Making the ladies swoon since the 1970’s.

Lately I’ve been watching Rose of Versailles, as it was a fairly seminal work in the field of shoujo, and also, perhaps of more relevance to myself specifically, because of the fact that Revolutionary Girl Utena has been said to owe its roots to it. However, there is a pretty big difference between the two, one which I suddenly realized while watching Rose of Versailles – Oscar is most certainly GAR, where Utena… well, is not, although I will say that fact doesn’t detract from her character at all.

Of course, mentioning Utena and Oscar in the same sentence does bring up something that is fairly important to mention: Oscar is a woman. I know you’re probably looking at the above picture now and scratching your head, but its true. Just remember that this is Riyoko Ikeda who created this, ok? She’s somewhat known for her manly-looking females (check out St. Just in Oniisama e… if you don’t believe me).

For those of you not familiar with Rose of Versailles, it begins in pre-revolution France with the birth of Oscar Jarjeyes. Oscar’s father, General Jarjeyes, is upset that he has yet another daughter, as he yearns for a male heir. So he makes a fateful decision: he’ll raise Oscar as a boy! Fast forward about fourteen years, and we are witnessing the arrival of Marie Antoinette to France to marry the Dauphin, a man who would later become Louis XVI. Oscar is a capable swordswoman, and is tapped for the job of commander of the royal guard… or, as she sees it, Antoinette’s babysitter. It is a position which she does not desire, but finds herself holding regardless, thus beginning her life in the chaotic world of the French aristocracy at Versailles.

Ok, so when does Oscar get GAR in this whole thing?

Oscar doesn’t want the job of commander, since she feels it would just be a dead-end for her, but nevertheless kicks a misogynistic nobleman’s ass in a sword duel when the two are pitted against each other for the position. She then saves Antoinette, and the relationship between the Hapsburgs and France, when the Duc d’Orleans tries to kidnap Antoinette and replace her with a fake. This is a bit of a continuing theme, since she continues to save Antoinette at a somewhat even interval throughout the show. The ladies of Versailles spend quite a bit of time swooning over her and begging her to be their escort to various social functions. She has a few male admirers as well.

Perhaps the best example of her GAR-ness in the early proceedings comes when Antoinette rides a horse for the first time, and the horse charges off with the frightened young lady. Oscar jumps from her own horse over Antoinette’s horse, scooping up Antoinette as she goes by, and lands on the ground without a scratch on Antoinette. But Antoinette has fainted, and Oscar’s servant is brought before the king and informed he is going to be executed for being responsible for Antoinette’s condition. Oscar, who had to pull an embedded tree branch out of her arm after landing, insists that it isn’t his fault, demands that there be a trial if they still think it was his fault, and then states that, since the young man is her servant, her own life should be on the line if Antoinette is hurt. The servant is exonerated by the awakened Antoinette, and Oscar finally passes out from blood loss, having charged through Versailles, heedless of her own injury, in order to come to her servant’s defense.

As the series unfolds, Oscar’s nobility also comes about in reaction to the other aristocrats. She manages to stay above the various palace intrigues, often upset with how the nobles behave. She also begins to worry about France as a whole, having witnessed the increasing poverty of the lower classes and the callousness of her peers toward them. Basically, she wants to do the right thing, even if the right thing isn’t popular. And when Oscar cries, it is in anger (manly tears, shall we say?) over the cruel mistreatment of others and her inability to put a halt to it, as she does after a little beggar boy is shot by a cold noble.

Oscar is GAR, and – dare I say it? – she was GAR before anyone else really was (the manga serialization began in 1972, and the TV series began airing in 1979). Some might argue that since Oscar is a woman, she should be labeled as some feminized derivative of GAR, although I myself really don’t understand the need for distinction between male and female GARs (I have heard the term ‘GAR-moe’ tossed around before, but I find it to be a silly one – doesn’t feeling moe about someone necessarily undermine their ability to be GAR?).

Because nothing says pachinko like cute, pseudo-mermaids.

Despite having absolutely no expectations for Umi Monogatari going in (’cause, y’know, it was based on a series of pachinko machines), I’ve actually managed to end up feeling… kind of disappointed after two episodes. The fact that this was derived from a plotless source had been of some mild cheer to me, since it meant that the director, a.k.a. Junichi Sato, could really go anywhere he wanted with it. But so far its feeling like a return to his roots for him, as we find ourselves mired in what appears to be fairly standard mahou shoujo fare in the Sailor Moon vein.

“But, wait! Junichi Sato brought us Princess Tutu, and that seemed pretty generic to start off with, too!”

