More on Re-makes

What a coincidence - today's Ask John at Animenation dealt with a question regarding the commonality of anime re-makes. John provides a few examples and briefly discusses the probable reasoning behind the new FMA re-make.

Short Answer:

The first FMA season ended with too much finality to leave options open for a second, so a remake was the best choice to open that avenue up again.

Also, $$$ (pretty obvious, but people seem to think that Japanese animation is somehow more artful and immune to financial interests, which is far from the case).

Now that I think of it, I wonder what anime I would like to have re-made so that it could be introduced to a new audience.

One that comes to mind is Rose of Versailles, a definite classic that still looks good despite its age, but could still benefit from a facelift. Considering how much I've enjoyed Le Chevalier d'Eon this semester at MAS, I think that the story of Rose of Versailles done in a similar style, that is to say a bit more serious and less flowery, could be really good. Not that the original wasn't emotionally involving or anything, but it contained a lot of the shoujo melodrama that a lot of people aren't fond of.

Other than that, most of the shows that I've watched are either too new in my opinion to warrant a re-make, or are great just the way that they are.

Astro Fighter Sunred - Second Season Planned

Great News for me and all you other fans of the amusing tokusatsu comedy Astro Fighter Sunred - a planned second season was announced at the end of a recent screening event.

While this series has proved to be much funnier than its original premise had suggested to me (seriously, how far could a joke about an over-powered, bored sentai hero and his incompetent enemies go? Very far, apparently), I actually didn't expect a follow-up season. I suppose its relative episodic-ness proves helpful in that even if manga material runs out (and I have no idea if this is the case or not) a competent writing team could keep it going indefinitely.

Librarians - Guardians of our Intellectual Freedom!

Iku Kasahara and Atsushi Dojo - Badass Librarians

It seems like whenever I try to describe the general setup of the series Toshokan Sensou (Library War), whoever I'm speaking to gets a case of the giggles. In case anyone who reads this is unfamiliar with the series, a brief explanation is that it takes place in an AU Japan where media censorship by the federal government has gotten so overbearing that local government entities, specifically libraries, have established a military response to this censorship, and the two sides frequently battle it out to censor books and other media from the public, or to defend the rights of the public to have access to these items, respectively.

I'm sure the laughter stems from the fact that people are shooting at each other over access to controversial books, and in a country where freedom of information is a well-established precedent, that situation seems so unreal and far away. Personally, despite the fact that something like that is unlikely to happen, I find it relatively easy to suspend my belief and just go with it, but perhaps this is a rare character attribute (judging from the response at my local anime club to Le Chevalier d'Eon, specifically the fact that for the majority of the series there were still giggles every time d'Eon's sister possessed his body, despite this fact being established early on in the series and the time for nervous chortling to be long gone, this might be true). In any case, I see it as a setup and a backdrop for an entertaining story, rather than something to pick apart and laugh about incessantly.

But people do need to realize that librarians are pretty badass people.

Case in point - I just watched a video detailing the exploits of a group of librarians who, after being ordered to give up information on the internet usage of their patrons and basically telling the FBI "hell no, that's unconstitutional," dealt with months of gag orders and weren't even allowed to attend their own trial. Spoiler - the case was dropped eventually. But even if they aren't wielding weapons and going through military drills, librarians can still defend the rights of the library patrons to have access to the information that they want without harassment and without the fear of being taken to jail for happening to look up information on something touchy (you know, like doing a Google search on "North Korea" or something).

Here's the video in question, which is about ten minutes long. It's a pretty entertaining story to listen to.

This Season's "It" Anime

Last week at a restaurant after attending my weekly anime club, I got into a discussion with a friend about what anime she was intending to watch this season. The conversation got to the point where I asserted that Eden of the East, the original production created and written by Kenji Kamiyama of Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex fame, was this season's show to look out for. She asked me, then, what about Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood? At the time it seemed as if she had got me. Since I wasn't a big fan of the original show, the sequel had been kind of flying low on my radar the whole time. However, after a week of reflection, I'm beginning to think that I was right in the first place.

To put it bluntly, reactions to the new Fullmetal Alchemist show have been mixed, at least in the places I've been reading. Part of it seems to be that many fans are attached to the original series, and in the (apparently) more manga-faithful remake, things from the original anime are missing or different, and this is seen in a negative light. Being faithful to the source material is often held up as an ideal for anime adaptations (or just book-to-film adaptations in general), though in some cases diverging from the source material might ultimately be better for the show or movie, which I think might be the case here (though not having seen or read it limits me on what I can really say regarding this).

