Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2007-07-06]
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The Human Spider
Posts: 334 |
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It was the "Planet of the Japanese" short in CUJ that got me interested in Maruo's stuff. Although it was nowhere near the most extreme thing in the book, it was thespoiler[boy eating the still wriggling worm that he crapped out, in "Nonresistance City" that really got to me--parasites and scatology are two things I can barely handle. I also don't get the eyeball fetish at all.] Despite the subject matter I find Maruo's art extremely beautiful; in terms of pure artistic technique I think he's one of the best manga artists I've seen. |
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ZeroRyoko1974
Posts: 258 |
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hahahahahahaha......OMG I am at work, or I would be falling out of my chair laughing. I feel that way about the very idea of Sucky Star, only the guns not at my head 
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GATSU
Posts: 15296 |
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NSFHumanity, but Ecchi Attack tackles Uziga.
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kyokun703
 Posts: 2505 Location: Orgrimmar |
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Re: cons. I definitely recommend a small to medium sized con as a first go. My first "con" was basically a mini dealers' room. My second con was Fanime in Santa Clara (probably about 4000 people at the time), and that was exhausting, but fun. I've stayed with Fanime for several years (and will continue to do so, and it's now at about 10,000 people), but this year I ventured out for a one day AX. That was insane. The lines, the walking... and the dealers' room! OMG, the dealers' room. That is worth like a whole day right there. If I'd attended AX from the get-go, I don't know if I'd be back, because it was disorganized, no direction signs, we got lost a couple times, and there were just so many people. But with several years of con experience, I know there are better out there. I may go back to AX for a full weekend, so I'm not so rushed, but if that one is just as chaotic, I'm sticking with my "little" Fanime.
Re: ero guro. Yech! Re: Veronica Mars. I'm sad they cancelled it. I hate tv nowadays where they replace good tv with good writing, with crap reality tv shows with desperate attention-whores. And no, you really can't have too much Logan, even if sometimes you want to smack him for being stupid. 
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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Man, and here I was thinking that was an incredibly well written column that got its point across and explained things well without seeming unnecessarily antagonistic. Now, I read that it's all because you were confused? Man... 
In all seriousness tho, I do think that was a good job of a column. Also, wrt to Yuri and buyers thereof... uh, what does the person claiming more girls buy manga (and guys buy DVDs) base that on? Sure, Fruits Basket sold well, but is the only real shoujo to have that claim to make, unlike JUMP titles like Naruto & Bleach. I grant that girls buy those titles too, but there's numerous other titles not TARGETTED to girls that sell really well. I think a lot of girls do buy manga, and I wouldn't be surprised if a SLIGHT majority did so, but I find it hard to believe that an overwhelming majority (enough to be really statistically significant) of people buying manga are female rather than male. If you're on the East Coast, Animazement is probably the BEST "starter" con there is. It's decent size and gets great guests without being "overwhelming". I'm not sure which would be a good con for starting with on the West Coast. Middle America has a variety of options depending on what you're looking for. Zalis: I'm surprised Akon 2006 was your first con, altho I feel I should point out that definitely out of the "top 10" (biggest anime cons in the US), in my opinion, Akon is currently the least "anime" of all the anime cons. From all I've heard and know, ACen would certainly be a better choice for that size in the central region. |
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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Yuri – I think it’s a good thing that there’s more yaoi than yuri (words from a yaoi fan girl.. sort of)
Post depression – Answerman spoiler tags please!! Veronica Mars was cancelled?! (we’re still on season three in the Phils) First the OC, then it’s my beloved Veronica Mars now?! Anyway, I already posted in the thread mentioned, but I’ll explain myself once more. Post anime depression happens to me all the time, especially with the longer series and the ones I really liked. Sometimes, I even get a little teary-eyed (I’m a sap, sue me).. Ero guro – no comment Conventions – never been on one. No comment here either. Robots – Does this have anything to do with the Transformers movie? What the heck.. Robots are cool 
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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It's always like 60 posts when I get here. So much reading.