Well… except that Princess Tutu really didn’t seem all that generic to begin with, actually. Yes, Princess Tutu had some standard trappings of shoujo, but Drosselmeyer and the fairy tale-esque setting (and, truly, the presence of classical ballet) was a big tip-off from the get-go that Tutu was not going to be the same old magical girl effort.*

With Umi Monogatari, though, I’m finding it difficult to see any hope of it going above and beyond its genre. I find the level of fanservice disconcerting, and the entire proceedings so far just taste like a Sailor Moon/Mermaid Melody/Pretty Cure re-tread. I suppose I’m also irked at the misuse of poor Sedna (what, it wasn’t enough that the poor woman got her fingers snapped off?) (actually, admittedly, in some versions of Inuit mythology, Sedna’s fate is earned, although the version I’m most familiar with has her as the innocent victim), since that is the kind of thing I can get pissy about (remember the Disney movie Hercules? yeah, at age eleven or twelve I was ticked off by the liberties they took with the original myths…).

Yeah, and I am kind of annoyed that Marin looked a lot cuter in the promo art than she did in the show itself…

On the upside, the setting is perfect for a summer show, and the animators do manage to render the feeling of summer well – this would be a really good show to watch on a hot day. The animation is also fairly pleasing, and the OP and ED music fits the show very well; in particular, I like the ED as the animation is fun to follow along. In it, Marin and Urin watch The Little Mermaid (a version faithful to Hans Christian Andersen’s story, not the Disney version), with Urin showing much emotion at key scenes. Its cute.

Anyway, I’ll probably hang around for a few more episodes, but I’m not really expecting much… at the very least, though, I hope it becomes less boring, since formulaic mahou shoujo executed well is still fairly entertaining.

* To go completely off-topic, I’d just like to note the fact that Junichi Sato and Kunihiko Ikuhara both worked on Sailor Moon, and then went on to bring us two titans of shoujo, Princess Tutu and Revolutionary Girl Utena, respectively. Just kind of interesting, I suppose.

Raise the ghost of Foucault!

Actually, I changed my mind – tell the fucker to stay home, okay?*

Anyway, this post originally began as a comment on 21stcenturydigitalboy’s post on the term ‘otaku’. However, it got far too massive for it to be a simple ‘comment’, and then I realized I wished to go beyond simply looking at only the term ‘otaku’ – instead, I wanted to explore the idea of language in the abroad anime fandom in general; this will touch on the domestic, e.g. Japanese, anime fandom, too, but I am more concerned with looking at the issue of language within a subculture that is removed from the original subculture which permitted its own birth. All of which is a little confusing, but I cannot help but grasp at straws in trying to describe my intent (it also illustrates the fact that this is not intended as an attack on that particular post of 21stcenturydigitalboy’s, although I do disagree with trying to insist on keeping words always as always).

Let me attempt to make it a little clearer – abroad anime fandom is centered around an object (anime) which is inherently foreign. As such, it is inevitable that there will be some cultural bleeding over within the discourse surrounding it, and the more general behaviors of fans. This is due to the fact that one cannot fully separate anime from its Japanese context, since to do so renders one as a fan of things such as ‘Cardcaptors’ and ‘Robotech’, not a fan of CardCaptor Sakura or The Super Dimension Fortress Macross/Super Dimension Force Southern Cross/Genesis Climber Mospeada… which is to say that one enjoys what are, essentially, American cartoons – yes, they may be foreign in origin, but they deviate so fully from the originals as to honestly be different works, as the only thing truly remaining is the animation (no one considers Inspector Gadget to be anime, for instance – its animation was largely the product of Japanese studios).

But, I am getting away from the issue at stake here – that of language within the abroad anime fandom, perhaps most specifically within the English-speaking fandoms.

I take issue with the static definition with 21stcenturydigitalboy wishes to preserve for the term ‘otaku’. In his opinion, it should remain solely as a way of signifying (primarily) Japanese fans who fit the original definition, which is basically that of people for whom anime is an obsession which, quite often, interferes with their ability to function within societies expected bounds. The problem is, though, that demanding that a word remain frozen in time is not only impossible but even a bit wrong-headed, as the languages we are dealing in (Japanese and English) are not dead languages; they continue to evolve on a daily basis, as anyone who has heard the word ‘truthiness’ (a truly useful word!) can tell you.

However, the fact that we are dealing with a cross-cultural community (for true lack of a better term) complicates things further, as it introduces the phenomena of the loanword, itself a portmanteau brought about by the evolution of the English language. ‘Otaku’ is originally a Japanese term, one which has a certain definition. But within English discourse, it is a loanword, and as such its meaning is very much apt to become altered in its transition from cultures. As such, within English discourse, ‘otaku’ does not have the same meaning it does in Japanese, nor need it. Here it has been re-appropriated to act as a useful way of describing one who is extremely fond of anime, be it as a whole or only specific portions. Asking that it not be permitted to shift in meaning is akin to asking that the Japanese do not use the term ‘mansion’ to refer to condominiums – for one, it is too ingrained in its new form, and, secondly, there really is no reason beyond a stubborn desire to do so.

