#but the actual movie was first released in japan in 1986

[lazlolullaby]

TOH x Castle in the Sky fusion

OK so it’s not lining up exactly, histories and character arcs are going to be divided up between the Owl House characters, but I think it works. Focused on Willow, Gus, and Hunter, the Emerald Trio.

Lots under the cut. Anyone can borrow these ideas~

Teenager Willow is from a mining town that is drying up. Her father Gilbert is moving with her into the countryside around their extended family. Her other father Harvey is selling their home and arriving later. They say that they used to live there.

Willow falls immediately in love with the green hills and learning how to farm, how to tend to the plants and animals. She makes friends with a local girl, Amity. Gilbert swears that Willow and Amity used to be friends when they were little. She’s bonding with her extended family as well, her “honorary grandparents” Gwendolyn and Dell, with her “Aunt Lilith”, who is teaching her and Amity about the local folklore and “magic spells” that she knows.

There’s a family friend, Camila, who is so excited that there’s “another lovely young lady for my daughter to befriend!”

Unfortunately, her new life is interrupted in the middle of the night by the military. Her family is accused of crimes they didn’t commit. Willow and Amity are taken away from them as a result. They tried to get Lilith, but Camila fought them off. Willow is taken up into the air in a massive airship along with Amity.

They agree not to say anything, no matter how scary this General Phillip and his guards Kikimora and Hunter are. Amity overhears something about “The Key to the Castle” and realizes. Amity hands off a circular pendant with a golden moon with glittery stars to Willow and asks her to keep it hidden.

A few minutes after, the airship is attacked by pirates. The girls take the opportunity to attack Phillip and his guards. They climb out of the window, trying to get to another room.

Pirates arrive on the side of the ship – Amity recognizes and calls out to Luz, who is piloting a small craft. Pirate Captain Eda and Camila in Pirate gear poke their heads out of the window and try to get the girls back in.

Amity takes a leap of faith and gets onto Luz’s aircraft. Willow freezes, but tries to follow her friend. Amity and Luz try to catch her, but she slips out of their fingers. Amity says “It’s okay, you’ll be okay if you fall-” but Willow doesn’t really believe her.

Until, after a minute or two of wind whistling in her ears, the pendant glows and she slows down, floating to the ground. She thinks she’s dreaming, and the day’s events catch up with the low oxygen, so she faints. Because of fate, Willow lands near the entrance of a large mine back at her home city.

Gus was able to spot her and put her somewhere safe. He recognizes her and calls Harvey, who carries her to her old home. Gus wakes her up with so many questions, about why she was floating, and if she heard about this really cool “Castle in the Sky”. Gus wants to travel the world and see everything.

The relief is short lived – the Pirates, consisting of Eda, Camila, Raine, and Luz, are coming to take the Pendant. And the Military, with Kikimora, Hunter, and Warden Wrath arriving as well.

That Iconic scene of the guys flexing as a distraction, but with Harvey and Warden Wrath.

Gus and Willow escape down into the mines, where the find Darius and Eberwolf chilling. They explain about how people used to be able to mine for magical stones – but the knowledge was lost.

They get captured by the Military and are separated. Phillip has Lilith and threatens Willow with the safety of her, Eberwolf, Darius, and Gus if she doesn’t make Gus turn away. Gus does turn away reluctantly.

Lilith and Willow talk, and Lilith reveals that she’s her mother. “she and Gilbert had admiration for each other, but him and Harvey had love.” And to remember the “magic spells” that she was taught.

Phillip is actually pleased by this. He brings Willow to a crashed, broken robot, Jean-Luc. Willow was able to activate the homing beacon and show the pathway to the Castle. But then she’s locked in her room again. Lilith is taken to the dungeon.

Gus makes it back to his home, where Luz and the Pirates are waiting. They fire him up and encourage him to join the crew on a raid to get Willow back.

Hunter, because of his failures, was demoted to giving the prisoners food. Him and Willow have a talk about “destiny” and “a future that you’re able to choose”. Hunter leaves.

Willow does “a spell of protection” and activates Jean-Luc. The robot starts to destroy everything. Hunter, in a moment of altruism, opens up the prison doors so that Eberwolf, Darius, and Lilith have a chance to escape.

Luz and Gus work together to save Willow.

Now the Pirates are racing the military to reach the Castle in the Sky.

Eda is the Captain and Raine is the First Mate. Alador is the engineer, working with Amity to keep the ship going. Camila is the cook and doctor. King, Luz and Hooty are crew members. (anyone else you want can be added as well.) Gus and Willow are new crew. Lilith, Eberwolf, and Darius are helpful stowaways.

Gus and Willow are the ones in the kite that land in the Garden. The main tree is a Palistrom tree with bright blue bark. Willow loves it so much. They reach the Castle first, meet with a friendly Jean-Luc robot, it’s nice and peaceful.

Then the military arrives and starts blowing up the doors, tying up the Pirates and raiding all of the gold. Hunter is still shadowing Phillip, but is looking more and more disgusted.

Phillip drags Lilith away from the Pirates, forces her to find the entrance to the underbelly of the Castle. Lilith refuses to go inside, citing that “I’m from a lesser line of royalty, I am not allowed.”

Phillip calls her bluff, stating she’s a Clawthorne, she’s allowed. He grabs Amity, saying that she’s a Blight, she’s maintenance. And Luz is nothing at all. “My foot may not be royal, but I’m still gonna give you a royal butt-whooping!” Luz shouts.

Willow and Gus try to sneak by and free their friends, but Willow is caught. Phillip, Willow, Amity and Hunter all go deeper into the Castle.

Gus frees the Pirates, takes a gun and Luz with him to go save the others. Darius and Eberwolf grab a Military escape ship and start loading it up.

Phillip tells them about the real treasure, not gold or jewels, but magical might. The Castle could be a real powerhouse, ruling over the sky and the earth at once. Phillip lures all of the army into the viewing room and dumps them into the ocean. He activates more robots, destroying the Army ship as well.

Hunter tries to stop him from doing it, but he fails. In the scuffle, Willow gets the Pendant. Gus and Luz show up. Phillip tries to threaten them all, but they refuse.

That iconic scene happening where Phillip shoots Willow’s braids and cuts her hair short somehow. (That’s not how bullets work but it works in the film as an emotional point and I respect that)

“No matter how much you think you deserve it, no matter how much knowledge and power you have, you can’t rule anything without love.”

Willow remembers and decides to share the Spell of Destruction with everyone so that the Castle can’t be used for evil. The light from it blinds Phillip, he falls to his death like the others.

Willow, Gus, Hunter, Amity and Luz all survive by climbing onto the overgrown root system. The Castle floats higher and higher into the atmosphere without all the weight.

The Pirates hook their smaller ships together, revealing that they all survived with some of the gold. Luz and Amity get snuggled by Eda, Camila and Alador. Willow gets a long hug from Lilith. Gus gets some hugs and loving roughhousing from the other Pirates. Hunter gets onto a small ship with Darius and Eberwolf and gets a head ruffle and a hug.

Willow, Lilith, Hunter, Darius, and Eberwolf all return to the countryside. Gus goes on a world traveling adventure with Eda, Luz, Amity, and the other Pirates. They all stay in touch and won’t ever forget the magical journey they all took together.

[albertonykus]

"Which Doraemon Movie Should I Watch First If I've Never Seen/Read Doraemon?"

In reviewing the Doraemon movies, I've gone over which ones are my favorites, but ranking a movie highly doesn't necessarily mean I'd recommend it to someone who has never seen Doraemon before. Of course, the obvious way to experience the Doraemon movies would be to watch them all in the order they were originally released in, but seeing more than 40 movies from an unfamiliar franchise is understandably a daunting commitment. One of the nice things about the Doraemon films (at least from a newcomer's perspective), however, is that they generally don't contain any plot-relevant references to the events of the other movies, so for the most part they can be viewed in any order without missing much context (with a few exceptions that I will cover shortly).

After giving it some thought, I have narrowed down my suggestions for "someone's first Doraemon film" to the following three:

Nobita and the Birth of Japan (2016): Doraemon helps Nobita and his friends run away from home to… 70,000 years ago, before humans lived in Japan. (@killdeercheer can attest to the effectiveness of this one as an intro to Doraemon!)

New Nobita's Great Demon (2014): Doraemon and friends explore Central Africa and discover a secret civilization.

Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 (2022): Doraemon and friends help tiny aliens overthrow a dictatorship.

As it happens, all of these are recent remakes of classic Doraemon movies, so they're based directly on stories written by the original manga author, but have a more "modern" art style and often flesh out certain aspects of the plot. That wasn't something I had in mind while coming up with this list, but in a way, it makes sense: I think these movies combine the strengths of both the current and classic Doraemon series.

My main reasons for recommending these three:

I expect their storylines to be of relatively broad appeal without requiring much prior knowledge.

They're a good showcase of the main characters and their dynamics.

They offer a good sense of what to expect from most Doraemon movies (i.e., they don't deviate much from the usual formula).

I personally find them enjoyable (obviously).

I think any of the three would also be solid choices for one's second (or third) Doraemon movie, but some other candidates I'd pick for those roles include:

Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King (2000): Doraemon helps Nobita switch lives with a prince from a Maya-esque civilization.

Nobita and the Windmasters (2003): Nobita keeps a small typhoon as a pet, leading Doraemon and friends to discover its connection to a hidden village.

Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration (2019): Doraemon helps Nobita make an alternate reality where rabbits live on the moon.

For those who have gained some familiarity with the franchise, my top recommendations would be:

Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld (1984): Doraemon helps Nobita create a world where magic exists, which results in them having to fight literal demons.

Nobita and the Steel Troops (1986): Doraemon and friends defend humanity from an army of alien robots.

Nobita and the Kingdom of Clouds (1992): Doraemon and friends build a kingdom in the clouds, only to find an actual civilization hidden in the clouds. (This is an unusual one in that it references events from the regular Doraemon series, but I think enough context is provided that one can still appreciate it without having read the relevant manga or TV episodes.)

There are a few movies that I suggest a first-time viewer avoid. As previously mentioned, some movies do contain explicit continuity references to older films:

It's best to watch Nobita and the Galaxy Super-express (1996) before Nobita and the Spiral City (1997).

It's best to watch Nobita's Dinosaur (either the 1980 or 2006 version is fine) before Nobita's New Dinosaur (2020).

It's best to watch Stand by Me Doraemon (2014) before Stand by Me Doraemon 2 (2020). (I suppose that one's obvious.)

A couple of movies I don't recommend because I honestly think they're terrible and not worth anyone's time. I'd only suggest watching these two if one either is a completionist who wants to see all the Doraemon films or really enjoys riffing on bad movies:

Nobita's Great Battle of the Mermaid King (2010)

Nobita and the Island of Miracles (2012)

Last but not least, though I've seen other fans suggest otherwise, I very much do not recommend Stand by Me Doraemon (2014) as an entry point into the franchise. Regardless of my personal opinions on its quality, I maintain that its primary target audience is viewers who are nostalgic for Doraemon and the specific manga chapters it adapts. It certainly does not provide one with a good idea of what the other movies are like.

If anyone does end up taking these suggestions, I'd be interested in hearing whether or not they hit the mark! I'd also be interested in hearing from other fans which movies they'd recommend to someone unfamiliar with Doraemon.

[roninkairi]

Quick Review- "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (SPOILERS ALERT)

Anyone who knows me already knows how much of a Mario fan I am. Hell, my family could probably tell you some wild tales about my Super Mario Bros. addiction during my grade school days. But even the announcement in 2018 that Nintendo was going forward with Illumination to make an animated feature length film based on their flagship franchise made me more that a little overly cautious; after all their previous effort (the live action 1993 film) did not exactly do them ay favors either (and while were at it, the TV shows, while memorable, still leave much to be desired). This also is not the first time that the Mario Bros. would be in an animated film (Back in 1986, there was an anime called “The Great Mission To Rescue Princess Peach!”, which never got a US release. Doug Walker actually reviewed it so if you want you can look it up)

Fast forward to now. The movie has now made about $600 million at the time of this review and has yet to be released in Japan. I have a feeling though that after it is released it will make a lot more. And I’m not just saying that because I’ve personally seen this movie twice. That’s something I very rarely do as far as my movie theater habits go  and if I do that its most assuredly a sign the movie in question is worth my time.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” serves as an origin story for the two Brooklyn born plumbers, the plot being straightforward and simple much like the mainline Mario games: the two siblings somehow find themselves whisked away into another parallel dimension and get separated, with Luigi ending up in the Dark Lands and Mario landing in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario enlists the aid of Princess Peach and, along with Toad, sets off to save Luigi from Bowser, the king of the Koopa tribe, who just acquired the Super Star. The group journey to the Jungle to enlist the aid of the Kong Army, led by Cranky Kong and his son, Donkey Kong.

As I mentioned before, the plot is pretty straightforward and to the point: at 92 minutes there is quite a bit going on and it comes at you fast. Not too much time is spent on character development for certain individual members like Luigi and DK. We get a revelation about Peach’s backstory (not being from the Mushroom Kingdom is certainly an eye raising reveal) and hints about the relationship between DK and his dad, but its not really a focus. You get the sense that Nintendo wanted to play it safe with the story, but at the same time you want just a little bit more. Thankfully the story is enjoyable as it is, and has enough humor, action and equally touching moments to sustain itself. A lot has been said about the choices for casting in the film and for me, while the choice of Chris Pratt was very questionable when I first heard about it I was glad I took a wait and see stance to it. He did quite a good job in the role and so did Jack Black as Bowser in all of his evil, kinda hammy. Scene chewing role. Of course, his demeanor changing whenever the subject of Princess Peach being brought up is also VERY notable. I mean dude practically sung a love ballad about her (TWICE) and stole the damn Super Star just to try to impress Peach. I can understand that though, given how she is in the movie. Princess Peach, voiced by Anya-Taylor Joy, serves as Mario’s guide and possible love interest in the movie and instead of being the person who has to be saved for most of the adventure, is the more action oriented and confident character accompanying Mario. If the prospects of Peach jump kicking Bowser, using power ups and generally willing to throw down with a gang of Koopas at a wedding reception seem to be alien to you or out of character, I will assume you have never played Super Mario Bros. 2…

…or Super Mario RPG…

…or Super Paper Mario…

…or any Mario Party games…

…or Mario Strikers…

…or Super Smash Bros…

…or the Mario + Rabbids games.

