Re-Kan

Re-Kan! (レーカン!) is a 13 episode supernatural comedy based on the yonkoma manga of the same name by Seta Hinako.  The anime originally aired in Japan during the Spring of 2015.

    Amami Hibiki has been able to interact with the dead since she was little.  Her mother had the power before her, but she died after Hibiki was born.  Unfortunately her peers have never been appreciative of this gift and her childhood has been lonely when it comes to interacting with the living.  Her father keeps that in mind and tries his best to help her, moving from time to time when her secret comes out.  Sadly the most recent move seems to have been in vein as her secret becomes common knowledge almost immediately after starting the year at her new school.  Things may not be as bad for her though as a handful of her classmates welcome her unique talents and start to befriend her.  Only partially believing in her power they become involved in Hibiki's efforts to appease the local spirits and to help some of them pass on from the living world.  At the same time the friends try to learn more about the kind and selfless girl who always seems sad.  They try the best they can to convince her that she has friends among the living as well.

    While at first skeptical this series did start to grow on me.  Initially what turned me off were the character designs, particularly the 'brightness' of the hair.  But the series and its episodic plot lines were enjoyable and entertaining.  There are some funny parts, some touching parts and a lot of stealthy attacks on misogynistic tropes in anime.  The pervert cat became a favorite target of distaste to both of my children and they would threaten violence on it at every appearance.  The over all story ends with episode 12 and episode 13 is more like a bonus story that has the series checking off all of the typical slice of life tropes it had missed in the other episodes.  Over all not bad, there have been better, but at only 13 episodes its not a waste of time for something mindless and enjoyable.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.  Sentai Filmworks has picked up the license and will be releasing it on disc in the future.  No one has licensed the manga currently.

I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying 2nd Thread

I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying: 2nd Thread (旦那が何を言っているかわからない件 2スレ目) is the 13 episode, second season, based on the yonkoma of the same name by Cool-kyo Shinja.  The anime originally aired in Japan over the Spring of 2015.

     The series picks up after the end of the original one were Kaoru and Hajime are continuing to adjust to living with each other as a married couple.  Season one ended with Kaoru being pregnant but they don't start getting back into that plat line until the last half of the second season.  Instead they flesh out some of the supporting characters and delve more into the internal conflicts the main characters have regarding themselves and how they appear to their significant other.  The series ends abruptly with the final episode, leaving you wanting more.

    I still really like this series for its tenderness and honesty.  I did start to lose focus in the first half as I had a hard time trying to remember who was who out of all of the side characters.  The artwork and pace fit really well with the story and I was glad to find that the initial rumor around this season being full length episodes was wrong.  The story is best when it puts aside the shock gags about waifu's and lolicon and focuses on the characters working through their internal problems and conceptions about the people around them.  There is always a tint of sadness around Kaoru and Hajime.  There is something about the way they are presented that seems more realistic that almost anything else in anime.  You can almost picture them as real people at times.

    If you liked the first season, you will like this one.  I hope we will see more.  Season 2 was simulcast on Crunchyroll as was season 1.  Sadly, that is its only legitimate availability in North America.  The manga as well is not available commercially outside of Japan.

No, you can't marry your waifu

Following the June 26th, 2015 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States of America to federally legalize marriage between same sex couples, the Western otaku-net started to ruminate about the ability to marry a waifu.

    For the uninitiated, a waifu is a fictional character someone has a one sided relationship with.  A person's waifu is who they would like to be with if physically possible, their fantasy, derived from a fictitious character they feel attached/attracted to. 

    So lets break this down a bit and desconstruct the reasoning behind there never being a chance to have a legally sanctioned and binding marriage/partnership with a fictional creation.

    Perhaps the most important aspect is that one part of the partnership is not recognized them as being a living being.  No mater how much effort is established into trying to change that fact, Hatsune Miku is not and will never be real.*  Logically and for all sorts of other less than complete reasons, it makes no sense to allow someone to marry something incorporeal.  Doing so would open up a lot of issues and conflicts not even related to the waifu issue.  Pointless and unnecessary legal issues would arise if someone had the ability to wed themselves to a concept.  Hi, have you met my wife, Peanut Butter Oreo.

