Hey, Answerman!

Merry Holidaymas

Hello and Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas or whichever holiday greeting offends you less! Welcome to Answerman's mistletoe-scented Holiday-flavored Jamboree!

So, let's get on with it!

Whatever happened to Cat Shit One? Is it even coming out? Or has it fallen off the radar?

Well, the Blu-Ray and DVD release of the pilot episode is out now in Japan, if that's what you're referring to. But, the "planned" 12-episode series? You're going to have to wait a little while yet.

It's strange, really. I remember the YouTube promo going completely viral and getting mentioned in the oddest places - usually with the requisite amount of pithy commentary about HOLY F*** JAPAN MADE THIS WACKY THING WITH CUTE BUNNIES KILLIN' DUDES - so from a marketing perspective, they certainly succeeded with making people curious. But if the initial reactions from the pilot are any indication, they haven't really done a good job of creating something more than just an idiosyncratic curio.

Hey Answerman! I come to you as a kid growing up in the technological age.

I got into anime at the age of 12 or so. By that time, I all ready had a computer in my room and high speed Internet. Though, I also knew little to nothing about the industry itself. So, I watched fansubbed anime and read scanlations without much thought behind it. It wasn't until I was 14 that I finally began to understand about the industry and the fact it, well, needs support.

But I was surprised I didn't feel all that guilty about it. Morally, of course, I knew that'd been stealing and it was wrong, but truth be told it didn't feel that wrong. Please understand, I do buy manga and anime when I can or if I really enjoy a series, but I still use Internet sources to read/watch some things. This is for several fairly obvious reasons; cost, speed of release, and ease of use. The Internet makes getting anime and manga so quick and easy it does spoil us.

So the point of this question; do you think this new rise in technology is almost breeding a generation to be indifferent or uncaring toward the anime industry? And what can we do as fans to be more avid supporters of the industry as people still too young to vote?

Yes. I absolutely think that the internet and it's widespread adoption of piracy has raised a generation of morally insensitive thieves, for exactly the same reasons you mentioned. It's scary to think about, but soon we're going to have a whole crop of kids who will literally have no concept of the idea of going to a store and buying a CD or a DVD. I've been over my thoughts on this before; the blame for this lies all around, on the pirates themselves, on the companies who ignored the warnings that this would happen and retaliated by making their products more cumbersome, et al.

Personally, my mantra is: if I really like something, I buy it. I don't buy DVDs or books just because I like having things on a shelf. Truth be told, I kind of hate having shelves and boxes full of stuff. So I'm very judicious about what I spend my money on. But I will make the financial sacrifice to purchase a DVD if it's a movie or a show that I love. I don't sense that feeling of real, honest love from the guys and girls who've been raised on Bittorrent and scanlation sites. My advice to you, young reader, is to perhaps just take a grassroots campaign and just suggest that maybe, maybe, if there was a show or a movie that you watched in its entirety online, when the DVD comes out, show your support, and tell people about it. Don't buy it because you feel guilty, buy it because you actually love it, and that 30 to 50 dollar DVD sitting on your shelf proves it.

Dear Answerman,

I wanted to spread some Christmas cheer (?) by asking a question that's bugged since I first started reading manga, and that I was just reminded of when my girlfriend picked up a random volume of yaoi at the local bookstore.

In her, and eventually in my, hands, was a book that couldn't be defended as art, entertainment, or fluff. No, the only way this book could be classified was, well, as gay porn. Now, yes, I know that's what a good quantity of yaoi published here is, but it got me to thinking: why no hentai manga?

Maybe to understand my query a little better, a smattering of info on what was INSIDE this yaoi is in order. To put things bluntly: the first 20 pages featured bondage, full-on penis shots, insertions by toys which I really don't want to go into detail about, and acts that could only be summarized as rape. Not to be prudish, but I was under the assumption that this mass-market bookstore was more or less adamant in their filtering of what went on their shelves without shrink wrap.

