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INTEREST: Detroit's Maid Cafe 'Chou Anime' Spotlighted


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MJP



Joined: 06 Nov 2003
Posts: 126
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:30 am Reply with quote
Echo_City wrote:
If Detroit had to take anything from Japan, I think they'd be better off taking their desire to build robots. No maid cafes until we have RoboCop.

Japan had a giant Gundam, Detroit still doesn't have a RoboCop statue (even Philadelphia has a Rocky statue, even if they wussed out and moved it to the wrong spot).


1) Serve the otaku trust
2) Protect the moeblobs
3) Uphold the master's law
4) (Classified)

The 4th directive is revealed to have something to do with OCP's master plan to use the maid cafe in order to grow the otaku population, thus depopulating metro Detroit for its plans to continue Delta City's construction.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:09 am Reply with quote
Echo_City wrote:
CrunchyRoll's Article wrote:
Describing the concept of moe to the the Detroit News, Samet likens it to "when you hold a baby or you pet a puppy or a kitten."
Well, that is hilarious...hilariously wrong. I'm not sure that people get aroused by holding a baby or find petting a kitten extremely erotic (if they do, I must have missed that Memo to Men), but they certainly find moe girls erotic. Creepy comparison fail.

On this point, she's right. You're wrong if you think moe has anything inherently to do with eroticism. Lucky Star is entirely moe. So are all the Nedoroids. But moe goes beyond an "cute" to generally mean a kind of indescribable attraction--the kind of gut feeling you get when you see a widget and feel, "oohh.. shiny"

Yamakan (Haruhi, Kannagi, etc) has used it to describe being moe over mecha. Kenichiro Takaki (Senran Kagura), professed bigtime moe fan, says this in trying to define moe:
Quote:

You know it’s kind of like Bollywood movies where everyone is singing and dancing. People in India love it, but everyone else in the world wonders what’s going on. There is a certain group of people that really, really like it [moe], but there’s another group that doesn’t.
...

[Laughs.] Moe is not just attributed to young anime style girls. There is also gun moe where someone thinks "I love this gun," "this gun is awesome and it’s mine." [Laughs.]

It’s hard to say that there is something from America that is moe, but the closest thing, and I don’t think anyone is going to understand is Mortal Kombat.
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Keonyn
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Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Coon Rapids, MN
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:53 am Reply with quote
I love how RogerSterling ends his posts telling people to be open-minded when his entire post was nothing but an absolutely closed-minded rant. Pure comedy gold. Here's the deal though RogerSterling, if you're going to come in here and rant about a fluff article as if the inconsequential content is akin to someone shooting your mother, then so be it, the world is full of such people here for the comedic value of us all. The passive-aggressive jabs at the site and the community here from your first post aren't going to stand. It is not up to you what makes a "true" fan or otaku, and when your word is not god and your opinion is not the definition of what is and is not fandom. Respect other peoples opinions or don't post, especially when you're going to end your post in a lecture about open-mindedness towards other opinions, when your post was absolutely anything but.
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tygerchickchibi



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 1472
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:31 am Reply with quote
samuelp wrote:

KFC and McDonalds both tailored their stores in Japan toward their local market. Their service is Japanese in style and their menus are modified as well. I.e. they're not trying to be an "american" fried chicken shop, they're trying to be a Japanese one


To an extent, I'm understanding what you're saying. HOWEVER.

I'm saying that, I'm sure that they have some way of being inspired by American food and still have some of American stuff intact, and I don't necessarily feel that it is a problem. With the Japanese maid cafes, don't you think that most of it is still inspired by Western ideals?

KFC Japan actually has most of the same choices as America does regarding their menu. And they add a few things to cater to Japanese style food, but most of it has the heart of the American style recipe, I guess.

So, with American maid cafes, they still want to keep some of the traditional standards of the maid cafes in Japan. It's not really a big deal, and it works out. Perhaps it's not your cup of tea, but in all honesty, like I said, it's working out for the people that it's catered for, so as long as it works out, then I suppose that's okay, right?



In either case, I don't know how I feel about these girls definitely being picked on for how they look. It's kind of disheartening, but whatever.
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samuelp
Industry Insider


Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 2242
Location: San Antonio, USA
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:54 am Reply with quote
tygerchickchibi wrote:
With the Japanese maid cafes, don't you think that most of it is still inspired by Western ideals?


Actually no, they're far more inspired by classic Japanese ideals.
Think of the classic british or european maid and you'll see the ideal of that is completely different than the "maid" in a maid cafe, which is much more based on the perfect ideal of a japanese wife than anything else (aside from the outfit).