To continue in the vein of there being no real reason to demand a return to original form, let me dip into semiotics. Semiotics is, basically, the study of signs, and, by relation, of communication. Language can fall within the purview of semiotics, as language is essentially itself a system of symbols. We use language to communicate with others, and, in doing so, utilize a system of symbology which we know as our tongue. Consider when you speak to someone of a specific table – you mention that you have bought a new table for your kitchen. Unless you show your table or a picture of it to your listener, they will, in all likelihood, not picture the exact table you bought, but instead will think of one they themselves are familiar with. Thus, they know of what you speak, but not the specifics of it, just enough to understand what you are telling them about. As such, language is used to help simplify communication. The word ‘otaku’ simplifies communication within the abroad anime fandom even as it has come somewhat unmoored from its original, Japanese intent; there is absolutely nothing wrong with this fact, even if it does seem a bit annoying to more discriminating fans.

I would also point out that taking issue with the term ‘otaku’ drags up many, many other issues with language within the English-speaking anime fandom, chiefly the fact that the term ‘anime’ itself has been corrupted within the English-speaking community. In Japan, ‘anime’ refers simply to anything animated, regardless of its parentage. Given that, we should really be referring to what we call anime as ‘Japanese animation’. This is a mouthful, so we could be justified in shortening it to the obnoxious ‘Japanime’ if we truly wish to avoid corrupting Japanese terms relating to what we know as ‘anime’. But the first term is clunky, and the second fairly irritating, so we speak of the medium as ‘anime’.

Of course, these are merely the tip of the iceberg – the outdated ’shounen-ai’ and ’shoujo-ai’ referred to works of child pornography in Japan, while they meant light yaoi and yuri to American fans. Similarly, yaoi and yuri works were explicit and generally lacked plots, while in the English-speaking markets they have become catch-alls for their respective homosexual works of all-stripes (this is particularly obvious with ‘yuri’ since it does not have the lighter equivalent of ‘BL’ that yaoi has). ‘Moe’ for many fans simply means something (usually a young girl/woman) is adorable and does not connote an emotion inspired by those characters. I do believe that my point has been reached.

Language is an interesting thing, especially when dealing with a community that focuses itself around something that is foreign, since we get a much larger plethora of loanwords, and by association evolution of language, than one normally finds within any community’s discourse. If changes in connotations of terms do not occur during this, that is what is somewhat disturbing, since it represents a stagnation of the language. While it an be annoying to watch words change completely, and, perhaps more irritatingly, have those who use them in their ‘new’ form not understand the roots, it cannot and should not be ceased.

Oh, yeah, and moé-moé Link has absolutely nothing to do with anything in this post.

* Full disclosure: I despise Foucault merely because my mother is a professor of semiotics, and as a child I had to hear about Foucault (amongst others) endlessly at dinner table conversations – if it had been about Kurt Cobain or Ivan the Terrible, I’m sure the reaction would’ve been the same

Is that you, Dame Christie?

Confession: I’ve never seen Higurashi no naku koro ni.

Second Confession: Its those freaking lolis which keep me away.

Actually, it is a little more involved than that – I keep being told its really good, but I just can’t see anything about it from a distance that I’d like – adorable lolis going on murderous rampages and then getting completely reset? Not really my cup of tea, thanks. The setting really doesn’t do a hell of a lot for me, either.

That said, Umineko’s story simply appeals to me on several different levels that Higurashi couldn’t. One of the major reasons being the simple fact that Umineko makes me think of many of Agatha Christie’s works (although Christie never really had all that much gore, as I think one could safely say that And Then There Were None was about as explicit as any of her stuff ever was). Wealthy family duking it out over the family inheritance? After the Funeral, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and Crooked House, to name a few! Isolated group is terrorized by an unknown assailant? And Then There Were None, The Sittaford Mystery, etc.! Umineko also focuses on a class of people few of us will ever come into contact with, that of the aristocracy – for not only are these people very wealthy, they are one of those old families which hold an incredible amount of power. The way they dress, particularly the women (with the exception of Eva), emphasizes the Christie-esque feeling the proceedings have given me thus far.

So perhaps I actually just wished to speak of the show so I could regale you all with its similarities to Christie’s works. (As an aside, I’ve read at least forty-nine of her mystery novels.)

Anyway, though, Umineko is proving to be enjoyable, and mercifully lacking generally in lolis, with the glaring exception of the irritating Maria, who, sad to say, doesn’t look fated for the chopping block any time soon – if at all.

