast because, usually, it’s based off content that’s still in progress.  When the manga/live-action show is popular enough to warrant an anime before the big climax, you’ll often see the famed Adaptation Decay take place along with some facepalm-worthy attempts to cover it up. 

But if you weren’t one of the people following before it went belly up, your ability to say how much it sucks is reduced significantly. Case in horrific point: the beautiful disaster that was Fullmetal Alchemist in 2003. While the beginning of the anime had some distinct differences from the manga, it still held enough value to be a decent adaptation. Then the story went it’s own way – with Arakawa’s blessing – and started introducing plot points that were downright stupid when compared to the original story. I knew this was the case, but I still waited for so long to get the full story. Now that I have it, I have a stronger arsenal on me to demonstrate to others why they’re better off skipping straight to Brotherhood.

• It’s Often The Only Thing Non-Anime Fans Have Watched

Y’all remember the normies. They’re those folks with the flashy phones who wanna talk about Stranger Things and Game of Thrones instead of that new anime on Netflix. We as a group also like those shows (usually) but the buck tends to stop when you wanna talk about how Ajin can’t properly pronounce its lead’s last name in the dub, or how much you liked Kino’s Journey. 

That leaves us with what they likely went out of their way to see: Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, One Piece, Attack on Titan, and so much more. Non-anime fans tend to gravitate to shows that are less structured in traditional and modern Japanese culture, and only those that gain enough momentum to be assimilated into pop-culture. They may even be fans of the biggun’s from back in the day (DBZ, Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bebop) and not so much the new big guys.

Though they may not recognize it anymore.

My point is that watching the mainstream anime gives me common ground with more people. It makes my favorite hobby seem less strange and outlandish if I can center it with something others have seen and enjoyed. It’s about guiding away from the stereotype of the hikikomori in the basement and into a regular person.  Because, sad to say, they aren’t always as adorable as Ryuzaki.

Dat face, though…

• When We Draw to a Close

When I lay all my reasons on the table, I see a common thread among them: art. Good art is good art no matter how popular it is and bad art can only be criticized by those who consume it in some fashion. I had low hopes for shows like Neo Yokio but tried them anyway; I had high hopes for Attack on Titan and feel grateful to have seen it. Successful shows that become super popular outside of anime deserve just as much attention as the obscure, more niche titles because there’s no sense in missing out because you wanna avoid the crowd. It may very well be good and you’ll never know if you ignore it.

 

What do you think about mainstream shows vs. niche shows? Feel free to comment below with your awesome opinions, and don’t forget to like and follow for more content.

How to Make Anime and Manga Scary

There’s a downside to working in retail: I’m not ready for Christmas.

As soon as July is over, companies everywhere will throw ornaments and specials at you like they’re going out of style. It gets annoying, really fast, and has a tendency to make me veer in the other direction (at least until Black Friday is over). On that mission, I’ve doubled down on scary media and have been thinking about the techniques used therein. There’s a lot of frightening anime, or anime that’s just plain disturbing, which manages to utterly terrify the audience. It bears a question: how do a bunch of drawings manage to scare us to pieces?

You’d be an expert at that, right, Yuno?

I broke it down in my mind and came up with a theory. As always, this is just my take on it and I’m open to other examples and options. And, as an extra warning, some of these images may be mildly disturbing; reader discretion advised.

• Pair Scary Images with Primal Fears

Humans have gotten pretty damn complacent about a lot of things: being at the top of the food chain,  being surrounded by constant security, and the idea that nothing bad will ever happen because statistics, just to name a few. But, when any of that changes – when the mere threat of that change presents itself – raw fear and raw instinct kick in. It translates to pants-wetting terror when done correctly, preachy and boring when handled sloppily.

Anime has a special talent for this since it isn’t limited by special effects; as long as your animators can draw well, there are boundless possibilities for horrific situations. Recent examples would include the likes of Shingeki No Kyojin or Attack on Titan. I hardly care that mentioning a super popular anime rings cliche when the whole show revolves around human’s primal fear of being yanked off the top of the food chain and turned into prey. This show takes no prisoners when it comes to exploring the implications of massive, people-eating monsters. The author really sinks in how scary this is by letting you get to know a good deal of the people being eaten; there are names and faces attached to the bodies being swallowed up.

Bye bye, Thomas…

And then there are the awful looking Titans from the live-action movie: less scary and more ugly. The movie was limited by its special effects and lost out on a good deal of what made the show frightening. It only goes to show that anime has a special way of creating these scenarios that live action just can’t replicate.