Fluffy! AW! I'm reading all those flakes & POOF! FLUUUUFFFFF! All washed away. Aw! Then I noticed the one duck's beak open. Suddenly the picture took a darker tone. Every time I looked at the kitty I saw FLUUUUUUUFFFFFY! But the duck looks nervous. Like "Move or we're Fancy Feast!" But kitty is FLUUUUFFFFY! AW! Sorry ducks. You lose. Don't care what happens to you. You realize it's for the greater good of the kitty who wins on sheer poofyness. Back when I started into anime in earnest, I swore I'd never watch Evangelion, DBZ/fighter titles & mecha. I'm still avoiding Eva somewhat. (I watched Death & Rebirth. I wathced dvd 8 (Akira Ishida) I have 3 other dvds I keep trying to watch, but I keep picking up other titles so those Eva's keep sitting on the bottom of my "to watch" pile (50 deep right now) I'm working on DBZ uncut Season 2 (Vegeta! Yeah Ryo Horikawa!) so, yeah, that one lasted. And I just finished Tetsujin 28 & get all the Giant Robo jokes now (Although Kappei Yamaguchi sounds so much cuter than the gal playing Shoutaro-Motoko Kumai? Not going to check right now). When I was discovering the joy of mecha, I noticed the dif between American stuff & Japanese, but have forgotten it now. If it comes back to me, I'll mention it. It was something like their facelessness-like in our stuff you get a pilot cowboy in there John Wayne style. I've totally forgotten it. But it makes a lot of sense that Giant Robots are so popular in Japan. And Gundum isn't Giant Robot. It's mech. Gundams don't walk on their own--they take a pilot. Someone who is usually special/superior to the soldiers around him/her. They're mobile suits of armor-like a tank with a face(maybe that had something to do with it--can't remember. It's hell getting old). There is a dif in the titles like Tetsujin & Gundam. The Giant Robot titles are more like the other poster said-a boy & his very powerful dog. But Gundams often have hot bishonen pilots so us gals can drool over them while the guys can get all cool technical with the suits. It's like boys in my day playing army & knowing about tanks & stuff. In politically correct America we can't have our children playing with war toys, but it's cool to build robot models. I did a couple very small cons back around 1980 so I knew what to expect, but I took my then 11 yr old to her first con--the largest fantasy con in the US. She did fine. THe thing about Comic-con International is it's really a bunch of cons in one. You can hang out in the 3 anime rooms watching subtitled anime from 10AM to as late as 2 AM on Friday & Saturday (5PM on Sunday & around midnight on Thursday) or go to the anime/manga panels in the other half of the building & avoid the craziness surrounding the HOLLYWOOD STARS. Saturday is the day for that, so that's the day to avoid & they have started selling passes that skip Saturday entirely. So while they're expecting over 100,000 attendees over the 4 days (usually they count passes so I would be counted once instead of all 4 days I plan to attend), it's not as obscenely crowded as it sounds. The gamers can hang out in the gaming area. THe comicbook crowd have their scene. And the great thing is a few days prior the schedules are posted online so one can print up the stuff & highlight what one wants to attend well before it all starts. They give one a map (No signs. If you can't read a map, sorry) But the convention staff are very helpful also. OK, there are HUGE signs on the salesfloor for the aisles so one can pretty much figure out where the booth you're looking for is (Yeah, they give one a map with the spots numbered, then you look on the alphabetical sellers list to find MediaBlasters, etc.) As I said--pretty organized. Yeah, I swear they have perfected the hamsters in a maze for their lines (up the escalator, around the building, down the escalator, then back up if one wants to see the anime. It's the only major gripe I have every year is they funnel ALL attendees into the same line every morning even if you don't want to go into the salesfloor. And I was a bit upset they chose to close the escalator leading to the anime rooms for an hour to ferry Angelina Jolie in one year. (who cares about her? And why 4 escalators for one chick?) But overall, it's a great experience. Yuri is, from what I've read, a smaller market than yaoi. Not all yaoi is "porn". A lot of the stuff we're seeing brought over is very much in the sweet mode-no more than a kiss. We are getting stuff that goes beyond. I prefer the crazy stuff like Gravitation & Waru. No, yuri & yaoi are not "gay" even though they deal with same sex relationships. Both can be enjoyed by ehoever eants to read them, but the target audience for both is the opposite gender of the couples so both are very much in the realm of Penthouse fantasy letters. Guys' fantasy of what 2 girls would do together. Girls' fantasy of what 2 guys would do together. Sometimes you get an actual guy writing yaoi. I know Clamp seem fond of both relationships so obviously gals can write yuri. The first thing that sprang to mind at the description of that ero stuff was snuff films & extreme fetishes like the tales one hear from time to time of people who actually manage to kill themselves because they like to have sex while being strangeled or with a gun to their heads, etc. Yes, there's a market. Is it big enough to justify licensing?
