harry_kinomoto

As much as my logical brain agrees with all this, I think there's just something about how making an already awesome story an even more multisensory experience, with proper animation, that makes it even more awesome. I'm particularly interested in how they're going to adapt the storyline: and as long as they don't try to cram in too many unresolved plotholes *ahemCharlotteahem*, I think I will be able to enjoy the ride! PS: I didn't really enjoy the Steins;Gate anime either :<

zomg hype Hype HYPEEEE!!!!! I look forward to starting a new round of debates with everyone on how Tomoyo is NOT romantically in love with Sakura at all

S,GFBDGILDF that MUSIC, them FEEEELLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSS >.< I hope it's not an April Fools' Joke!

@KeadRei I knew it wouldn't be long before Gurren Lagaan got mentioned! Kamina's bombast definitely qualifies for me as something quite inspiring. For me, it's a great example of the kind of leadership described by Iskandar in @babiker's signature: a person who displays behaviour in the extremes lends himself to be followed as a role-model, because he is a tangible standard people can strive for: a manifestation of what their dreams are in reality, an example of what they COULD be, if they committed themselves enough! Bonus Omake for Gurren Lagaan fans: Oh, make no mistake, she might not have understood it fully, but she definitely knew what she was talking about. The phenomenon of transference is accepted as a well-documented fact. Happiness is definitely contagious - but be warned that negative emotions are as well!

What anime have personally inspired you? I was prompted to ask this after reading THIS article. I will copy and paste the most relevant bits here. Please do read it before posting: because this idea of "inspirational" is surprisingly profound, and I believe it deserves to be shared. First, what exactly is meant by inspiration, or as he comes to call it, "elevation"? He also talks about how this effect is observed after people watched movies: It is also worth emphasizing how this is not just mere happiness; this is kind of happiness that keeps on giving: And needless to say, there are probably many countless anime that you've watched that have made you inspired enough to want to pay it forward. Which ones were they, and what were you inspired to do? Share them here, and help make the world a better place, one anime at a time! PS: Probably deserves a similar topic for VNs too...

Ah, my bad, thank you for pointing that out. It was in the Kanon entry that I saw that, though I nevertheless feel most VNs regrettably unable to break out of that stereotyped mold. I'm relieved the Wikipedia doesn't reinforce that by saying it for VNs though! Yes, you are absolutely right. But I do think that VNs (or at least the ones I'm thinking of) make a direct appeal to the character in ways that other media just don't. Put it this way: I get the impression that in ancient England, most guys would not have leapt up screaming JULIET MAI WAIFU!!! after seeing Shakespeare's famous play. I think such practices are unique to our time, and I daresay an indication of the way in which our form of Japanese popular culture aims to appeal to its fans. I would have said the practice is unique to Japanese culture too, but that may be debatable. There are of course similar fan communities with Western series like Twilight and Harry Potter. But that in itself poses the interesting question of whether or not this is a symbol of the fluid nature of these cultural practices (e.g. if these fangirls are simply anime fans dabbling in a different series), or something else entirely.

There have been so many anime started out strong, but fell flat on its face as it descended into something generic and unoriginal. Or worse still, leaves EVERYTHING unanswered in the not-so-subtle AND NOW WE WAIT FOR A SEASON 2~~ One from recent times that I'd like to mention is Shimoneta. It was a clever concept, developed rapidly and had great twists, but after the initial bombshells about Anna were dropped, it falls into generic shonen-anime fare...