One of the high-points of the show is the music so far, as the OP manages to pull off the choral chanting without sounding like a hackneyed mess, and the background music fits perfectly. I’m also thrilled that no one tapped Yuki Kajiura for this, as, sad to say, all of her recent work sounds exactly like her previous work (am I the only one who feels disoriented by the Mai-HiME-sound-alike Pandora Hearts soundtrack?). And, unlike a few others, I find the ED to be likewise enjoyable.

The characters themselves are fine, although they could be said to be the weak point of the show. Battler’s perversion is fairly grating, given how thoroughly blatant it is, and the aforementioned Maria is downright obnoxious. Much of the remainder of the cast is fairly one-note, although I would point out that this really doesn’t matter much, as the show is clearly plot-driven – ultimately, it doesn’t precisely matter who dies, but that someone does. As such, archetypes work fine.

I do hope that this isn’t moving too quickly already, though – six folks dead by the second episode? Oh well, it does still leave twelve, though…

P.S. Beatrice is hot.

Uguu~

First off, despite being wished the best of luck by so many (which was very much appreciated), I must regretfully report that I am back early from training, having developed bone spurs in the backs of both my heels which prevent me from wearing my combat boots… in addition to having a dislocated shoulder, hyper-extended knee, and a sprained ankle. Remember kids: when your officers and NCO’s tell you that its perfectly safe to waltz around a foxhole-pocked land navigation course at night, don’t believe them!*

So I suddenly have a lot of new time on my hands, and have spent part of it perusing the new summer shows. In short, Aoi Hana, Umi Monogatari, Crying Sea Kittens Umineko no naku koro ni, and Taishou Yakyuu Musume, all of which went down fairly easily, ranging somewhere between ‘okay’ and ‘intriguing’. But the one with the crying sea kittens is that which has prompted this particular post… specifically, the ‘uu, uu!’ trademark noise of one Maria Uro-something-something.

Generally, trademark moé noises are intended to further endear the viewer to a character. Yes, they do have the potential to be irritating, but fans of those sorts of shows for the most part do find that these noises hit the proper target (innuendos on that point are not welcome). Even those who are not terribly large fans of moé can be found to grudgingly admit that the trademark moé noise is somewhat cute. So then why the hell is Maria’s trademark moé noise (heretofor to be known as ‘TMN’) making so many of us run shrieking for the hills?

The fact is, the ‘uu, uu’ utterance is not actually annoying in and of itself – or, at the very least, not as annoying as many viewers have found it to be. The first time she uttered it, I noticed its existence, but of course, but didn’t feel any sort of negative emotion toward it. My high irritation, truly, only came with repeated exposure, and worsened with the crying/slapping scene in the rose garden. After finishing up the episode, I found myself baffled – why love ‘uguu’, ‘hoe’, and ‘gao’ when I couldn’t stand ‘uu, uu’?

Duh, overexposure. Think about it – did Ayu use uguu every three seconds? Misuzu’s ‘gao’ was even less utilized. The TMN, then, worked because it was actually used sparingly, as surprising as that may sound. Sakura may’ve hoe’d every single episode, but not every other sentence. Maria, on the other day, sprinkles the uu, uu’s as liberally as a seven year old sprinkles sugar on cereal.

However, in a way this is excusable, since Maria’s TMN serves a larger purpose than mere endearment – her TMN acts to heighten the tense atmosphere of Umineko no naku koro ni. Consider the rose garden scene, with Maria’s escalating usage of the ‘uu, uu’ noise, and her mother’s reaction to it. We, as the viewer, are having a similar feeling regarding the noise as her mother, as evidenced by the fact that a whole lot of bloggers are guiltily admitting that they were kind of glad Rosa smacked Maria a couple of times in response. I, too, was glad Rosa slapped her child, despite the obvious that such an act should bother me, not satisfy me. The TMN was irritating me, and increasing any stress that I was feeling, just the sort of thing that a horror-type show should do.

Mercifully, the ‘uu, uu’ ratchets down by quite a bit in episode two, although I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of it. Even if it does serve a greater purpose, I still sincerely would love to stab that child through the head with a pick-axe.

* especially when your flashlight is a crappy, Vietnam-era, red-lensed clunker

Detonate it and run.

What do the title and intro line have to do with this post?

Initially, it might seem they have nothing to do with said post when you skip over this and notice that it concerns a hiatus! But this would be revealing your lack of cultural awareness… or, cultural awareness as I deem it. Because they are lyrics from the same song, and that song somehow relates to the term ‘hiatus’… but I won’t tell you what the song is or who it is by because that would be ruining my fun. It’d be like if I explained how I got my username; fun over for Day.

Anyway, all that aside: by the time you read this, I will be approximately 3000 miles away from my laptop, and, by extension, my blog. And I will remain at that distance for 34ish days. During those 34ish days, I will not have access to a computer, the internet, my cellphone, or a television. It is also quite possible that I won’t have access to a landline phone or even a newspaper. But the point is that I will be utterly cut off from the outside world – even from my favorite sports teams. Horrors, I know. It also means that I won’t be able to do first impressions posts for summer shows, since by the time I get back they’ll all be nearly a month old.