Yeah, the males at the Comic-con panels 2 yrs ago were in a similar state of shock as at manga panel after manga panel they kept asking for titles. I think it was Del Rey who bluntly said sorry, gals are the big force in manga purchases &, at least 2 yrs ago, that was the market everyone was after. Most of the other panels said the same thing in a more round-about way. The thing is for ages the American comic industry has believed gals don't read comics since the majority of their audience is male. Even their female heroines are really just male fantasies of chicks with power. Then manga came over & gals, who were supposed to not be interested in comic books, started buying manga like crazy. It was a whole new fanbase. They publishers didn't have to fight with one another over the same male fans--these were fans totally new to graphic novels. So certain single shonen titles may sell extremely well, but overall a variety of shojo titles can be supported by the diverse fanbase of gals buying them. Gal A may love Full Moon. I loved From Far Away. Either title sells less than Naruto, but apparently sell well enough to justify the license. TO be blunt--the guy selling manga & American comics in the Valley said he loves yaoi. The gals are there the day it arrives, buy it & vanish. THey support it. It doesn't sit on his shelf waiting to be bought. He drops stuff to half price to move it after 6 months or so & one rarely sees yaoi there(the OEL did get cleared out at one point). I've picked up Case Closed, Boys Over Flowers, BTX & others half price. THe only yaoi (besides OEL) I've seen is lighter--Clan of the Nakigamis(whatever. I loved that one myself) & I think Almost Crying? It was one with no sex. |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10420 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Heh, no, the question you asked at the panel was legit, and as I stated at the panel, it is a concern for us, although we're still finding our way. However we do occasionally get people who think that accepting advertising dollars is the same as being on the take. All things considered, I'd love to run this site with no ad dollars, but that's just not possible. -t |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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In my opinion, the people who complain the most about others being on the take are the ones that want very badly to be on the take themselves, but simply haven't got the talent to swing it. Sour grapes, that's what it is. Which doesn't make it right to be on the take -- but indicates the level of respect appropriate to these whiners. - abunai |
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Merciful Evans
Posts: 18 |
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Wow, the picture was indeed disturbing, but the author's sarcasm made me laugh. At least, I sure hope that was sarcasm. |
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The Xenos
 Posts: 1519 Location: Boston |
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Dammit. Will people (and companies)quit confusing Shojo-Ai and Shonen-Ai with Yuri and Yaoi? Another pet peeve in how language and Japanese terms are bastardized in this country just to make a buck off ignorance. (The other two terms that get me are 'otaku' and 'manga'.)