It may be worth defining some important terms for the sake of clarity. Definitions used are my own, borrowing heavily from the idea that there exists different types of love. Affection: a feeling of gentle, tender regard towards another human being. Not necessarily sexual or romantic in nature. Also known in some circles as "platonic love". Romance: the mood created when something happens that deepens bonds between two human beings. There is a direct implication that the behaviour would lead to the two becoming lovers. Sexual Love, aka eroticism: broadly speaking, sexual feelings towards another human being: i.e., the I-want-you-in-bed-with-me kind. The kind of love that "nukige" try to inspire in its players. Needless to say, while there may be distinctions between these different forms of love in theory, people who experience them very often get them confused together. I think trying to make these distinctions, if indeed they do exist, is what makes OP's question so fascinating for me. Wikipedia describes visual novels as games that "focus on the appeal of the female main characters": and I think this statement is strikingly accurate. I think VNs are specifically engineered to inspire feelings for their characters. And I think its worth asking: how much of this actually comes from "romantic love"? Affection is definitely a large part of it - but that would be an expected reaction towards anything that manages to get you so emotionally invested. You can't spend time with someone and then end up NOT feeling something for him/her. Of course, those feelings might be purely platonic, but you will inevitably have memories of the time in that person's presence, and these memories will inevitably hold emotions. I think this is true not just in the case of finishing a VN or game (especially the long ones), but also in real life. My personal view is that romantic love in VNs can in many instances be superfluous, and if emphasized too much, a detractor to the original story. The most prominent example is the VN that tries to force in a route with every_single_female_character, regardless of whether or not it is warranted or not. My second bugbear is when the possibility of romantic development for any other character outside of the MC is neglected: which to me just feels a little unrealistic - not to mention ridiculously unfair. One of my favourite examples of both of these is Clannad (poor Sunohara!). On the other hand, the Angel Beats anime was remarkable for subverting both these tropes; though of course in the VN remake they were trying to to return to them all over again... I'm not even sure why this is such an annoyance for me. It's more likely just a simple question of taste, though a part of me feels that a VN that completely ignores the sexual elements to deliver a tale of two comrades-in-arms has the potential to deliver a much more profound message, that goes beyond the idea that VNs are datesims and nothing more! Unfortunately, I still have't found that VN yet... As an interesting but relevant aside, it would be worth examining where exactly Moe sits on the spectrum of love.

I think the statement Madoka being a "deconstruction" is more due to how it plays upon the construct of the magical girl genre as opposed to some epistemological take on magic per se. As we know, before Madoka, magical girl shows were uniformly happy, cheery, and even though they did include an element of conflict, the most challenging way this was presented was by showing a straight, obvious, black-or-white good guy VS the bad guy. The bad guy would be vanquished, good would have triumphed, everyone would celebrate, and all would be well. But what if the bad guy was actually abused as a kid, had a legitimate reason for waging war against the world, and being defeated and killed is really just the strong vanquishing the weak by another name? OK I'm running off my mouth a bit here cos I'm tired and it's late, but my point does stand: heavy-handed themes like these are not normally discussed in magical girl anime: it is simply NOT the norm, mainly because it is difficult to make a kid's show that presents themes like these in a way that kids will actually understand. This is of course not to say that these ideas are ORIGINAL. And it's certainly not to say that no one has TRIED. But it's interesting because when magical girl series try to add that extra "depth" to it everyone ends up thinking it's the best one since sliced bread. And that, I guess, was Madoka's "hook". And they didn't half-ass their portrayals of death, tragedy and destruction. The thing with Mami in episode 3 for example, again, nothing PARTICULARLY original about that kinda thing happening, but simply the fact that it happened in a show that for the previous 2 episodes you'd watch alongside Card Captor Sakura and struggle to tell the difference. It was the packaging that made the difference as opposed to the idea itself I think. In much the same way that while you may not be surprised at, say, finding a gun in a weapons box; but if you found a fully-loaded AK-47 in a young girl's toy chest you'd probably be a little taken aback! On a final note, I think that makes an interesting point on the direction of creativity. I recall people laugh out the guy who said: "everything that can be invented has already been invented". But I sorta see where (s)he's coming from, because it's actually extraordinarily difficult to create an ENTIRELY novel idea that no one else has EVER thought about ever. Applying knowledge in fields that others had not previously thought to apply them, however, can sometimes lead to remarkable results~

LOLL nah, it was simply cos it illustrated the points I was trying to make best. Certainly didn't mean it as anything against anyone specifically - there are much more like it; just that this one was most conveniently available to hand!

