Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2006-04-28]
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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Responding to something other than the rant...
  Of course, this applies to words in general, not just names.
It's kind of a shame that these good titles are going unlicensed for longer periods of time; I haven't seen Hell Girl, but I can tell that there's a growing category of shows that fall into the "B" category of "good but not great, and not widely marketable." (A=popular enough to be licensed and widely marketable, C=not that great, but gets a little attention in fansubs, D=bad enough that not even the fansubbers touch it) Thank goodness for fansubs, as otherwise we might in the future only get the A-level "proven seller"-type shows and not very much variety. (Still, Kudos to Funimation for having the guts to do Rumbling Hearts.) *dons flame-retardant gear* I do rather agree with the rant; anime fandom is supposedly some big alternative/counterculture in a way, and yet people who don't fit the "anime fan" mold get questioned or ridiculed. (It's just like punk rock--they claim to hate conformity and rules that limit self-expression, and yet some will say, "Is that an Abercrombie shirt? Get out of here, you poser!" ) Me, I don't wear suits or anything, but I dress in a preppy/casual way, khakis, drab/boring button-down or solid-color shirts, leatherish shoes, short hair. While I occasionally sport one of the shirts I've gotten in DVD artboxes, I generally go to club meetings and conventions dressed in that way. I've never had problems with it, because I know I've got the love/obsession on the inside, as any anime-related conversation with me will probably prove.
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v1cious
 Posts: 6202 Location: Houston, TX |
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i'm sorry but i think part of the reason Jigoku Shoujo hasn't been licensed yet is cause it just isn't very good. every single episode follows the same exact lackluster formula. you don't even get any actual plot development till like the last three episodes.
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Iron Chef
 Posts: 487 Location: Seattle, WA |
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I'm gonna have to side with v1cious on this one. As cool as the first couple eps of Jigoku Shoujo were, I got tired of seeing the EXACT SAME BIT every episode. Sure, there were a couple exceptions, but it was pretty much wash, rinse, repeat. Admittedly, Hundred Stories (Requiem from the Darkness) followed a similar path, but was less formulaic. The only good (read: marketable) thing about Jigoku Shoujo is that up until about episode 9, any viewer can jump right in and catch up with the action. You always know what's going to happen. |
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Mylene
 Posts: 2792 Location: Indiana |
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People rant about the issues they know and experience in life. It's hard for someone in Canada to rant about something that occurs in Spain, a place where they might have visited for a week or two 3 summers ago, but have in no way experienced. Eventually, I'm sure there will be worthy rants from other areas of the globe, but for right now apparently the ones Zac has chosen haven't been. That's just how the cards fall sometimes. (And why do I think I just misused that metaphor? It's 6:45 am, forgive me.) As for the rant, it reminds me of a personal experience. I was at the first meeting of the Sociology Club at my university my junior year. I was average build at the time, and dressed pretty blandly (my regaining of weight was not due to anime, but rather my boyfriend finally moving to my state and feeding me too much :p). A girl sitting behind me sparked a conversation, and we both found we were taking Japanese. And then it began, her rant of the stereotypical anime fan: overweight, ill-fitting clothing, never showers, taking Japanese for the sake of understand anime and manga, etc. I allow her to finish, and then calmly say something along the lines of: You do realize that I am an anime fan, a rather obsessive one, right? ...she never talked to me again, either due to embarrassment or "disgust." While later talking to my roommate (who would occasionally watch anime but wasn't really a fan), she began describing a similar conversation that had been started with her (also a "normal" dresser) in the lounge of the foreign language building. Same girl, same rant, same response from my roommate. I at least like to think that we may have changed her viewpoint a bit. And if not, who cares? She was a hag, and unfortunately was a pretty good fit into some stereotypes I won't name... |
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ChikaraFire_7
 Posts: 35 Location: Ontario,Canada |
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 my friends are huge yaoi fangirls, though personnally I prefer not to touch hentai.
rather enjoyed the rant btw |
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Ceru
Posts: 44 |
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There's no dress code for anime fans-- a good deal of my friends watch it and from what they wear you'd have no idea (everything from preppy to business attire).
However, I find that a lot of fans have a certain... air about them that lets you know instantly whether or not they're a fan. Or maybe I just have a sixth sense about it. I've stopped a few people in a hallway at my university, to see if my sense was right, and usually it was. It's very bizarre. Every now and then a fan will slip under the radar (especially if they're dressed like a valley girl), but other than that whatever they put on I tend to be able to recognize them. |
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DriftRoot
 Posts: 222 Location: NH |
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Lauren here.
The point is that you shouldn't have to hide who you are just to gain admittance to a certain group OR feel pressure to do so from less-openminded individuals. I wouldn't belong to that group, if this was how I was going to be treated. Not all clubs are safe havens? This isn't a hardcore, Neo-nazi biker gang that a mild-mannered Jewish rabbi just up and decided he wanted to join because he rides a Harley. THAT would be rather unsafe. But what are anime club members going to do with someone who comes along that doesn't fit their idea of an otaku - beat the business suit-wearing person over the head with an Ein plushie? Ouch. "Got Yaoi?" paddles would hurt, though. 