    That segues into the next bullet point.  Ownership rights.  Fictional characters are the intellectual property of their owners or rights holders.  Think of them as the angry shotgun wielding father.  Odds are, he's going to put a shell full of buckshot in your ass before letting you defile his precious flower.  What would legally binding yourself to a fiction construct ultimately mean in the legal sense.  In a patriarchal sense it would give the husband control over the 'life' of the waifu.  Giving that person legal abilities to control the waifu.  The level of control would vary between societies.  Even in more progressive environments certain legal rights would be controlled by the spouse of a waifu.  These rights could very well conflict with the property right holders of the character.  A waifu spouse could potentially block the use of the character by the property rights holder which would endanger the ability of their property rights holder to monetize its creation. 

    Next up is what to do about who gets to marry which fictional character.  Most industrialized nations legally prohibit polygamy.  If a fictional character can be married to a living person that would mean said fictional character would be prohibited from marrying another living person.  As if there needed to be another reason for people to viciously attack others on the internet.  That being said, a lot of guys in Japan would get married pretty damn quick if they felt they had to snatch up their waifu before someone in a foreign country did.  If an American otaku married a waifu from a series that was not commercially available in America could that be used as evidence of piracy?  Now, a smart rights holder for a particularly popular character would sell off lottery tickets for everyone who wants to get the right to marry said character.  Marketing gold!!

    To prevent any issues the property rights holder(s) could issue a marriage contract between two fictional characters they control.  The possibility of this happening would set up an entirely new set of problems related to allowing various incorporeal concepts to be legally bound to each other representing a real marriage.  I don't even want to fathom what kind of problems the possibility of this happening would create.  Plus, having to do this to prevent some hikikomori from co-opting your creations legal rights would ruin the 'surprise' ending to almost every romance manga/anime out there. 

    If someone could marry a fictional character what would that mean for that character in the continuation of their story?  If someone ended up making Otanashi Kyoko their legal wife half way through the manga's initial run what would that mean for Godai Yusaku and the plot of the manga?  Would Takahashi have had to revise the manga to show Godai not marrying Kyoko?  If not, could the husband pursue legal avenues to prevent Kyoko and Godai from getting married in the manga?  If someone married a character from a galge would the galge have to be revised to eliminate that character or change the ability of the player to fully court her?

    Most importantly, being able to legally wed a fictional character would make a sham out of the institution of marriage.  It would make the struggle and legacy of marriage equality a joke.  Desiring to legally bind oneself to a fictional character that happens to attract a persons interest for the time defiles what marriage should represent.  Reciprocal love and support between two consenting adults being recognized by a governing body providing additional sanctification and rights for that bond.  People have fought and died to be able to marry the person they love.  Lets admit it, wanting to wed yourself to a passing infatuation is as pointless as Rush Limbaugh's marriage record.  Its not going to last long and when it does dissipate the over reaction of that persons deep fandom will become hollow and pointless.  Lets admit it, waifu are a dime a dozen and over the course of an otaku's life they will have gone through them like cup noodles.

    *There is one way were the initial bullet point can be made moot, through the development of advanced AI technology.  If a fictional character is set up as an AI that can make its own decisions it could possibly want to marry someone.  But, that construct would have to be willing to participate in the union.  Though, if it is a construct owned by a business that still causes issues with many of the other points.  If someone created their own AI and wanted to marry it then sure...I guess there's a case there in allowing that to happen.  But, I don't think many people who have a waifu created said waifu in the first place, so this is probably a really rare thing.  In the future, I am sure there will be a push for people to be wed to androids and AI and you know what, fuck it!  Let it be!!  That would demand much more contemplation and discussion, particularly when recognizing artificial constructs as individuals with individual rights, which should really be set in place beforehand.  If you want to read a book about a human  desiring to marry an AI pick up Idoru by William Gibson.

    Until AI exist to the point where we agree as a species to recognize them as individuals with rights (we really need to do this sooner than later) don't try to demand the right to marry one of the characters from PreCure anytime soon.  Also...how do you determine the constructs age when it comes to social development and the legality of what age someone can wed?  Sure, that character may be 300 years old according to the story but it was first put to concept 4 years ago.

Knights of Sidonia Battle for Planet Nine

Knights of Sidonia Battle for Planet Nine (シドニアの騎士 第九惑星戦役) is the 12 episode follow up to the original Knights of Sidonia.  The space opera mecha series is based on the manga of the same name by Nihei Tustomu and was originally broadcast in Japan in the spring of 2015.