• The Uncanny Valley

I know what a human looks like; I would hope you know what a human looks like. It’s a very specific mechanism in our brains, the part that loves to see faces where there aren’t any. It’s also our biggest downfall because art and science are not at a point where it can reproduce such a thing. But, when it tries, the results often freak us out for a reason we can’t quite explain. That is when we reach what we call the Uncanny Valley.

As this nifty chart indicates, The Uncanny Valley occurs when cartoons and other media get away from the cartoonish look and try to get into looking human. They can’t quite get there and there’s something about it that just doesn’t look right. It’s too human, yet not human, and causes our approval of it to dip drastically. Then, when we get to a regular human face, it rises back up and we’re all hunky dory again. Take, for example, the all dreaded Uzumaki, Junji Ito’s horror manga that friends of mine have described as Satan’s sketch pad. I’ll only show you this image because it’s the only one that won’t give you horrible nightmares:

It’s just a person, and yet the detail on the eyes and the way he’s drawn set off all my alarms as soon as he appeared. There’s something subconsciously wrong with the way the people are drawn through the entire manga; I like to think that’s why the disturbing imagery is so severe, for compensation. I don’t recommend Uzumaki if you have a weak stomach or scare easily. It won’t make you scream but it might make you puke.

Speaking of scary drawings…

• Ye Old Switcheroo

If there’s one thing that anime and manga tend to be good at, it’s building up a mood of false security. The imagery in it is just on the edge of cartoonish/recognizably human, or completely in moe territory, and all is beautiful and bright. But then, suddenly, the music stops, or the characters get a strange look on their faces.Things slowly start to twist into less cute territory and, before you know it, you’re staring at the graphic horror that’s more realistic than you’d like.

Suddenly, MURDEROUS LOLLIES!

This is the bait and switch when the medium builds up a safe atmosphere before dropping a metaphorical bridge onto the audience. It’s a slow process in which things go from traditional anime to uncanny valley and then straight into mad horror. What makes this especially selective to anime is the fact that cartoons can completely sculpt a scene more completely than live action can, allowing it to further bend into darkness. Case in point, the images above from Higurashi: When They Cry demonstrates how they bait with cute and pay in blood. Another fine example would be the episode Daughter from Pet Shop of Horrors, which starts with a beautiful, dreamy look about the art before it slides directly into real horror.

 

Images slightly downplayed, because it also dips into gore.

 

• The Devil’s in the Details

In my closing thoughts, I will say that the danger and horror will always be in the details. You can throw all the disturbing imagery at the reader you want (and Uzumaki certainly does that) but, if there’s no technique going on, then you achieve little more than gross-out. Anime has to work extra hard to frighten since it lacks the real-life look of modern horror movies, but it also gets to traverse places those modern gore-flicks can only dream of. When the person behind the wheel plays a strong game of bait and switch, or really works the human brain, techniques like these above can create some disturbing, but ultimately entertaining, pieces.

Otome Review: Heartbaked

There is no quicker way to a person’s good graces than candy and pastries. Sweets have an uncanny ability to bring out the positive side of things; it’s part of the reason I actually bake as a hobby every once and awhile. So, it seems only natural to me that there’d be an otome game all about baking and making sweeties, all while finding your match made in heaven.

Or, Pastry Heaven, as the case may be.

I think I’m in the land of diabetes

This is Heartbaked, a NaNoRen project from 2016. It’s as short as most VN’s get, with only about an hour of gameplay and three bachelors to choose from. But the concept of it is pretty damn cute, so why don’t we take a dive and enjoy some sweet stories?

• Plot

Welcome to a land where everything is candy (Candyland Trademark not required) all thanks to a Pastry God. This chef of a deity created the world in his divine oven, so the villages all celebrate by offering pastries to said God as tribute once a year. This year, Ginger (or whatever you decide to call her) was chosen as her village’s baker representative. It’s a hard task and sometimes she has to convince herself she made the right choice.

Ginger finds a recipe for a Heartbaked cake in her grandmother’s recipe book, supposedly to make the greatest tasting cake to all elven kind. All it requires is for someone to fall in love with her, but she’s got no time to go out and search for Mr. Right. So she’ll have to settle for one of three men she knows is within reach… and none of them are all that promising.