Very interesting debate and could go on forever. Let me highlight what I feel are the main issues that have been highlighted thus far: Underage children are sexualised in anime/VNs/etc, often to a great deal. This is best illustrated with a case example. Consider the picture below: · Her body has proportions of an "hourglass figure" - something associated with femininity. This draws attention to the girl's breasts and hips - both of which play important roles in childbearing. · There is a prominent bulge in her lower abdominal region - right where her reproductive organs should be. Reinforces the idea of "childbearing hips". · Her groin area displays a prominent "cameltoe" bulge: ie female genitalia - ie more sexual imagery. · Despite the nod to such heavy-handed subjects, the tone of the picture is generally carefree. The girl looks happy, inviting, and the backdrop is tranquil. It is made to help you enjoy the scene, generally help you believe you’re having a good time. Needless to say, the anatomy of a normal child will not have such obvious emphasis in any of the abovementioned aspects. While it is of course true that artists are entitled to bend the rules of reality for the sake of art (so-called artistic license), their doing so encourages us to consider WHY they chose to emphasize THESE specific aspects and WHY they do it in THIS specific way. Children in anime do not behave like children IRL. Eldin said it well: The depth of problems most “high-school” anime deal with and the psychological maturity with which their characters deal with them are way beyond anything I expect of many adults; let alone children. Indeed I think creating such powerful characters is the aim of the storywriter. It’s what makes them cool – it makes us admire them, then on some level try to emulate them IRL. Do countries that do not operate within the Japanese cultural context have a right to tell them what to do? Careful when you make judgements based on a single newsworthy story that serves more to grab your attention than to present the whole picture. While I certainly sympathise with the lady’s plight and hope she gets the legal protection she deserves, considering the merits of that law needs to be done in the context of the country that set them. While Japan has low rape/paedophillia statistics, this may be more to do with the fact that their crime rate IS generally low; as opposed to evidence that their lolicon material does not encourage it. That is to say, the impact this material will have in a JAPANESE context will not be the same as the impact it will have on a WESTERN context. To know that, you need to consider societal/aesthetic differences between the two cultures, and whether or not these will have any impact to the end result. Even if there is a law in place, would it be effective at all? At its heart, it should serve to protect the children. That much, at least, should be clear. So this makes the question: does ALLOWING sexualised imagery of fictional children harm the IRL children? In many ways, this also asks: does looking at 2D porn make people want to sexually abuse IRL kids. Many people have already given an emphatic “NO”, the reasons typically targeting the boundary btw fact VS fiction. While I can certainly see sense with most of these, considering how no one has ever tried to argue for the converse, let me for a moment play devil’s advocate and do just that. Thing is, first impressions count. Canon be damned; Bakemonogatari’s Shinobu is a small blonde girl with the build of a loli, looks like a loli, and therefore for anyone who hasn’t read the story, they WILL invariably see her as an underage girl. And as Kitouski’s post demonstrates, trying to change their mind of this is very difficult. That said, as we learn more and more about her – not just her age, but also her highly-developed personality, her extraordinary memory, her exceptional fighting prowess, I think at some point in time the switch begins to flip and people realise that inside she is actually is a highly mature adult. Thing is before you know all this, its difficult to conceive that your eyes deceive you. Seeing BEYOND the superficial, certainly, is a very high-level mental skill. Obviously, the danger then comes if someone is unable to deploy that skill, yet goes and reads one of those VNs with flat-chested characters as their protag. Even if they are not sexually explicit, I hope I have convinced you at least some way that things do not necessarily need to be that obvious before they potentially become a corrupting influence. So what do I think needs to be done? At the end of the day, if someone is assured enough to realise that what they see onscreen is different to what they see IRL, its difficult to envision why eroge VNs would require stricter legislation than standard porn. While I remain convinced that their way of being explicit is still potentially more subtle, to the mature-enough mind, flagging up the fact that this IS porn (even though it may not look it) should suffice. And that’s all well and good for making sure anime as we know it continues along I guess. However, I think it also highlights the sad fact that at its present stage, eroge VNs remain no more than porn, and, really, no more classy than that movie you might find in the red light district!! Sad times indeed