You’re lucky I didn’t even mention the stuff she did in the Super Mario Adventures manga! Anyway the point is, she is pretty darn awesome in this film. Fred Armisen’s take on Cranky is…well…ok why does he sound like Larry David? I half expected to hear "Frolic" by Luciano Michelini play when he got caught oy the Para Koopas on Rainbow Road.

Visually, the movie is animated very well and does a great job of animating the worlds in great detail, including familiar locations from across the games that you may immediately recognize. There are also TONS of audio and visual easter eggs and references not just from Mario history, but Nintendo history as well. (Quick show of hands, who found the Wave Race reference? The Hidden N64 Controller? Who found Mr. Game and Watch or recognized Disk Kun) The movie happily, and with no shame, throws in all of these nods to Nintendo’s past and I have no issue trying to find them all. Which says a LOT about my attention span. There are 4 different licensed songs used in the movie though but their inclusion doesn’t really detract from the enjoyment. (Ok 5 songs. One of them is directly tied to Chris Pratt and another certain movie series he is involved with.)

The movie is not exactly perfect and that’s ok. I was not expecting a huge scale thought provoking movie that makes me question the motivations of humanity (I’ll save that for whatever DC movie comes out next) I just wanted a fun adventure anyone and everyone can enjoy. And this movie certainly delivers on that.

[reddragoncatsblog]

Super Smash Bros. and Anime Part 1: Super Mario

I'm certain that you're going to be pissed when you see the title of this blog post, but I assure you, this is merely educational, and to tell you the truth, it's actually normal for one medium to transition into another.

I want to particularly talk about anime adoptions from the franchises in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, starting from the top right and working my way down.

Let's start off with Mario. Before you ask, yes, before the Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario did, in fact, have anime. His first piece of animated media was Super Mario Bros.: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach. It was aired in 1986 in Japan, 1 year after the original Super Mario Bros. was released for the Family Computer (Famicom).

The film involves the Mario Brothers, originally a couple of grocery store owners (not plumbers) being sent on a mission to save Princess Peach from King Koopa, and they must collect 3 mystical power ups: The mushroom, the flower, and the star in order to defeat King Koopa and restore peace in the Mushroom Kingdom.

This is Mario's very first film, and the games have inherited a lot of traits from the film, from what I've personally gathered. For instance, Bowser’s romantic interest and force marriage to Princess Peach began with this film. We didn't see Bowser do this until the original Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64. We also see Luigi in his lanky design. He later got this design in Super Mario Bros. 2, aka Super Mario Bros. USA, aka Doki Doki Panic, and this wasn't permanent until Super Mario Allstars. Mario also hijacks Lakitu's cloud. This wasn't possible until Super Mario World.

Speaking of Super Mario World, this leads me to my next Japanese animated Mario film: Super Mario World: Mario to Yoshi no Bouken Land (スーパーマリオワールド マリオとヨッシーの冒険ランド/Sūpā Mario Wārudo Mario to Yosshī no Bōken Rando.) From what I've gathered, it is an interactive, animated retelling of Super Mario World. While this may not have some significant impact on the franchise compared to the previous film, it is the first time Yoshi receives his voice in the series.

There are more Mario animated films made in Japan, but if I go over them now, this would be a very long post, so the lid is closed on Mario for now. Stay tuned as for the next post, I will talk about Kirby’s anime.

[canmom]

Toku Tuesday 50: the Kerberos Saga

Last week on Animation Night I wrote about the mighty Hiroyuki Okiura, and I mentioned his best known film, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. I promised a one-off return of Toku Tuesday in which we'd watch the first two Kerberos films of Mamoru Oshii, and then Jin-Roh in its proper context.

The first two Kerberos films are perhaps even less known in the West than Oshii's other toku films like Avalon. They've only ever gotten fairly small-scale DVD releases, they have almost zero footprint on torrent sites, and the people who've actually seen them (compared to Jin-Roh, widely regarded as a classic) is tiny. And when they do see it, most people come at them with a sense of putting Jin-Roh into its historical context, which... yeah, guilty.

Kerberos began in 1986, a couple of years after Oshii had left Urusei Yatsura and not long after Angel's Egg; it overlaps with the founding of the Headgear art collective which would create Patlabor. The core series comprises the movie trilogy, lots of manga, and a couple of radio dramas.

It is set in a near future in which Japan was conquered (somehow) by the Nazis instead of the Americans, hence the prominent Stahlhelm imagery - which might have something to do with the overlap between anime otaku and military otaku, manifesting in a fascination with particularly Nazi equipment in anime of this time - you catch glimpses of it in e.g. Gainax's Otaku no Video and FLCL, and Oshii himself had already poked fun at it in Urusei Yatsura.

But, to be fair, this is a story about fascism, martial law and men whose ideology that holds them to be supermen whose mission is to bring order to an unruly country. So it's not like Nazi imagery is inappropriate to such a story. Let's briefly summarise what we're in for.

The three main films in the Kerberos series procede backwards in time. They all deal with a special power-armoured police unit called Kerberos, which quickly abuses its power and gets disbanded by the state. The first one, The Red Spectacles, sees Kerberos leader Koichi Todome returning to Japan after a long period of exile when the unit was destroyed. He wanders through a dreamlike city, which in the end we learn is literally his dream, not a real vision of Japan without Kerberos.

The second, StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cop sees the circumstances that brought Todome back to Japan; another former Kerberos member called Inui (dog jokes!) seeks Todome in exile in Taiwan, not knowing he is bringing the attention of a rival police unit that wants to finish them off for good.

Finally, Jin-Roh, with Okiura loosely adapting the first arc of Oshii's manga, rolls back to the early days of Kerberos after their version of WWII, a time of protest not entirely unlike the Anpo protests. We watch a man called Kazuki Fuse gradually losing his humanity, and his meeting with someone who claims to be the sister of a suicide bomber he failed to gun down.

So, how's all this going to handle those hefty themes? That's what I'm interested to find out. With you, hopefully!

Alongside all this - and all the manga, radio dramas, etc. - is a weird spinoff story called Tachiguishi-Retsuden, beginning with a mockumentary about a strange underworld of noodle bars prohibited by the fascist state and the scammers who interact with them, featuring a duo who first appeared in Urusei Yatsura before being adopted into Kerberos. This used a bizarre live action-animation hybrid technique that sounds fascinating - I'll write more if I can get my hands on it.

That's all the summary I have time for now, and anyway it would be better to write more after the films are digested. So tonight we'll take a little dive into the world of Kerberos. If you'd like to join, we'll be starting in about 20 minutes at twitch.tv/canmom

[abovebelowalexandrailieva]

The Legend of Zelda is the first instalment of the Zelda series. It centres its plot around a boy named Link, who becomes the central protagonist throughout the series. It originally came out in 1986 for the Famicom Disk System in Japan and internationally on the NES in 1987. It has since then been re-released for several systems, including the Nintendo GameCube, the Game Boy Advance, and the Virtual Console. The Japanese version of the game is known as The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda.  

The game itself introduces a new level of gaming for its time, one that includes roleplaying, action, adventure, and puzzle/logic.

Dungeon Exploration

Barring Link's progress are Creatures he must battle to locate the entrances to nine underground Dungeons. Each Dungeon is a unique, maze-like collection of rooms connected by doors and secret passages and guarded by monsters different from those found on the Overworld. Link must successfully navigate each Dungeon to obtain one of the eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. Dungeons also conceal useful items, such as a  Boomerang for retrieving items and stunning Enemies and a Flute with magical properties. The first six Dungeons have visible entrances, but the remaining three are hidden. Except for the final Dungeon, which can't be entered until the previous eight have been completed, the order of completing Dungeons is somewhat arbitrary, but many Dungeons can only be reached using items gained in the previous one.

Overworld Exploration

Non-linearity, the ability to take different paths to complete the game, separated The Legend of Zelda from its contemporaries. Link can freely wander the Overworld, finding and buying items at any point. This flexibility enables unusual ways of playing the game; for example, it's possible to reach the final boss of The Legend of Zelda (but not defeat him) without actually taking a Sword. Nintendo of America's management initially feared that players might become frustrated with the new concept, left wondering what to do next. As a result, the American version of the game's manual contains many hints, tips, and suggestions for players.

Second Quest

After completing the game, the player has access to a more difficult quest, officially referred to as the Second Quest, where Dungeons and the placement of items are different, with Enemies stronger. Although a more difficult "replay" wasn't unique to The Legend of Zelda, few games offered a "second quest" with entirely different levels to complete. Interestingly, entering "ZELDA" as the player's name starts the Second Quest immediately. The Second Quest can be replayed each time it's completed.

Development

Shortly before starting development for Super Mario Bros, Shigeru Miyamoto began developing The Legend of Zelda as a launch title for the Famicom Disk System. Miyamoto got inspiration from his own explorations to the countryside and hillsides around his home for an adventure game. Seeking to create a fairytale setting, co-developer Takashi Tezuka drew inspiration from J. R. R Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring novels when writing the story. With the  mediaeval sword and sorcery theme set, Miyamoto wanted to have treasure hunting gameplay to also bring in the sense of adventure seen in movies such as Indiana Jones. The game began as a two player dungeon creator, but later became a one-player game with underground dungeons that surrounded Death Mountain, with forests, lakes, and Hyrule Field added eventually as they wanted to explore aboveground too. Miyamoto wanted to call the game The Legend of something, so a PR planner suggested Zelda, the name of F.Scott Fitzgerald 's wife.

Japanese Version

The Legend of Zelda was originally released in 1986 as a launch title for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. Apart from facilitating data saving, the disk drive also added an extra sound channel on top of the Famicom's original five. This has caused the original release to sport a quite different sound compared to the more widespread NES cartridge release. This difference is most notable during the title screen.

The Book of Magic is known as the Bible in the Japanese version of the game. This was likely changed because it violated Nintendo of America's, at the time, very strict content guidelines which among others disapproved of any religious content or references inside games released for their systems. Strangely enough, all depictions of the cross were kept intact.

The Japanese Famicom Disk System version was included in a promotional package of Charumera-brand ramen, and was only given out as a prize for a contest. It is unknown what differences this version has compared to the original release, as the only available copies are extremely rare and incredibly expensive.

[theultimatefan]

Be Kind and Rewind as Sealed VHS Tapes Make Their Blockbuster Debut at Heritage Auctions June 9

One of the earliest known VHS copies of the Back to the Future trilogy, a pristine set owned by one of the stars of the films, will grab its share of the spotlight in Heritage Auctions’ inaugural VHS and Home Entertainment Signature® Auction June 9.

The event includes 262 lots of some of the most popular films over the last several decades, and celebrates the dawn of the ability for viewers to watch films over and over, in the comfort of their own homes.

“Everyone has a favorite movie, and so many of them were discovered by people because of VHS,” Heritage Auctions VHS and Home Entertainment Consignment Director Jay Carlson says. “They are artifacts, a piece of our history with these beautiful covers that transport us back to the first time we could own a movie and watch it as much as we wanted. The advent of VHS tapes forever changed the way people watched movies, and many of the films that were part of that wave can be found in this auction.

“It is truly amazing to have something this special to offer as the centerpiece of our first auction, but it’s a lot deeper than these Back to the Future tapes. This inaugural auction is packed with many key early releases of iconic films like Ghostbusters, Jaws, Gremlins, Goonies, Star Wars, Friday the 13th, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Karate Kid – titles that are sure to evoke memories of that magical time when movies became accessible to everyone in a way they never had been before. It was a time when our local video store was the center of the universe on Friday and Saturday nights – a place where you would bump into your friends and neighbors, all looking for that perfect film to bring home.”

Carlson said that the mere survival of these VHS tapes for decades is remarkable, so finding any in the condition that is evident on many lots in their auction represents an exceptional opportunity for collectors.

“You have to realize these tapes were made to be opened and watched,” Carlson said. “The shrink wrap got thrown away, the box got compromised. Finding these still-sealed tapes that have survived for 30 or 40 years or more is incredible, and to find them in such exceptional condition is incredibly rare.”

Among the films on the marquee for this historic event will be the Back to the Future set owned by Tom Wilson, whose portrayal as the films’ antagonist, Biff Tannen, made Wilson a legitimate co-star in the films that also featured Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd. The original Back to the Future was 1985’s highest-grossing film and launched a trilogy that remains hugely popular to this day, with spin-off projects that included an animated television series and motion-simulation rides at the Universal Studios theme parks in California, Florida and Japan, as well as a video game and a stage musical.

Back To The Future VHS 1986 – VGA 80+ NM, Horizontal Overlap/White MCA Home Video Watermark, MCA Home Video, with its wraparound MCA Home Video watermarks and double stamped MCATM tape, comes to this historic event from Wilson, who has owned it since he received it directly from the studio. He resisted the temptation to open it over the years, meaning it remains in the same pristine condition in which it arrived.

“This is the first box set sent out from the studio of the Back to the Future trilogy,” Wilson says. “The urge to open this, to open the shrink wrap, to me, was nearly unbearable, because not only does it include Back to the Future I and II and III – mint – but also the documentary: Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy.”

Now, more than three decades after the original film was released, Wilson says he realizes that the legacy of early films on VHS extends beyond those who made them. Ultimately, he says, they changed the movie-watching experience for viewers everywhere.