• Gameplay

Since Heartbaked is another NaNoRen project, I didn’t expect it to be super long or super complex. And, indeed, the mechanics themselves are as standard as it can get in an otome game. There are three bachelors to choose from and it’s up to Ginger to pick the right response to win yon fair weirdo’s heart. You  pick a guy to pursue on day two and have 8 more days to convince him that to love you. You do so by making a single situational choice per day which earns you stat points with that guy. The right one will earn you two, the wrong one will lose you one, and the middle ground will also earn you one.

If you play your cards right, you’ll get yourself a kiss CG and the happy ending. But that’s just round one as there are nine endings to this entire game. Your endings will depend on your choices and stats, but fear yee not. Should you think you’ve goofed (or the handy guide says you goofed) you can go back and redo a day from your dandy diary. The system in which each day is separated, and the fact that you can go back and make corrections, is something I truly wish more games employed.

 What really endears this game to me is the writing itself. It has a typo here or there and features CAPS LOCK YELLING more than I’d like, but the sense of humor here is gold. There are pastry puns all over the place, awkward situations that are genuinely funny, and a leading lady who is far from a blank slate. Each story is different and engaging, something very difficult for a NaNo project. I was genuinely impressed with how well each of these characters is fleshed out and written, with only the relationships themselves being a bit rushed. I would pay money for this were the game expanded and edited, which is all you can really ask for in a NaNoRen project.

Even the quit screen had me laughing.

• Art

This game is like a lot of NaNo projects in that there’s an unfortunate lack of CG’s. But the in-game sprites are allowed to emote fairly well, even if it takes away from any attraction on their face. The scenery is lovely; the characters look great. Really the only issue I had was with, well… the CG’s themselves.

As I said, there’s only three and that’s too bad. They have some great detail in shading and emotion, but they do also look jarringly different from the sprites. and lack much in background detail  Proportions are a little weird on one or two as well, so I’d encourage the artist to edit should she revisit this project. Detail is everything and tricking the eyes takes a lot of work.

• Romances

Radley

Your childhood best friend has all the usual trappings: overtly happy, always at your side at a moment’s notice, and unable to peel himself out of the friend-zone. This time, however, we’re saddled with a dense fellow with a peculiarly strong aversion to germs, so much so that he has an entire day dedicated to bathing himself. But when he isn’t screaming while covered in flour, he’s been your faithful delivery boy and employee. He’s also madly in love already but will not make the first move until you do.

In other words, Radley’s not my type but he’s likely to please those who do find this type appealing. He’s funny and forgiving, but very pouty if you pick one of the other bachelors. He’s still your typical Childhood Friend option, albiet with a funnier story than most.

Beenjamin

Spelling intentional: this man’s an oddball.

You meet this shabby fella with two bouncy sheep behind him, his only friends in the entire village. He adores the two of them immensely and his obsession with wool and knitted goods creeps out most people in the village. I’d argue that elves equally obsessed with pastries have no right to be judgy, but we’ll play along for now. He comes from a neighboring village that’s equally obsessed with pottery, but is very tight-lipped about why he’s here. If you smell a mystery, you are not alone.

Tall, well-built and thick is a funny love story, filled with sheep-puns and Ben’s blunt, but well-meaning honesty. He’s a good fellow and quite sweet once you get past his strange interests. Plus, It’s hard not to quickly become concerned for him when the story really rolls out. If anyone did decide to give this game a try, he’s my definite recommendation.

Carver

Oh, heaven help us, this is a first.

It’s not very often that an otome will throw a short guy with pink hair at the players, especially one as cranky and conceited as this guy is. Carver is your rival, whom you decide to trick into loving you to make the cake and crush him. Sound like a horrible plan that makes our protagonist look blind and selfish? You bet, and it backfires horrifically when it turns out she’s the one falling for him. Who knew all that sniping could be sweet and playful?

I think Carver’s story would benefit from some expanding because it presents a nifty little story of self-reflection and growth. It would get better if we saw more of their rivalry and their history together because Carver’s attitude went from annoying to curious real fast. I like my jerks a bit more on the cold and collected side, but this was charming for what it was.

• Final Thoughts

I really liked Heartbaked’s story and visual aesthetics; the many puns were a joy and the sprite/background work was really adorable. The sprites are in need of an overhaul and would benefit greatly from more detail. But the game is a solid base overall. It’s the skeleton of a great story and I would encourage the author to expand and edit.

Next Time:  Nachtigal

Warning Signs Of a Bad Anime

For every successful anime that blows the competition away, there will be three or four shows that try so hard and fall so flat on their faces.