Very interesting discussion we’ve got going here. I absolutely love visual novels, of course; but much of why they are so good has already been said quite well. So let me, for the sake of argument, play devil’s advocate, and put forth some points. Point 1: Visual novels are offshoots of Japanese media (ie anime/manga/LNs/other VNs etc). That is to say, all VN devs are influenced by Japanese media in some way or another. While there have been attempts to produce a “Western” VN, such efforts feel like feeble attempts to imitate the better Jp VNs. Point 2: The direction that Japanese media is currently progressing in is VERY different to where it used to be heading 10 years ago. The overwhelming majority of anime (or manga/LNs etc) is drawn, storyboarded, and produced as a direct homage to what people think to be “moe”. While not all anime are as blatant about it by dangling the carrot of added blu-ray fanservice as a possibility, all of them have that one girl that they will try to push as poster-girl. There will always be the same hints: she will be single, have firm ideals and a great “inner strength”, but still with an obvious air of vulnerability about her. The show may also implant in the viewer’s mind the idea of a relationship by mentioning she is single, showing how popular she is with her other cast members, or discreetly sneak in a fanservice shot or two. She is almost never already “taken”; or in the rare cases that she is, her boyfriend will invariably be some embodiment of the classic otaku stereotype that she is designed to appeal to. Point 3: This has implications for the future of VNs, because VNs are offshoots of Japanese media. The reason why the above discussion is relevant to VNs is because VNs originated as stories that “focus on the appeal of the female protagonists” – or, in common parlance, their level of “moe”. Not one VN does not have getting together with said female protagonists as their end-point. As such, to make this a desirable end-point, they make their girls more likeable, more moe. The resounding success these VNs have had proved to devs of other Japanese media that this is a sellable stereotype, and as such they have tried to incorporate it into their stories as well. Furthermore, the “moe” phenomenon is not the only thing they had borrowed from VNs; anime take their lessons from VNs in many other ways – it could be as subtle as this; or as obvious as discussing VNs in the anime themselves. Point 4: By having ALL VNs “focus on the appeal of their female protagonists”, it restricts the market – of ALL Japanese media – to developing ONLY the aforementioned – at the expense of all others. While it is true that we have VNs to cater to all tastes, it is perhaps more surprising that this has occurred DESPITE the fact that ALL VNs have this common theme of characterising each of their endings as belonging to a specific girl (ie one of their protagonists). This almost certainly is detrimental to the devs’ creative potential, as it forces them in to making sure EVERYTHING they produce fits this specific critieria – almost as if the presence of moe elements as an inviolable dictum that devs would fear to breach for fear that the market would not yet be ready for such ideas. There are endless ways in which a story could develop or end on, whether or not it “belonged” to a girl (or indeed if romance is present or not); but now, because that is all everyone seems to be restricted to developing, I fear Japanese media market runs the risk of stagnation once all possibilities in this field are exhausted. As always, alternate points of view are welcome~ B)

Finished Karen Bee arc of Nisemonogatari - so that's first 7 eps done. Considering how every episode seems to say something or other about the best method to remove someone's panties, I'm actually surprised at how few ACTUAL pantyshots there are (i.e.: none). Instead, we get the usual (very) sharp dialogue and witty visuals that the first season is known for. Its not ALL comedic gold, I guess, but its all original enough, very well presented, or in the instances that they aren't, they at least move swiftly on enough to give you another. While it might be a bit of a stretch to call this THE THINKER'S ECCHI, I, at least, found it refreshing to have fanservice that doesn't JUST focus on how moe the character is! Also, OP Futakotome is gorgeous <3 PS: I liked Sengoku more with her hair down ;_; PPS: Isn't Senjougahara more YANdere than TSUNdere!!?

Eh well as it stands there are very few I know of that are based in London anyway. Those that I do know of have a pitifully limited selection, and very rarely sell what I want. And when they do, its still something like 3 times cheaper to get the stuff online anyway. And that's saying something - considering Japanese goods are already ridiculously expensive even when buying online!

Some pretty neat stuff there Kendjin! Very interesting-looking wallet too! May I ask where in the UK this anime store is? Might pop in to take a look myself someday~

笑顔 えがお (egao) smile~

For pictures and discussion of spinoff comics, figs, VN hard copies and limited edition memorabilia~ I apologise in advance if there has been a similar topic, but I just got a few VN-based comics and thought to share some pics! I've not actually finished Steins;Gate yet either, but I thought they all had an adorable art style. Especially love the Rewrite one - that Kagari x Kotori is just <33333333 Anyway have the chibi Shizuru x Akane on its back cover to finish off~ Now I just need to unwrap them >.<

Granted, but you end up with an ancient phone with no apps, no internet capabilities, and a terrible battery life. I wish there was a piano anyone could play on anywhere in the world~

:lol: Would you forgive me if I apologised - its only because my sense of moe had stuttered, babatman-kun??

Marathonned Bakemonogatari on a 5-inch screen while on holiday! Yes, I'm (very) late to the party indeed~ Underwhelming, considering what I expected of it, I have to say. imho, the plot lacked impact. Very cookie-cutter storylines and rather cliched endings. Liked the fact that the characters stay on however. If it fell into the trap that VNs make - of going into a single heroine's arc at the exclusion of ALL others, then forgetting her COMPLETELY the moment it was done - it would have been dreadful! All things said and done though, very creative animation. Trippy visuals reminiscent of Madoka Magica's animations in the witch's world. A plus also for some well-executed comedy. Will definitely watch the 2nd season! Last but not least, Sengoku Nadeko >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hachikuji Mayoi COME AT ME BRO (That said, I don't think I've EVER encountered a character arc that was more fanservicey than her's!!! )