    The series finds Tanikaze in a much better situation than the beginning of the first season.  He is now heralded as the hero of Sidonia for his various battles against the Gauna.  The increased danger to the ship has caused a number of citizens to protest what they feel are policies that instigate attacks from the aliens.  The group demands to be allowed to leave Sidonia and find a world to colonize.  The group is allowed to leave but are unaware of the grave danger facing them.  The Sidonia continues on the course behind them and detects a massive hive of Gauna.  Knowing it must face them it prepares for what may be its final battle.  One of the weapons developed for use in the upcoming war is a Gauna/Human hybrid developed from the captured Hoshijiro clone.  Meanwhile, Tanikaze enjoys the benefits of a top ranked pilot and his personal life takes a new twist.  Forced out of the pilot dorms he finds a new home in a quiet portion of the ship.  Shinatoze tags along as his roommate as does the new friend they have made in the hybrid who goes by the name of Tsumugi.  Tsumigi is child like and excitable, but Tanikaze and Shinotaze have befriended her.  Tsumugi in reality is as large as one of the guard frames but she uses a tentacle appendage to maneuver, in secret, through out the Sidonia.  The appendage allows her to communicate and interact with her two friends.  Strangely, it also looks like a talking penis.  With a serious battle approaching Tanikaze and Tsumugi find themselves being the ships best shot at survival.

    Season two of Sidonia was one I was highly anticipating and it did not disappoint.  The animation seems to have gotten smoother with the characters and the story gets a bit deeper from the original season.  Sadly, like the first, it omits some interesting things from the manga.  Even sadder, it feels like we won't see any more Sidonia TV anime with how the ended this series.  The story is still going in the manga of course but they put a nice wrapping on the end of the final episode.  Unlike how season 1 ended there was no teaser confirmation about a next installment.  Unlike the original season as well this one seemed rushed at times, but part of that may also come from my having read the manga.  They once again did not delve deeply into the history of the ship and the powers that control it, which is where some of the more interesting things take place.  Otherwise the show can be a mindless series of ever increasingly dangerous battles.  Something I really enjoy about the story is the interesting background that develops through out and a good portion of that is ignored or glossed over.  The anime doesn't explain the captains history, why Lala is a bear, etc.  Regardless the anime followed relatively faithfully with the plot progression of the anime and did not disappoint.  Nagate is still a wet noodle with only a handful of emotional modes.

    As with the original season, Battle for Planet Nine was not simulcast, instead Netflix is releasing it in dub and sub in one large batch in the beginning of July 2015 in North America.  Sentai Filmworks picked up the original so its only a matter of time before season two sees a disc release as well.  Here's hoping for more Knights of Sidonia!

    On a side note, I was SEVERLY disappointed that there wasn't more Blame! as part of the series.  Leading up to it there were rumors that there would be a series of shorts embedded into the show for the manga Blame! also by Nihei.  Booo!!!

When Marnie Was There

When Marnie Was There (思い出のマーニー) is a slice of life, coming of age movie based on the novel of the same name by Joan G. Robinson.  The movie was produced by Studio Ghibli and directed by Yonebayashi Horimasa.  The film was initially released in Japanese theaters in 2014.

    Twelve year old Anna Sasaki suffers from asthma.  After an attack at school her adoptive parents send her for a brief vacation to a relatives house in rural Hokkaido, in an attempt to alleviate medical issues.  The relatives are carefree and excited to have her as their guest.  You could say they are hippies of sorts.  Anna distances herself from everyone for a variety of reasons, most importantly, because of differences she perceives in herself.  Unspoken differences that she feels makes her stand out from those around her.  Due to her anxiety about these differences she has virtually shut herself off from the world around her.  Armed with her sketchbook she wanders the small village in search of solace, avoiding any and all contact with people.  She discovers an abandoned house along a marsh and decides to take a closer look.  The building is foreign in design and appears to have been abandoned for some time.  She lingers a little too long on the property and is unable to cross the marsh back to the village due to the tide.  Luckily for her, a fisherman from the village rows his boat out to save her.  Over diner her relatives explain the history of the house and don't warn her away from it, again being carefree hippies.  The house was owned long ago by a foreign family and has been unoccupied for some time.  Drawn to the building, Anna returns, this time catching a glimpse of human activity within.  Intrigued she investigates, continuing to return to it.

    In an attempt to help Anna make friend during her visit, her relatives convince her to participate with the local children during the Tanabata festival.  Her inclinations for alienation take over and she verbally attacks one of the girls.  Frustrated by her lack of control she runs away from the festival and finds herself at the water.  She notices that the marsh house is lit up, as if it is bustling with activity.  The tide prevents her from being able to walk to the house but a rowboat is moored nearby and she uses it to go to the house.  As she approaches the building a blond girl she has seen in dreams rushes down to the dock to help her tie the boat up.  The excited girl welcomes Anna and instantly latches on to her.  The visit is short, much of it spent hiding from the girls parents and nanny.  The girl, who says she left the rowboat for Anna, decides its getting late and rows her back to the village.  She ask's Anna to come again and to keep their sudden friendship a secret.