There also seem to be many people who don't feel that a remake of the show was necessary at this point since the original show is only about five and a half years old. It does seem odd to me that Studio Bones decided to remake the show this soon in its life cycle, though if financial concerns are brought into the mix, it does seem like anything with the words Fullmetal Alchemist slapped on it would at the very least be a secure investment. Still, though, most shows that I can think of that are re-makes are either based on very old properties or are dramatically different in some way from previous incarnations. Casshern SINS is based on a property from the 1970's, and Hakaba Kitaro is a re-make of a long running kids' series made for an adult audience, so there's a major change in tone. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is not based on anything very old, nor does it feel like there's a major change in tone from the earlier adaptation, so it seems like it came about too quickly.

The anime itself was and is so popular, that I suspect it was many younger fans' introduction to the wonderful world of anime, and this remake may infringe on that sacred spot that the original inhabits. I know that if some studio decided to do a re-make of Sailor Moon, I would probably roll my eyes at the very least, since at the time I watched it it was just about the most awesome thing I had ever seen (perhaps another viewing might change my mind, haha). Any newfangled version that came out would just seem wrong to me, and I get a sense that the slightly different character designs and pacing of the new season might just seem a bit off to young fans of the original Fullmetal Alchemist.

As for me, having finally watched the first episode of Eden of the East and the second episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (I skipped episode 1 since I heard it was more of an "episode 0" or omake of some kind), I can safely say that, while Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a solid show and definitely worth following, Eden of the East is the anime to be watching this season. It's fresh, it's got a great hook, it's got English dialog that doesn't suck, and it has oodles of potential that I have hopes won't get wastedaway.

Twitter-er

Okay, I gave in and have joined the new big thing in internet thought-sharing, Twitter. If anyone reading this is interested in following me as I post short, hopefully humorous thoughts on anime and other stuff, my username is belindabird.

Also, I have a profile on My Anime List. You can see that here. From there you can see what I've watched, what I'm watching, and how I've rated the shows that I've seen. It's sort of fun, and if you sign up yourself it can be quite addictive.

Also, Slap up Party is the funniest name for a series I've seen since Hayate the Combat Butler. Seriously.

Zetsubou-shita!

No, not really. News is that there's going to be a third season of the hit anime Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei entitled, wait for it, Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. This should make many people I know (and many more who I don't know) extremely happy.

I was intrigued by the first season, but felt that the quality of the humor and writing was spotty at best. I liked the second season much better, though, so I hope the director will be retained. This news actually amuses me quite a bit, because in my soon-to-be-posted review of Natsu no Arashi (spoilers!) I mention that SHAFT needs to quit being so meta and putting references to SZS in all of their other shows and just make another season of SZS already. I guess it was a premonition.

With the manga recently beginning to hit US shores, I'm curious as to whether this series will ever follow suit. It would be quite the undertaking, should the licensing company decide to translate all the puns, little bits of text that appear everywhere, and all the references to Japanese cultural items that most US Americans probably wouldn't know up front. But from my experience, the show has been so popular with a large group of anime fans, so perhaps some of that stuff doesn't matter all that much.

Read the News at Anime News Network

Oh, Fansubs

The existence of fansubs has become an intensely debated subject within anime fandom for a while now. There was a big blowup in late 2007 regarding the state of the anime industry, the role of fansubs in the loss of Geneon as a US distributor, and the lack of legal options for people looking for speedy release schedule for their shows. I got into plenty of arguments with people on the subject at the time, but I think that the berserker rage has died down enough at this point and there have been enough recent developments that I feel comfortable touching on the subject again.

It shouldn't be much of a surprise that my opinion on the subject of fansubs is that of a moderate. When I started getting into anime fandom heavily (rather than just watching what was on TV or what looked good on the few DVDs available at the time) there was a definite code of ethics surrounding the fansubbing scene. Fansubs were meant to create US fan interest in a series, so that it could eventually be brought to the country in an official capacity. When a show was licensed, fansubbers actually stopped subbing it. I don't remember what group it was at the time, but there was a huge uproar within the fan community when a fansubbing group decided to continue subbing a show after it was licensed. Of course, just a few years later, the practice had become commonplace and the former uproar had died down to frustrated grumbling amongst a very small group of people.

I'm one of those grumblers, of course. While I admittedly rely on fansubs for the existence of this site (despite recent developments in online streaming, it's still the most reliable way to get new shows quickly so that my reviews can be somewhat timely, and it's an easy way to get screenshots), I still try to abide by that classic code of ethics. If something gets licensed, I would rather have the DVDs and I try to be appreciative of that, even if I have to wait a while to see the end of a series. I feel like they're still somewhat of a necessary evil.