If you want something with good customisation options, I understand the latest Phantasy Star Online (PSO) offers it in spades. I've seen a friend play it and it has an impressive number of ways to change your facial appearance. RE "social" side in SAO: gonna play devil's advocate for a moment and argue that there isn't really any of that in the SAO anime either. While all of Kirito's social interactions in SAO are cast in some positive light, all of them made Kirito out to be some ridiculous alpha-male. If it wasn't about his uber-hax battle capabilities, it was his rage against of PK-ers - which, again, required him to be an uber-hax fighter, just so that he could play his knight-in-shining-armour role to do away with all them baddies that dared to offend his delicate moral sensibilities. Because, after all, where is the shounen value in watching an inept weakling rage against such injustices - only to be PK-ed himself? As it is, I believe the concept of guilds where members are strongly bonded together, player-controlled weaponsmiths and merchants whom you frequent because of their skill in the trade, or trusty partners whom you can always count on to watch your back in a dangerous dungeon, are all already there. SAO just happened to come up with an effectively dramatised version that ticks all the boxes of most viewers out there.

Very interesting thread with very interesting opinions! I come to this discussion as being one of the anime's first most vocal critics when the first few episodes were aired. Having marathonned the entire anime in a few days, I stand by much of what I said, but still feel the anime was a reasonable experience. I mean sure, I still think the duel scenes were quite poorly animated, the gags badly executed, and the art style bearing resemblance to a low-budget hentai. But still, I find it wasn't enough to draw away from the main focus of the anime's story - the character development. You still get enough of a flavour for the drama that each of them goes through, and while we'll all have a list of favourites and nitpick for ages about the ones that aren't in that list, its very hard to say, point blank, that any of the routes actually sucked. That is to say, as bad as the micromanagement/directing of the anime was, it didn't detract from the storyline. I found this interesting, personally. I think it definitely says something about expectations, and how knowing an anime's storyline before watching it shifts your attention to other matters. +1! imho, have Riki start up romances with all the female protags and you'll go down the route of comedic harem anime. Not to say that it can't be done, but I appreciate that devs don't feel obliged to include romance if they don't want to. We've enough formulaic harem series at it is!!

Hmm I'll sign up for TLC! PM me with details~

....what you looking at, huh? Alright mate you asked for it - don't say I didn't warn you!! Arrived nicely on time - a day before my first exam at that! Considering she's supposed to be what she is, I fancied it something of a good omen imho it's a very well-made little thing. Solid material, impressive posability. Some complaints about how the joint on the base is a little loose for my liking, but it's nothing serious. I also find it intriguing how such minor variations in joint angle could potentially lead to quite different results - as you can see in the 2 photos above~ My thanks to all who replied!! I ended up using AmiAmi - fast service and even with the customs charge, cheaper than any other local company! However be warned that customs can potentially hit you hard - the going rate here in the UK is I think 15%? But on top of that is also a £8 flat fee. The customs website hadn't been very forthcoming about the flat fee... Still eager to see everyone else's figs!!

Hiroki Azuma's book on Otaku: Japan's Database Animals is all about this trend. In a nutshell, he argues how there has been a shift in attitudes. Where in the past people relied on Canon and the author's authority for the "one true world" of their anime to explore, nowadays they place more emphasis on its potential for derivative works. The modern fanbase, Azuma argues, has accumulated a "database" of these qualities and characteristics, that can easily be copy-pasted onto other works as and when appropriate. Many character stereotypes fall into this bracket. For example, if, say, one sees a blond girl with twintails stuttering: "it's not like I did this JUST for you....b-baka!!", you immediately think the character stereotype of tsundere: those who act all tough on the outside but are soft at the right moment, and start recalling other characters who may share this personality trait. It is tempting to use that to accuse the anime industry for relying only on this database when creating new works, and thus argue at how this has led to the death of originality and so on. Indeed, Azuma himself seems to think so sometimes, saying how works created without recognition of how they are linked to the database "will be weeded out by the market and disappear". Paradoxically, however, he also argues in other sections for how the the proliferation of derivative works has led to a situation where "all signs have begun to float without their foundation", hence meaning that "original and copy have come to have the same value". I have yet to make my mind up on which side I feel is more "correct". That said though, there are many works that I would think, be enjoyable to people even without knowledge of the "otaku database". While there are some that, for example, rely on previous conceptions of tsunderes for humour and plot development, other more refreshing works bring them to life with a solid backstory and convincing explanations why exactly they turned out to be as cold and reserved as they are. I also note how while those that build on the stereotypes may start off popular, it is the latter category of shows, that are able to inject new meaning to database tropes, that become hit classics - even if those database tropes have been in existence for ages before~ B)/>