Wednesday, December 09, 2009
I Love the 00s: Aughties Animation
It's funny that anime helped fuel my interest in Japan and the Japanese language, but now that I live here I hardly follow the field at all. That's not my fault though, that's just a statement on where anime has ended up. To kick off my 00 retrospective, here are four animated works (two Japanese, two American) that I hold near and dear to my heart.
Futurama (FOX, 1999-2003, plus four DVD movies): I consider it a cosmic tragedy that this brilliant sort-of spin-off of The Simpsons was run aground after four short seasons while that painfully unfunny juggernaut of a show continues to amuse no one every Sunday night.
Unlike The Simpsons which slowly found its way from overly sentimental, crudely animated fluff to comic genius, Futurama hit the ground running. The premise was surprisingly simple: take a know-nothing delivery boy and catapult him a thousand years into the future. While the show was happy to make occasional fish-out-of-water jokes (i.e. Fry's ignorance that "Christmas" had been replaced by "Xmas" and Santa was now a terrifying killbot) they also allowed Fry's simplicity to let him adapt to the future in a hurry.
I don't think it's simply my love of science-fiction that got me hooked on Futurama, I think the show nailed that delicate balance between absurdist humor and genuine character development and interaction. One moment the crew of the Planet Express ship is hopping through boxes into alternate universes, the next they're reflecting on how different their lives could have been if only that coin had come up heads...or tails.
The Venture Bros. (Adult Swim, 2003-present): It's funny to me that The Venture Bros. seems totally out of place among the Adult Swim lineup of barely-animated stoner humor and FOX reruns yet I couldn't imagine it running on any other network. Many shows on AS are rated TV-M for "mature" while they are anything but; the rating simply allows them to use gratuitous violence, pixelated nudity and beeped-out curse words. The Venture Bros has its share of violence, sexuality and profanity to be sure, but it's actually presented as part of a comprehensive story that's getting more complicated by the week. I swear the fourth season premiere delivered more exposition, laughs and intrigue in thirty minutes than most major network programming, animated or otherwise.
Summarizing The Venture Bros. is probably impossible. At the heart of the story is a failed "super-scientist," his washed-out special agent bodyguard, and his delusional twins who fancy themselves detectives, adventurers or anything other than the sheltered naive boys that they truly are. The family is tormented by a madman who dresses like a butterfly while they are occasionally assisted by an oddball "necromancer" and two scientists who live in a trailer park. In short, everyone on the show is a complete mess, yet after watching an episode or two I defy you to not care about every single one of them. When a relatively minor character died at the end of season three, I was stunned and more than a little dejected. He felt more human than either of the dead doctors on House.
Millennium Actress (2001, Japan): I first heard of director Satoshi Kon when I watched the credits after his stirring, twisted thriller Perfect Blue (1997). I never would have guessed his next film would be stirring, twisted love story nor that it would actually make me cry. I'm not normally the type to do that but even on repeat viewings I have to restrain myself during the final montage.
Millennium Actress tells the tale of a filmmaker who tracks down a reclusive, long-retired actress Chiyoko Fujiwara for an in-depth interview. As he sits down with her to talk about the past, he and his cameraman find themselves embedded in her flashbacks and fluctuating between Chiyoko's life story and the movies she made. It's just as disorientating as it was in Perfect Blue, only this time the technique is used to delight rather than horrify. The music is wonderful as well, particularly during the rapid-fire sequences where the characters run from era to era and movie genre to genre across Chiyoko's memories/fantasies. Much like Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress is an adult movie that is perfectly suited for animation because it allows the director to seamlessly blend together what's real and what's not.
Paranoia Agent (WOWOW, 2004): Another Satoshi Kon creation, Paranoia Agent is a thirteen-episode mini-series that originally aired on Japanese satellite TV before being horribly dubbed and shown on Adult Swim. While many characters come and go, the central story revolves around a young woman who is attacked one night by a boy with a bat on inline skates. As the police investigate, the story of Shonen Bat (literally "bat boy" in Japanese) spreads across the country. Hung onto the main story are several smaller tales of individuals whose lives are spinning out of control, only to come into contact with Shonen Bat. Soon reports of bat attacks and potential suspects dominate the public's attention.