The content of this book was stuff I'd expect to find on the /y/ board of 4chan, not sitting next to Chi's Sweet Home and Cardcaptor Sakura. It wasn't the content that disturbed me, per say (my girlfriend already introduced to the... interesting world of yaoi), but how easily accessed it was. At first I thought it was a fluke, but then I came to realize that the vast majority of yaoi in the manga section was: a) Explicit as any given gay porn, if not more so; b) Not shrink-wrapped; and c) Plastered with a barely visible "Parental Advisory Label."

So Answerman: why no hentai manga? I can assure you that this particular work was far more explicit than most of what's published by a company such as, say, Icarus Publishing or Eros Comix. Why do women get some of the nastiest porn out there (I mean, it's far less extreme than what you can find on the net, but that's just a given with any printed smut) in the most convenient ways possible, while we men are relegated to perusing the scant "Men's Interest" section and getting weird looks from passerby? Not to sound simple-minded, but isn't that sexual inequality at it's finest? And furthermore, what if some youngster picked this particular manga up because of the action-packed cover and opened it up to find a plethora of good old-fashioned buttsex?

I think I've answered a similar question before, but perhaps I can shed some insight into the particulars of this. Speaking as a guy who works in a big chain bookstore for his day job (which, by the way, SUCKS when it's less than a week away from Christmas), I can say that, for a time, those yaoi manga volumes WERE shrink-wrapped. They just didn't stay that way for long.

Or at least, you could buy them, if all those damn kids didn't try and steal them and tear the shrinkwrap off of them and ruin them with their Dorito-encrusted fingers. Grumble.

So! I could've put a flake here, but that's not the Christmas spirit, is it? Here's a card I made for all of you, from all of me. Or at least the parts of me that draw stupid things like this. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Aw. Time for Answerfans! Last time I asked for all of you to tell me about your favoritest things in the land of favorites in 2010. And I'll post the image below just because.

Jacob here begins this week's madness with a Scott Pilgrim plug, which is a-ok by me:

I'm going to have to say Shiki was the best anime of the year. Granted, it isn't finished yet and is still streaming weekly on Funimation, I don't really foresee the creators messing it up or anything. It's the only anime I've watched more than a few episodes of subbed, so that alone should say something about the show's quality. The art, story, and even the characters (while sometimes lacking in the most basic of common sense), are all fantastic. And the vampires in it are legitimately interesting, and they suck people's blood! (I shouldn't be excited about vampires sucking human blood, but after the past few years of push over vampires, this is pretty exciting stuff.)

Only complaint I can think of is one of the vampires has a terrible design. I laugh at each subsequent outfit this guy wears. But that's the only flaw amongst the rest of an enjoyable show I can think of. Overall, terrific show and I would recommend it to practically everyone. As for anime released here in North America this year, Eden of the East on Bluray gets my vote for the best. The whole cliched amnesiac thing almost made me stop watching at the beginning, but I'm glad I stuck with it. A very intriguing story, with two great main characters, well worth my time and money.

Now, for manga, (I know this is cheating since it is a graphic novel made in North America), but I have to go ahead anyway and say the 6th, and final volume of Scott Pilgrim was the best of the year. The story was amazing, and it weaved everything together rather nicely. And, I mean the art was influenced by manga, so maybe it could technically count for my manga of the year in a 'this-kid-has-no-clue-what-he-is-talking-about' sorta way. Oh well.

Tim is a tell-it-like-it-is kinda guy:

For best anime of 2010, it looks like I'll be going with Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu. Primarily because I'm a slice-of-life junkie - and while Hidamari was already one of the best, the bold addition of new characters to the core cast and the exemplary way that's handled really make Hoshimittsu a special entry into the genre. Getting into some normal shows after that, second is probably going to be Angel Beats! (Key tries their hand at Nadesico? Pretty good...) and the remainder of my top five are currently rounded out by Cross Game, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei and K-On!! in some order. Though I still need to check out the December-end series (namely Shiki) and a few shows from earlier on.