    Energized by this exciting new friend and the mysteries of the seemingly abandoned house, Anna returns again and again to spend time with her new friend Marnie.  Marnie is the daughter of wealthy foreigners but is mostly alone in the house, kept company only by the nanny and two maids.  While excited and vibrant, Marnie exudes a hidden pain.  Anna, concerned for her new friend and curious about the mysteries of the house, tries to dig deeper into Marnie's problems.  Things turn sour when Anna is dragged into the house during a lavish party Marnie's parents are throwing.  The exposure to the foreign guests and Anna noticing Marnie's attention being taken by a young boy, force her to flee the house.  Anna does not recall how she got back but is found asleep on the side of the road and returned home to her understanding relatives.  The next day she returns to the marsh house, but it remains unoccupied and Marnie is no longer appears.  The loss of this new friend strikes even harder when Anna discovers the house is being renovated and a new family is moving in.  A young girl from the family named Sayaka finds Anna and asks her if she is Marnie.  Shocked by the question, Anna works to convince her that she is not, at which point Sayaka shows her a diary discovered hidden in the house.  Inside of the aged book are passages that reference Anna's time with Marnie and other events.  The two girls set out to discover the truth behind Marnie.  Anna sets out to meet Marnie again to find out the meaning behind everything in the diary and their time together.

    Unlike the majority of movies that come out of Studio Ghibli, this one is not fanciful or super natural.  When Marnie Was There is set in the real world with realistic characters.  It is a well made and enjoyable story about the troubles of being different and dealing with feelings of alienation as an adolescent.  The story is easily approachable for foreign audiences.  The only thing that may elicit head scratching is what Tanabata is and the significance of the activities for the festival, otherwise nothing else is explicitly 'Japanese' in the film.  The characters are Japanese, with the exception of Anna and her family, but the dialog and activities in the film are no different from what American people would be familiar with.  The mysteries of the story will keep you guessing for a while but there are hints and clues placed through out.  The pacing of the film was well done and had a satisfying resolution in the end.  There are some key messages the film pushes that are well done and can begin conversations that should take place in Japan.  I don't want to delve into them though, for fear of ruining the stories mysteries.  The messages, though, may not be as apparent as I take them to be, so some contemplation may be needed.

    As with all Ghibli films, the artwork is high quality.  While the character designs are low key and standard fare for Ghibli works, the backgrounds and detail of the surroundings are amazingly well done, as is to be expected.  This film did not disappoint in that regard.  I was so immersed in the movie I can't really recall what the music was like...  On a side note, this is one of the best done English dubs I have ever seen.

    Given that this is very likely the last film that will come out of this amazing animation company it is doubly bittersweet.  Doubly so with the ending of the movie, which is not bad, just touching and somewhat sad.  At the time of this writing the film is just completing its limit North American theatrical release and is not yet available on disc but will be soon.

New Titles for Summer 2015

With July almost upon us, here's a super uneducated look at shows that may interest me.

    Charlotte:Yet another story about kids who have special powers and the struggles they face...we'll see.  The concept was written by the guy who wrote the music for Air and Clannad...hmmm...

    Classroom Crisis: Set in the future, humans have moved to other planets.  Essentially a sci-fi school age comedy-ish version of all sorts of other shows.  Original character designs by the guy behind Oreimo.

    Danchigai:Slice of life comedy about a guy and his 4 siblings and their odd ball life.  Could be fun or could be an incest/loli-con nightmare.  Based on a manga of the same name.

    Durarara!! x2 Ten (part 2): The awaited return of the second season of Durarara!!!!

    Gakko Gurashi: Four school girls end up fighting zombies.  Could be really funny or really annoying or both...

    Himoto! Umaru-chan: Comedy about a girl who has diverging personalities in and out of the comfort of her home...kinda like Miyazawa Yukino.  Based on a manga of the same name.

    Kurayama Santa: What appears to be a huge homage to classic 50s and 60s anime.  The series deals with the main character Santa (not Claus) working as a guardian of the gate between hell and the land of the living.

    Sore ga Seiyu: Slice of life, possibly moe, show about 3 voice actors and their quirky silly lives.  If it is half as qood as Shirobako was it could be worth the time.  From the creator of Hayate the Combat Butler.

    Wakako-zake: Slice of life/comedy about a woman who frequents sake bars.  Whats not to love!!  Based on a manga of the same name.