I saw this series shortly before spending an entire year in Japan as an exchange student That experience really enhanced my enjoyment of Paranoia Agent because I saw first hand how quickly news can spread in this country. A single violent crime, diet fad or comedy punchline can captivate millions of people in a hurry. Even if you've never lived in Japan, this is an easily relatable and highly entertaining tale of media frenzy and its effects on a frightened populace. I certainly didn't see the demented twist coming.
This represents Part 1 in a series of 25 posts about my favorite as well as the most disappointing entertainment properties/trends of the last ten years. To Be Continued!
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Futurama (FOX, 1999-2003, plus four DVD movies): I consider it a cosmic tragedy that this brilliant sort-of spin-off of The Simpsons was run aground after four short seasons while that painfully unfunny juggernaut of a show continues to amuse no one every Sunday night.
Unlike The Simpsons which slowly found its way from overly sentimental, crudely animated fluff to comic genius, Futurama hit the ground running. The premise was surprisingly simple: take a know-nothing delivery boy and catapult him a thousand years into the future. While the show was happy to make occasional fish-out-of-water jokes (i.e. Fry's ignorance that "Christmas" had been replaced by "Xmas" and Santa was now a terrifying killbot) they also allowed Fry's simplicity to let him adapt to the future in a hurry.
I don't think it's simply my love of science-fiction that got me hooked on Futurama, I think the show nailed that delicate balance between absurdist humor and genuine character development and interaction. One moment the crew of the Planet Express ship is hopping through boxes into alternate universes, the next they're reflecting on how different their lives could have been if only that coin had come up heads...or tails.
The Venture Bros. (Adult Swim, 2003-present): It's funny to me that The Venture Bros. seems totally out of place among the Adult Swim lineup of barely-animated stoner humor and FOX reruns yet I couldn't imagine it running on any other network. Many shows on AS are rated TV-M for "mature" while they are anything but; the rating simply allows them to use gratuitous violence, pixelated nudity and beeped-out curse words. The Venture Bros has its share of violence, sexuality and profanity to be sure, but it's actually presented as part of a comprehensive story that's getting more complicated by the week. I swear the fourth season premiere delivered more exposition, laughs and intrigue in thirty minutes than most major network programming, animated or otherwise.
Summarizing The Venture Bros. is probably impossible. At the heart of the story is a failed "super-scientist," his washed-out special agent bodyguard, and his delusional twins who fancy themselves detectives, adventurers or anything other than the sheltered naive boys that they truly are. The family is tormented by a madman who dresses like a butterfly while they are occasionally assisted by an oddball "necromancer" and two scientists who live in a trailer park. In short, everyone on the show is a complete mess, yet after watching an episode or two I defy you to not care about every single one of them. When a relatively minor character died at the end of season three, I was stunned and more than a little dejected. He felt more human than either of the dead doctors on House.
Millennium Actress (2001, Japan): I first heard of director Satoshi Kon when I watched the credits after his stirring, twisted thriller Perfect Blue (1997). I never would have guessed his next film would be stirring, twisted love story nor that it would actually make me cry. I'm not normally the type to do that but even on repeat viewings I have to restrain myself during the final montage.
Millennium Actress tells the tale of a filmmaker who tracks down a reclusive, long-retired actress Chiyoko Fujiwara for an in-depth interview. As he sits down with her to talk about the past, he and his cameraman find themselves embedded in her flashbacks and fluctuating between Chiyoko's life story and the movies she made. It's just as disorientating as it was in Perfect Blue, only this time the technique is used to delight rather than horrify. The music is wonderful as well, particularly during the rapid-fire sequences where the characters run from era to era and movie genre to genre across Chiyoko's memories/fantasies. Much like Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress is an adult movie that is perfectly suited for animation because it allows the director to seamlessly blend together what's real and what's not.
