Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2010-02-26]
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Heh, this reminds me of a class on cult television that I took in university. I wanted to see what the buzz was about. When it came time for the section about anime, sometime in the middle weeks, it turned out I and one other person were the only anime fan in the class. Granted, there were only about 15 people in this class, but it was kind of interesting to see people's reactions when Paranoia Agent was screened.
Basically, people thought anime as one of two things: "Violent porn cartoons", as stated aptly in Anime News Nina, or merchandise-driven kid stuff like Pokémon. The episode shown was "Double Lips" (the one about the prostitute with the split personality), and a majority of the class were shocked and surprised. A lot of them said that they never expected anime to be capable of something like this, all cinematic-looking and dealing with intelligent themes. I noticed that when the instructor was talking about anime, he spoke a lot about things Shinichiro Watanabe had done. When I asked him if he's a fan of the guy, his eyes lit up saying that he is. I must have been the first person he's ever talked to in person, in a university setting, who could identify Watanabe's works.
I don't think that's the actual thought process, nor are they fans of anime in general, but of specific shows. They were probably looking for something specific that they could chat about with other fans. That is, they're probably looking for the social aspect rather than the viewing aspect--not to watch shows they haven't seen before, but a chance to talk about shows they know enough about to sustain a conversation with. I guess this relates well to this week's question. I would say it's a bit loaded, but something "safe and predictable" is more likely to provoke interest in more people.
Well, a "death note" can also refer to a suicide note. It's a bad juxtaposition of words and that the Japanese refer to a notebook as simply a "note." If someone was watching a show called Suicide Note, it'd sound like the most depressing thing. I would certainly wonder what sort of people would be watching it if I weren't interested in seeing it for myself. |
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SalarymanJoe
 Posts: 468 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA |
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Sorry, I know it's bad form to dig up an old Answerman thread once the next has been published; I'd been meaning to reply to this most of the week, but it's been a hell of a week...
I don't think I am articulating myself very well when describing the difference. Part of it is the notoriety, part of it is due to actual production values and stressing the "high art" (art for art's sake) of the piece. Something that is off of the mainstream, beaten path. It is a very open, subjective definition, which probably counters my previous point that I think the usage of the word or phrase is too open. It is like asking "What is art?". But, LordByronius's subsequent post clears it up some.
You make an excellent point. I can only answer from my perspective but I treat these differences in how Japanese animation arrived or was portrayed in the West/America as entirely different matters. Sure, AKIRA was shown in art house cinemas because the crowd that looks for something different - those that attend art house showings - would be more receptive of. At the same time, my first experience with the dub of Mononoke Hime was in an art house theater in Atlanta. But that said, consider the original Japanese market. There is nothing that screams art house about AKIRA aside from maybe that the film itself is kind of weird. There was a lot of sponsorship involved and a big push to capture the burgeoning otaku market of the time. The film is gorgeous and you can tell that there was a lot of money spent on it, especially with as good as it still looks after 20 years. Mononoke, by the same token, was a Miyazaki film which pretty much guaranteed it having a big budget, wide theater release and adoration from the general public. It was one of the highest grossing films in Japan until Titanic came along.
I know that much of my argument above is now falling on deaf ears since you feel that the financial impact should be divorced from the product or reception of the product. In a discussion merely based on artistic merit, I would agree. However, my original interpretation of the question was not simply based on artistic merit because, as I noted earlier in my first post, all anime have some artistic values to them, even the most trope-laden, generic, unashamedly money-grubbing (I mean that in a good way!) piece. And now, let's return to this week's regularly scheduled Answerman... |
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Wow, ignorance knows no bounds... 
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