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Hey, Answerman! [2008-07-11]

As a side note, I've noticed something else about cosplay; I'm not sure if it's simply that anime character design is becoming uniformly generic to the point where most anime characters blend together, but more and more often I'm noticing that a big portion of cosplayers are just guys in suits or military uniforms or some other very simple outfit. Ouran High School Host Club cosplay is popular, but that might have more to do with the fact that the outfit is a wig, a cerulean jacket and some slacks rather than the show being a huge fan favorite. Code Geass cosplay is boring as well. It's a dude in a suit.

http://www.firstagent.net/cons/cosplay.htm

New fans get all excited about it and it really is its own culture inside anime fandom, so unless you become a hardcore cosplayer, your enthusiasm for seeing someone in a Naruto costume is going to wane as the years roll on.

I think cosplay is either something you take a serious personal interest in or you stop caring about it and are more annoyed by cosplayers stopping in the middle of crowded convention hallways to have their photo taken than you are impressed with their costume. It has its place, and the Masquerade will probably always be the most popular event at any given convention, but don't feel bad because you didn't have a heart attack upon seeing someone in a really well-done Vash the Stampede costume. It's OK to not care anymore.

Nowadays I find I have more fun making derisive lists about cosplayers based on marginally-related forum threads.

As a side note, I've noticed something else about cosplay; I'm not sure if it's simply that anime character design is becoming uniformly generic to the point where most anime characters blend together, but more and more often I'm noticing that a big portion of cosplayers are just guys in suits or military uniforms or some other very simple outfit.

Code Geass cosplay is boring as well. It's a dude in a suit. Who cares?

. Code Geass cosplay is boring as well. It's a dude in a suit. Who cares?

I actually heard from John Ledford at Anime Expo this past weekend that the "Rebuild of Evangelion" movies might not come out here anytime soon. It has to do with Hideaki Anno, who basically has complete control over these movies he made with his own studio. He has own ideas about how it should be released overseas, specifically he thinks they should be released in North America in a way that people will get to watch it for free.

firecrouch wrote:

I actually heard from John Ledford at Anime Expo this past weekend that the "Rebuild of Evangelion" movies might not come out here anytime soon. It has to do with Hideaki Anno, who basically has complete control over these movies he made with his own studio. He has own ideas about how it should be released overseas, specifically he thinks they should be released in North America in a way that people will get to watch it for free.

That's a very silly thing to hear from anybody in the business. Perhaps you heard wrong? Directors have zero say in how a film gets released, and Anno has no "private studio". The new Eva movies, like every Japanese film, were made by a consortium of huge international companies that own the title. Seisaku Iinkai, or Production Committees, are how almost everything gets made these days. Japan does pay more legal attention to creators than other countries, but movies are the exception.

That said, it's generally expected that with a title like this, the sales agent for the film was holding out for something ridiculous, like a 1000+ screen theatrical release, or an obscene up-front payment. Once enough companies decline to fulfill these expectations, they tend to come down.

On the contrary, everything I've heard about the new eva movies was that Anno went and formed his own new company specifically for the project where he has central control.
I'm not sure where the funding came from but with a name like his he probably managed to raise the funds without as many strings attached. Just look at your own encylopedia, the list of involved companies is quite small, with Studio Khara doing the animation and production by itself. And Studio Khara was founded by Anno specifically for this project and has no other projects.

samuelp wrote:

On the contrary, everything I've heard about the new eva movies was that Anno went and formed his own new company specifically for the project where he has central control. I'm not sure where the funding came from but with a name like his he probably managed to raise the funds without as many strings attached. Just look at your own encylopedia, the list of involved companies is quite small, with Studio Khara doing the animation and production by itself. And Studio Khara was founded by Anno specifically for this project and has no other projects.

Interesting. I guess when you put it that way it's not outside the realm of possibility. But if it is true, and all these weird demands/stipulations are being put on its US release, I don't see too many US companies biting. With the DVD market in the crapper and indie theatrical divisions dying left and right, few are in the mood to be remote controlled by a boutique Japanese producer with no clue about the US market, no other titles and a franchise that could debatably be past its sell-by date in the US.