I am going away – away! far away! – for military training. Its kind of a big deal because I am also being assessed as to whether I can actually hack it as an officer in the U.S. Army. If I’m not its fairly bad news for me, since I could face forcible enlistment as an enlisted soldier (horrors!) and a shit-ton of sudden debt for my college education. All of which is to say – root for me!

I suddenly realized earlier that holy shit I’m actually gonna miss a lot of you guys. It occurred to me briefly that I could give you my mailing address so that you could pepper me with your cheerfully deranged views via postcards and letters. Then I realized that I actually don’t want the vast majority of you to know who I really am! Which isn’t to say I don’t like you (I love you), but that this amusing arm’s-length reality I have with you, my dear readers, means I can be even more batshit than I am with those near and dear to me in the real world (most of them don’t realize I love anime or that I have a strong affinity for things like ghosts and lake monsters). And, as always, there is a strange delight in ultimately being anonymous to one’s set of readers (I can lie as much as I want!).

So, please, my dear duckies, do know that I shall return, and hopefully I shall bear the good news of my having passed this, my final true assessment on the road to officerdom. In the meantime, feel free to write me comments full of love and longing for the day that I will once more be upon this blogosphere.

!!!!

I’ll admit it – despite having the Japanese reading skills of your average seven year old Japanese kid, I will flit through Kunihiko Ikuhara’s website/blog on occasion. I chalk this up to a silly little hope-springs-eternal feeling I have regarding his English language version of his page, which, sadly, hasn’t been updated since 2002. A few days ago, ANN had a little story on their front page about Ikuhara, and I merrily clicked onto his blog even though I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to read it.

Basically, the upshot of it is this: Ikuhara is working on an OP for an upcoming anime. This anime will be premiering in two weeks… and Ikuhara hasn’t gotten as far along on the OP as he should be. I took a close look at the sketches he had on his blog, since nowhere did it say what show it was. Looking at it, I thought, “Gee, that kind of looks like it could be Aoi Hana.” But I dismissed it as crazy, and my mind just being hopeful.

But over on Okazu today, Erica noted that one of her readers had pointed it out to her, saying that it looked like he was working on the Aoi Hana OP. So I’m not crazy! It does appear to be Aoi Hana!

Of course, this is still in the realm of pure conjecture… there is no confirmation as to whether it is true or not. But I thought I’d make myself and all the other Ikuhara fans out there (who somehow still exist… or what’s left of us) foolishly excited over something that it so small, ultimately. Ikuhara really hasn’t done a whole lot since he directed the Utena movie (pretty much limited to some brief storyboarding over the past decade), so its exciting when he does so something. I wish he and Chiho Saito would finish up The World of S&M (released here as The World Exists For Me), though, and that he’d then direct the TV version. Pipe dreams! A dime a dozen! But, despite Utena being his only true masterpiece, I would really be thrilled if he’d pick up directing again.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure the only folks out there who are swooning over this are myself and any combo Utena/Aoi Hana fans that exist. Can’t wait to see that OP (the picture above reminds me of the Utena OP, by the way).

From generic to awesome in one episode flat.

Anyone who watches this has already said it, but its really the best way of describing it – Pandora Hearts is this season’s dark horse… or sleeper hit, if you prefer. What initially looked fairly generic somehow managed to blow away the expectations, leaving us with a dark, fantasy-type show with plenty of horror elements thrown in for good measure (I don’t care what anyone else says – that rabbit doll with bleeding eyes in seven was easily one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen in an anime).

However, even given its stylistic strengths, this thing would be nothing without its cast. Yes, some elements of Oz aren’t terribly new or fresh, but at the same time I find his lack of broodiness and arrogant temperament to be a nice change of pace from our usual teenaged male leads. Alice also possesses a few archetypal traits, such as her amnesia, but thankfully goes beyond type – I find her animal-like tendencies to be fairly intriguing, and also enjoy her brashness and aggressive disposition. Sure, she might be another mysterious-girl type, but she’s got a ‘chin up’ attitude that those sorts usually don’t have – this isn’t the weepy, helpless amnesia girl one generally gets with such a character. Raven isn’t quite as engaging as the other two, honestly, but I do find his character change over the ten years of Oz’s absence to be pretty awesome – I probably would’ve clubbed him had he remained the whiny push-over of the first episodes.