A few possible comedy gems in the bunch, but a pretty slim group to pick from.  Much of the season is made up of continuing series that I'm not watching and horrible otaku anime made by otaku.

Steamboy

Steamboy (スチームボーイ) is a steampunk action movie by Otomo Katsuhiro.  It was originally released in theaters in Japan in 2002.

    Set in England in the 1860's, Steamboy tells the story of young Ray Steam, the son and grandson of two inventors.  His father and grandfather have been working over seas on an important expedition/project.  One day Ray receives a package from his grandfather but before he has time to read the accompanying letter two large well dressed men arrive at his house looking for it.  Just as his mother questions their intentions Ray's grandfather arrives and tells him his father is dead and to keep the package, a mysterious ball/valve, from them.  The men turn aggressive as he scrambles to get away from them.  While his attempt to escape are dramatic and spectacular he doesn't manage to get away.  He finds himself a prisoner in a large and glamorous estate.  Inside the estate Ray discovers that his father is still alive, but changed, following an accident.  His father is working for the people who own the estate, a powerful American company, and was glad to have the ball back. The situation turns deadly when the company begins a war with England in order to sell its new war machines to foreign dignitaries who have come to the Worlds Expo.  Ray has to try and help his grandfather stop his father before their inventions destroy the entire city.

    I originally watched this movie in the theaters at its American release and wasn't very impressed.  After all those years I watched it again to see if that feeling holds true...and sadly it does.  The characters are one dimension, the plot is boring and predictable and at just over 2 hours in running time it is too long for its own good.  At the time it was the most costly anime made and it didn't even look that good.  The CG didn't integrate very well and the color palette seems muted.  There is just a lot about this anime that disagrees with me.  It seems with what Otomo has produced since the turn of the century he has lost his energy, between this movie and FREEDOM.  Sad.

    Either way, if you want this on DVD you can come across the North American copies relatively easily.  It was released by Sony.

Confessions of a Texan in Tokyo - review

Confessions of a Texan in Tokyo is the third book by Grace Mineta, proprietor of the website, Texan in Tokyo.  The book is self published and is available for download and purchase via Amazon.

    Grace continues comically portraying her life as an expat living in Tokyo, married to a Japanese citizen.  Where her first two books, My Japanese Husband Thinks I'm Crazy, focus on the cultural differences between America and Japan and her encounters with those differences.  Confessions turns more inward and explanatory.  Having now lived in the country for four years, the things that once struck her as strange and obtuse become part of her accepted daily reality.  There are some quirky moments, like how to deal with a neighbors laundered underwear ending up on your patio, but this book focuses more on introspection.  There is roughly a 50/50 split between comic and text content in the book and for the most part this is not a bad thing.  A good chunk of the second half of the book is used to list positive and negative aspects to living in Tokyo.  The book also dips more into the authors own internal conflicts.  Her health issues and concern that she is becoming too accustomed to living in Japan and it may no longer present the joy she cherishes.  A number of topics spring up relating to the realities foreigners face in the mostly homogeneous Japan and the negative and positive connotations associated with being easily identified as foreign.

    In general this was an enjoyable read and I do look forward to more musings by Grace.  If you are looking for more of the same content as found in her first two books you might be disappointed as this takes a turn from quirky to reflection.  At times it seems she is trying to remind her self of the positive things in her life, warding against the negativity that may be encroaching and discouraging her.  There are sad and somber moments with in, as were found in the previous books, but there seems to be more in this volume.  Part of the melancholy may be due to the original content of her comics changing as she becomes less aware of the peculiarities in Japan vs. America.  In one portion she even states that she may be running out of content to muse upon for this reason.  This may be true and the tone of her writing/drawing appears to be on the cusp of change.  Hidden in the book, though, are possibilities for her to continue exposing the world to the unique experiences that await foreigners in Japan.  If not on her life in general.  Through her work her readers have come to know the part of her that takes place in her comic and may enjoy returning to that world for more than just the quirkiness.  One thing, that she has touched on before, is her infrequent experiences as a go-to foreigner for the variety shows on Japanese TV.  It would be fascinating to see her expand upon her experiences in non-traditional work situations she encounters in Japan.

    I enjoyed the book and look forward to more musings!  頑張れGRACE!!

 

Why localizing anime matters

After Disney announced it has licensed and will be broadcasting Yokai Watch it became apparent to explain why the localization of anime is vitally important to the industry.  Even if it goes against many things otaku demand.