I'm both annoyed and amused by the attitude change I've seen within the anime fan community in the past few years. To give an example of what I mean, once the news came out about Funimation's acquisition of the popular action anime Soul Eater, I happened to see this particularly entitled post in the Anime News Network forums regarding a particular fansub group's (and fan's) dismay over the matter. In short, this person's opinion was that Funimation shouldn't be so "greedy" for money that they send out Cease and Desist notices to fansub groups subbing the series and just allow them to finish subbing the show for free. What?

No seriously, WTH?

And, unfortunately, I've heard similar cries of dismay from people who I know in real life as well. It saddens me that a licensing announcement, something which, back when I was in college would have been cause for celebration, has turned into a lamentation about how much more difficult it will become to find good free fansubs for the series in question. It's one thing to be a poor student with not many financial options, but when I know people who have at least a bit of disposable income crying foul over having to pay for a DVD, I get a bit peeved.

Of course, since the whole matter of fansubs has boiled over, there have been quite a few developments regarding the desire for speedier releases, lower prices, and more options for watching anime legally. The most visible, in my opinion, is the fact that Crunchyroll, previously a streaming site filled with user-uploaded content, has not only gone legit, but this season has begun providing a significant number of anime simulcasts. Just this past Sunday (April 5th), Natsu no Arashi, Saki, Shangri-la and Kigurumikku premiered on the site, with the new season of Hayate no Gotoku and a show called Mainichi Kaasan having premiered not long before. Even two years ago, the prospect of simultaneous or near-simultaneous series premieres in Japan and the US would have been unheard of, yet since Gonzo began streaming their series on Youtube beginning in Spring 2008 with Blassreiter and Tower of Druaga, more series have followed suit.

Funimation, also utilizing Youtube as a streaming outlet and good at providing preview episodes of their acquisitions, scored a coup this year by gaining the rights to stream the new Fullmetal Alchemist series subtitled for free a mere 4 days after the Japanese broadcast. With all of these options available, the relevance and prevalence of fansubs should be beginning to fall by the wayside, right?

Unfortunately, after returning from Anime Detour yesterday, I saw no less than five fansubbing groups with subs up for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Before I go any further, I should note that fansubs have allowed me to see many series that would most likely never have seen the light of day here in the first place. Without Geneon around to license more of the niche stuff (which was probably part of their downfall in the first place, unfortunately) stuff like Kaiba or Akagi has little chance of getting an official release in the states. In an attempt not to sound too entitled, I feel that, while it's not a "right" by any means, in a world connected by the internet I would find it kind of sad to miss out on a really good show just because no American distribution company found it profitable enough to acquire.

But Fullmetal Alchemist? That series already had a pre-established audience coming in, and promises to be one of the biggest anime series this year. It's coming to the US for free within days of its Japanese premiere, being supported by ads. And people still can't be happy with an arrangement like that? it distresses me greatly to see this happening, as if even giving the fans exactly what they want still isn't good enough.

I know that there are probably a lot of people who wouldn't care one bit, but I personally think it would be kind of sad to see my favorite hobby disappear into obscurity just because some people felt so entitled to get something for nothing that they're not even willing to endure a few online ads and a few days wait in order to watch an anime episode legally. With so many free options and even some pay options via Xbox Live, iTunes and PSN, some of which offer High Def episodes, I find it perplexing why this continues to be such a huge issue.

Then again, I still know people who would rather watch a crummy cam version of a Hollywood movie rather than just paying for a ticket to see it in person. Apparently the word "free" still has a very tight hold on people, legal or not.

Anime Detour 2009

Hi all. In case you weren't aware (and I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't since I stupidly forgot to advertise the fact here before I left), I was an attendee and panelist at Anime Detour 2009 in St. Paul, MN. I headed up three panels, including "Manga for Grown-ups", "Anime for Grown-ups" and "Shiny New Anime". There have been some requests for the handouts from these panels since I never seem to have enough (I usually grossly underestimate what attendance will be every single time). So for the benefit of people who either couldn't attend the con or who didn't get a copy of the handouts, I've uploaded them for you.

Open Office Document Format:
Anime for Grown-ups
Manga for Grown-ups
Shiny New Anime

RTF Format:
Anime for Grown-ups
Manga for Grown-ups
Shiny New Anime

Hope everyone enjoyed the panels, and thanks for making them a success :)