“We didn’t know the effect it was going to have on the world … in so many ways – it’s incredible,” Wilson says. “Back to the Future … actually did affect the future, because this is such an early VHS. This is just the beginning of the time when you could watch a movie as many times as you wanted to. You would get this VHS, put it in your VCR, and watch it over and over and over and over again … and I’ve heard from many thousands of people around the world who did exactly that. When your friends came over, and Dad put this in the VCR … when you were (home) sick from school, and there was Back to the Future, like an old friend – it’s been an amazing thing.”

“Not only are they the original copies of their first release on VHS, which are so very difficult to find new in their original factory shrink wrap, but they come to us from the collection of Tom Wilson, whose work as Biff gave us one of cinemas most iconic villains,” Carlson says. “The copy of the first Back to the Future film has early wraparound MCA Home Video watermarks on the front and back of the tape, as well as a double stamped MCATM on the tape itself, which I don’t think anybody had ever seen before.

“Then the copies of the second and third film each had a note from Tom Pollack, who at that time was the Executive Vice President of MCA and Chairman of Universal Pictures, to Tom Wilson. Those latter two films have been beautifully encased by VGA to include those notes. And then we also have Tom Wilson’s copy of the Back to the Future trilogy, which was the first time all three films were collected and released as a set. VGA pedigreed each of the tapes when they were graded with a special gold label. If this wasn’t enough to make fans excited, Tom has also supplied a handwritten note for each one of the lots that perfectly relays his hilarious and offbeat sense of humor.”

[lucifer-luscious-violenoue]

Talking about LLV’s stage name... It appeared in the end of 80s or the beginning of 90s. On the very first release of Gille’ Loves (actually the band name was Gillés Loves back in 1986) her name was written as Nana (photo 1). 

In 1987 during the live she presented herself as Nana as well. The actual phrase was: “There are no much time, but I’ll present the members. There are  Ryo on bass, Bart (?) on drums, and my younger brother Miki on guitar. And me – the older sister Nana”. So we might state that the band was formed along with her younger brother as his name was written on the first release. Second most famous member, Gardie, joined the band later.

In the interview in the beg. of 90s she was telling that she remained the only original member of the band (photo 2 source). And as you might see on photo 2 by 1991 she started to sing under the name Lucifer. The same name is on the first demo-tape “Rose Kingdom” (1991) but with an addition “Luscious”. Luscious means ‘very sexually attractive’, I think adding this is really her thing. She always loved to balance on the verge and add some provocative and sexual notes into her art.

But what is Violenoue? There are two possible ways of explanaion. I think it is better to start both explanations with the point that Violenoue is written in Japanese as  ヴィオルヌ (Viorunu). And there was Fiction’s song ヴィオルヌの犯罪 (Viorunu no Hanzai) - The crime of Viorunu. 

The first theory is that it is Japanized name Björn. Luci’fer loved the movie “Death in Venice”. The main character was played by Björn Andresen. And Luci’fer herself wrote that she really loved the androgynous way he looked. And on the VHS “Viorunu” is romanized as Björn (photo 3). The point agains this theory is that usually the name Bjorn is translating to Japanese as ビョルン, Byorunu, but not Viorunu. Although Luci’fer may not have known this fact. 

The second theory is also can be explained through the song  ヴィオルヌの犯罪 (Viorunu no Hanzai). There is a novel with the same name (photo 4). And Luci’fer might have chosen the name for the song after the novel. As well as her stage name.  ヴィオルヌの犯罪 is a novel “L'amante anglaise” (English mint) by Marguerite Duras. Viorne there is the city where the crime was commited. 

So there are two points of view: Violenoue means the name “Björn”. Luci’fer romanized it the same way herself. The second one: Violenoue is coming from the name of Viorne - the town from Marguerite Duras’ novel. The name of the Fiction’s song is the same as the name of the novel. And the name Violenoue is Japanized the same as the name of Viorne in the novel. Choose your warrior. I think both are true. Maylein 2022/01/01

[maylain]

Talking about LLV’s stage name... It appeared in the end of 80s. On the very first release of Gille’ Loves (actually the band name was Gillés Loves back in 1986) her name was written as Nana (photo 1).  In 1987 during the live year she presented herself as Nana as well. The actual phrase was: “There are no much time, but I’ll present the members. There are  Ryo on bass, Bart (?) on drums, and my younger brother Miki on guitar. And me – the older sister Nana”. So we might state that the band was formed along with her younger brother as his name was written on the first release. Second most famous member, Gardie, joined the band later. In the interview in 1989 she was telling that she remained the only original member of the band (photo 2). And as you might see on photo 2 by 1989 she started to sing under the name Lucifer. The same name is on the first demo-tape “Rose Kingdom” (1991) but with an addition “Luscious”. Luscious means ‘very sexually attractive’, I think adding this is really her thing. She always loved to balance on the verge and add some provocative and sexual notes into her art. But what is Violenoue? There are two possible ways of explanaion. I think it is better to start both explanation with the point that Violenoue is written in Japanese as  ヴィオルヌ (Viorunu). And there was Fiction’s song ヴィオルヌの犯罪 (Viorunu no Hanzai) - The crime of Viorunu.  The first theory is that it is Japanized name Björn. Luci’fer loved the movie “Death in Venice”. The main character was played by Björn Andresen. And Luci’fer herself wrote that he really loved the androgynous way he looked. And on the VHS “Viorunu” is romanized as Björn (photo 3). The point agains this theory is that usually the name Bjorn is tranlating to Japanese as ビョルン, Byorunu, but not Viorunu. But Luci’fer may not have known this fact.  The second theory is also can be explained through the song  ヴィオルヌの犯罪 (Viorunu no Hanzai). There is a novel with the same name (photo 4). And Luci’fer might have chosen the name for the song after the novel. As well as her stage name.  ヴィオルヌの犯罪 is a novel “L'amante anglaise” (English mint) by Marguerite Duras.  Viorne there is the city where the crime was commited.  So there are two points of view: Violenoue means the name “Björn”. Luci’fer romanized it the same way herself. The second one: Violenoue is coming from the name of Viorne - the town from Marguerite Duras’ novel. The name of the Fiction’s song is the same as the name of the novel. And the name Violenoue is Japanized the same as the name of Viorne in the novel. I think both are true. 

[mjjicons]

apparently i’m an attorney right now

hey guys

this bitch right here

@deborahdeshoftim5779​ i can’t even write her username without copying and pasting it but there we go

she’s trying you guyssss she’s really trying to come for michael

maybe inside her basement......no bathing for days... we know quarantine right.. people get crazy

so here i am responding to the “EVIDENCE THAT MICHAEL JACKSON MOLESTED CHILDREN” because.... i don’t know why tho

but this bitch challenged me and virgos love a challenge

we do love a challenge.. so

RESPONDING TO DEBORAH BLAH BLAH BLAH ABOUT HER BULLSHIT AND MICHAEL JACKSON OBSESSION

Michael Jackson slept in bed with other people’s children. Everyone, including @mjjicons, knows this is inappropriate and unacceptable. The majority of sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson have stemmed from the fact that he slept in bed with other people’s children. This is one of the clear reasons why parents do not allow their children to sleep in bed with adult strangers, and @mjjicons knows this very well.

this one is actually so shitty that i can’t even lol i highlighted the most important part on this.. this is actually not true

with a simple google search we can type in like “michael jackson accusations timeline” (i don’t have to do that because i actually know every single one of them but for proof purposes) 

safechuck said he met michael in 1986 in a pepsi commercial set and of course, he said that michael asked him to sleep with him as seen in here:

alright! let’s do some research then

1986... what a year you guys! what a year!

here we have a great year review on the detail. (a youtube channel that i love so so so so so so so so much). and as we all know, 1986 was really important for michael jackson’s career overall, because that was the year when he wrote his (amazing) record called BAD!! kinda reclused. and of course he had the time to be the humanitarian he was:

also i can refute your “evidence number two” that michael only cared about pre-pubescent boys.. here’s our girl donna having a blast with my baby and bubbles.

also, safechuck said that he gave him the thriller jacket in the meeting.......but that’s actually a lie 

because that jacket is with..... lady gaga! because it never was in safechuck’s hands. it was sold for her in a auction.

let’s go forward, shall we?

back to 86. allegations say that michael asked safechuck to sleep with him in the same bed in a trip to hawaii! of course if michael jackson was in hawaii in 1986 we would have some candids.

let’s do our research once again. he was never in hawaii in 86.... 87... no... here we go, 88, with safechuck and his family:

this was in february 1, 1988, at the kahala hilton hotel - hawaii. found it. also, this was the day of “moonwalk - the autobiography” release!

here he is with everyone! and our buddy alan light actually met him at the time:

as alan said, his team was with him too, of course. digging more information we can see it was a business trip and he brought his “friends” with him (fake bitchessss) as always. the first accusations, however, were made to the LAPD in 1993. james was with his whole family in there, fans around, team around, everyone. the only evidence is safechuck’s word, that as we saw before we can’t trust that much. i will explain why in a bit. michael had no time to bullshit in 1988, because this was the year of his american leg of the bad tour, and of course, shooting every single video from the bad era. iconic! he was in japan also in january-february as seen on his year review.

unfortunately i don’t have his hotel files from this time to see how many rooms he booked, but as a fan i can say that when michael did stay in hotels, it was common for him to book the whole hallway. (please read j. randy taraborrelli’s book if interested). same bed huh.......i don’t think so too

michael was diagnosed with vitiligo at the time, and his self-esteem wasn’t 100% (for his whole life actually) so i doubt he would let anyone in his room. also, his addiction to medication was also at the beggining. he was working so much as you can see. wait a minute. i have to eat my breakfast.

back at it.

about sleeping with children in the same bed in other occasions:

with the allegations made firstly in 1993, michael had to explain himself about every situation envolving himself and kids around him. he wasn’t a men of interviews, but on the topic, michael always said he never was alone with little boys in a bedroom. there always was someone when he did watch movies with his friends, including liz taylor, in any room (neverland had a whole movie theater there) and if falling asleep was the case, he mostly laid down on the floor. and he didn’t sleep a lot either. he couldn’t.

about sharing a bed tho, it happened! i’m not saying this never happened, brett barnes said it happened, in opposite sides, no touching. it happened, yes, and this is something not common between you and someone that isn’t your own kid. but it doesn’t mean that michael took off his clothes and had sex with a minor. not only a minor, but small boys. when someone is accused of pedophilia this is obviously a red flag, but those red flags were investigated by the FBI and local police (LAPD). if michael did it with a little boy, his DNA, sperm, skin would be all over them. the abuse would be clear. a kid doesn’t have body structure to handle abuse and heal fast enough. those are little kids. the brain development and body development aren’t enough to hide such a thing. if michael did it, he would be arrested FOR LIFE. oh yes he would. because no one besides his fans were there for him when shit got bad. people wanted his head in a plate with a tomato in his mouth.

on a side note i don’t know why people think michael was someone that always had time to keep little boys around him and sleeping around with them...........he worked his ass off EVERY SINGLE YEAR OF HIS ACTIVE CAREER LIFE. years and years on tour, no privacy, no free time, no real friends, no real family, no one.........

2. The vast majority of “special friends” were pre-pubescent boys, who Jackson dumped once they hit puberty. Joy Robson testified to this in 2005, saying that she told June Chandler this would happen to her son as well. Joy Robson admitted in court that the dumping had a serious mental effect on the boys, as they were no longer the favourite.

this is the biggest lie ever. i can’t even. about “the vast majority of michael’s friends being pre-pubescent boys” i won’t even post pictures of him and little girls because this is actually.........sick.............you are just a google search away... don’t be a lazy bitch.

this dumping thing is so sad to read because it portraits kids as literal objects. and this is actually a lie too. michael mantained contact with people for years, like macaulay, the cascio family (including all the kids), omer, his nephews, tata vega..... so many people, so many children. the female-chandler had jordan and his sister as kids, and in the years that michael related with them he was at family barbecues with the chandlers (and the press even called them his new family) because he was always around EVERYONE. 

the 2005 trial was the only one actually dumped in all of this because there was no evidence against michael. and 2005 is actually a really important year for all of us, because it was the year of the innocent veredict. and wade robson was a witness in this trial. ON MICHAEL’S FAVOUR. if joy robson warned june about this in this trial WHY WOULD HER KID TESTIFY IN A ALLEGED PEDOPHILE’S SIDE?????????? 

this makes no sense. and also, the clownery was way too much. in the book “untouchable” by randall sullivan (i do not know if this is the english title because i am brazilian and here this is the title for the book, i just translated it. but you can find it everywhere) the author describes how the prosecution tried too hard to accuse michael. they were always catching “witnesses” - even a man that said michael molested him in the 80′s, but when asked about the dates, time, what happened, the court found michael wasn’t even in the place the man said he was at the time. but they demanded michael to testify on court anyway - to talk about a child he never met in a day he was at a event - with pictures and shit. a solid alibi. it was ignored. the witch hunt was big and they were ready to put michael in handcuffs WHENEVER THEY COULD. they just needed something. and this something never came.

if you are good enough to get all “your evidence” together, don’t be lazy to check facts. as i said before, it’s a google search away. 

about joy robson, this bitch is bipolar or.. idk. because she was thriving in 2013 liking posts about michael and how good he was.

2013 was also the year wade filled his allegations against michael. because wade realized that michael actually did the wrong to him in 2012. before that, as a grown ass man, in the ‘05 trial, he didn’t. but in 2012 oh boy we are here just realizing things.

in 2009, michael’s passing, the estate released the michael jackson opus, a big book of memories and good stuff. wade was there too and made a beautiful statement, as follows:

“Michael Jackson changed the world and, more personally, my life forever. He is the reason I dance, the reason I make music, and one of the main reasons I believe in the pure goodness of human kind.”

and after that, wade wanted to be on charge of all the tributes related to michael in tv shows and awards. that’s pretty big right......to work in the name of your “abuser”.......

now you answer me: how did joy robson warned june chandler about anything if she, herself, said that wade didn’t show a single sign that he was abused by michael? she even said michael coached him to be “a master of deception” and that “wade should have won an oscar for lying that good for her” on court (2013) and that she was lied to so good that she never believed anything.... but warned chandler’s mom about “dumping”? what dumping?

if wade was dumped and really sad about it.....why would he want to lead shit about michael after he died? if your molester died....you should cheer up....

just a side note: joy said in leaving neverland that when michael died she was so relieved and danced around BUT HOW IF HER SON JUST WROTE A WHOLE LOVE LETTER TO MICHAEL JACKSON IN HIS MEMORIAL

is it crack? is it? what you smoke? following up..