    Anime has been localized (altered to be acceptable meet audience/societal demands of the market a foreign product is being introduced to) from the very beginning.  Almost as soon as Tetsuwan Atom hit the air in Japan it was licensed for American TV as Astro Boy.  The show first aired in Japan on New Years day 1963.  NBC began airing the America adaptation on September 7th, 1963, just 9 months later.  The anime was changed to fit in with what was considered 'the norm' for the general American viewing audience.  Character names were changed from the Japanese ones to more Western sounding versions.  Episodes were either edited or skipped that contained material deemed inappropriate for American audiences.  This trend has continued ever sense, sometimes taking on bizarre amalgamations of the original versions.  Speed Racer, Gigantor, Battle for the Planets, Starblazers, Robotech, Captain Harlock, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, etc, etc. 

    The primary goal when a company licenses an anime (or any foreign product) for distribution is to generate profit through the sales and distribution of that anime.  Since the late 1980's companies in America have come into existence who's goal is to release anime as faithfully as they can but still need to generate profit in doing so.  This has been and still is not always the case and there is a simple reason why this happens.  Anime purists are a very small minority and can not typically generate enough sales to make an anime successful.  As the 00's showed anime remains a niche market that can and does face financial challenges due in part to typically low sales.  The way to make something successful is to appeal to a wide portion of the population.  A successful way of accomplishing that is by localizing a foreign product so that it can be enjoyed without any outside knowledge being required.  As many anime have themes and ideas that are very Japanese in origin and familiarity, it is difficult for people not familiar with those themes to relate to them.  If someone can not relate to what they are viewing it can be difficult for them to be interested in it.  Ten year old children in America are more apt to relate and identify with a character named Ash Ketchum instead of one named Satoshi.  When Ash and his companions sit down for a snack it makes sense for them to talk about eating donuts and other items that American children are familiar with instead of onigiri.

 

    So why is all of this effort done to scrub much of the Japanese-ness out of a show?  Why alter the product and not remain true to the original source material?  Its done to make the show more relatable which should lead to popularity, which should lead to more profits.  The first Pokemon movie is the highest grossing anime film in North America, earning an estimated $85 million in ticket sales.  Half of the movies entire global ticket sales of $163 million.  That same year Princess Mononoke earned $2 million in box office sales and Perfect Blue earned $120,000 in box office sales.  Even with Spirited Away winning an academy award for Best Animated Picture its total box office revenue in the United States was only $10 million.  Worldwide though, Spirited Away is the highest grossing anime film ever, with $274 million in ticket sales, much of that coming from Japanese box office sales.  Even though Miyazaki is known by more people in America and the films are distributed by Disney and voiced by recognizable Hollywood personalities, their box office revenue's do not come close to being successful in America.  Part of this is due to, even Miyazaki movies, having limited theatrical releases.  Anime movies that make it to theaters in America tend to be restricted to art house style theaters, limiting the number of screens and cities, they appear in.  Virtually no advertising money is spent to promote the films releases and they generally remain in the theaters for a handful of weeks.  It can be argued that all of these factors work to sabotage a films success.   Given the tepid box office results for Spirited Away, with the level of advertising and exposure it received following its Academy Award, it is understandable that no one sees the benefits in pushing anime films when the return will not be there.  Regardless of an American otaku's passion and feelings, anime films that are not based on a franchise that has gained popularity through localization, a fanbase wider than otaku, will NEVER earn substantial revenue in American theaters.

Let me say that again: anime does not earn enough money in American theaters to warrant increased support by the distribution industry.

  Yet, even localizing an anime will not and does not guarantee its success.  Not everything catches on in America like it does in Japan.  Surprisingly enough, the same works in reverse.  There are a handful of anime titles that did poorly in Japan but succeeded in America.  By succeed I mean, met niche sales expectations but did not acquire any sort of wide acceptance and huge sales.  Much anime, particularly current anime titles, also only see success as a niche product in Japan instead of success with the general population.  Anime in Japan, as is true in America, is primarily consumed by children and otaku.  For the most part anime is viewed as a thing to do as a kid.  Some titles do enjoy general popularity and success, titles such as Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan and Doraemon.  Generally though, anime does not generate the type of profit and popularity live action does.  In order to make an anime that is popular with children in Japan to be popular with children in America, they need to be able to relate to it.