Best domestic release I haven't thought about at all, but looking at the list I see Aria, so that automatically wins for me. Other standouts (sticking to things that are new to NA this year) are Shigofumi, Asatte no Houkou, Eden of the East, and of course the first two seasons of Hidamari. This year's release pool was pretty deep, especially if you start including re-releases like Kurau and Mushishi. Here's hoping the coming year is just as strong.

VZWB is one of the few lucky bastards to have seen Redline, so let's just sit here and be jealous for a while:

While I have not been able to follow manga releases in Japan (as my Japanese isn't good enough and I don't read scanlations), my favorite onging release in Japan which I am reading in English translated form would have to be Ken Akamatsu's Negima! series. Akamatsu has been a personal favorite manga-ka for me since I first became a fan of this medium, and seeing how far he's come in storytelling and artistic abilities since the Love Hina days is staggering. I think he certainly has to win for greatest improvement as an artist, and he was already coming from a place of strength. Just compare how the series looks and reads now, nearly 30 volumes in, to how it did in Volume 1. Of all the long-running manga out there, Negima! is the only one I follow really actively, because it continues to have a lot of heart mixed with obvious quality. Beyond Negima!, though, my favorite American release for 2010 (for a series already ended in Japan) would be by far Naoki Urusawa's Pluto. This has been such a gripping retelling of Osamu Tezuka's original (Astro Boy) that it's made me really interested in checking out more Tezuka works. As far as finely crafted storytelling goes, nothing tops Pluto, and Urusawa has proven yet again he's at the top of his game.

For domestic anime release (in my case, for the US), I have to go with the Blu-Ray of Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone. As the start to the new Evangelion film series, it's an outstanding work and a great entry point for new fans as well. I supported the film when it played in US theaters last year, and the final release after some craziness on the part of FUNimation (which mirrored that of the Japanese end... for anyone who feels bad about double-dipping, I bought the Japanese 1.01 DVD at twice the price, so at least you didn't pay as much as me!) at last brings the best version of the movie to the public. I'm glad to see the Blu-Ray match all the Japanese special features, and I hope more visually excellent films like this will be given grade A Blu-Ray treatments for the US market in the future.

As for best anime of 2010, that award without question goes to Madhouse's theatrical film REDLINE, which I saw six times while in Japan. It's that good. Fans in the US will just have to wait to see it (unless you got lucky and saw it at a film festival or special release), but take my word for it, it's spectacular. It's so stylishly amazing and incredibly animated that your eyes will have a hard time understanding it all the first time, but believe me, multiple viewings are a wonderful pleasure. Director Takeshi Koike spent six years animating the film (and doing most everything else on it), and the result is a movie that goes beyond anime and reaches into a realm of moving picture art. This is a film you can't afford to ignore, and compared with the rest of safe (and maybe even stale) anime produced in 2010, it jumps off the screen and revitalizes animation in ways I didn't think possible. It's an absolute must-see, and I can't wait for the US release next year.

Mike cheats a little bit with his answer but like with many things in life I blithely look the other direction because I agree with it:

The best domestic release in my opinion was Viz releasing a huge chunk of the One Piece manga throughout the first half of the year. Speedups like this had been done with the Naruto manga twice before but not on this scale. By July over thirty volumes of One Piece were released in the US and we're now closer to the Japanese releases than ever before. I think Viz should be commended for taking such a risky decision. Their speedup of the One Piece manga really played a key part in the growing popularity of the title. And while my wallet is still smarting from buying all the new volumes, I don't regret it at all.

I am stealing Zachary's "bravos and ribbons" line:

In all honesty here, all the bravos and ribbons go to the "still-not-as-widespread-as-one-would-think" TV series known as, The Tatami Galaxy.