3. Michael Jackson’s “special friends” include: Emmanuel Lewis (Brooke Shields said in 1984 that it looked like the pop star was dating the boy, rather than her), Jonathan Spence (Jackson owned a naked photograph of him), James Safechuck, Brett Barnes (Jackson is on video pretending this boy is his cousin), Macaulay Culkin, Wade Robson, Jordan Chandler, Jason Francia, Arnold Schleiter, Sean Lennon (Mark Ronson said that Jackson watched pornography with both of them in a hotel room), Omer Bhatti (whom Jackson met in a Tunisian hotel, and pretended the boy was his son), David Martinez, Gavin Arvizo, Michael Jacobshagen, and his nephews (whom the police suspected him of molesting, and with whom he took an inappropriate photo shoot for Star Magazine).

“brooke shields said in 1984 that blahblagabal” when where WHERE bitch where

i think people don’t actually answer your allegations because it is so DUMB that no one wants to waste their time with you. like......why am i doing this

i am just on #3 and i’m so tired because THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT IT are you wade robson in a fake account? just take off your mask

just

why

if you have this brooke shields line please show me???? i would like to see it

michael didn’t meet omer in a tunisian hotel, he actually met him because he was in a contest for michael jackson impersonators.......and he loves him, and pia, his mom, is so grateful for everything michael done for their family WHY AM I RESPONDING TO THIS i am so frustrated 

4. Joy Robson also testified in 2005 that Jackson had called her up in the middle of the night in December 1993, asking that Wade Robson be brought to his bedroom. She admitted that she went back home, after leaving her son with Jackson. For context, Jackson was under investigation for child sexual abuse of Jordan Chandler at the time

she actually didn’t because she wasn’t a witness on court at the time. wade was. she wasn’t. as i showed before. next.

actually i’m tired because all of this is so dumb and i am wasting my time........ let’s just jump to the final shit.

We have good reason to believe that Jackson molested other boys not named above. For example, who was the boy whose semi-nude photograph was found inside Jackson’s bedroom in August 1993? 

they never found anything in ‘93 because if they did michael would be arrested...............

Who filed a Restraining Order against Jackson back in the 80′s, and who reported this to the FBI? 

no one filed a restraining order against michael back in 80′s. there is no such evidence. the fbi files are public and you can access them and read everything.

Who were the two Mexican boys that Jackson was accused of molesting back in 1985-1986?

michael didn’t have contact with any mexican people between ‘85 and ‘86 as i said before, in his year review, and in ‘85 he was never seen with any mexican boys because he was working in USA for africa, we are the world and captain EO. nothing michael did was away from the public eye. 

Who were the other boys that slept in Jackson’s bedroom, according to a security guard? Who were the boys/men whose DNA was found in semen stains on Jackson’s mattress in November 2003? Who was the “Rhonda” who sent Jackson a picture book of naked boys, because she said Jackson might like them? What did Norma Staikos know about Jackson’s predilection for pre-pubescent boys? Who was the boy that Darlene Craviotto saw Jackson alone with in 1991 (reported in her book)?

norma staikos was his personal assistant at the time and wade said she knew about “what was going on” and was someone that arranged all the “sexual meetings” as said on court right here, but this meeting mentioned by wade on court was actually arranged BY HIS OWN MOTHER! 

and the book by darlene craviotto never mentioned anything sexual between michael and boys, actually it’s a kind book about how michael helped her with her agoraphobia................

WOW THAT WAS LONG AND I FEEL SO DUMB RIGHT NOW

the rest of your evidence isn’t worth the read or the research because i’m not the one who should be doing this, debora, it should be you. just google it. or show something more credible, maybe actual proof? pictures? videos? audiotapes? where are they?

why am i here tho?

fuck you bitch

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: How I Got Into Sakuga

Kaiba, Directed by Masaaki Yuasa

  If you’re an anime fan, you’re likely an animation fan in general. But how do you know when an animation is “good”? How do you learn to identify an animator by only what you see, or tell when their drawings are better than usual?

  English-speaking anime fans have adopted sakuga as a general catch-all term for exceptional animation. While the word sakuga itself means “animation,” in this context, sakuga has come to mean something very specific: Not just animation that looks cool, but the deliberate handiwork of specific animators with specific artistic aspirations. For example, a single-animator project might have a lot of “sakuga shots” because it has a personal, highly-refined style. Meanwhile, a television series might have an entire team of varying specialists for a larger narrative. Some of this might be attributed to specific key animators, while some might be credited to an entire studio — transformation sequences, explosive missiles, robots — that’s all fair game to be called sakuga. But how do you really know if what you’re looking at really is this so-called “sakuga?”

  Like most art, it’s almost entirely subjective. Here’s my story.

Project A-ko, a high-energy 1986 OVA series best remembered for its exceptional animation staff

(Image via Retrocrush)

  All’s Fair in Love and War Games

  When I was a kid, I got my hands on the English-dubbed Digimon: The Movie on VHS. This notorious release was a three-part recut of Mamoru Hosoda’s Digimon OVAs released from 1999 to 2000, heavily featuring his second film Digimon Adventure: Our War Game. Of course, I didn’t experience this package as a “Hosoda anime” at the time. Besides the inspired inclusion of Barenaked Ladies’ "One Week" to the soundtrack, I strongly associate these films with Hosoda’s signature interpretation of Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru’s original Digimon Adventure character designs. Compared to the Toei-produced television series, these renditions of the Digi-Destined are charmingly off-model and move with awkward intention, like actual kids up against terrifying monsters.

  In a sense, that’s what most people mean by sakuga — animation that makes us lean in and notice traits about the world and characters that can’t be communicated otherwise. Sakuga, in particular, places special emphasis on an individual animator’s keyframes, or the drawings used as a basis for in-between frames during movement. That’s what I mean by the phrase “Hosoda anime.” If you watch Summer Wars or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time enough times, anyone will notice a stylistic palette of idiosyncrasies.

    Digimon Adventure “Home Away From Home” directed by Mamoru Hosoda

(Image via Hulu)

  An Emerging Style

  When I got older and realized there was more anime than what was on cable, I kept returning to “flat” style animation with films like Tatsuo Satō’s 2001 Cat Soup and Shōji Kawamori’s 1996 Spring and Chaos. Around this time, contemporary artist Takashi Murakami also began developing his own “superflat” style (coined in his 2000 book Superflat and later in Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture) we’ll return to. Once I got a taste for the experimental, I never turned back.

  But back to Hosoda. Less focused on the details of models and more fixated on a “flat” or fluid style of movement, the key animation in Hosoda’s films makes body language a priority. This is perhaps the best thing about good sakuga — its potential to express deep emotion even under production constraints. My favorite example comes from the first Digimon short film Hosoda directed, the simply titled Digimon Adventure from 1999.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Directed by Masaaki Yuasa

  Originally conceived as a standalone for Bandai’s then-new Digital Monsters virtual pet toys, this version of Digimon is less loud, more atmospheric — and sincerely preoccupied with the question: “How would little kids actually handle a giant monster of their own?” The result is an unforgettable shot of Kairi, Tai’s little sister desperately blowing her whistle, stopping to catch her breath, then spitting and coughing in an attempt to calm down their newly evolved kaiju Greymon friend. 

  For the television series, Hosoda directed the episode “Home Away From,” depicting the two siblings clinging to each other as the other slowly drifts back to the Digital World. In both scenes, characters don’t constantly move, but only act when necessary via careful manipulation of the frames. This technique not only makes everything seem more “realistic,” but also acts as a visual cue for the anxiety Tai and Kairi feel. In other words, painstakingly controlled animation serves both form and function, especially when you’re selling an emotional climax of another kid-meets-monster plot.

Tomorrow’s Joe, 1980 film adaptation of the 1970 TV anime series directed by Osamu Dezaki

(Image via Retrocrush)

  A Little History Lesson

  After Digimon, Hosoda and Nakatsuru collaborated on films like Summer Wars and the Takashi Murakami-inspired pop art short Superflat Monogram. Hosoda is no doubt inescapable to sakuga fans today thanks to the ubiquity of his feature films. Still, Hosoda obviously wasn’t the first sakuga animator. Animators like Yasuo Ōtsuka, known for his cinematic work in a pre-Ghibli era of anime film with Toei, documented the growth ‘60s and ‘70s of Japan’s animation industry in his 2013 book Sakuga Asemamire. When the demand for films lowered in favor of anime television during that era, animators took risks. Classics of the era like Tiger Mask and Tomorrow's Joe literally held no punches, and Osamu Tezuka’s own Mushi Productions dove headfirst into experimental adult films. Animators, and especially keyframe animators, had creative control. In this perfect storm, the advent of sakuga was inevitable.

  Everyman Ken Kubo is taught the ways of eighties anime in Otaku no Video

(Image via Retrocrush)  

Why Bother With Sakuga?  

In 2013, animation aficionado Sean Bires and company hosted an informational panel titled “Sakuga: The Animation of Anime” at Anime Central Chicago. Uploaded to YouTube that same year, this panel informed my younger self’s understanding of not just the “how” of sakuga, but the “why” it even needed to exist in anyone’s vocabulary. Accessible, meticulously researched, and full of visual references, Sean’s two-hour panel-lecture does the heavy lifting of contextualizing anime not just through a historical lens, but within the broader project of expanding cinematic techniques. This primer might sound heady, but considering the popularity of Masaaki Yuasa’s series like Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, and references to animator Ichirō Itano’s “Itano circus” missiles in American cartoons like DuckTales, it’s hard to say sakuga isn't relevant. Nowadays, it's practically a trope to parody one of Dezaki's most iconic shots. Supplemented by a rich community of blogs and forums, it couldn’t be easier to learn about animators like Yasuo Ōtsuka or the early days of Toei if you want a bigger picture. Blogs like Ben Ettinger’s Anipages and the aptly named Sakuga Blog are a good place to start, not to mention dozens of dedicated galleries of anime production and art books published by studios themselves. Now couldn’t be a better time to vicariously live your art school dreams through anime masterworks.

  Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, a 1989 film featuring animation by Yasuo Ōtsuka best known for his work on the Lupin III franchise  

Sakuga Is For Everyone  

Fans have always been obsessed with the technicalities of animation, even if they weren't artists. As early as 2007, uncut dubbed collector box sets for Naruto came with annotated booklets of episode storyboards. More recently, critically-acclaimed series like Shirobako further explicated this love for animation as a team effort — people love attaching other people to art. In contrast, psychological horror series like Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent features an episode about an anime studio’s production going terribly wrong. Not to mention the endlessly self-referential Otaku no Video Gainax OVA and its depiction of zealous sakuga otaku. Anime fans adore watching anime be born over and over. It’s that simple.     

Digimon Adventure “Home Away From Home” directed by Mamoru Hosoda

(Image via Hulu)

Today, I’d comfortably call some shots from Hosoda Digimon films great sakuga. But Koromon is still weird. Sorry.   The love for sakuga isn’t a contest to one-up fans on production trivia or terminology. It’s about taking the time to appreciate the fact that anime is ultimately a collaborative artistic endeavor. From tracing back the lineage of animators like Yoshinori Kanada to Kill la Kill, to appreciating the visual sugar rush of Project A-Ko alongside slow-paced Ghibli films, “getting into sakuga” isn't a passive effort, nor a waste of time. Besides, wouldn't it be fun understanding how your favorite animator achieved your favorite scene? The phrase "labor of love" is cliché, but maybe that’s a good synonym for what role sakuga inevitably plays for artists and fans alike — work that brings you joy, no matter how you cut it.   Who is your favorite animator? When did you get into sakuga? Let us know in the comments below!

      Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more. He actually doesn't hate Koromon.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Blake Planty

[oldtypenewtype]

7 years ago I had this article professionally translated. 1986 is considered to be one of if not THE defining years of the medium. In this article Newtype intervies 21 anime industry leaders to discuss what’s wrong with the industry, ways it can be fixed or just their gripes with with it all. A true snapshot of some of our anime heroes while they were younger.

*reposting article altogether in one post.*

アニメの予言者21人

21 Prophets of Anime アニメ大予言'86 Grand prophecy of Anime ‘86 今、アニメ界に求められているのは、こんな企画だ！私はこんな企画を出す！1986年のアニメ界をリードする21人が業界の問題点と自らの解決策を語る。これを読めばアニメの未来が見える。 This is the project needed by Anime world now! I propose this project! 21 leading personnel in Anime world in 1986 talk about problems in the industry and their solutions. You can see the future of Anime by reading this.

Page 46 & 47

(Article Title)

1985 was a flat year in the animation world.  Let’s ask the hit makers who hit the home runs on how to put an end to this situation.

HAYAO MIYAZAKI (writer and director of “Laputa: Castle in the Sky”)

(Blurb)

What are the animated works that the young ones, the ten year olds to fifteen year olds want to watch? Doors will surely open if you keep them in mind.