I wrote on my blog about the boom of shonen-ai and commented how it's odd that they chose the more pornographic term to represent all of it. A friend of mine who's into it read it and agreed. He said it's annoying that some thing's called yaoi and there's no hardcore gay porn in it. Luckily for him,. in Japan, they have entire floors of the hardcore stuff. I know. I was with him one time we went shopping. Heh. I need to blog about it. Sidenote: Why the hell was there a wall of Ed/Al FMA books? WHY?! Hell, even my friend thought it was disgusting. And speaking of things disgusting.. though one I do like.. Finally, an ero guro question . I've downloaded some and they provide some pretty interesting horror. The closest I've found to them to buy in the US is some Tamaoki Benkyo stuff like Sexphiles (presented in comic form from an adult publisher) or his Bloof the Last Vampire 2002. Though that was not too pornographic, yes, more like Berserk or MPD Psycho. His Tokyo Red Hood is a bit more pornographic, but still not as extreme as the other names the reader listed. Sadly, I couldn't find a copy of it in Japan. It's kinda on the edge or seinen and outright hentai manga, so I wasn't sure what stop to ask in. I wish I had picked up some guro, but I couldn't remember the artists I had seen online. As you said, it's very unlikely it's coming to the states. I don't think Dark Horse even is ballsy enough to publish such stuff. Though if we ever did, it would be marketed as extreme Japanese horror, which is how I enjoy it. Or rather, how I enjoy it disturbing me. As for conventions, Anime Boston isn't as big as Otakon, but I think it's gotten to be a little bit more than mid sized. As for Otakon, my friends and I have the same problem. Most of us are too burnt out from other cons and financial concerns to go to this years earlier date. If they had it in August, more of us would have gone. Also, I don't know why I'm even replying in this thread. I shouldn't even both posting in a thread dedicated to such a sellout on such a sellout of a site. 
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TranceLimit174
 Posts: 958 |
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For what it's worth I'm gonna go ahead and speak up for the mecha crowd here. I thought this rant was very timely and I guess the best way to sum up the explination would be this: raise your hand if you enjoyed Transformers.
Also for the record Eureka 7 shouldn't even be mentioned. I watched that entire series and I refuse to acknowledge it as a true mecha series. It had the robots but 0 spirit. In a great mecha series (just like everything I can acknowledge we have junk in our genre as well), there's a certain level of purity in it. Sure, it may be a huge toy commercial, but at the same time it isn't bogged down by a lot of negative trends I see in the medium. As an example I love Eva as much as the next person but I've said it time and again, in a way the trend it started got a little too big. A super robot show goes back to the days where (and as I sexist as this may sound I'm not trying to be) men were men and women were women (I'm all for equality but disambiguation goes too far). Also we don't have to sit through piles of episodes where characters sit around wondering what to do, the characters just get up and get the job done through "hard work, courage, and guts" (which are appealing themes to me at least considering what a negative world we live in). Eva is a series that got it right but others just wallow too much in their own sorrow. I know there are a lot of Shinji haters but he ultimatley was someone who took action (save for End of Eva). There's also the excess, or as others have described it, being larger than life. This is true. It is hard to explain, but I love the ridiculousness of it all (same appeal as DBZ). Some may call it ADD driven, and yes it is, but at the same time it insures that you're never disappointed. And it's also done in such a way to create a very unique style. To me there are many more enjoyable mecha series out there than there are of other genres. That's because it seems mecha has such a wide appeal. If you want it, it's there...just with robots. It amazes me that all the shounen fans aren't mecha fans as well, because truly it's all the same thing. In fact based on my knowledge it seems mecha anime is the genre that began many trends that people seem to love, so why hasn't it caught on? I guess another part of it lies in the fact that I love anime and therefore I have an appreciation for it's history. It would appear at least to me that when look back on the trends it's the mecha series that started them. And if you just start to get into the genre, there are so many incredible shows, and rarely will you be disappointed. Many have made me feel that "post-anime depression" (see: Gunbuster) and others just stir up the emotions. Also (save for recently) many mecha shows