This series accomplishes SO much with SO little(and that doesn't include when it uses it's live-pictures for abstract art). The show is a nice combination of Welcome to the NHK's ever-grounded, yet mentally elusive hero and his struggles and giggles through life, mixed in with Bakemonogatari's diverse and fluent in-depth look of societal circumstances with the hows and whys, all topped off with the maniacal and madcap tone and nature of Oh! Edo Rocket.

It might sound like someone was high on acid, and decided to fuse life's troubles with pretty colors and make it have as little sense as possible but... this is in the hands of Yuasa. Someone who I'm REALLY starting to consider as being... the 2nd Kon. Each episode is a, without spoiling things, possibility. The main character tries one and, not so much sticks and revolves around the general idea, but progresses with it and make choices that, more often than not, take him in a direction completely opposite from what he had in mind! The beauty of it is, it feels very natural, because the main character wants the most outta life like a kid wants the newest Pokemon game.

The thing is, he forgets, or more precisely, pretends that he knows what he wants. Most of the possibilities have some apparent similarities; some are apparent, others get more so. To relate this to an American movie, I'd have to pick Brendan Fraiser's Bedazzled.

Being that Yuasa is similar to Kon, one would think that both directors could settle for telling these stories as ordinarily as possible and still get the point across, but... they, like Kamina from Gurren Lagann, choose to kick logic out the door and burst into the heavens!

All one has to do is immerse yourself within the enthusiastic, positive feeling that the OP is, to understand the man's boldly familiar yet unstoppably ambitious new take on life. Many of the art is centered around the character designs, the backgrounds intensity, and bringing out the feelings that the main character has.

In short, if there was a new way to hopefully showcase the importance, craziness, and perpetual beauty of living, Yuasa has done it. And it's a bar that won't be exceeded anytime soon.

Runner-ups for best anime include Katanagatari, Shiki, Rainbow, So-Ra-No-Wo-To and perhaps Kuragehime. All of which have wonderfully written stories that have almost zero fanbase influences ruining them(obviously, So-Ra-No-Wo-To comes close).

Manga-wise, I haven't been keeping up with the new titles, but domestic release? I'm just gonna have to say Casshern Sins and, the previously mentioned, Oh! Edo Rocket. While many would argue that Brotherhood and Eden of the East are the kings of the year, I have to say the licensing of Gun X Sword, Girls Bravo, Kaleido Star, are more important to those who've missed them. Lastly mentioned is Eva 2.0. Yes, it kinda cuts into next year, but the fact that Funi was able to theatrically and domestically prepare one of anime's newest landmarks in almost half the time the first movie took, in addition to how expensive it must be, simply can't be ignored.

Fiammetta's boundless optimism for 2011 is infectious:

I think two series deserve the title of Anime of the Year, at least from my corner of fandom. One of these titles is Durarara!!. By the time I started watching the simulcasts on Crunchyroll (at which point the first 8 episodes had aired), the series had already become incredibly popular with fanartists and such. Over the summer, the conventions were full of Durarara!! cosplayers (myself included - I went as Celty the Friday of Otakon). But unlike so many other anime series that reach that level of popularity, it's actually good. Really good. It has this amazing mix of things that don't seem like they would go well together (headless biker, black-market surgeon, gang warfare, cursed sword, and the list goes on...) and it works. So much about it is just wonderful. The series was also licensed this year, with the dub cast announced in bits, and that all looks amazing.

A lot of the same things can be said about the other title I would have to call Anime of the Year, which is Black Butler. This series did originally come out in 2008, but a lot happened with it in 2010. The second season was aired this year (and, thankfully, simulcast). It was licensed, the dub cast was announced, and the first 2, then 4, then 6 episodes of the dub were shown (5 and 6 were premiered Dec. 11th in New York, and they were amazing). On panels, interviews, and podcasts, the dub actors, director, and production staff show their enthusiasm for the series, which is incredibly exciting to see from the perspective of a fan. As excited as I am about the release, it can't be the Domestic Release of the Year, since it's not out yet (DVD set 1 comes out January 11th).