It’s unthinkable that new hope can come out of TV when one episode from a TV series needs 3500 cells to be drawn. On the other hand, in movie theaters as well, there are no films that will mobilize moviegoers other than anime fans. I think that filmmakers have forgotten the basics of selling movies.  Collaboration films intended for overseas markets are all the rage,  and even though I want the fans who are in Japan to see these films, they can’t and all I’m left with is frustration.  Only deterioration can come out of this situation.  Actually, there isn’t even one anime today that is aimed at older kids in elementary school to kids in middle-school - the very kids who should be watching anime.  (The anime available now) is aimed at younger kids at elementary school and then jumps straight into anime for college kid anime maniacs. It’s a tough time for fifteen year olds who are put aside by society.  Twelve year olds to fifteen year olds are the kids who need the most comfort and yet the situation now is that they get their comfort from handheld video games.  Those who produce animation are losing sight of their targeted audience.  The remaining anime fans are making anime that they want to watch, and this is a symptom (of the present situation) that is beyond redemption. This is why video animation is still backward in terms of its production, and only its format is new.

If one has an earnest approach, children will definitely react.  This is a real example - in a run-down middle school, in his morning greeting, a new principal said, “I don’t determine a person’s value by his or her grades or appearance”.  Miraculously, all misbehavior was gone from that day’s afternoon onwards.  What children want has always had just one theme - an adventure that saves the mind and heart.

(Caption for illustration at the top of the page)

The hero “Pazu” and heroine “Sheeta” from “Laputa: Castle in the Sky”.  Mr. Miyasaki comments that “For a young lad, living at all times in itself is an adventure.  The reason why Japanese adventure novels are boring is that the hero (in these novels) makes a living out of going on an adventure.”

SUGII GISABURO (executive director of “Touch”)

(Blurb)

What people want nowadays can’t be found in data.  What is the secret of the hits “Night on the Galactic Railroad” and “Touch”?

Honestly speaking, if anything, I genuinely make animation to match my desires, not thinking that today’s animation is trending towards this way, or future animation should be this way.  In other words, I think a great deal about my daily life, figuring out what is lacking and coming up with desires felt by everyone else.  I just happen to be a person who creates, so I vent out those accumulated desires and discontent and let them combust in my work.  

My works are quite heavy in terms of cycle and tempo, whether it be “Night on the Galactic Railroad” or “Touch”.  I sometimes think if this kind of heaviness is ok or not.  But that is because I have a desire for this heaviness, and also because I have this easy pleasure within me.  Instead of work that is borne out of being hung up just on data, I think work that is borne out of my inner natural desires is more acceptable to people.  In the meantime, “Touch” will be shown as an hour and a half movie in the spring so please look forward it.

ISAO TAKAHATA (producer of “Laputa”)

(Blurb)

Movies that make the mind and body come alive are what’s important.  As for me, I am trying my hand at my first live action film.  I am shooting a documentary.

I think nowadays, the thing that a lot of people working in anime has forgotten is the excitement they felt watching adventure movies when they were kids, the kind of excitement that even your body moved spontaneously.  In that sense, I think that works such as Hayao Miyazaki’s films should be brought out to the rest of the world and after (producing his) “Nausicaa”, I am still producing.  When kids’ minds are liberated, there’s no reason to think that they won’t spontaneously move.  In this day and age dominated by computer games, a lot of kids’ play involve just using the brain and nerves so I’d like them to experience things that energizes the blood and makes the body dance. The difficulty is, I think it’s a difficult time now to have a situation in place wherein you let them experience adventure.  If you can’t make people believe in the world portrayed onscreen, you can’t pull viewers into the adventure onscreen.

It’s not that I’m not doing my real job as a producer.  I am now producing a live action documentary movie set in Yanagawa in Kyushu.  It is about how our Japanese ancestors developed towns which utilized waterways.  There is also a part in the movie that has graphic illustrations using anime.  It’s less than 2 hours and is slated to be shown after the summer.

MAMORU OSHII (scriptwriter and director of “Angel’s Egg”)

(Blurb)

This is a warning!! Please reduce the number of collaboration animes before Japanese animation is annihilated.

If I’m going to be severe about it, I’d say that I want all collaboration animes gone.

Those who work in big studios and places with systems in place may not feel a sense of crisis yet.  But in the case of freelance animators like us who work together and put together a workplace and disperse once our anime is done, a part of our actual work is outsourced.   Recently however, the small video studios and finishing studios that we outsource to are loaded with collaboration work.  Japanese animes can’t compete with collaboration animes in terms of profit so when that happens, we just have to rely on the goodwill of the studio bosses, or make them feel the same way we do with regards to the contents of our work, or by chance see an opening and aim for that, or appease them or plead with them.  We can’t work in just that kind of a situation.  That’s why it’s almost impossible to make highly compact and solid animes in Japan now.  Even without going that far, it’s almost impossible to make even decent animes in the country today.  In fact, anime TV series are almost all in shambles, and I can’t even be optimistic about the video quality of the anime we have now.  In this kind of situation, I can’t help but seriously think if next year, our ideas can be made into anime.

(Caption for illustration at the left side of the page)

A girl from Mamoru Oshii’s original video anime “Angel’s Egg” (drawn by Seikou Nakura).  Mr. Oshii revealed that he is having a hard time because there aren’t enough animators to make even just one anime video.

YOSHIKAZU YASUHIKO (director and screen director of “Arion”)

(Blurb)

I haven’t decided yet on what I will make after “Arion”.  I will not take part in the new Gundam series.

I am very busy now with screen work for the anime “Arion” which will be shown in theaters on March 8th.  But as far as I’m concerned, I’m conscious  of the fact that this is my anime for 1985.  Therefore, I haven’t decided yet on what my anime will be for 1986.  I feel like I want to take a break for a year.

“Arion” is quite restrained for an anime to be shown in movie theaters.  I’m happy that this movie is being touted as “the” main animation movie this spring but conversely, it’s a shame that there aren’t a lot of big anime movies for theaters.  It’s already been decided that “Arion” is going to be shown in top-class movie theaters throughout Japan.  It just shows how much anime has received recognition.  I’d like to wait for animes that will pick up on this trend.

With regards to anime TV series, I was in charge of character design for “Z Gundam” this past year but I’ve decided not to be involved at all in the sequel’s new series.  I think it’s better to relegate “Gundam” to the younger animators, starting with Hiroyuki Kitazume, who have grown so much in their craft.  Now I sincerely think, if only someone as good as Kitazume were around eight years ago to help with “Gundam”, I would’ve been saved…

(Caption for illustration at the bottom of the page)

The heroine “Lesfina” from “Arion”, which was produced, character designed and screen directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.  This is the drawing touched-up by Mr. Yasuhiko.  As we have discussed in a series of character designers in last month’s issue, he breathes life into his anime characters, showing genius capabilities.

(Box at the lower left side of the page)

If there were animes like this I’d watch it!

MASAMI YUUKI (manga artist)

As a rule, the three things I’d like to see are: “something that isn’t originally from manga”; “robot animation that isn’t dark”; and “in one year, a collaborative anime by Osamu Dezaki and Akio Sugino for release in Japan”.  I can watch TV anime while casually lying around but I’d like anime that I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes off of the screen, something that is both easy to watch and amusing.  And as written in other magazines before, I’d like to see Mr. Hayao Miyazaki’s version of “Atragon”! (Translator’s note: “Undersea Warship” in Japan)

YUUKI KUDOU (actress and singer)

I’d definitely watch anime that’s fun to watch, anime that will make me happy.  At any rate, I’d like a hero on the side of justice who will beat the hell out of the bad guys and put them in a bind.

RYOKO YAMAGISHI (manga artist)

If there were an anime like Disney’s “Fantasia”, I’d watch it!

Pages 48 & 49

(Article Title)

Major producers from each of the anime/production companies talk about their hits for 1986 and foresee what their companies will be producing

KENJI YOKOYAMA (Toei Animation Co.)

(Blurb)

The new hit TV show Gegege no Kitaro from the fall of 1985 which received top ratings reflects modern times.

This is what I’ve been thinking with the third conversion of Gegege no Kitaro into animation.  One is the change in children’s thinking with regards to ghosts/monsters.  Of course “Ghostbusters” and “E.T.” have influenced this change, and now kids consider ghosts almost as pets.  So in this way I think that if you match the present mood and go in the direction of lighter anime, you’ll be able to create different things from before.  Children’s lives are too managed now, so they’d want an outlet to vent too. And in a society that has too many things and where, if you have the money, you can buy anything, things like the Toyoda Company fraud scandal and shady investment journals can also be construed as monstrosities. This anime has this overall theme: In the ideal world of Kitaro, monsters, people, animals, grass and trees should all co-exist so I thought I’d have various new approaches within the anime.

As a new endeavor, our company is going into video anime.  It’s called “Amon Saga” and we’re not just going to sell it in video format, (I’m also hoping) we can show it in any movie theater even for just one week otherwise it’ll just be too sad.   Especially with regards to original works with names that aren’t well known, I think it’s dangerous to rely on just one production studio. After “Konpora Kid” ends, beginning February, we’re planning on animating “Kinka”, a serialized manga in the weekly magazine Shonen Jump.

(Caption for illustration on the left side of the page)

A figure from the very popular “Kitaro”.  They can’t keep up with the demand for a ghost eraser that they’ve produced and now it is a hit product.  It’s also been decided that there will be new movie releases for this anime in the New Year and in the spring.

EIJI YAMAURA (Nihon Sunrise Co.)

(Blurb)

Find common ground with your viewers and defeat this lethargic mood!

Sunrise has now expanded into six studios and at any given point in time, we plan to work simultaneously on two to three anime TV series, video anime, anime for movie theaters and collaboration anime.  Overall, anime today is manga magazine-driven, so our question is how far can we go in staying on an original anime track. Robot animes have vastly decreased in number, so conversely, I think this is a chance for us to come out with epoch-making anime.  I’d like to make anime that will allow us to seriously converse with our child viewers.

TOSHIMITSU SUZUKI (Artmic Co.)

(Blurb)

Making anime that will be understood by the whole world!  The robot anime boom is shifting from transformation-type robots to robots that merge into one.

Speaking of Japanese products in the international market today, mechanical products come to mind.  This is also true in the animation world since Japanese robot animes are extremely in vogue.  Especially in the American market, they already have transformation-type robot animes, so animes that have robots that merge into one are new to them.  We’ve already exported “Beast King GoLion”, following that, (we’re going to export) “Dancouga Super Beast Machine God”.

We at Artmic plan to make animation that can be exported to foreign markets and we also are also keeping in mind to configure these anime with universal values.  The video anime “Gall Force” is the first step in that direction.

NOBUO INADA (Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co.)

(Blurb)

Our track remains the same - making collaboration animes for foreign countries but we also have new anime.

I can’t necessarily say that the present state of anime is good.  But the passion for anime during the anime boom of “Gundam” and the like was an anomaly so I feel that the state of anime now is the real one.

As you may know, not only do we make anime for Japan but we also produce anime for foreign countries.  It’s a difficult situation for us now to concentrate on anime just for Japan because of production costs.  It can be said that Japanese anime should be improved from the very basic level.

In 1986, we plan to have “Little Nemo” and in the fall, an anime for movie theater release by the duo Desaki and Sugino.  At any rate, we’re doing our best.

JUNZOU NAKAJIMA (Nihon Animation Co.)

(Blurb)

We’re aiming for improving the quality of our masterpieces and we’re also trying our hand at new anime!

As you may know, our company has mainly been making masterpiece animes for more than fifteen years but I think we’ve made a habit of making similar anime.  But we’ve been able to improve on our animes’ degree of perfection precisely because of the buildup of our experience in animation.  We’re also working hard on our technology, and on the authenticity of our masterpieces.  At any rate, we’re trying to make anime that is still interesting to watch even after five or six years have passed.  Next year, we plan on making “Pollyanna” after “A Little Princess Sara” ends, and a new SF series called “Space Sagittarius”.  We’re also going to have one TV special around May.

HIROMICHI MOGAKI (Tsuchida Production Co.)

(Blurb)

Just like what we did in “Tsubasa” and “Kimengumi”, we’re adding our original flavor to animation adapted from manga!

Even with regards to animating manga, the time when you aren’t creative when adapting something is over - just like our approach to our anime “High School! Kimen”.  In manga, the fun is enclosed in a comic cell.  Differing from that, we were able to bring out fun that moves freely (in the anime format).  (Our decision to) put two episodes in one anime has also been well-received.  We are also planning to have an anime TV series next year but all will depend on how long “Captain Tsubasa” will last.  Captain Tsubasa’s storyline is that the finals will end in March, and the European leg will begin.  This will catch up with the manga version’s storyline so I’m thinking of making a new one or taking a temporary break.

MASAYASU SAGISU (Eiken Co., Ltd.)

(Blurb)

Please watch the cooking scenes in the manga  “Oishinbo” animated in a live-action format.

The anime “Sazae-san” is going to be seventeen years old.  I think that the things that last for a long time are not manga for boys or manga for girls but manga for adults such as “Sazae-san” that has a family theme.  But there aren’t many of this kind of anime today.

There has been a lot of SF space anime but nowadays it’s quite possible for kids to go to space someday.  But the world of “Sazae-san” where the grandma, the grandpa, the old maid and the troubles they encounter while living together is farther than space in today’s world of nuclear families.  Conversely, this makes Sazae-san’s storyline fresh.

For next year’s anime, we are developing our plans to animate Mr. Shinji Wada’s manga “Pigmalio”.  We’d also like to do SF action animes, and a totally new genre -  animating Big Comic Spirit’s serialized manga “Oishinbo”.  Following a ten-year cycle, monster animes might come out next year but we’d like to try out new genres.

HIROSHI KATO (Ashi Production Co.)

We are developing original videos for the anime “Dancouga”

Our company has concentrated mainly on original anime and we are continuing with this direction in 1986 and beyond.  Even though our animes are popular, I don’t know why we are edited a lot.  Even “Dancouga” which originally had fifty-two episodes was reduced to thirty-eight and the final story was changed.  We are going to sell a one and a half hour video in March and we’d like to include the real final story in it.  Seventy percent of animators in Japan today are working on collaboration anime. The pay (for collaboration anime) is more than double, so we have to do something about it.  

TOSHIHIRO NAGAO (Kaname Production Co.)