If you were to try and find a counterpart in western culture it'd be the man-servant or butler, I suppose. The maids are supposed to operate in the background out of sight.
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Veers



Joined: 31 Oct 2008
Posts: 1197
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:16 am Reply with quote
Echo_City wrote:
CrunchyRoll's Article wrote:
Describing the concept of moe to the the Detroit News, Samet likens it to "when you hold a baby or you pet a puppy or a kitten."
Well, that is hilarious...hilariously wrong. I'm not sure that people get aroused by holding a baby or find petting a kitten extremely erotic (if they do, I must have missed that Memo to Men), but they certainly find moe girls erotic. Creepy comparison fail.

Well, except that's not an inaccurate definition. That's a pretty good way to describe moe (especially to people who have never heard the word before--99% of the people who would hear/see that quote in the news), because at the core, moe is about nurturing or, like configspace describes, a passionate, deep enjoyment of something that is completely benign. Moe and eroticism are not the same thing at all, though in the anime and manga culture they do often go hand-in-hand because that nurturing/passion element has been re-purposed by part of the culture into a way to often stylize women in demeaning and/or sexist ways, which has in turn spun off a sort of entire subculture itself, where what started as innocent attraction turned into not-so-innocent attraction which then turned into sort of self-serving spiral where things aren't moe because the fans say they are, things are moe because the creators say (or imply) they are in order to appeal to a subset of fans. Er, yeah.

The real problem isn't his example, the real problem is trying to explain to the general public why the term moe, considering its baggage, is even being used in the context of maid cafes to begin with.............
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Blue Chocobo



Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Posts: 17
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:49 am Reply with quote
Sorry for jumping on the bandwagon, but this is too good to pass up.

RogerSterling wrote:
Dear Lord WHHHYYY must American's RUIN EVERYTHING About Anime culture!!


RogerSterling wrote:
If you're not even going to duplicate the standards of the Japanese Maid Cafe's DON'T EVEN TRY!!!!


RogerSterling wrote:
This story is soooo disturbing I must share it with the TRUE Otaku's of the Japanese way


RogerSterling wrote:
SOOOO SOOO Friggin' WRONG!!!


All tied together by-

RogerSterling wrote:
Remember No one likes a self elected elitist Hater!


If you really aren't just trying to troll us, then this might be one of the most hypocritical posts I've ever seen.
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Shockolate Energy



Joined: 13 Aug 2012
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:07 pm Reply with quote
Let me start off by saying that I read all of these comments, and I am appalled by some of what I just read.

Someone stated that to be a Japanese maid cafe, one must BE or at least SPEAK Japanese. As true as that MAY be, it is NOT a JAPANESE Maid Cafe. It is ONLY an Anime Maid Cafe, INSPIRED by Japanese Culture...And some of the maids actually DO speak Japanese there, and they speak it awfully well.

As far as their maids go, I've seen some crap being said like 'Not real Otaku' this, or 'not know anything about culture' that. Okay, You CAN NOT make that statement unless you have been there. I hate when people only take things at face value instead of going and seeing for themselves what it's all about first. That's not fair to the staff who are working harder than most trying to keep this business moving. FYI, the maids know what they are doing, and they do it well. The atmosphere is friendly and the girls make sure that their customers are well taken care of. But of course some people wouldn't know that because they are too busy on their computers trying to bash what they know nothing of. Good going.

As far as their menus and how its a little westernized, yeah, it is, for NOW. Please take into consideration that this is a fresh business thats only been running for two months. All businesses start off small, not super extravagant, so in due time, she will expand. Smile

And for the losers that expect "super kawaii Japanese girls"?
...Please....just stop...If it REALLY bugs you that bad, save up at least 3 grand, get on that plane and GO to a maid cafe in Japan, please, because not every corner of the world is going to be able to supply you with super cute Asians for your sweet wet fantasies. So yeah, take that and go.

It's Detroit, Yes, there are black women, yes, they have breast past B cups, but also yes, they love anime and all of the above as much as the next person, so please don't take things at face value and say oh well it LOOKS bad, when in all actuality, its a really fun place for us anime, Japanese culture and video game lovers to go. Our new Sacred Hang. I mean, if two students from Japan can come in for a few hours and tell us that they have been to quite a few maid cafes back home and Chou Anime is doing it RIGHT (and I kid you not, this happened like 2 weeks ago :3) Then, sirs and madams, I think that kind of says it all. It's best to hear it from someone who has experienced BOTH as opposed to those who have experienced one or NONE AT ALL.


It seems here that we're dealing with people who have an idolized vision of what a maid cafe SHOULD be and how it should be done, as if they have been to Japan and heard the natives themselves say "HEY, THIS is how it SHOULD be done, no exceptions!" Really, we're just dealing with happy-go-lucky fans who have nothing better to do with their time than to put down the hard work of others. Please get a better hobby, or if you must, do better research, then come back. Smile

And if you still dont like what the maid are doing you have three options
1. Go for yourself and then judge it off your experience
2. Go to Japan and spend money
3. If all else fails.. start your own cafe with Japanese maids and everything in between. Anime hyper
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SereneChaos



Joined: 14 Oct 2011
Posts: 384
Location: Middle of Nowhere, USA
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:24 pm Reply with quote
Shockolate Energy wrote:

Someone stated that to be a Japanese maid cafe, one must BE or at least SPEAK Japanese. As true as that MAY be, it is NOT a JAPANESE Maid Cafe. It is ONLY an Anime Maid Cafe, INSPIRED by Japanese Culture...And some of the maids actually DO speak Japanese there, and they speak it awfully well.


