#but of course p bandai f

[denebsapphic]

Yay they finally made the actual pocket watch

[canmom]

Animation Night 29: Old-School Gainax

Hey animation nerds, it’s 18:20 on a Thursday. This week has been for various reasons a bit intense for my brain, and so I am unfortunately very behind on writing up this week’s Animation Night.

However! I have something stored up for just such an occasion.

Gainax has a good claim to being one of the most influential anime studios in history, and we’ve talked about them before when we watched Rebuild of Evangelion, and when we looked in on Hiroyuki Imaishi and Studio Trigger. At some point soon I am going to do a night of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to check out Imaishi’s best known work. Gainax, as recounted in those posts, began as a group of otaku turned animators themselves; their earliest works were short intro animations for the Daicon convention.

Tonight, then, we’re going to pop back by Gainax. We’re gonna look in on some of the earlier work of the studio, where they were first establishing their style: the relativistic mecha war series Gunbuster, and the lavishly animated but unsuccessful film Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise. Let’s quickly introduce them...

Gunbuster! What a show. It’s a six episode OVA about an international squad of mecha pilot girls fighting a war against a vast enemy force of space bugs.

The tone is... chaotic; sometimes upbeat and taking heavy inspiration from tennis anime (the Japanese title Toppu o Nerae! (Aim for the Top!) is a riff on the tennis anime Ēsu o Nerae! (Aim for the Ace!), and characters like the Coach are almost directly lifted from there), but as often with tense scenes of terrifyingly vulnerable space battle, tragic Forever War-style time dilation tragedy, and of course plenty of like, meticulously drawn machinery courtesy of Anno. It’s accompanied by a side series laying out the fake science, but it’s really not hard science fiction. The most dubious aspect is maybe it’s got a subtle overtone of Japanese nationalism? (And don’t worry - we will definitely be meeting the animation night boob quota tonight!)

Because of all those the weird shifts, though, it’s a lot of fun and never boring - and the tragedy’s proper tragic, there’s more than enough lesbian overtones to read into. It’s pretty much the quintessential 80s Gainax anime and we can’t leave it out of the curriculum :p

The series received a much later sequel called Diebuster, about a girl who is secretly actually a giant robot, which tonally is closer to the hyper-energetic Gainax of FLCL and Gurren Lagann; it’s a blast but sadly we do not have time for both.

Our other big feature, Royal Space Force, is one of the first times Gainax got a lot of money to do a really expensive film, with Bandai hoping to get in on the otaku gunpla market that had developed around other series like Gundam. Gainax had never done a production like this, and by all accounts it was total chaos:

Royal Space Force's collective approach to filmmaking, its deliberate rejection of established anime motifs, its visual complexity, and the general lack of professional experience among its staff were all factors in its chaotic production, while increasing uncertainty about the project led to what has been described as an attempt by its investors and producers to "fix" the film before release, imposing a late name change to The Wings of Honnêamise, and a lavish but deceptive publicity campaign[5] that included misleading advertising and a staged Hollywood premiere.

But the result is some of the best hand-drawn machine animation there has ever been, and I want to watch it for that reason as much as I’m curious about the story :p

Everything I’ve seen of this film suggests lavish environments, inventive design, and effective staging that is totally going beyond the brief of ‘make a film to sell robot toys’.

A three hour OVA and a film is plenty of material, but I’m also going to show some of the old Daicon animations that have survived, to get a real sense of where Gainax began. And next week, I am thinking of following up with the much later Gainax: we’ll check out the film version of Gurren Lagann, which is ridiculously joyful. (Then we can return to French animation, check out Mamoru Oshii and Makoto Shinkai, and the other works of various directors we’ve covered. We’re not remotely out of ideas in Animation Night HQ - I’m just having a bit of a hard time with other things atm.)

So our schedule:

Daicon IV

Royal Space Force

Gunbuster

The time is pretty much right now, or nominally half an hour ago ><; the place is twitch.tv/canmom! see you in there :3

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 35: *chuckles* I’m in danger

(Using the RiderTimeFansubs version today) 

Now... it’s show Rider Zi-O Inoue time. 

(I’m out of opening jokes guys.)

-

Now that is a Black Widow if I ever saw one. Seriously, lady, you’re creeping me out. I am literally 33 seconds in.

Lady, er, sorry, Yuko, I don’t know what you were convicted of, but. Um. You’re not really giving off the impression of someone who is exactly going to be… okay if you go outside.

I will give Hora kudos for not shoving the watch into her chest, though. Good call. And apparently Another Kiva gets to summon the Real Kiva’s… support? I don’t actually know what those three Fangire are to Kiva, but. Yeah. I’mma go with either ‘support’ or ‘retainers’ for now.

Flip-cut to 2008, with… Woz… creeping on 2008 Yuko. This Is Fine.

Woz. I know you somehow make it into the Gaia Library in FOREVER. I know you don’t get much to do in FOREVER. I have not seen FOREVER yet, that’s next on the agenda.

BUT YOU DON’T GET TO SAY KEYWORD. YOU JUST DON’T.

(But still, kudos for the possible nod to the film having just gotten it’s home release, that’s clever.)