I’d like to see different kinds of SF anime.  “Windaria (Once Upon a Time)” is the first step in that direction.

Generally speaking, I’d like to go with polar opposites - simplistic anime that has funny gags and anime that explores heavy themes.  I think our company would like to take a short break after “Windaria” ends and then we’re going to do a lighter anime.  We’ve also talked little by little about producing an anime TV series, but can we really do it with the present situation?  Companies we outsource to are doing a lot of collaboration anime and we don’t have the confidence that we will win the price war and if we dabble in (anime TV series) incorrectly, it will be a death blow.  With this situation, it seems like we will be concentrating on video anime for now.  With regards to the direction of our anime, we’d like to consider doing SF anime with our own touch and foray into different parts, for example, making modern anime like “Radio City Fantasy (Machikado no Marchen)” that merges footage and music.

(Caption for illustration on the left side)

“Mujigen Hunter Fandora”, one of the original video anime from Kaname Production Co..It is said that the second part will be released in March.

YUUJI NUNOKAWA (Studio Pierrot)

(Blurb)

“Magical Emi, the Magic Star” will end in February.  We’re working on the anime that will follow this.

Ever since our “Dallos” anime, anime in the video anime genre have increased, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to foresee what’s ahead.  But I feel our viewer base will return to children after the continuous increase in anime fans.

In our animes’ genres, it seems that we foray into unprincipled things but through trial and error, we are at that stage where we are aiming for our own style.  In 1986, we plan to stop producing transformation-style anime after “Emi” and we are now working on an anime with a witch theme, with a nod to our very first anime.  We have also decided that we will make a sequel to “Rumic World”.

(Box at the lower left side of the page)

If there were animes like this I’d watch it!

MIKI TORI (manga artist)

And yet there are only a few animes wherein you can feel each anime’s distinct character.  I understand that anime is a group effort, but like manga, the director’s tastes dominate.   If the time comes when the writer can say “that is good but this is also good”, I think that anime will become more vibrant.

AKIO YOSHIDA (manga artist)

If I’m going to watch, I might change the channel if they’d revive anime like the long adventure animes of Toei.  It would feel just like watching the movie “Mothra”.

YUKI SAITO (actress and singer)

I was in a manga research group when I was in high school so all I watched were anime from Sunrise.  I like “Gundam” and “Ideon”.  If there were anime in that vein, I think I’d be obsessed again.

Pages 50 & 51

(Title)

A Glance at the Anime World: The Hit men and their Predictions

SHOJI KAWAMORI

(Blurb)

It’s important to have interesting anime that will be universally accepted!

I haven’t really watched TV anime these past two years.  Once you get rid of a habit, it’s not good.  Once you distance yourself from anime, you won’t even be able tell which anime is good and which is bad.  It’s scary to think that I’ve been watching anime by force of habit.

I also haven’t watched that many video animes to be fussy about it but I feel that video animes have become closer in form to manga.   I can’t say though that it’s already at the serialized manga level, but it’s just a matter of time.  But if you’re going to make video anime and you don’t make it differently from TV anime, it will be a waste.  Probably change the design a bit…just like what Mr. Oshii is doing.  Once your attempts go beyond the realm of attempting things and once you’ve achieved something basic, I think we’d probably be able to see the direction of video anime for the first time.  If I were to create video anime, I’d like to make a short sixty minute one, something that is highly concentrated and can’t be fully “digested” in a TV anime format.  Sixty minutes is too short for a movie and too long for TV, and I think it is a length that is untapped and put aside.

Compared to video, TV’s strong point is that you can make serialized anime on TV.  Nicely put, TV is a medium wherein if you don’t have “ordinariness” (badly put, “mass appeal”) you won’t succeed so in this sense TV is a more demanding form of media than video.  I also don’t like the trend wherein anime that don’t appeal to the masses are turned into video anime.  I think that video anime should also have universal appeal.

For 1986, if there are proposals that come my way, I’ll do them.  I still don’t know exactly what I’m going to do.

TOMOKO KONPARU

(Blurb)

With regards to video anime, I have “The Super Girl” and I’d like to try my hand at a new kind of animal anime.

Anime is said to be on a low note right now but I think that the number of anime being produced now is just right because there was a time when the anime that was being produced went over the production capabilities of those in the anime world.  I even think that the number should be reduced by just a little bit more, but only if the quality is improved.  It seems that 30 animes will be released in 1986, but I think that in terms of quality, (those that aren’t good) will be culled.

I don’t have any children yet but as a housewife I don’t think that anime has a bad influence on children.  Since I was little, I myself grew up watching anime.  Even now, from the standpoint of someone making anime, I don’t want to forget about the children.  But on the other hand, I also think that mothers who just park their kids in front of the TV to watch anime isn’t good either.

The anime following “Hai Step Jun” will be “Maple Town”, an animal anime but I don’t want it to be anime with just “good” characters in it.  I want to try making anime for young girls, which will be a new thing for me.

ICHIRO ITANO

(Blurb)

There must be anime that only young animators can do!

I think that mass media has a very strong influence on children.  I want people to be more conscious of that.  I feel that anime that is being made today just to make money is overly increasing - animators don’t question things, or assert themselves.  An extreme example is the Lolita complex boom of late.  If a person is being shown something like (a Lolita anime) from way back (from childhood), that person’s imagination takes precedence instead of the ability to adapt to another human being, and stress builds up as a result.  I think we should oppose this current reality, and as for myself, I plan to try different things.  I wonder what I’d be able to do before I turn thirty-five, and I also think that you can learn from failure.

MITSURU KANEKO (MK Productions)

(Blurb)

The computer is absolutely infiltrating the anime world.

It’s possible to think that in the future, the possibilities of computer graphics will first be used in the industrial fields.   For example, the depth maps of the Japan Coast Guard just have numbers on them now but if you input these numbers into a computer, you’ll be able to see valleys (under the sea) that continue for miles as video images.  And if this (technology) presses forward, for example, there is an (American) masterpiece special effects movie called “Fantastic Voyage” wherein they (physically) made the sets and then shot the film but in the future, you can make the movie set by inputting data in a computer.

Speaking of another side (of this technology), take the example of video images shown on large screens that have been demonstrated at an expo.  Just like what was shown in the expo, video images and 3D images shown on dome-like screens can only be made using a computer.

In this way, the spotlight is now aimed at anime as a means to (showcase technology).  Animation’s possibilities will also become limitless as it will need to respond to the diversification of people’s demands.

(Caption for illustration on the right side of the page)

This is Cindy, a young girl from a biker gang in the anime “Megazone 23 Part 2”.  Mr. Yasuomi Umetsu’s character design is original, as personified in this drawing.  This anime has a different kind of appeal compared to Part 1.

KEISUKE FUJIKAWA (scriptwriter of the anime “Once Upon a Time” or “Legend of Fabulous Battle Windaria”)

I researched and compared the recent trends, the trend in fans’ consciousness about anime and anime programs and from around last year, it seems like the age of wanting “salvation” has come.  I think that in so many ways, we are being stifled and we are seeking breakthroughs.  I think that how anime as a medium is going to lift this issue up is going to be important.   Even “Once Upon a Time”, which we will show in 1986, takes up issues of the present times.  I’m putting emphasis on what I will say to the youth of today through SF that has stories of people in it instead of just hardcore SF.  For this year and the next, I’d like to dig into aspects of the youth in different ways.  I’d like to make anime that makes viewers think that there is something out there that matches their present selves perfectly.

(Caption for illustration on the left side of the page)

This is Anasu, the heroine of “Windaria”.  Illustrated by Ms. Mutsumi Inomata, this character personifies the pure themes of Mr. Fujikawa’s anime.

YOSHINOBU NISHIZAKI (producer)

(Blurb)

I’d like to make a video anime that will be a preview of a movie theater anime

With regards to “Odin: Photon Sailor Starlight”, I didn’t make excuses and I haven’t commented on it but there are clear reasons why that movie ended in failure.  That anime was originally a one-hour program, twelve episode TV anime - in other words, it was an anime made to be aired for twelve hours.  I think there was a big mistake in the producers’ thinking that they could digest this into a two and a half hour movie.

I used to say that after 1955, there wouldn’t be a hit anime made for movie theaters.   The same thing is about to happen in the video anime world.  If the overproduction of low-quality anime continues, there will definitely be a backlash.  It seems that the most basic idea during planning anime has been forgotten.  And this basic idea is this: things expressed through anime must rouse people’s imaginations.

We’re planning on releasing an anime for movie theaters on July 9, 1986 based on “Desler”*.  But before that we’re planning on selling a promotion video about the movie in April.  In making this video, budgetary issues, which have always been a concern in video animes, have been set aside so I’m planning on making it in the same high-quality as the movie.  I’m also thinking of releasing a trailer of the movie at the same time.

*Translator’s note: Desler is a character in the anime “Space Battleship Yamato”.

(Box at the lower left side of the page)

If there were animes like this I’d watch them!

FUJIHIKO HOSONO (manga artist)

I like the works of Mr. Hayao Miyazaki.  I heard that he said that he wanted to make an anime about the Period of Warring States (in Japanese history) so if that anime is made, I’d definitely want to watch it.  Personally, I’d also like Mr. Miyazaki to make ninja anime.  With regards to other animators, I like Mr. Mamoru Oshii, the one who made “Beautiful Dreamer.

SHOJOTAI (a singer/actress trio)

Reiko: Among animated characters, I like Peter Rabbit.  I’d like Peter to guide me into a dreamy nature scene.

Miho: I really like Phillips. I’d like to plunge into a world adventure with a kitty cat.

Tomo: More than anything, I like Snoopy.  I’d watch any number of animes with Snoopy in it.  I’d like to watch happy animes.

[omgjasminesimone]

Community

Logan x MC

Word Count: 1400

A/N: The Choices Tumblr community has alerted me that it is @brightpinkpeppercorn​​’s birthday. Happy birthday Mar!!! Thank you for always being such a ray of sunshine in this Choices Tumblr community! Here is a Logan x MC fic I hope you enjoy as a gift!

“Wow Logan, look, it’s the mascot!” Ellie exclaims, tugging on his hand, which as always is perpetually laced with her’s, to head in that direction. 

“He must be miserable.” Logan notes. He definitely doesn’t envy the poor kid in the giant Westwood Community College Wildcat costume in the Dallas heat.

“I’m sure it’s an honor! At Langston, there were very competitive auditions to become the Langston Lion.” Ellie lets out a nostalgic sigh. “I miss college.”

“You just graduated.” Logan reminds her. 

“Yeah, but after working full time for two months, I’m already nostalgic for the good old college days.”

“Good old college days? What about all those late nights in the library? And days you would call me crying because you were sure you failed that test?” Logan counters.

“...I guess I mostly did tell you about the bad things. But there were really good times too! Like the late night Target runs, and movie nights in the dorm.” Ellie reminisces. 

“Well on the bright side, you have free weekends now since you don’t have to study.”

“But I like studying.” Ellie counters. 

“....I’m trying to find a silver lining here for you El but you’re making it very difficult.”

Ellie laughs, clutching his arm and forcing him into the line for photos with the mascot. “The most important silver lining is you coming home, moving to Texas for me, us getting an apartment together, and being able to hug and kiss you as much as I want. Like right now.” She releases his arm and cups his cheeks, pulling him down to her waiting lips and kissing him soundly. 

Logan still can’t believe his luck as he wraps his arms around her waist and lifts her slightly off the ground. To somehow end up here in a community college quad kissing Ellie Wheeler after everything that happened with the Mercy Park Crew is nothing less than miraculous.

...

..

Logan went to Tijuana from LA after everything went down. It seemed like as good a place as any to avoid the FBI. But without Ellie, he felt like he was existing, but not really living. Every day, he had to fight his urge to call her. Stop himself at the last second when he had his keys in his hand and wanted to drive to Langston. 

One day, he just couldn’t fight it anymore. He called her from a burner phone. “Hello?” His throat closed up, hearing her voice for the first time in two months. A sharp intake of air from Ellie. “Logan?” She asked hopefully. He still couldn’t say anything. “Logan, it’s you, isn’t it?” She prompted. Then, she started crying. And his heart broke at the sound of her loud desperate sobs. 

“I’m sorry.” He apologized before hanging up, his head falling into his hands. He shouldn’t have done that. His phone rang. Ellie, calling him back. He ignored it, and went to turn it off, but before he could a text message from Ellie came through. ‘I still love you. I still want you Logan’

And that’s when he knew he was going to turn himself in. Because there was nothing he wanted more than her.  

He went to LA, and went to the Feds. And to his surprise, they were actually sympathetic. After all, he had come from the foster care system and had few options which explained why he turned to crime. He was also a minor when he committed most of his crimes. And most importantly, he ultimately helped take down Jason and his criminal enterprise. And he had turned himself in, he didn’t make them come find him. 

He was offered a deal. Since he didn’t technically have a criminal record attached to him, with them only knowing his first name when Ellie roped in the FBI to take down Jason, he had the option to enlist in the army and avoid any jail time. 

He jumped at the opportunity. And made it through basic training with flying colors. And only then did he allow himself to call Ellie. To explain everything. To tell her that he was still in love with her, and wanted to come to Langston to see her before his first deployment, Japan. 

He felt euphoric relief when she said she wanted to see him. 

For four years, they made it work long distance. They navigated the time differences so they could Facetime when he was in Japan, and then South Korea, and finally Iraq. Ellie wrote him countless letters, and sent pictures and care packages that he treasured. She also sent a GED prep book, which was invaluable in helping him get his GED. 

Between each deployment he’d sublet a room near Langston’s campus, and he and Ellie would spend every day together making up for the time that they were apart. 

But now, he’s served his four years and he’s free to use his GI bill to enroll in classes. Free to finally really start a life with Ellie. 

..

.

Ellie breaks away from his lips, smiling up at him. She hugs his waist, burying her face into his chest. “I love you.”