I think every anime fan has sat through some real garbage masquerading as good TV. Maybe we thought it’d get better the longer we watched. Or maybe we figured the worst was over and just sunk deeper and deeper into the refuse. I too have hate-watched, but there are some shows that just defy even that. Some are too painful or just too bland to sit through without Joel and the bots in the corner.

Ladies and gents, my entire sense of humor

In short, there are shows where I hit my breaking point real fast and I just don’t bother to get the entire story behind them. Life’s too short to waste on un-entertaining pieces of tripe, so today we’ll turn them into something worthwhile. These are my three warning signs of a So Bad It’s Miserable anime; beware if any of these cross your doorstep.

• You Got No Hook

Some shows maintain an audience, despite being a let-down of maximum proportions. Naruto had a great hook for audiences but fizzled out due to terrible plot decisions. Even the likes of Neo Yokio had a great premise; it just lacked the chops to successfully endear the audience.  But the worst kind of show can’t even be bothered to give the audience that initial jolt, the “hook” if you will. They have a bland premise and yet expect fans to keep watching, which never works in a writer’s favor.

Take case in point, School Days. Oh, one of the darker endings may be internet famous now, but would any of us really have paid any attention if we hadn’t known that was a possibility? The premise we’re expected to latch onto is just that of a bashful boy having a huge crush and needing help from a female friend to befriend her, all while he turns into the kind of playboy most of us can’t stand. The first episode is fifty-shades of boring, and the main character doesn’t really have any charm to speak of.

Forget the severed head and take a good look. Does anything about this image inspire interest whatsoever?

• You Have to Disparage Other Shows

I found an article a few days ago concerning the new-ish magical girl show, Urahara. I could see right off the bat that the show wouldn’t be to my tastes; the characters looked bland and the trailer didn’t show anything remotely curious. But this article really turned me off the show because it felt the need to take numerous pot-shots at, of all things, Sailor Moon. It decided to tell readers that it was showing girls being girls in a way Sailor Moon hadn’t while taking a bigger focus on friendship saving the day. In short, the writer believed that Urahara was the better show about female friends banding together to defeat evil and save their home and decided the best way to get people to watch it was to denigrate one of the most popular female empowerment shows anime has to offer. Because, you know, that tells me so much about why Urahara isn’t over moe-ified and boring.

I’ll stick with the moon princess, thanks.

My ferocious defense of my nostalgia center aside, I get nervous when a show has to sell itself by criticizing other, more successful, shows. If you really are better than what’s come before, you shouldn’t have to say as such. You should be able to sell me on your show’s merits. If all you can tell me is that shows before you lacked what you’re providing, I’m not gonna be anything but suspicious.

• You Have No Unique Spin

The last thing that turns me off an anime, or at least the last I’ll recall, may very well be an extension of the first. After all, if you lack any kind of hook, chances are what you’re doing isn’t very unique. But there are other shows that like to borrow the hook from others, but refuse to put their own bait on it.

As my picture above implies, the worst offender, in this case, is a harem anime by the name Girls Bravo. The anime is so textbook harem, you could make a checklist: the spineless male protagonist, a large group of busty women with an odd interest in him, and either no male rivals or rivals that are somehow worse than him. In this case, we have a man who’s scared of women, because of some Tsundere chick, who gets flung to a world only populated by women who now want to jump his bones.

Looks like we met our quota

Now, let me be clear: there’s nothing wrong with the fantasy of being a guy with a horde of girls after him. But let me also be clear that what I told you is literally all this show had to offer me in the first episode. The protagonist being afraid of women is not original because it’s just another form of “spineless dude” that these shows frequently use. It’s textbook, boringly so, and I don’t even think Harem fans would find this all that exciting. They’ve seen it several times now and may only find it interesting in passing.

 

That alone will summarize what usually bars me from enjoying a lot of shows, or hate-watching like there’s no tomorrow. These shows aren’t offensive or offensively bad; they’re just so bland and textbook that they don’t attract anyone new. If I’m not a fan of the established trends within, it’s hard for me to really latch on and keep watching. And when you fail that, you doom yourself to even worse niche status.

 

Top Four Misuses of Anime

So hey, anime is pretty damn popular.

Sarcasm aside, the medium has cemented itself firmly in popular culture throughout the years. Thanks to the talents of several animators and producers – and the beautiful smuggling job that was Toonami  – we have a behemoth of an industry that ain’t dying anytime soon.