Paranoia Agent (WOWOW, 2004): Another Satoshi Kon creation, Paranoia Agent is a thirteen-episode mini-series that originally aired on Japanese satellite TV before being horribly dubbed and shown on Adult Swim. While many characters come and go, the central story revolves around a young woman who is attacked one night by a boy with a bat on inline skates. As the police investigate, the story of Shonen Bat (literally "bat boy" in Japanese) spreads across the country. Hung onto the main story are several smaller tales of individuals whose lives are spinning out of control, only to come into contact with Shonen Bat. Soon reports of bat attacks and potential suspects dominate the public's attention.
I saw this series shortly before spending an entire year in Japan as an exchange student That experience really enhanced my enjoyment of Paranoia Agent because I saw first hand how quickly news can spread in this country. A single violent crime, diet fad or comedy punchline can captivate millions of people in a hurry. Even if you've never lived in Japan, this is an easily relatable and highly entertaining tale of media frenzy and its effects on a frightened populace. I certainly didn't see the demented twist coming.
This represents Part 1 in a series of 25 posts about my favorite as well as the most disappointing entertainment properties/trends of the last ten years. To Be Continued!
Labels: anime, Futurama, I love the 00s, Millennium Actress, movies, Paranoia Agent, Satoshi Kon, television, Venture Bros
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Chromosomal Coin-Flip Complete
We could have gone outside today, with the rain having let up and having no particular plans, but it turns out Mako and I couldn't come up with a good enough reason to get ourselves out the door. It's OK, since I had so much to do in recent weekends, it was nice to have a quiet day at home for just the two of us. Well, three if you include the TV.
I'm kidding! Three includes the tiny baby gestating inside Mako's womb. As of yesterday's doctor visit I can finally declare...it's (going to be) a boy! I know, huge surprise right? I mean it was either a boy or a girl - there were no real third options. Anyway, I'm thrilled to finally have a proper pronoun to use for the baby instead of "it." You just can't fall in love with an "it." There's an affection gap that saying "he" or "she" erases.
I was surprised at how much time I spent on Skype this afternoon. First The Trout called and we spoke about, um, everything for a good two hours. Then Chad called while we were watching the World Baseball Classic (Japan beat Korea in a rout). And just as we were preparing for bath and bed, my mother called! It's great to catch up with so many people but after a few hours my headphones really pinch my ears.
There was one outrageous thing on TV today that I can't just let go. I expressed my anger via Twitter but that's just not enough. We were watching a special about the new Yatterman film which is based on a old Japanese cartoon. One of the film's stars flew to New York for a screening and also did a bit of asking around about the popularity of anime/manga in the United States. Now while Yatterman is no household name in America, there are certainly a few Japanese titles that are getting quite big. Hell, that awful-looking Dragonball movie is only a week or so away. It's actually opening in Japan ahead of the US, a fact that actually drives me nuts when you consider how many movies sit in limbo while I wait for them to open on these shores.
OK, I'm digressing. No more anger about movie release dates. Today I was angry about a quasi-interview with some guy concerning the rapid growth of Japanese comics and animation in America. This stuffed suit actually had the temerity to claim that the rise in interest had something to do with the September 11th attacks. If I had been drinking a beverage I would have spit it out in total disbelief. I know "9/11 changed everything" but are you fucking crazy? Comic books? No, no, no.
It's pretty simple: Japanese stuff has been slowly building an audience in the US over the past twenty years. When my friends and I were buying poorly-dubbed VHS tapes of Fist of the North Star and Golgo 13, we were simply ahead of the curve. By the time I was in college there was a full-fledged anime club. And before the millennium there were already regular TV airings of Dragonball Z and Pokemon all over American television. You don't need to be a media expert or a marketing genius to figure out what happens next: popular imported entertainment breeds more importing. But you do need to be a total asshole to imply that the long-term entertainment needs of children were somehow influenced by the murder of 3000 people in a national tragedy.