“I love you more.” He insists, placing a kiss to the top of her head. “Do we really have to wait in this line for a picture? I don’t want one.” He admits after patiently waiting several minutes. 

Ellie pouts. “You’re such a party pooper. Orientation is supposed to be fun!” 

Logan checks the email the community college registrar sent him. “Pretty sure it’s supposed to be about getting my student ID card troublemaker. Now that will be a line worth waiting in.” 

“Fine, but if we come back later and there’s no line for the mascot then I’m getting a picture of you with him.” Ellie promises, or more so threatens. 

“Deal.” Logan acquiesces, because he knows there’s still going to be a line later. He slips his hand back in her’s and walks them over to the Student Bookstore, following the map given to him when he checked in. 

He gets his ID while Ellie browses the store. She insists on buying an overpriced Westwood Community College sweatshirt. “Now I can wear this when you wear the Langston College sweatshirt I got you.” She reveals, hugging him from behind as he buys the community college edition textbooks required for his classes. They’re not available online, which seems like a scam. 

A student orientation volunteer announces a tour of campus is starting in 5 minutes, and Ellie quickly drags him over to wait for it. “I already have a map though.” Logan argues. 

“That’s not the same as walking around in person. Plus, it’s an opportunity to make friends.” Ellie looks around at some of the other new students. “He looks nice Logan! Why don’t you go talk to him?”    

“Okay mom, relax. I can make my own friends.” Logan retorts, but he softens that slight jab with a fond smile.

Ellie blushes. “Sorry. Am I being really overbearing? I just want school to be a really good experience for you. I know how nervous you are about this.”

Logan sighs. “It’s just been a really long time since I was in school. And the fact that I’m only going to be able to work part-time makes me a little anxious too.” 

“I told you that you don’t have to work Logan. I’m making good money. You can just focus on school.”

Logan shakes his head no. “No way. I’m paying half the rent.” He insists.

Ellie sighs. “You’re so stubborn. Is this about what my dad said? Because he doesn’t even know you.”

“Well, I don’t love that your dad called me a leech, but it’s more about me. I don’t like to depend on anyone. I’ll just feel more comfortable with my own money.”

“But what’s mine is your’s.” Ellie insists. 

“As sweet as that is troublemaker, you’re not going to be able to get me to change my mind on this. I’m keeping the part-time job at the mechanic shop.”

Ellie sighs. “Fine, but school comes first.” She replies. 

“Am I grounded if I bring home bad grades?” Logan retorts playfully. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Not trying to be your mother.” Ellie backs down. “In the spirit of being less domineering, what do you want to do after the tour?”

“We could find the best spot in the library to fool around.” 

“Logan!” Ellie exclaims with a blush as he laughs. 

...

..

taglist:  @debramcg1106  @choicesarehard @brightpinkpeppercorn @regina-and-happiness @drakexnadira @flyawayboo @fairydustandsarcasm @alesana45 @maxwellsquidsuit @lahelable @god-save-the-keen @mrsmckenziesworld @paisleylovergirl @iplaydrake @sinclaire-made-me-sin @choicesgremlin @lovehugsandcandy @blades-of-light-and-shadow @justdani14 @emceesynonymroll @emichelle @badchoicesposts @client-327 @riverrune @liamzigmichael4ever @princessstellaris @mskaneko @anxious-arliah @zaffrenotes @iam-ankita @ohsnapitzlovehacker @desireepow-1986 @lilyofchoices

[pokemonknuffelskopen-blog]

Leading 5 Anime Cartoons to look at

Anime webshop

Watch these Top your five Popular Anime Cartoon Tv programs:

Technically speaking, "anime" is simply movement that has originated in Japan. The particular roots of anime are usually in "manga, " which are Japanese people comics. Interestingly, manga came from on temple walls, and after that eventually was compiled inside comic books. Here are some of the most well-liked anime cartoons in history:

Anime webshop

1 ) Astro Boy

The original tromba series was published throughout 1952, and then was transmitted as a TV series in 1963. In Japanese, the name of the set is literally "Mighty Atom. micron The story is based on the journeys of Astro Boy, some sort of robot. Astro Boy seemed to be groundbreaking, as the style of toon used epitomized what would certainly later became known all over the world as "anime. " A united states 3D movie based on the authentic manga series was released with October of 2009.

2 . not Doraemon

Doraemon is an cartoons series based on the original Western manga series. The story is dependent on Doraemon, a robotic kitten. Doraemon travels back in time for the 22nd century, to help a new schoolboy named Nobita Nobi. The manga series had been originally published from 1969-1996. Meanwhile, the most recent TV cartoons series originally ran by 1979-2006. Interestingly, the first Doraemon anime series ran within 1973. However , it did not become popular.

3. Dragon Golf ball Z

Both "Dragon Basketball, " and "Dragon Soccer ball Z" were anime collection that were broadcast from 1986-1996, in Japan. The franchise's also included 17 animated characteristic movies, and three TV SET specials. The anime Tv programs were based on "Dragon Baseball, " the original Japanese torbellino series. The series has been published from 1984-1996. These kinds of comics were actually motivated by "Journey to the Western, " a Chinese folks novel. "Dragon Ball" is around Son Goku's search for more effective magical objects that are called the "Dragon Balls. inch During his journey, Child Goku meets friends and also foes, the majority of whom may also be searching for the Dragon Lite flite.

4. Pokemon

The Pokemon anime series is based on typically the Pokemon video game series-which alone is part of the umbrella Pokemon franchise. Although the Pokemon Series was originally aired inside Japan, it has since recently been released in other markets, which includes North America, Europe, and Down under. Also, the original series provides spawned three different sequence.

The name "Pokemon" is actually an abridged name of "Pocket Enemies, " a Japanese brand label. Pokemon also refers to the practically 500 fictional creatures who have appeared in the Pokemon team. The basis of the Pokemon galaxy is a childhood interest regarding Satoshi Tajiri-Oniw. Tajiri-Oniw, often the franchise's executive director, appreciated collecting insects as a child.

5 various. Speed Racer

This variation name is based on the original cartoons show "Mach GoGoGo. inches Mach GoGoGo became a string in 1968. The Speed Racing TV series lasted in the United States, through 1967-1968. A total of fifty-two episodes were produced in that timeframe. Certain chapters coming from Mach GoGoGo manga have been released during the 1990s. And then in 2008, the Us film "Speed Racer" was published.

[transformersaesthetics]

Gender in G1

Hey gang!  This article will be the first in a series going through the history of female transformers. We’ll be talking about character designs, relevance to the plot, and toys to analyze the role of female characters and figures in our beloved franchise. We will first observe traits, and then conduct analysis. I’m going to start with Generation One and work our way through the history of the brand. 

    There’s been a trend, starting in the 2001 Botcon fiction with the Beast Wars basic figure Sonar, of retconning toy only characters that were not explicitly established to be men as women, especially through Ask Vector Prime and more obscure fiction like the comics.(Crockalley) While this reflects an admirable desire to increase representation, it says more about our values today than it does about the history of the brand and the development of female characters, while still being an important part of that story. As we shall see, the existence of the conventions and exclusive toys complicates things a great deal. For example, technically, the first female decepticon is Nightracer, a Botcon 1994 exclusive go-bot, but most people never had the opportunity to purchase that toy, or have even heard of the character.(Elita2)   This does create, retrospectively, some ambiguity about who exactly gets to claim the title of first female transformer to have a toy, and other things of that nature. I started writing this essay with the intention of examining prominent female transformers, with the idea that, while people do indeed read the old 3H comics and scour Ask Vector Prime, the bulk of exposure most people, and operatively most children, have is to the primary fiction, and to the characters thrust into the spotlight by the good folks at Hasbro. 

So, without further ado, let’s jump right in with Generation 1! 

    While Arcee is the character who most immediately springs to mind when we examine female transformers in the Generation 1 fiction, there are in fact several others of note, and interestingly, several who appear first. The very first female transformers we meet are in the episode the Search for Alpha Trion.(ChrisMcFeely) We’re introduced to five whole female characters. The first one on screen, making her the first female transformer to appear anywhere, is Chromia.(Derik, Chromia) One of the first things we hear about them is that Shockwave thought they were extinct, and… There’s a lot to unpack there, and instead of doing that, I’m going to say “80’s cartoon sensitivity to issues of gender” and leave it at that.(ChrisMcFeely) These characters form a guerrilla unit of soldiers who have been harassing Shockwave as he tries to run Cybertron.(ChrisMcFeely) The character models are reasonably homogenous. The color palette used for them consists of traditionally female colors, such as pink, light blue, and lime green.(ChrisMcFeely) Rather than the blocky build exhibited by most of the G1 cast, they are slim and curvy.(ChrisMcFeely) Also unlike the rest of the cast, they wear lipstick and have sizible busts.(ChrisMcFeely) This really sets the tone for the majority of female characters going forwards. While the men exhibit a variety of body types and different degrees of blockiness, the women are almost invariably voluptuous and slender, and frequently rather busty.

 As far as the plot goes, there’s a bevy of pluses and minuses. In the opening scenes of the episode, the female autobots are shown operating independently.(ChrisMcFeely) However, Elita-1 is quickly captured and Optimus Prime races to her rescue. Later on, she saves him, but at the cost of her own well being, which forces Optimus to once again rescue her.(ChisMcFeely) Every named female autobot (Chromia, Moonracer and Elita-1) is romantically involved with a male autobot.(ChrisMcFeely)  A couple of the female autobots, Greenlight and Lancer, didn’t actually receive names for 25 years.(ItsWalky, Greenlight; Lancer) In the larger context of the G1 cartoon, these characters have essentially no impact. This is the only episode most of them appear in, with the sole exception of Elita-1, who would go on to appear in the episode War Dawn.(Omnisvalidus)

As far as toys go, Chromia didn’t receive a general retail toy until 2014.(Derik, Chromia) Elita 1 and Moonracer didn’t get general retail toys until 2018, although all of them did get a convention or Timelines toy in 2005-6 or so.(Vanguard; Derik, Moonracer) The most revealing thing about these paragraphs is that is more or less literally all there is to say. Elita-1 got a model kit in the 90s, but only in Japan, Chromia shows up in some BotCon comics… And that’s all.(Vanguard; Derik, Chromia)

    Then, in 1986, the transformers movie came out, and we got Arcee, the first really prominent female transformer.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) She’s pink, she wears lipstick, and she’s got curves and a chest, planting her squarely in the traditional female aesthetic. Like Elita-1, she got a couple of model kits in the 90’s, but her history of receiving toys is famously abysmal. There were no fewer than 3 separate G1 toys of her that were canceled.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) She finally got a toy in 2006, a convention exclusive redeco of Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia, but she only got a toy that actually turned into a car in 2008, again as a retool and only in Japan.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) She only received a toy based on her character model in 2014, almost 30 years after her introduction.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47)

 We encounter here for the first time a pattern that will haunt us for the rest of our survey. Female transformers characters tend to not receive toys. In my personal collection, I have exactly 3, two of which are minicons. In my collection of approximately 200 figures, 3 of them are women, and only 1 is a deluxe. 

Arcee’s record of fictional appearances is not much stronger. In the ‘86 movie, Arcee basically hangs out and does vague crush things on Hot Rod or Springer, depending on who wrote the scene.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) She also takes care of Daniel, and that’s pretty much it, not only for the movie but for the rest of her cartoon appearances.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) I’m not sure she ever got an episode focusing on her, if she ever once drove the plot, or did anything much really other than hang out with Daniel, god rest her soul. 

    That’s actually not the bottom of the barrel yet. There are two other female characters of note in G1, both from the Japanese Super God Masterforce cartoon. The Masterforce characters were not actually transformers themselves, by and large, but human pilots of Transtectors, giant robot bodies that allowed Takara to sell headmasters and powermasters, figures where the head formed a separate little robot, represented in fiction by the human.(Singularity) Accordingly, the characters discussed here might not exactly count as Autobots or Decepticons, but, since they were main characters in a main show, they still form an important part of the history of women in transformers.  Minerva is part of the core cast of Autobots, and serves as a medic.(Derik, Minerva) The other is one of the primary antagonists, Mega, the… owner? Pilot? Of one half of Overlord. (Derik, Mega) 

Minerva is actually the first female character to receive a toy, in 1988, four years after the launch of the franchise.(Derik, Minerva) Minerva’s toy shares a mold with Nightbeat, and unfortunately we don’t have any information about who the mold was designed for “first”, as it were, so we’re going to have to wait a while for the first toy designed from the beginning to be a female character. Minerva’s toy is remarkable because it lacks many of the hallmarks of female toys released even today. It’s as blocky as any other Autobot car, doesn’t have high heels or a sculpted busom, etc.(Derik, Minerva) The proportions are also rather generic, rather than featuring the slender and voluptuous build that will haunt our survey. Minerva turns into an ambulance (Nightbeat’s Porsche mode with a lightbar), befitting her status as a medic. 

Mega’s toy is also very interesting. She controls one half of the rather generically proportioned Overlord transtector , which turns into a jet and a tank, two decidedly male coded vehicles. (Derik, Mega) Overlord is also absolutely bristling with guns, which is also not a traditional quality of female characters.(Derki, Mega) Indeed, Mega actually presents an intriguing dichotomy. While she herself is robustly and obviously female, Overlord is simply a robot, and in every subsequent depiction is male. 