I guess I'm the only one who read it this way, but what samuelp said (which is the person I'm assuming you're referring to) is quite the opposite. They should make it their own and not try to just copy the Japanese. They should make it American and adapt it to themselves. At least that's what I think he meant.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:29 pm Reply with quote
SereneChaos wrote:
I guess I'm the only one who read it this way, but what samuelp said (which is the person I'm assuming you're referring to) is quite the opposite. They should make it their own and not try to just copy the Japanese. They should make it American and adapt it to themselves. At least that's what I think he meant.


Maids pointing guns at ya and stealing your cash instead of providing service. Now that's the stuff. Cool
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:31 pm Reply with quote
Maids in camo... I think you've done stumbled on a gold mine!
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Hypeathon



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 1176
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:53 pm Reply with quote
@ SereneChaos:

I believe that's what he said too and frankly, I agree with him. Don't get me wrong. Despite me personally not being into the whole maid cafe thing that much, I think this is interesting. However, I don't think you really need to make it as much of a Japanese maid cafe as possible. You can throw in a few Japanese elements if you want to, but otherwise, just make it your own thing. I would actually encourage that. I'll admit, I don't have any ideas of how you can do that, but it wouldn't hurt to experiment with something a little different with the menu or service. Then again, this cafe opened just this past June, so it might be a bit too soon for suggestions.
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WatchforMoons7



Joined: 19 Mar 2009
Posts: 529
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 1:16 pm Reply with quote
Very Happy If one thing Detroit's good at doing is bringing various cultures together.

Looks fun!
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 1:40 pm Reply with quote
*reads the whole discussion*

Dang it. Am I the ONLY one who just wanted to see what they had on the menu? Confused

Or if they had butlers? Anime cry

If I'm ever in Motown, I'll check it out.
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Echo_City



Joined: 03 Apr 2011
Posts: 1236
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:59 pm Reply with quote
GrinfilledCelt wrote:
Hey Echo_City, we don't need a wimpy Robo Cop statue. We have a statue of a fist.
That disembodied fist reminded me of the anime "fight scenes" of yesteryear Wink I'm still going to maintain that Detroit needs RoboCop (preferably without the Japanese "ninja robots" of the 3rd movie...). Cool
configspace wrote:
Echo_City wrote:
CrunchyRoll's Article wrote:
Describing the concept of moe to the the Detroit News, Samet likens it to "when you hold a baby or you pet a puppy or a kitten."
Well, that is hilarious...hilariously wrong. I'm not sure that people get aroused by holding a baby or find petting a kitten extremely erotic (if they do, I must have missed that Memo to Men), but they certainly find moe girls erotic. Creepy comparison fail.

On this point, she's right. You're wrong if you think moe has anything inherently to do with eroticism. Lucky Star is entirely moe. So are all the Nedoroids. But moe goes beyond an "cute" to generally mean a kind of indescribable attraction--the kind of gut feeling you get when you see a widget and feel, "oohh.. shiny"
If that is so, then considering the comments for shows made since the "moeblob revolution" a few years back, anime merchandise, and the comments in this very thread, there are a lot of people who are "wrong". With the old adage that "sex sells", you're convinced that the Japanese haven't designed moeblobs to enthrall viewers by using the "cuteness" of characters to make the property more, ah, "engaging" to the viewer? Something along the lines of "they're cute, they're doing cute things, they're vulnerable (even if they're violent), and that makes fans want to 'hit that'"? If that wasn't their intent, then seeing as how it has overwhelmingly occurred, I'd say that's one hell of a happy accident.

If eroticism isn't inherently involved in moe (a premise I don't really buy into) then "pure" moe, moe that has not been "tainted" with eroticism, does not exist in any anime I've seen, and I'd (referencing back to "sex sells") go so far as to say that it never has and never will exist in any anime. Eroticism has been imbued upon every moeblob that ever came out of Japan. An assertion corroborated by the prurient products and pr0n that exist for moeblob shows such as K-On, Lucky Star, and Clannad.

My working theory as to your Kenichiro Takaki "guns can be moe" line (and I assume he wasn't talking about Upotte!! lol) is that he's trying unsucessfully to downplay the creepiness of creating moeblobs to use cuteness, innocence, and vulnerability to successfully appeal to the otaku fanbase by giving them raging boners and "waifu" fantasies. I think he failed as the idea of a gun being cute, vulnerable, and innocent is pretty creepy all on its own.
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