    In addition to relatability, anime is localized to meet content standards and expectations for broadcast.  Subject matter may not be equally appropriate for the same age group between different cultures.  The recent import of the long running and culturally successful anime Doraemon has shown that.  Some of the behavior exhibited by the characters in Doraemon, which is aimed at younger children in Japan, is not culturally acceptable for that same age group in America.  Hence, the scripts and some scenes need to be altered to reflect those cultural differences in order for the show to be appropriate for its target age group.  Though, even after all the changes have been made, a show just might not be received well by the general population, as Doraemon's tepid response shows.  In that case you have a double negative effect; the show does not appeal to a wide audience and otaku who have been demanding a commercial release for a beloved series are enraged with its localization.

    So why is localization a good thing for otaku and anime in general?  Because when it works, it works really well and it creates the potential for legions of new anime fans.  Every single wave of new anime fan in America has been a direct result of anime being localized (to varying degrees) and shown on TV.  Anime localized in an attempt to reach a large audience is a gateway drug to deeper fandom.  Every single time it happens, groups of fans of the localized version discover that what they have been enjoying comes from Japan and is possibly different from what they fell in love with.  Many of them desire to see it in the original and unaltered form.  In the process of learning this and acquiring the original version, they can and do stumble upon other things that exist in the world of anime.  Things that are not localized and available to them from a local business or the internet.  Thing they may initially have not been interested in.

    While localization of an anime can ultimately lead to fan disgust it does an incredibly important job of bringing in new recruits who may not have gotten into anime if only presented with subject matters and characters they can not initially understand or relate to.  You have to give the uninitiated time to understand the nuances between calling someone kun, chan or sempai.  You have to let someone learn through experience what a nosebleed or a tear drop on the head represent.  That historically Japanese school was 6 days per week and April signifies newness and fresh starts in many aspects of Japanese life.  Recall how you began the journey of an anime fan and the things you had to learn through osmosis and research.  Do not expect the uninitiated to understand right away or appreciate immediately they things you have learned and appreciated over time and exposure.  The most important part and the most successful way to initiate new people is through them being comfortable and coming to enjoy something on their own terms.  Let them blossom as you did at their own pace.  They need the localized anime to start that journey.

   So think about that the next time you shudder in horror at the changes made to a title you had hoped would see an imported release to match your expectations and demands.  Keep the sneering disgust to a minimum...nothing turns off a potential fan like elitism.  Meanwhile, you'll have to keep going to the sources you had gone to before anyone licensed said title if the localization does not appease you.

Here's some figures to chew on.  $-box office revenue in America.  ¥-box office revenue in Japan.  I was unable/unwilling to search out info on everything listed for the Japanese box office numbers.

1989: Akira hits theaters ($439,162(America)), (¥6,346,343,871 (Japan))

1996: GITS in theaters in America (March 29)($515,205).

1999: Mononoke Hime (October)($2,298,191) (¥18,650,000,000 (Japan)).  First Pokemon movie (November)($85,744,662).  Perfect Blue (December)($112,536)

2000: Digimon The Movie ($9,628,751)

2001: Akira re-released ($114,009).  Final Fantasy Spirit Within ($32,131,830)(American/Japanese co-op).  Spriggan ($7,420)

2003: Spirited Away wins Oscar, returns to the theaters($10,049,886)(30,400,000,000yen), highest grossing anime film worldwide with $274,925,095 earned.  Cowboy Bebop movie ($1,000,045).  Metropolis ($636,830).

2004: Steamboy ($410,388)(¥1.16 billion). GITS Innocence ($924,482)(¥1 billion).  Yu-Gi-Oh The Movie ($19,762,690)

2005: NRI otaku report.  Howls Moving Castle ($4,710,455)(¥19.6b illion)

2009: Ponyo ($15,050,041) (¥15.5 billion)   

2011: Summer Wars ($78,182)

2012: The Secret World of Arrietty ($19,192,510)

The Girl Who Leapt Trough Time - novel

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女) is a short sci-fi novel by Tsutsui Yasutaka published in book form in 1967.  First published in English by Alma Books, and combined with another short story titled The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of, in 2012.