In terms of character model, Minerva is quite interesting. One would expect that the model would be very similar to that of Nightbeat, and indeed to some extent it is. (Nightbeat never actually appears in the G1 cartoon, so he only has a character model for the comics and some commercial appearances.)(ItsWalky, Nightbeat) It features the same helmet, and hallmarks such as the chest and general kibble. However, some important liberties have been taken. Her color palette is not Nightbeat’s blues and yellows, but rather, white, pink and red, a decidedly more feminine set of colors.(Derik, Minerva) While not nearly as curvy as the original female Autobots, her proportions have been altered so that she fits a more traditionally feminine body shape.(Derik, Minvera)  Rather than the idealized Dorito of masculinity, Minerva's robot mode had relatively slender shoulders and waist, and relatively broad hips and large thighs, all hallmarks of traditional female body imagery.(Derik, Minerva) Minerva actually doesn't have breast analogues, largely because of the Nightbeat mold's aggressively flat chest.(Derik, Minerva)  

Minerva walks a fascinating line of being female while still clearly being a giant robot, and not a person covered in metal as with earlier G1 women. This represents a really interesting way of presenting female characters visually. They can have traditionally feminine characteristics without being consumed by them. Unfortunately, that's not something we really see too much more of in the brand, at least not for quite some time. In terms of her human character model, Minerva's got a suit, and her proportions aren't too disgusting, particularly for anime.(Derik, Minerva) It looks like she gets sexualized some of the time, but who doesn’t in anime (which is a can of worms quite outside of the scope of this article.) 

Mega is also an intriguing blend of different ideas. Her human character model wears a skin tight witch princess outfit, and is very traditionally feminine in terms of proportions, accessories etc.(Derik, Mega) The robot that she shares control of is a massive, male robot with guns poking out of every possible surface.(Derik, Mega)  Without consciously trying to make a statement about women and gender, the Masterforce team created a blend of signals of masculinity and femininity that, while not necessarily forward thinking, is at the very least a departure from the homogeneity of traditional portrayals. 

Minerva's character is quite a bit more disappointing, with the caveat that I have not personally seen Masterforce. All of the male characters run around trying to gain her favor, which she bestows occasionally etc etc.(Derik, Minerva) She is a pacifist, and this keeps her confined to the sidelines of battle, treating the injured. Her pacifism appears to be presented largely as her not having the stomach to do what needs to be done because of her womanliness and desire to protect everyone.(Derik, Minerva) Apparently she has also been given a very “traditional” upbringing, learning all sorts of feminine skills like dancing, music, and cooking.(Derik, Minerva) 

Mega, in addition to being eeeeeevil, also appears to feel very maternal towards the younger Decepticon cast, to the point that it hampers her fighting. (Derik, Mega) The evil aspect of Mega’s personality is actually really remarkable. There is a surprising dearth of female Decepticons, much less ones who serve in important leadership positions. Indeed, Mega is one of three or so evil aligned females to have a position of command, the other two being RID 2015 Glowstrike and Beast Machines Strika, and one of a bare handful of female Decepticons more broadly.(Abates; ItsWalky, Strika) 

    The character models, absence of toys, and almost non-existence in terms of plot weight all conspire to sideline the very earliest female transformers. For the first two seasons of the cartoon, female transformers appear in two episodes. After the movie, there is a single female character who, while frequently present, doesn’t really contribute anything. Moreover, she is placed in the traditionally female roles of maternal style care of a child and being a love interest to several male characters over the course of her appearances. Being female is the personality of these characters. They do not have any other defining trait or motivations. While eventually other female characters become present, and do have motivations and characters outside of being women, there are only two of them, and they exist only in Japan. Mega and Minerva do have intriguing character models and toys, but in terms of their fictional portrayals, they still are largely confined to the traditional role of women, either the sidelines of battle or care based roles. 

 The fact that not a single one of these characters received a general retail toy until 2014 also serves to minimize their presence. People remember characters in no small part based on the toys they had in childhood. The absence of toys eliminates the opportunity for this to occur for any female character, creating the possibility that people won’t even remember that they existed. Fortunately, the Masterforce does break this trend for the first time, giving us toys of not one but two female characters. Unfortunately, Minerva has yet to receive another full sized toy, and Overlord has since become a separate character, sharply limiting the influence of Minerva and Mega in the brand at large. 

The character models also directly contribute to this marginalization. They evoke some of the purest signals of womanhood, such as lipstick and breasts. Minerva and Mega buck this trend in some respects, but in others, especially in their human forms, they contribute to it. The models are also remarkably slight, which contrasts sharply with the warlike bulk of characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron. This contrast creates the impression that the female autobots are less capable than their male counterparts, even though they are depicted in combat situations. Their bodies are drawn to be aesthetically pleasing, whereas those of characters such as Grimlock are unequivocally designed for function. 

 Of course, these narratives of comparative weakness and strength tap into larger societal narratives. The G1 cartoon would not be able to communicate these things so readily if slight and curvaceous builds were not already associated in the larger culture with femininity and a lack of capability. Indeed, what the Generation 1 cartoon does with respect to women is to evoke the most essentialized and distilled version of womanhood -buxom, romantic partner, mother- and then unquestioningly transmit it and it alone, not out of malignant sexism (for example, the writers were not seeking to communicate that a woman’s place was in the kitchen as part of an ideological agenda) but because it simply was not the focus of the work, being targeted to young boys as it was. They needed female characters without exerting a huge amount of effort, and pulling the societal narrative from the ether was the simplest solution. 

    This is the core dynamic of gender in Transformers. We live in a world where there are gendered toys and concepts. It makes sense for Hasbro, Takara Tomy, and the supporting fiction to cater to those invested interests. People don’t buy things for their children that challenge their values. Interestingly, it is not that people actively seek to buy things that serve their values. Rather, they buy things that they can understand, things which make sense to them. Hasbro selling toys that are vehicles, robots, and war related, all things that are strongly male coded, makes intuitive sense to purchasers on a level below conscious understanding. It plays well with the societal narratives in which they live, and to a large extent have constructed their identities upon. Young boys will want car toys and robot toys, legitimately and from their own desires, because they have absorbed what society tells them it means to be men into themselves. For all of these reasons, Hasbro will always default to conservatism to turn a profit, and that means not trying to sell female coded things to boys, (creating a dearth of female characters), or trying to sell male coded things to girls, (creating a lack of representation that would appeal to a potential female audience.) 

However, all is not doom and gloom. As we will see in further installments of this series, Hasbro has been making an active effort to increase representation in recent years, especially since 2014. Moreover, since G1 is the source material from which much subsequent fiction draws, when people in more obscure settings, such as convention exclusive comics, do reach for female characters, they tend to reach for one of the female autobots established in The Search for Alpha Trion. Accordingly, in subsequent years, many versions of Chromia, Moonracer, Elita-1 and Arcee have appeared in various media. Arcee and Chromia in particular have had many incarnations. The Michael Bay films, Transformers Animated, Transformers Prime, and the IDW comics all feature their own iterations of Arcee, and the comics and the films feature Chromia. So, in some senses, the presence of female autobots in G1 gave writers a framework to build on in the future, even if the characters were not impactful at the moment of their inception. 

    The presence of female transformers in G1 is more or less exactly what you would expect from an 80’s cartoon. The women are voluptuous, irrelevant, and confined to romantic and maternal roles. Although there are some characters who do occupy an interesting space in terms of gender, namely Mega, and there are some that are not as overtly female in terms of design, namely Minerva, the overall impression is one of homogeneity of build and personality, as well as insignificance. Fortunately, these characters continue to appear almost 35 years later, and are increasingly receiving the attention and toys they once lacked. Many of these characters will be our near continuous companions in our examination of female characters throughout the history of the brand. That being said, in terms of an analysis strictly confined to G1 on its own, we find almost a complete absence of female characters and effectively no female characters of significance within the plot. Generation 1 is a boy’s club. Thank goodness it’s not the 80’s anymore. 

Works Cited

Abates et al. “Glowstrike” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Glowstrike Accessed 5/11/2020

Crockalley et al. “Sonar (BW)” TFwikihttps://tfwiki.net/wiki/Sonar_(BW) Accessed 5/11/2020

Chris McFeely et al. “The Search for Alpha Trion” TFwiki.https://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Search_for_Alpha_Trion Accessed 5/11/2020

Derik et al. “Chromia (G1)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Chromia_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020

Derik et al. “Mega” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Mega Accessed 5/11/2020

Derik et al. “Minerva” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Minerva Accessed 5/11/2020

Derik et al. “Moonracer (G1)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Moonracer_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020

Elita2 et al. “Nightracer (G2)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Nightracer Accessed 5/11/2020

ItsWalky et al. “Greenlight” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Greenlight Accessed 5/11/2020

ItsWalky et al. “Nightbeat (G1)”, TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Nightbeat_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020 

ItsWalky et al. “Lancer” TFwiki.  https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Lancer Accessed 5/11/2020

ItsWalky et al. “Strika (BM)” TFwiki.  https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Strika_(BM)#Toys Accessed 5/4/2020

Omnisvalidus et al. “War Dawn” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/War_Dawn Accessed 5/11/2020

S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47 et al. “Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Arcee_(G1)/Generation_1_cartoon_continuity Accessed 5/11/2020

S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47 et al. “Arcee (G1)/toys” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Arcee_(G1)/toys Accessed 5/11/2020

Singularity et al. “Transformers: Super-god Masterforce (cartoon)” TFwiki.  https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Super-God_Masterforce_(cartoon) Accessed 5/11/2020

Vanguard et al. “Elita one (G1)” TFwiki.  https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Elita_One_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020 

[canmom]

Toku Tuesday 39: Mamoru Oshii’s Avalon franchise

Waaay back on Animation Night 39, we watched perhaps the most renowned film of Mamoru Oshii: Ghost in the Shell, one of the decisive statements of the 90s realist movement of animation, Japanese cyberpunk, etc. etc. Well, this Toku Tuesday, we’ve reached that number... so it seems a great arbitrary reason to look into his live action films!

Mamoru Oshii is one of those major auteurs that the anime industry has a habit of producing, and I wrote about his career back on Animation Night 38. His animated films are known for near-future scifi heavy geopolitical themes, very deliberate pacing, desaturated palettes, and realist animation of both very austere emotionless humans and complex machinery - leaning on the talents of realist animators like Mitsuo Iso, Toshiyuki Inoue, and Hiroyuki Okiura who made their names working with Katsuhiro Otomo.

But he also made live action films! Quite a number of them in fact...

Oshii’s entry into live action film came in 1986, shortly after the release of the remarkable Angel’s Egg, with the Kerberos Saga, focusing on the gradual demise of an overtly Nazi-styled fascist military police unit in a future dystopian Japan which sided against the Nazis in WWII, and somehow still lost the war. This series opened with The Red Spectacles (1986) and spawned a pretty sprawling franchise including manga and a second live action prequel film, StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cop in 1991, but the best known entry in the series is actually not directed by Oshii - the anime film JinRoh: The Wolf Brigade (1999) which was directed by renowned realist animator Hiroyuki Okiura to Oshii’s script. (Much later, there would be a Korean live action remake of this film.)

I’ve had a certain curiosity towards this franchise. The first thing you see is immediately the overtly fashcore imagery that is clearly calling to mind SS uniforms; but though there are many readings out there, I never got the impression this (or the much more widely discussed JinRoh) is a fascist film. Alas, most of what I have been able to learn is a brief video by Youtube video essayist ‘Beyond Ghibli’, who is more interested in saying vaguely portentious things than really critically analysing. Since it’s almost impossible to find even in Japanese from the usual sources, that will have to be an investigation for another day.

Following StrayDog, Oshii returned to directing animation for most of the 90s largely with Production I.G., and this period saw some of his most renowned works, such as Ghost in the Shell and Patlabor 2, setting him up for international fame. Our first movie tonight, Avalon (2001), came right between Oshii’s two GitS movies, and also happened to coincide with a certain film heavily inspired by his work over Stateside. So it was a period when the idea of virtual reality was really in.

Like almost everything Oshii directed (with the exception perhaps of the recent vampire comedy anime VladLove!), Avalon takes us to a dystopian near future and is full of military equipment. More unusually, the film is entirely in Polish - filmed in Poland with a Polish cast...

The film takes place in an elaborate virtual reality military simulator played using direct brain machine interfaces. Compared to Oshii’s animated films, which tend to favour a kind of showoffy level of austere, refined beauty, this film seems cheerfully low budget and honestly kind of goofy. It follows a player named Ash - yo @footsteps-on-the-dance-floor​! - who makes a living playing the Avalon game, and her effort to discover a secret ‘no reset’ mission and what’s up with the game.

Visually, the film seems to make heavy use of almost monochrome colour filters to represent the limited simulated reality. Oshii used a technique of animating flat layers in the composite which he had a pithy name for, but I seem to have lost that reference. It was praised at the time for cinematography and I’m excited to see what Oshii does with the idea.

The film met... moderate success, I think; it got some awards in Europe. Oshii was not done with the concept, and returned to it in a couple of short films within two short film compilations, of which I can find only scant information, namely:

The movie was developed as a spiritual sequel to the Assault Girl: Hinako The Kentucky and Assault Girl 2 shorts Oshii directed as part of the Shin-Onna Tachiguishi Retsuden and Rebellion: The Killing Isle collections of short films respectively. 

Perhaps at some point I’ll be able to track down a copy of these collections, since they all sound pretty fun.

Anyway, a little later in 2009, 8 years after Avalon, Oshii went ahead and expanded these concepts into a second film titled Assault Girls...

In this case, the premise of Avalon is expanded out a bit: we now know the game is taking place in the aftermath of a nuclear war. The film sees a group of four skilled players hunting a boss monster in a subregion of the game; unlike Avalon it is in Japanese. The combination of limited but well designed CGI with Kenji Kawai’s choral soundtrack calls to mind Oshii’s wordless musical film Mezame no Hakobune (Open Your Mind), which came out in the intervening period, though I know not if it will be as trippy as that film! The poster, at least, certainly sets a tone.

We’ll be starting pretty promptly over at our usual place - https://twitch.tv/canmom ! Time permitting we may slip in an episode or two of Kamen Rider Revice - we must be terribly behind at this point...

(If we enjoy this, we can also look forward to Oshii’s film Garm Wars: The Last Druid, which seems to share a visual sensibility if not direct continuity. And I’m definitely curious to find out what is going on in Kerberos at some point.)