Yet, given that, I can’t help but declare that the best characters of the show are two of the side-characters, Sharon and Break. Admittedly, this probably due in part to the mystery surrounding the two, neither of whom age during Oz’s years in Abyss. Even half-way through, a lot has yet to be explained about the two, although we have been informed of why they don’t age, and Sharon’s Chain somewhat makes an appearance in the most recent episode. Break probably ranks as my favorite character in the show, as he is both vaguely creepy and entirely enigmatic. It doesn’t hurt that his voice actor has his role nailed.

One can’t ignore the world-building that has taken place, albeit in a somewhat subtle manner. I’m hoping that the politics of the world don’t get too tangled, though, considering how many players we’ve already met, and the fact that it seems implied there are quite a few more lurking about whom we have not yet met.

Some people have complained about the animation for this show. I will admit that, had I not known, I probably would’ve initially put an airdate on this somewhere in the mid-90’s. However, if you look more closely, you’ll realize that, while certainly not the best thing currently, the animation really isn’t that bad. What the issue is here is that the artwork and style look a bit dated. Personally, I don’t mind; I love nostalgia avidly, and also think its kind of fun how the show looks a bit dated, since the type of show it is seems fairly suited to that 90’s era of fantasy shows.

My one peeve with this show is the background music, honestly – or, at the very least, the background music for battle sequences. Yuki Kajiura is on hand, sadly proving a criticism of hers, since all the music just sounds like her same old same old. Whenever Oz and his comrades duke it out with rogue Chains, I feel like I’m watching Mai-HiME all over again… which was ok for Mai-HiME, but this isn’t that, so could we get a little differentiation going here music-wise?

I’m looking forward to the second half of Pandora Hearts. Here’s hoping it can remain at its constant speed!

F*CK YEAH

Ok, ok… so I actually want to smack them upside the head usually, but I resist that urge because of something fairly important – they’re only what we used to be.

Ok, admittedly, I’ve defended weeaboos a lot in the past, so its a bit like ‘Why bother?’ at this pint. But, as is usual with things like this, I was prompted by another blogger’s post, wherein said blogger proclaimed to hate weeaboos. Whoa, ‘hate’? Isn’t that a little strong?

There are two types of weeaboos (and I mean weeaboos in general, not anime specific weeaboos): the kids, and the lifers. The kids make up the large bulk of weeaboos, primarily because being a weeaboo has a LOT to do with maturity, as opposed to with any inherent character flaw. Lifers make up the remainder, and these are the folks that I can’t really tolerate, since theoretically, they should know better, as, theoretically, they are adults. Basically, we’re talking the forty year old living in mom’s cellar type. They’re immature, and they have no excuse for it, because they’ve passed through physical adolescence already, where one is supposed to emotionally mature. But I’m not really concerned with them, since they make up only a small slice of the weeaboo pie (which is like regular pie, except it has SPARKLES, and ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, and SPEAKS JAPANESE!).

To return to my initial statement, we were all weeaboos once, because we were all young once (unless you happen to be Benjamin Button). We weren’t necessarily weeaboos about anime – we could’ve just as easily been Star Wars weeaboos or Backstreet Boys weeaboos or Playstation weeaboos. I myself was probably a J-pop weeaboo – I loved American cartoons too much to develop into a full-fledged anime weeaboo, although I did sprinkle my conversations with a tad bit of Japanese as a high schooler… but, hey, I spoke a deranged mix of English, Cantonese, and Japanese when communicating with a lot of my Asian classmates in high school, as did they, so I’m not entirely sure this would fall within the purview of weeabooism.

However, the usage of language does connect to the question of how people end up becoming weeaboos.

So here you are – you’re in middle school or high school. You’re going through a lot of changes. How do you identify yourself? Well, by what you like, because this is how you form relationships – by what you share in common with others. Or what you don’t – those people don’t like this, and I do, so obviously they suck. This is something that’s a bit clearer when its the dominant group doing it to the minority group, but it goes both ways, since it really couldn’t work otherwise (sort of like orientalism).

Like I said, everyone is a weeaboo about something at some point. But the fact is that we only really tend to notice the more extreme, less societally-acceptable iterations, which is to say that you aren’t really going to notice that someone is an American Idol weeaboo, because a lot of folks are, and to their peer group it seems totally normal, while to adults it just seems like am amusing adolescent/childhood whimsy (granted, it can be taken too far, but this is less likely when the obsession is tacitly acceptable initially, because one doesn’t feel a threat to their identity). On the other hand, an anime weeaboo… well, there are some immediate alarm bells, for lack of a better term, on the part of their peer group and elders – wait a minute, you’re fourteen years old, why are you watching cartoons? And why are they in another language? Wait, isn’t all that stuff porn?

