A good Friday afternoon to everybody out there. Anybody watching the World Cup matches today? Not me since I'm at work now ＿|￣|○ Anyways, it's been one of those weeks for me -- zero energy, haven't felt like doing much of anything beside going to work and coming home, then watching stuff and just being lazy in general. Not good timing with the rush of new shows starting (^^;) Actually sleep decently last night so I've got a bit more motivation to get things done today, though ;) The new season got underway yesterday and continues on tomorrow with even more shows starting. Here's Saturday's lineup of new shows that I'll be watching: Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z - 7:00 (Friday, 6pm Eastern) Otogi Juushi Akazukin - 9:00 (Friday, 8pm Eastern) Mamotte! Lollipop - 26:00 (Saturday, 12pm Eastern) Tsuyokiss - 26:05 (Saturday, 12:05pm Eastern). You can watch the OP here ...too many for one day, really ＿|￣|○ As usual, I can't guarantee I'll write something about all of those, but we'll see.Yoake mae yori ruri-iro na - Crescent Love - Site Open ..and if I could access it I might be able to say more here ＿|￣|○ It's based on the game by August (some of you might remember them as the company that did Hanihani).. Ah, there it goes... rather slow at the moment. Ahem... Story, Cast/Staff and Character Info on there now. Only cast listed for now is Feena@Hitomi Nabatame, the animation will be handled by Daume. It's scheduled to air on BS-i this Fall. Japan: Anime's Highs and Lows (Next Generation) Next Generation's Japanese correspondant comments on the current state of anime as he sees it, then connects it to Japanese gaming in general -- and he doesn't like it. I'll quote a bit here to give you a taste. The first paragraph:"I'd like to say that the sea of Japanese pop-culture contains a few glimmering pearls that manage to never wash up on Western shores. I'd like to tell you that modern Japanese entertainment consists of more than the tacky "idol" singers in brightly-colored clothes who dance and kind of sing in front of audiences of obsessed middle-aged men. I'd like to tell you that animated pornography starring girls and monsters in the Japanese style is actually being made by some other country as something of a practical joke." And another quote:"All we see, now, are wacky, tacky, tired animated shows about large-breasted, pink-haired schoolgirls squealing and punching and blasting psychic powers. (I'm not referencing any particular series, by the way, just a generalization.) If you consider Japanese pop culture "wacky" or "crazy" or even "zany" -- it's not your fault. It's just because no one's really trying." The writer seems to prefer what you could say are more "literary", or "high" forms of entertainment, so it's not surprising he holds this view. It's true that there are plenty of shows and games like the kind sweepingly generalized in the above quotes, but just about any form of popular entertainment just about anywhere in the world has parts that appeal to what could be called the "lower" desires of its audience in this view. Like the writer, I do enjoy the works of "high" culture like the films made by Studio Ghibli, or Shigesato Itoi's Mother series of games, but I neither expect nor desire everything to be that way. I watch anime to have fun and enjoy myself, that's all. Sure, some of the things I watch (and might enjoy as a guilty pleasure) fall into the writer's stereotype of anime, but there are plenty that don't. And while they might not exactly have "literary" aspirations, some shows might have themes that even the writer would approve of -- ARIA's message to find wonder in the small, everyday things in life, for example... It's just very frustrating to me to have to explain why the the picture of anime presented in the media (often times much like the quotes above) isn't entirely accurate. ..and that's enough about that for now ;)
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