I am - with apologies to Willie Nelson - on the road again today, but through the wonders of modern science and their "scheduled posting" voodoo, I'm pleased to bring you part one of a discussion you probably never wanted to have: what kind of anime does Brian like and why has he pretty much given up on the genre?
Now, I make no claim at being otaku. My anime collection is likely larger than the average American's but it's limited in many respects - the first being that it's all in English. I've heard all the arguments about how anime really needs to be seen in the original language in order to catch all the nuance and fine emotional subtext, but let's face it, even in Japanese it's still mostly about 'splosions, giant robots and well proportioned women. And with a very few exceptions, (Grave of the Fireflies, for instance) saying the genre is deep is like saying Linkin Park single is a profound musical experience.(Editors Note: Author owns at least 3 Linkin Park CDs. Hey! Quit that!)
Anyway, my point is that I lie somewhere in between the die hard anime fan and the average video consumer. I've written in the past about how the Americanized versions of Star Blazers and Robotech worked as gateways for the wider pantheon of what was then still called 'Japanimation' (and Lord help you if you throw that term around a true fan, let me tell you what!). Even after Robotech, it was still some time before the trickle of redubbed titles from the '90s (Gunbuster, Macross II, Macross Plus) transformed into a flood of content.
Two things, in my opinion, were the major drivers of that transformation: DVD and Cartoon Network.
I bought my first DVD player in 2000, right after Christmas. By then, most major studios had started to embrace the format change, but there was still a limited number of titles available. Among the first few discs I bought was the complete (at the time) OAV version of Tenchi Muyo. I had seen one of the Tenchi movies on SciFi once upon the time, and while I knew next to nothing about the series I was sufficiently entertained by what I had already seen to spend the money on the box set. (Besides, I wanted something to show off the new player besides The Matrix and Gladiator. Several anime publishers, including Pioneer, ADV and Central Park Manga, saw the DVD platform as a good way to appeal to the 18-25 demographic, and so in the early days of the format anime titles made up a good chunk of what stores had for display.
Around the same time, Cartoon Network started airing a few titles that had been dubbed for US DVD release, including both the OAV and television versions of Tenchi Muyo. Toonami, CN's action block, became increasingly anime-based, and really took off when Cartoon Network acquired the US broadcast rights to a little something called Dragonball Z. What followed was an avalanche of franchises, from Pokemon to Gundam and beyond. A lot of it was crud, but as Sturgeon's Law points out, "90% of anything is generally crud".
Tomorrow, I'll get down to titles that have left a lasting positive impression.
Dear Spambots,
What the frelling hell is so interesting about this post that you keep coming back here?
I mean, I don't want to actively encourage your ilk, but I'm genuinely fascinated about what sort of demented algorithm keeps selecting a five year old post about anime as a promising place to push bargain basement handbags and pills.
Posted by: Brian | June 04, 2012 at 07:04 PM