Generalizing, anime weeaboos are immediately marked aside as ‘weird’ by peers, even if they have a pretty normal like for anime – yeah, its something they like, but not the be all to end all. Even so, though, they get labeled as the ‘other’, since their behavior is deemed abnormal. Some people just roll with this, shrug their shoulders, and get on with their lives. A lot… well, don’t. Remember, they’re in middle school or high school – social life is a pretty big deal (not to mention that middle schoolers are all veritable monsters, fairly given to tormenting classmates) since it does have a lot to do with how comfortable (or not) someone feels at school, which is basically the equivalent of the workplace for minors (if your workplace was like middle or high school for you, how long would you last?). So, here you are, fourteen year old – your identity is being threatened because your classmates think you’re a weirdo, that you’re socially unfit. What now?

And so the weeaboo issue arises. If your peers are rejecting you, chances are you’ll strike right back and reject them. What do they know, anyway? Japan is basically the best place ever! I bet people don’t suck over there like they do here! I mean, look, they have anime on TV every day and adults read manga during their commute! They’re more like me than these losers!

So the weeaboo portion of the anime habit develops as a way of preserving identity. It handles social rejection by rejecting the ‘normal’ social scene, replacing it with a public sphere of one’s own. To go back to the language bit, using a foreign language with other fans acts as another way of reinforcing one’s own identity, since it necessarily excludes non-in-group members – they don’t know what you just said, so they can’t follow your discourse… and if they can’t follow your discourse, than they aren’t likely to join in. Consider it – if you don’t know what people are talking about, are you probably going to pay attention to their conversation? Are you going to join in?

This language thing is part of the larger process of going to further and further extremes to establish and protect identity. The ones who start wearing particular items or clothing from certain shows demonstrate another part, as this, again, identifies them as part of the anime fan group. Once they’ve established this fact, though, you’ll notice that they begin to jealously defend certain series they enjoy. This stems from the fact that, once they have designated their status as anime fans, they then face threats from other fans to their core identity, which basically boils down to ‘who is the best fan?’ This designation itself is bound up in a large variety of factors, since the term ‘best’ is pretty ambiguous when it comes to something such as being a fan of a certain thing. But the best fan can be considered to like the best shows – and if you’ve decided that Inu Yasha is the best show, guess who you’re going to be running around dressed as? And guess what show you’ll be defending tooth and nail?

The thing is, this really isn’t a permanent stage, and its pretty easy to notice that the number of weeaboos begins to drop at a breakneck pace once folks begin hitting college or the post-high school world. Suddenly those kids who refused to watch anything that wasn’t Japanese are talking about how interesting they found Watchmen or asking you if you’d like to go see The Departed. And the random Japanese words seem to be dropping by the wayside in every day conversation. And, now that you think of it, you can’t remember the last time they smacked you with a yaoi paddle or tried to glomp a stranger at a con!

Which is all to say – weeabooism is a stage for the vast majority of people. Yes, it is irritating, and, yes, I do want to kick them in the shins sometimes… but I try to remind myself that, given a few years, they’ll probably develop into a fairly level-headed young adult who loves their anime, but not to the exclusion of other forms of entertainment. In the meantime, the best you can do for them is try to point them in the direction of good anime or manga, and hope that maybe they’ll get hung up on a Princess Tutu instead of a Naruto, and point out to them when their behavior is too over the top – which, basically, is what you’d probably do to anyone running around being obnoxious.

So, basically: love the weeaboo, hate the weeabooism.

Girls, girls, girls.

Yesterday, I did the anime part of a BL guide. Today, I was going to move into the BL manga portion… but then I decided to do a yuri iteration first, admittedly in large part due to the fact that tackling BL manga is a fairly daunting task indeed. So, heave ho and away we go for yuri anime recommendations.

Title: Maria-sama ga Miteru

Year: 2004, 2006, 2009

Rating: 12+

Brief Summary: Lillian Girls’ Academy is a private Catholic school for girls from kindergarten through 12th grade. Yumi is a freshman at Lillian who finds herself caught up in the drama of the Yamayurikai (the student council) when she catches the eye of the popular but emotionally distant Sachiko. Girls at Lillian are involved in ’souer’ relationships, where an older girl will take a younger girl as her ‘petite souer’ in a bit sister-little sister style relationship. The series follows Yumi and the other girls of the Yamayurikai as they interact and experience daily living at the elite girls’ school.

Comments: Quite frankly, most of the yuri in MariMite is subtext, with the glaring exception of Sei. But the viewer is intended to interpret certain relationships within the frame of yuri, so I think we can still leave it within the yuri category fairly safely. This show is kind of the holy grail of the current yuri fandom, in the sense that it is fairly mainstream (three TV series, one OVA series, and counting), legitimately good, and has girl-girl loving. For those who are patient, MariMite is sure to satisfy.