For that, I select a manga series, the manga adaptation of Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak novels, art by Takahiro Arai. I'm not sure if it could count for Manga of the Year, since it was originally released in 2006. The domestic release of the series started in 2009, but volumes 4-7 were released in 2010, so I believe it counts. I'll start by saying, I was a fan of the original novel series years ago, when I was in middle school. These books are amazing and I still love them as much as I did then. In July of 2008, I saw the news post on ANN that said Yen Press would be releasing the manga version. In January of 2010, volume 4 of the manga came out (the manga volumes correspond with the book numbers). 5, 6, and 7 were also released this year. As both a fan of the original novels, and a fan of manga, these make me so happy! The artist, Takahiro Arai, has brought the characters and scenes from the novels into manga perfectly. The way he drew certain scenes perfectly, effectively conveying every bit of the emotion from the novels, is just amazing. If you want, you could say that volumes 4-6 are the release of the year (they form one complete story arc; the 12-book series is divided into 4 trilogies). Volume 7, which was also released this year, could then be an honorable mention.

I look forward to 2011, with the first parts of both Black Butler and Durarara!! on DVD in January (the 11th and the 25th, respectively), and the second parts of both, as well as Cirque vol. 8, in March (Black Butler on the 8th, the other 2 on the 29th). It will be a happy new year, I think.

Sarah shows some love for three of this year's biggest sellers:

There are three Anime's that really stood out for me this year. First was the English release of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I was really looking forward to this, I had been watching the Japanese version on Funimation's website and every week it got me more pumped for the official release. But I wasn't without worries, the biggest of which was Maxey Whitehead's Alphonse. I was nervous about her making him sound too young or like he was voiced by a woman. But those fears were put to rest quickly. For me it sounded like she was able to do a perfect impression of a young Aaron Dismuke. All the voices sounded just like I remembered, everything fit together seamlessly for me. The vocal work was amazing, and the translation was about as close as you can get. Just a wonderful release, 10/10.

The next would have to be High School of the Dead. Fan service aside, this was a great mini series. I laughed SO much, the animation was amazing, and those action scenes! It was my favourite show of the spring season by far. I felt like I was right there with them, fighting to get out of the school. But the biggest highlight for me was hearing John Murphy's In the House-In a Heartbeat in the first episode. I hear that song and instantly think of zombies, so I was positive that the director knew his zombie movies. I can't wait for them to release an uncensored English version. It'll be on my Top 10 list for sure.

Last would be Hetalia: Axis Powers (English Release). I was never a Hetalia fan-girl. I knew of it, but never got into it. I think it was all the creepy fan art. (I'm scared of Yaoi fans.) But one of my friends told me that I HAD to check it out. She's a really close friend and has good taste in Anime so I gave it a shot. I've never laughed so hard in just 5 minutes. It was cute, charming, and hilarious! I think it was all those insane accents coming out of my favourite voice actors mouths. I also loved all the little history facts, I adore world history so that added bit made me so happy.

Rounding out this retrospective, Aaron dispenses some fun little bonus categories:

Anime of the Year: This was the easiest anime question for me to answer, ever. Without a doubt, Katanagatari is the 2010 Anime of the Year. The series is simply a masterpiece. Based on the books by NisiOisin (also wrote Bakemonogatari), the series is full of wonderful dialog between interesting and loveable characters, the story is always evolving with characters developing along the way, and the action is top notch. Even the release style of the series demands that this is the official anime of 2010. Starting in January and ending in December, 1 of 12 double length episodes premiered each month. And the ending was just amazing. It has now broken its way into my personal list as my #5 favorite anime series.

Honorable Mentions: Durarara!!, Sora no Woto

Manga of the Year: Okay, I didn't read a lot of manga this year. But there was one thing that I read this year which would probably be my pick even if I read all the manga Japan released in 2010. That would be the wondrous return of one of my all time favorites, Genshiken. I've only read one chapter of Genshiken 2 so far (two if you count the one-shot precursor “Chapter 56”), but I'm already in love. Seeing how Ogiue handles the circle now that she's in charge is something I've always wanted to read and the new club members have a lot of potential. It looks like it will be a lot of fun. Now here's to hoping Del Rey or Kodansha USA brings the series over here in English.