A quick note on the opening. Nothings changed in a few episodes, not since we got Trinity. But I can’t help but be uncomfortable with the fact that they still have the last scene with characters be the section with Zi-O and Geiz back to back, and then turning around and clashing.

It’s right up there with Cross-Z Charge staying in the OP for Build through the entire season, but Cross-Z Magma never making it in.

Keeping something that was relevant, but became quickly outdated. I’d say they should have swapped this segment somehow by at least the end of the Another Zi-O Arc, if not before. … Nah, end of Another Zi-O would be the best place. I was thinking that after Geiz gave Sougo his belt, and that whole shindig, but there was still an amount of animosity after that for a while.

OH NOOO MY HEART! THEY’RE ALL GETTING ALONG AND FAWNING OVER JUNICHIRO’S APPLE PIE! It’s too cute, help!

But really, all four are immediately smiling, and it’s adorable. Woz kind of seems like he’s lost all of his stoic traits from even two arcs ago, though.

…oh no, Sougo’s Space Case tendencies transferred to Woz when they started using Trinity.

That’s the only answer. Sougo’s been increasingly competent, and both him and Geiz are getting better at talking to people… and Woz has become comic relief. Oh no personality blending nooooo…

But that is exactly the right set of reactions to Sougo saying he’s been in love. A+ to Tsukuyomi pointing out that he’s ‘like a kid.’

Sougo: Of course I’ve been in love! :)

Geiz: Oh god you’re telling us about it. End me now…

...HUH. Just realized. Junichiro wouldn’t know about this, would he? Kiva – and thus our past segments – were in 2008, but Sougo came to live with his uncle in 2009. So Sougo’s parents were still alive at this point.

2008 Sougo didn’t have friends, either.

Tsukuyomi and Geiz looking on in confusion, Junichiro messing with his nephew (while also confused) and Woz… continues eating pie. I’m worried about you, dude. Character Decay’s not a good thing.

And we have a customer, interrupting story time!

OH WOW! He’s here to get a watch fixed! That’s a first from a non-Time Traveler! The only people bringing in actual time pieces have been Woz and Mondo – you know, Quiz, remember him?

(Customer thinks the shop may have become a cafe – fair, given the scene he’s just walked in on – and Uncle’s stuck in cat-pun mode. Whoops.)

(I’ve started Decade, and the apparently recurring ‘I thought this was a cafe’ joke from there with regards to the Photo Studio just popped into my head. Nice.)

Yuko is. Scary. She wants to take over the world to change the laws.

:casts a nervous glance over at the Kiva and Ryuki arcs of Decade:

Hora’s got a point – the only female Another Rider was Amane, as Another Blade, and she was selected by Hat!Woz. But… looks like Hora’s still in the ‘looking for a new King’ state. Even Heure seems to have moved past that. Last arc, he was trying to find Hibiki, not a candidate. Interesting.

Customer is a lawyer, and knows that he can’t always be the ‘gallant hero’ that Sougo seems to think lawyers are. After all, he couldn’t help ‘that pretty lady.’ But he’s forgotten something at the counter, and Sougo – good boy that he is – rushes off to follow and return it.

YUKO. STOPPED A CAR. WITH HER FOOT. IN HEELS. AND A TINY SKIRT.

:siiiiiigh: Did we really need that pan shot along her leg? Did we?

No. No we didn’t.

And we didn’t need Yuko being a CREEPER to her former lawyer – aka Customer. She’s got a… really sensitive nose. That’s really creepy, especially since she’s using it to unnerve literally everyone around her. It’s not even an Another Kiva thing – she was doing this to identify the exact wine her former boyfriend had in the cold open.

Yuko Kitajima, okay, so that’s her last name. And her doing this ‘ah, yes, it’s that aroma’ trick is what lets her lawyer know it’s her. So she’s done this for a long time.

Another Kiva has some nice touches – roses at the lapels of her cape, where the chain attaches, the stained glass aesthetic.

HOWEVER. I’m NOT here for the eyes. That bright piercing blue is both unnerving AND doesn’t go with the rest of the look! Not to mention the eyes on her shoulders! NO NO NOPE NOT HERE FOR THAT.

...When did Zi-O drop the ‘dial’ eyes, anyway? Definitely by Another Zi-O, I know that… but the Future Another Riders had them, too. Then again, the years have all been ‘2019’ for the last few arcs. Blade, Hibiki, and now Kiva definitely have said 2019. Huh. Wonder if it’s something to do with that.

Another Kiva: I’m going to be queen, and this world will be ~mine~.

Sougo: Queen? :o

SOUGO! THIS IS NOT THE TIME! DO NOT APPRECIATE THE COLORS! YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK!

Ooh, hey, she’s even got a version of Kivat-Bat on there! Nice!

Sougo, please at least put on one of your armors. Like. Any of them would do, right now. Build would be good! You can tank hits really well in that one! Decade’d be better! But just something to give you defense! This is four on one you fool you are outnumbered

AND NOW you are also outgunned, because she can turn her Summoned Fangire Replicas into their weapon forms. Delightful.