    Yoshiyama Kazuko is a 3rd year middle school student coasting through her idyllic life.  Little does she suspect that her life will change.  She and her two best friends, Kazuo and Goro, are tasked with cleaning a science lab at school on a Saturday after classes.  As they take out the trash she returns supplies to a storage room.  She believes someone else is in the room and in an attempt to flush that person out she encounters a chemical concoction that smells of lavender.  She wakes up in the schools infirmary, with her friends worried about her.  The following days she feels out of sorts, almost like she is floating.  A few nights later she is awoken by a minor earthquake.  Nothing is damaged but a fire breaks out next to Goro's house.   Late to school, due to the excitement of the night, she runs into Goro, as he is late too.  They run to cross the street while the light is changing only to face an out of control truck about to run them over.  Kazuko wishes as strong as she can that she were still in her bed.  When she thinks her intentions are futile she wakes up to her alarm going off.  Shaken by what she can only assume was a vivid dream, she heads off to school.  She makes it to school on time but the realistic visions she experienced disturb her.  When she finds out that its the day of the earthquake instead of the day after her reality takes on a new light.  She realizes that she jumped back in time and is willing to use this to prevent the tragedies she foresaw.  Her friends were skeptical at her claims but are proven wrong that night when the earthquake and fire she told them about hit.  With her strange power confirmed she wants nothing more than to be rid of them.  Even though it meant she was able to save her friends life the following morning.  With their help, Kazuko tries to find out why she has this strange ability and how she can get rid of them.

    If you are familiar with the anime but not the original source material, you may be scratching your head reading the synopsis.  Hosoda Mamoro's 1996 anime adaptation is a sequel to the original novella.  The anime follows Kazuko's niece at least 2 decades later as she undergoes a similar experience.  Kazuko, unlike her spunky niece of the future, is cautious and bothered by her sudden ability to travel time.  Once she has confirmed of it's existence she does everything she can to be rid of the ability.  She feels stressed at the prospect of having to relive days she has already gone through.  In contrast, her niece revels in the power and uses it to entertain herself endlessly.  Even though their approach to the ability is different their experiences are almost identical in the end.  Both are accidentally given a special ability from an advanced future society and have to understand what that means to them.  Being very light on the science fiction aspect, the story works to detail the internal dialogue the main character has in her struggle with a reality that presents its self in a new and unexpected way.  Once that knowledge is accepted she then has to struggle with that reality changing again, loosing something that has become very important in the process. 

    I was aware of the stories plot from watching the widely popular (in Japan) 1983 film adaption, so the novel was not a surprise for me.  The 1983 movie does differ from the novel but a version released in 1997 does a better job sticking with the source material.  This is however for young adults and is quite simplistic in dialogue structure and character development.  The book is roughly 160 pages in length, 100 or so of them being The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.  The second novella included in this specific publishing, The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of, is also aimed at young adults and follows a girl on her mission to overcome her fear of heights.  I ended up reading the entire book in about 2 hours.  So it's not a terribly complex and time consuming piece, but I do need to begin reading more of Tsutsui's works, which some are available in English.

The Otaku Encyclopedia

The Otaku Encyclopedia by Patrick W. Galbraith, published 2009 through Kodansha, is a detailed encyclopedia of terminology on many things 'otaku'.  It also includes some historical overview and a handful of interviews with various 'experts'.  The book is in English and a trim 248 pages with plenty of photographs.

      From A to Z detailed many aspects of modern otaku cultures with some background/historical information for the less initiated.  The book focuses primarily on manga and anime otaku but touches on other otaku genres such as figure and train otaku.  Galbraith interviews a handful of people and includes these interviews to expand upon related term entries.  Among the interviewees are; Okada Toshio (Gainax's first president), Murakami Takashi (otaku pop-artist), Ishikawa Koichi (an organizer for Comiket) and Yamamoto Yutaka (director for Kyoto Animation).  With his passion for the worlds of otaku, Galbraith delves deep into the things surrounding them, such as the origins of Akiba and Yaoi.  At times his fandom over powers journalism and unbiased documenting.  He leans heavily on the oppression and social outcast aspects of otaku historically, trying to counter negative images from high profile 'otaku' murderers.  He also goes to great lengths to defend levels of enthusiasm and fandom that may be considered dangerous.

 (Patrick Galbraith cosplaying as Goku)

    Even with its obvious lean towards countering vilification of otaku, it is in depth and informative.  While I wouldn't recommend sitting down and literally reading it from cover to cover (which is exactly what I did) it is a worthwhile addition to any otaku library.  Regardless of how well versed you are in the world of otaku this book will have enough new information for you to be worth the time and money.  It is also a great resource for additional reading through its lengthy bibliography...which is part of the reason the book took me so long to go through, I continued to get sidetracked into reading related material over the course.  As someone deeply interested in the historicity of otaku and anime this book opened me up to some interesting insights and topics I was only peripherally aware of.  Read the book with a skeptical mind though, given the authors unabashed pride and otaku self proclamation.

Fun Fact: Akiba comes from a long lasting, localized, mispronunciation of Akihabara which turned into local slang and was made famous by otaku adopting it in recent years.