Domestic Release of the Year: Ever since it was approaching its completion in early 2009, the Toradora! anime had been on the top of my most wanted license list. When NISA announced that it licensed Toradora! as one of their first anime localizations a year later, it literally brought me to tears. I was so happy, though a little worried how it might be handled. But I wasn't disappointed at all. It released with premium packaging (albeit a little awkward on my shelf), when people didn't think the video quality of the first set was that great they swiftly set up a replacement program, and since I'm a sub-only fan the lack of a dub was actually a plus. Thank you NISA.

Honorable Mention: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya “Second Season”

And how about some bonus categories?

Best Comedy: Mitsudomoe. Yeah, episode 2 (the piss episode) went a little too far, but aside from that this was one of the most laugh-out-loud funny shows I've seen in a while.

Honorable Mention: Squid Girl

Best Song: K-ON!! - “NO, Thank You!” Personally I think this song rocks even more than K-ON!'s “Don't say lazy” from last season. Very nice sound and a big selling single in Japan.

Honorable Mention: Durarara!! - “Trust Me”

Most Evangelion References: Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Episode 8. Yeah, kind of silly, but it was the most memorable thing about the series for me.

Biggest Disappointment: Iron Man. Yeah, so boring, slow, and awkward. Dropped after the first episode.

Biggest Controversy: Dance in the Vampire Bund. Ahhh, when it was announced that Funimation was planning on only releasing a censored version of this anime, I went into a super otaku nerd rage. I had to take multiple walks outside in the snow to cool down. Luckily Funimation changed their mind in the end.

Biggest Loss: The death of Satoshi Kon. Millenium Actress and Paprika are two of my favorite anime movies of all time and Paranoia Agent also holds a spot in my heart. When I heard of the news of his death I felt crushed. I hope The Dream Machine will become a worthy swan song.

Aaron's little bonus questions got me to thinking, in that I'm sure we're not quite done tapping the well of "memorable" releases anime-and-manga-wise for 2010. So here's next week's assignment:

Now you've got this week's question, and it's time to get answerin'.

For those of you new to Hey, Answerfans!, I'll explain the concept.

Believe it or not, I'm genuinely curious what you think.

That's right; as much as I love the sound of my own voice, I do love to listen to what other people have to say on a subject. I'm finding that over the last few years, the attitudes, reasoning and logic that today's anime fans use eludes, confuses or astounds me; I have so many questions for you, and I'm dying to hear what you have to say in response.

Welcome to Hey, Answerfans!

Basically, we're turning the tables. Each week I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to email me your answer. Be as honest as you can. I'm looking for good answers; not answers I agree with or approve of, but good, thoughtful answers. People feel passionately about these subjects and I'd like to see that in the responses I get. I'll post the best answers I get, and maybe some of the crappy ones. Sometimes there may only be one or two good ones; sometimes five or more. It all depends on what I get in my inbox! Got it? Pretty simple, right? Start writing those answers and email them to answerman [at] animenewsnetwork dot com.

We do have a few simple ground rules to start with.

Things To Do:

* Be coherent.
* Be thoughtful.
* Be passionate.
* Write as much or as little as you feel you need to to get your point across in the best possible way.

Things Not To Do:

* Respond when the question doesn't apply to you. For instance, if your email response starts with "Well, I don't do whatever you're asking about in the question... " then I'm going to stop reading right there and hit delete.

* Be unnecessarily rude or use a lot of foul language.
* Go off-topic.

That's all for this week! Remember to have a wonderful Christmas everyone, and whenever you've had your fill of fruit cake and Charlie Brown specials and inebriated relatives, don't forget to drop me a question or an answer over at answerman(at!!!)animenewsnetwork.com! To all a good night!