But, where there is popularity, there is a cringy misuse by outside forces. Much like the cornucopia of weird flash games where Elsa gets pregnant, there are plenty of anime oddities from a third party attempting to leech off that popularity. Whether it’s PSA’s or merchandising, anime has been mishandled in some truly wacky fashions. These are my top four favorites in no particular order because, quite frankly, these are too bizarre to be buried on the internet.

By the way, since I normally try to keep this as family-friendly as possible, small mature themes warning here.

• Condoms (Sailor Moon)

Because really, when you wanna promote protection against sexually transmitted infections and diseases, what better mascot than the fourteen-year-old soldier of justice?

Ew.

So, to be clear, warning to promote safe sex is never a bad thing. That was the idea behind this odd creation in the first place, according to an article from Japantimes.com. In order to raise awareness of STDs, Japan was going to distribute condoms, wrapped in heart-shaped plastic Sailor Moon plastered on the cover. The Japanese Health Ministry even planned to distribute leaflets and posters alongside these peppy rubbers that feature such slogans as “I will punish you if you don’t get tested!”

“Muh childhood!”

I cannot tell how they expected this to work. Their intentions were certainly not bad but their choice in mascot reeks of exploitation. Next time, it might behoove them to pick someone older and not associated with childhood innocence for their sexual education programs.

• Selling Cars (Sailor Moon and Miku Hatsune)

They just can’t seem to leave my childhood alone, can they?

It’s no secret that popular cartoons are used to push products. Even the West isn’t innocent in using favorite cartoon characters to push adult products. The idea is to appeal to them when they’re older through nostalgia, I think. Or maybe Winston thought the parents would take a shine to their kids watching Fred and Barn use mom and dad’s smoke sticks, who knows?

“Hey kids, look, cool people smoking!”

But I’d have thought we were past that kind of scummy marketing – I was wrong. There’s been a recent campaign for the Ford Fusion that popped up around the time Viz was kind enough to rescue and resurrect the sailor-suited-soldier of justice. Now girls like me are expected to see our childhood hero dream of Ford Fusions because… reasons.

But oh, my fellow Otaku, don’t worry if Miss Tsukino was never your taste. Toyota has you covered with none other than Miku Hatsune, peddling product like a true American Celebrity.

There’s something really underhanded about using characters like these two for pushing expensive cars. It feels like the dealers are trying to tap a niche vein or reach the Otaku crowd. Either way, the cringe is real.

• Horrible Eva Merchandising

Speaking of cringe, you all remember Neon Genesis Evangelion, right? That mega-popular anime that spawned two movies that went from zero to crazy in a nanosecond? The show that slowly descended into madness and bad writing when the director had a breakdown midway through?

You know what it was missing? Brand deals.

“Suffering from emotional breakdowns and itchy red eyes? Try Asuka’s eyedrops!”

So, front and center, I was never a fan of Eva. But I don’t think a fan could forsee a show like this producing campy tie-in products on the side. After all, when you’re watching a man hallucinate about strangling the clone of his dead mother, or a giant head bleeding from the eyes, you’re not exactly inspired to buy.

But several brands jumped on the popularity of the Eva Train and never looked back. Schick made razors using Shinji’s insane jerkwad of a father; they have a giant blow-up doll of Rei you can climb up and slide down. Because what sounds more fun than scaling a giant clone of Shinji’s mother and then sliding down her leg?

 

And, my personal favorite, a body musk inspired off of Shinji himself. Because when I think mainly musks, I think of the shame, failure, and insanity Shinji Ikari.

 

“Ladies, please! No seriously, I’m just a kid! T_T”

• TURN YOURSELF ANIME!

Our last entry is more of a group entry. If you ever browsed an app store on an iPad, Droid, or other such devices, likely you have been assaulted by free anime apps. These companies are looking for those clicks after all, and nothing is more profitable than animated women in skin-tight skirts and long hair.

And so they make cheap-to-produce apps that run ridiculously and bombard you with ads. But oh do they make some pretty enticing promises. They promise to turn you into an anime character, no drawing required, only for it to be a picture app that you put stickers on. Or, if they’re feeling especially frisky, they’ll promise a virtual waifu that you can love and cuddle, and it turns out to be a simple dress-up game for a Miku Hatsune clone.  

Don’t get too excited; she just stares at you all day

This is some heavy swindling, especially when it asks you for a little money upfront. By presenting generic anime, these developers are hoping to trick anime newbies and those who are truly desperate. It really is a despicable misuse of anime as a whole, and something to keep in mind when browsing for your next time-waster.

 

Do you know any misuses of anime? Feel free to comment about it or anything else below! Feel free to like and follow for more content just like this.