For those interested, I don't wear a business suit everyday, but people are routinely shocked when they hear about my hobby. It's fun, I admit it - I kind of hope that it will enlighten them a bit, at least in terms of what kind of people are into anime. What depresses me is when other anime fans - who are supposed to be the ones I can really connect with - aren't willing to have much of anything to do with someone who's not up to their "level" of fandom. Granted, these individuals don't make up the majority, but they are out there as are others who may have similar opinions, just to lesser degree. Hrmph. And yes, I do delve into anime t-shirts, bumper stickers, ringtones, artwork, music and don the occasional costume at conventions (and renaissance fairs, for that matter). People should have fun with their hobbies. If you find you're doing something that isn't fun, though, you probably shouldn't be doing it - no matter what anyone else thinks. Hey Zac, thanks for the rant publicity. I'm going to keep waiting for my spoiler submission to show up, though.  (Which, if it ever appears here, will probably elicit extreme controversy and maybe some death threats.) Maybe I'll keep reworking it until it gets some column space. hehe Mebbe not...next topic...um..."The frustration of justifying fanservice without coming across as a pervert." What fun!
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RDespair
 Posts: 244 Location: California |
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I agree with Ceru. I seem to have a 6th sense for recognizing anime fans regardless of what they wear. I'm not always right, but I'm right often enough that it's a little scary.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Actually it was a toss-up between the one in the column and that spoiler one. I actually didn't notice they were written by the same person. That should say something about the amount of email I have to sift through every day.
I can't please everyone. I don't even know what a "more global" rant would sound like and I certainly haven't recieved any that would fit that bill. If you mean I should publish rants that specifically address issues important to UK or Australian otaku, then I'd have to recieve a well-written and interesting one first. The primary qualification for the rants is that they're capable of sparking debate. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Oh this one has touched a nerve because I was in just a situation once when I went to a convention to meet a publisher about a business deal. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the hotel holding the venue, but I was stunned when I walked inside the building into the reception area. The place looked like it was being held hostage by a young offenders institute jail break, or a college frat party gone horribly wrong. I went up to the desk and asked for the person I was to meet and was pointed over to a table way over in a corner that had various youths dressed in the description in the rant. I wasn't wearing a business suit mind you, but I was dressed in my usual casual attire for a man my age. In other words I looked like one of those youths' father, or guardian. When I managed to get up to the table there facing me was a man/boy? similarly dressed as the rest but with a face that looked like he had had a bad experience with a nail gun and the nails were still embedded. When I told him why I was there he immediately got on a walky-talky made an announcement which after a distorted reply that sounded like "he'll be right down" I was instructed to wait by the side of the table. I was most releaved when my appointment was my age and similarly dressed as me. But the looks I got when being escorted throught the halls made me feel like a foreigner at a right wing nationalist convention.
I was never more glad to leave a place than then and I have never been to another since. 
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Nagisa
Moderator
 Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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Regarding Jigoku Shoujo (or, something brought up during that portion of the column), having Geneon's name in the credits is still no guarantee it'll get licensed. Maria-sama ga Miteru has Geneon's name in its credit reel, and it's now gone nearly two and a half years with nothing close to a license announcement in sight. So even if Jigoku Shoujo did still have the Geneon logo attached, that wouldn't necessarily be a good indicator that a license is forthcoming.
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Gorgoroth
 Posts: 15 |
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"The frustration of justifying fanservice without coming across as a pervert."
What an amazing column that would be! I'd very much like to here a thing like that mainly because most people who like fanservice are considered perverts...so how would they justify it to someone? When as soon as they say "fanservice" they will be thought of as a pervert. |
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hentai4me
 Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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Well in my experience hentai manga's tend to be very varied in their covers contents, some are indeed quite explicit but the majority show what is little more than fanservice on their covers. As for censorship...well it varies again but generally its pretty pathetic, little black bars that dont actually cover anything and are often out of place anyway(ie: they dont cover what they are supposed to) dont go very far. |
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Dark_Glaive
Posts: 10 |
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You know, one reason I don't where anime shirts is that they tend to be all black. I like some color in my warddrobe despite black being my favorite color to wear. The ones I see that aren't black tend to have "I'm an anime fan" jokes that aren't funny. An anime t-shirt with something from an actual series on it seems cool but meta-anime t-shirts just seem lame to me.
But as someone who works full-time in a corporate environment, that doesn't stop me from having my Gundam models on my desk. I think the biggest problem with a lot of the more rabid fans of anime is that they don't seem to get that normal people may find their obsession with, say yaoi, weird. Yes, yes I know you don't care what other people think and all that, affirm your individuality and how you won't let "us" keep you "down," but in a general social setting its probably better to keep that kind of thing on a low-note unless you just want to be thought of as a complete freak. And sometimes, that can be disadvantageous because people won't listen to you on more important things you might care about. In the end, I'd rather "normal" folks who aren't ever going to like/accept my hobby completly listen to what I have to say, then write my ideas off as "he's some freaky weirdo." And anyhow, I always think that becoming overly obsessed/defining yourself by just one thing shows that you need to expand your interests. |
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Gauss
 Posts: 519 Location: Finland |
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You're such a sad kit-n,
that it can't be writ-n. Oh melancholy kitten! (Christ-in-a-cave my poetry rocks!) I don't understand what the fuss about business suits is. Shouldn't that be the dress code of the archetypal manga fan? If somebody raises a fuss just tell them you're cosplaying as a salaryman. |
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