Warnings: none I can think of

Title: Simoun

Year: 2006

Rating: 15+

Brief Summary: Simoun is a story about a world in which all beings are born as female, and upon their seventeenth birthday are either assigned or permitted to choose a permanent sex. However, in the land of Simulacrum, some are allowed to delay this decision by becoming sybillae, priestess-pilots who, in pairs, perform prayerful duties by carving symbols into the sky with their heavenly aircraft, known as simoun. Aeru has just joined a chor, a group of sybillae, and is eager to find a partner amongst the other girls. She settles on Neviril, but Neviril is brooding over the loss of her former partner, and does not wish to have a new one. In the background, strife begins to boil between Simulacrum and her neighbors. As war begins to engulf the land, the sybillae find themselves being forced from religious duties into duties of the front line, confronted with fundamental questions of their role in the world.

Comments: I find that labeling Simoun simply as ‘yuri’ is a little bit reductive, as there is a lot of stuff at work here having to do with human nature and relationships. At its core, Simoun is a coming-of-age story, but it takes a closer look at gender politics than many of its like kin do (with strong exceptions like Revolutionary Girl Utena and Afterschool Nightmare). There is also a fairly healthy dollop of religious analysis in here, as the girls of the cast are explicitly identified with the religion of the land through their role as priestesses. Yes, Simoun is about maturing from childhood to adulthood, but it is also about humanity as a whole. Very interesting stuff – too bad the fanservice (in the form of some of the pilot and training outfits, and the kissing required to activate the simoun) probably drives a lot of people away from this.

Warnings: some implied incest

Title: Blue Drop

Year: 2007

Rating: 12+

Brief Summary: Mari, the sole survivor of a mysterious incident four years prior, is a reluctant new transfer to Kaiho Academy, a girls’ high school. She finds herself rooming with the seemingly-reserved Hagino, who is secretly an alien who commands the spaceship, Blue, collecting intelligence in preparation for an invasion. The two find each other at odds, but begin to grow closer despite Mari’s abrasive personality. However, Hagino’s mission cannot be forgotten, and soon enough Mari finds herself caught up in things she could never have imagined.

Comments: AVOID THE MANGA. Blue Drop is one of those cases wherein the manga is utterly different from the anime… and although the anime is allegedly based on the manga, it is infinitely better. One of Blue Drop’s finer points is that, although there do happen to be aliens floating around, the characters act fairly normally – which is to say that no one is having MariMite proportioned misunderstandings anywhere in this. Mari’s acidity is initially a bit annoying, but she lightens up as the series progresses. The animation is also extremely pleasing to the eye.

Warnings: can’t think of any

Title: Strawberry Panic

Year: 2006

Rating: 16+

Brief Summary: Nagisa is a new transfer student to St. Miator Girls’ Academy (gee, so something new and different), an elite school situated on Astraea Hill, which also houses two other girls’ schools. She finds herself overwhelmed by the new experience, something which is not helped when she becomes to newest target of the resident playgirl, Shizuma. Meanwhile, her new room-mate, Tamao, obsesses over her. Will Nagisa figure out that every single person at Astraea is a complete and total lesbian (until graduation), or will she forever wander clueless, a slave to the sexual harassment whims of her peers?

Comments: Strawberry Panic is ridiculous. But it also is a very good cataloging of virtually every yuri trope alive – schoolgirls, umbrellas, all-girls’ school setting, Catholic all-girls’ school setting, tragic past romantic experience, wounded playgirl-type character, sexual harassment, big sister-little sister relationships… you name it, you can find it in Strawberry Panic. I recommend it, but only because its trashy crap at its best.

Warnings: nakedness, implied sex, attempted rape(s)

Title: Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence Apocalypse

Year: 1999

Rating: 16+

Brief Summary: Utena arrives at the mysterious Ohtori Academy clad in a boys’ uniform, unable to get past her attachment to her former boyfriend, Touga, who has disappeared out of her life. Once at Ohtori, though, she is swept up into the intrigue of the duels for the Rose Bride, as she inadvertently becomes involved when she intercedes to protect the enigmatic Anthy. Her intervention leads to her possession of anthy, the Rose Bride, although Utena is quite opposed to the idea. Ohtori is a strange place, and despite her desire to not become wrapped up in the school’s grand drama, Utena finds she cannot escape the clutches of the structure. Or can she?

Comments: A retelling of the TV series, this time with Utena and Anthy actually yuri together. If you thought the TV series was hard to completely understand, the movie will happily throw you for a loop, as it ups the symbolism of the show and throws more bizarre imagery in for extra measure. There’s also the fact that, although the TV series had some supernatural goings-on, the movie really ups its disconnect from reality. And, yes, this is the one where the girl turns into a car. Highly recommended, even if it will make your brain hurt. However, while Utena and Anthy do ultimately form the central couple, the movie in general is, like the TV series, about becoming an adult and what that exactly means.

Warnings: incest, pedophilia, implied sex, implied rape