are not bogged down by the production issues suffering from some of today's top series. And so if nothing else, you at least get a visual treat (most of the time). As a fan what makes me angry is that most fans don't even give mecha a chance really. Most I talk to simply write it off as being "ridiculous" and "unrealistic" which I find ironic considering this medium we all seem to enjoy. And the ones who tell me "I've seen mecha anime" and don't like it tend to be those who have seen series completely misrepresentative of the genre. I remember when I asked one person "What mecha series have you seen?" the first title they said was "Steel Angel Kurumi." Kinda speaks for itself. If you wanna see true mecha series, check out shows like Mazinkaiser, GaoGaiGar, or New Getter Robo. I'm listing ones that are available in the US, since to find other good shows you have to dig (at least of the super robot variety). It also appeals to the inner child in us (going back to purity). For whatever reason, the concept of owning (or perhaps becoming in some cases) a giant robot is just cool. And if you manage to stop an alien race or end a war, all the better right? Who doesn't want to be a hero? |
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child of Lilith
 Posts: 137 Location: Egg of Lilith ( the black moon) |
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Yeah, this site would be long gone with out money from outside sources. It’s a simple fact of life you cant run a business or even a website without financial capital. Sadly some people don’t want to except this and are so paranoid that they think taking even one dollar is tantamount to selling ones soul to the devil. This tells you way more about them then the person they are ridiculing. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I never said either one of those titles was erotic. Nor did I say that all yuri was for men or all for lesbian women. It can be for either or both and some it may be erotic, some of it may not be (like Kashimashi).
There is nothing 'artistic' about guro.
You act like yaoi and hentai are mutually exclusive. Most hentai isn't going to have it, but hardcore yaoi would qualify as hentai since it is pornographic
I'm failing to see what this has to do with the lack of yuri.
Do you even know what you are talking about? Yuri fans have been begging for yuri anime for a long time. The problem is that there just isn't very much of it. Tthough there is far, far more yuri manga than there is yuri anime, it is still a pretty small genre in Japan.
So its whining when a genre you really like (yes, those of us complaining about the lack of it actually like it ) is almost nonexistent? Isn't that exactly what all the yaoi fans did to get yaoi released here in the first place?
Fortunately, Kashimashi seems to be doing pretty well for both Media Blasters (anime) and Seven Seas (manga) and both are bringing out more yuri in the upcoming months. So it looks like yuri may finally have a presence and, hopefully, a market in the U.S.
Not exactly true. A lot of yuri (a majority? Most? I'm not sure) is actually aimed at women rather men.
I'm not going to comment on the yaoi/shonen-ai thing because that's a fandom I'm not part of. But yuri is often used as a blanket term to refer to anything (sexually explicit or not) involving girl/girl relationships. And that seems to be the (slightly) more common usage. Believe it or not, when languages borrow foreign words, they don't always use the exact same definition. Japan does the same thing. Countless other English words have the same history. |
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WorldofElegance
 Posts: 42 Location: St. Joseph, Missouri |
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I love fluffy kitties and duckies. That washed all the sickness I had from the ero guro commentary away. Thank you Zac, for healing my nausea with fluffy animals.
Conventions are a great experience! I think it's awesome that one of the mods here started their con experience the same way I did. (I went to A-Kon 2005 for my first con, and then I returned in 2006.) This year though, I didn't have enough money for a big con so I went to Naka-Kon in KC and had a blast. My anime club packed up and drove from St. Joseph to the hotel (a 30 minute drive) and just drove back after we were done looking at stuff. I got to meet Greg Ayres and my voice acting hero, Steve Blum at Naka-Kon, and it was a lot more fun than A-Kon was in my opinion. Small cons are great because you actually get to spend some time conversing with the voice actors, and the lack of large smelly lines allows you to do more of the things you came to do. I'm probably going to go to Naka-Kon again next year, just because I had a blast for a lot less money. |
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There's also a Maruo short story in the 
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