Yes, I know this guy was only doing his job as a shill in trying to over-hype the importance of manga in the US and this clueless schmuck has the same bad habits we all do in trying to attribute greater meaning to unexplainable phenomena. You won the lottery? It wasn't chance, it was a MIRACLE, I know...but my rage is pretty straightforward. Linking massive destruction and an upswing of interest in Naruto is beyond irresponsible. It's tasteless and downright rude. Obviously the Japanese broadcasters didn't bat an eye because 9/11 just isn't thought of in the same way around here. They don't even mention it on the "history timelines" I see in elementary schools, despite prominent inclusion of the atomic bomb droppings and the...2002 World Cup coming to Asia?!?
Dammit Japan, can't you take anything seriously?
Tonight's meandering message was yet another Write or Die collaboration.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
I'm kidding! Three includes the tiny baby gestating inside Mako's womb. As of yesterday's doctor visit I can finally declare...it's (going to be) a boy! I know, huge surprise right? I mean it was either a boy or a girl - there were no real third options. Anyway, I'm thrilled to finally have a proper pronoun to use for the baby instead of "it." You just can't fall in love with an "it." There's an affection gap that saying "he" or "she" erases.
I was surprised at how much time I spent on Skype this afternoon. First The Trout called and we spoke about, um, everything for a good two hours. Then Chad called while we were watching the World Baseball Classic (Japan beat Korea in a rout). And just as we were preparing for bath and bed, my mother called! It's great to catch up with so many people but after a few hours my headphones really pinch my ears.
There was one outrageous thing on TV today that I can't just let go. I expressed my anger via Twitter but that's just not enough. We were watching a special about the new Yatterman film which is based on a old Japanese cartoon. One of the film's stars flew to New York for a screening and also did a bit of asking around about the popularity of anime/manga in the United States. Now while Yatterman is no household name in America, there are certainly a few Japanese titles that are getting quite big. Hell, that awful-looking Dragonball movie is only a week or so away. It's actually opening in Japan ahead of the US, a fact that actually drives me nuts when you consider how many movies sit in limbo while I wait for them to open on these shores.
OK, I'm digressing. No more anger about movie release dates. Today I was angry about a quasi-interview with some guy concerning the rapid growth of Japanese comics and animation in America. This stuffed suit actually had the temerity to claim that the rise in interest had something to do with the September 11th attacks. If I had been drinking a beverage I would have spit it out in total disbelief. I know "9/11 changed everything" but are you fucking crazy? Comic books? No, no, no.
It's pretty simple: Japanese stuff has been slowly building an audience in the US over the past twenty years. When my friends and I were buying poorly-dubbed VHS tapes of Fist of the North Star and Golgo 13, we were simply ahead of the curve. By the time I was in college there was a full-fledged anime club. And before the millennium there were already regular TV airings of Dragonball Z and Pokemon all over American television. You don't need to be a media expert or a marketing genius to figure out what happens next: popular imported entertainment breeds more importing. But you do need to be a total asshole to imply that the long-term entertainment needs of children were somehow influenced by the murder of 3000 people in a national tragedy.
Yes, I know this guy was only doing his job as a shill in trying to over-hype the importance of manga in the US and this clueless schmuck has the same bad habits we all do in trying to attribute greater meaning to unexplainable phenomena. You won the lottery? It wasn't chance, it was a MIRACLE, I know...but my rage is pretty straightforward. Linking massive destruction and an upswing of interest in Naruto is beyond irresponsible. It's tasteless and downright rude. Obviously the Japanese broadcasters didn't bat an eye because 9/11 just isn't thought of in the same way around here. They don't even mention it on the "history timelines" I see in elementary schools, despite prominent inclusion of the atomic bomb droppings and the...2002 World Cup coming to Asia?!?
Dammit Japan, can't you take anything seriously?
Tonight's meandering message was yet another Write or Die collaboration.
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Labels: anime, family, Japan, manga, pregnancy, Write or Die
つづく...(Click here to read more)