And after getting hit by the hammer, sword, and gun, Sougo’s knocked right the hell out of his transformation. Whoops.

Yuko. Yuko don’t – don’t stand over him like that, what are you doing? No, no, don’t do the chin thing, Sougo’s already a wreck, we don’t need him losing sensibility already! Don’t leave the braincell to Geiz! Nooooo-

Hora: So, a queen, huh?

Yuko: How dare a servant talk to me.

OH MY GOODNESS WOW

Hora’s not having this. Just. Teleports out of the way of Yuko trying to slap her. Good call.

YUKO. FRICKING. Kicks up a manhole cover. THROWS IT LIKE A FRISBEE at Hora.

Hora just TURNS HER HEAD to dodge. All she gets is a cut on the cheek – HORA YOU’RE LUCKY TO BE ALIVE OH MY GOD.

Hora’s gonna do a violence.

(Hey, Heure, back when we met Swartz, you told him not to treat you like a child. So… what’s with you two getting ice cream? That’s. Weird. And creepy.)

HEURE. HORA.  GET OUT OF THERE. BOTH OF YOU. YOU CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS.

Cut to evening in the shop.

I can believe this lady did a murder. She certain plans to do some murders now.

The day of the crime she’s ‘falsely’ accused of was April 10, 2015. Just felt like noting that.

(And noting that that fits right in with when a Roidmude could have taken someone’s identity. And noting that we haven’t seen Drive yet.)

(I know there’s like, zero chance it’s connected. Why would they link two different arcs like that? That is, aside from Fourze and Faiz, but that was different.)

(But, you know. Just saying.)

She’s almost definitely going after people who got her imprisoned, there’s no maybe about it. And, er, I can actually understand why Sougo would relate to that, what with. You know. The whole ‘demon king’ thing.

Except that he thinks she couldn’t have done it, because she was his First Love. Woz is all “suggestive raised eyebrows” while Geiz and Tsukuyomi just. They just want the inanity to end.

I fucking LOVE how everyone keeps making cat puns / noises with regards to this story. I mean. Really. She scratched you under the chin, dude. That’s weird.

(Nya.)

Weirdo guy in a coffee bar, insulting the coffee but still coming here, because the waitress is pretty. “Yay.”

Also, he’s got this fancy ring on. That’s probably significant, since P-Bandai’s releasing a ring for one of the Kiva characters. They had Amane wearing the Chalice themed necklace, too, so-

OH LOOK Weirdo’s eyes lit up gold when he was talking about ‘seeing a vision of the end of the world’! And his reflection is a blue wolf! You know! The one from Kiva! That the ring is modeled on! Okay!

Right! Legacy Characters! I somehow forgot that they’d try to bring someone from Kiva back!

Cut to Yuko being creepy at a pier, going after the Chief Prosecutor in her case, right up until Sougo and Geiz arrive.

Sougo’s got one question for you. (Just one? Sounds fake, but okay.)

Sougo: “Why do you want to be a queen?”

Yuko: “To correct the laws of this world, to enforce those correct laws.” (all said with an angry face)

Sougo: “So… it is to help people, then?” (confused)

Geiz: “Oh, for f- That’s not how you should go about it! This is just revenge!”

Geiz has the Trinity brain cell today, and he’s making good use of it!

Oh-ho-hohoho- Hora’s PISSED. She chose poorly. She’s gonna get some revenge of her own.

And now Yuko’s gonna do a violence, because all of them are ‘guilty.’

Geiz transforms, but Sougo doesn’t get that far.

No, he’s just gotten into some weird flashback to 2008.

So, a woman – possibly Yuko, I’m not sure, and ‘Tetsuya’ in one of those swan boats. And then it jumps to 2015. With a (presumably) dead female body… and Tetsuya standing over her.

Right. Sougo’s got time powers independent of the belt. He’s only ever looked into the future before now.

SOUGO! I don’t really care what sort of crisis of faith you’re having, you need to go help Geiz! He’s in a four on one, in an even less ideal location than you were! GO HELP HIM!

What’s this? Something’s going weird up in the sky. First to notice is Swartz, who looks up at the ripples of light. Then Tsukuyomi. (“The two of us aren’t so different after all.”)

And then Garulu. The one on the dock. Who I’d thought was a copy. But, um, maybe not. Maybe that’s the actual one? The real one was talking about a ‘vision of the future’ earlier, after all. But what about the other two Fangire? Are they the real ones? How is Another Kiva summoning them, anyway?

Geiz is knocked out of his transformation – and Sougo didn’t even get to activate his own. He never finished turning the belt before noticing a meteor streaking down the sky. The same one that Garulu was seeing in the coffee bar.

I don’t know WHAT that is that just hit that cliff face, but I don’t like the looks of it.

It – it’s alive? Is it an egg?

No no no NOPE it’s a space egg. It’s got a dude inside. It’s got a kitbash Rider inside. And he’s just blasted everyone down.

Everyone except the very noticeably absent Swartz.

Another Kiva tells him to stop – she is the law here.

But Ginga is from deep space. He doesn’t care about your Earth Laws. He’s going to blast you off of your cliff, too.

(I’m sorry, but I’m having a little trouble taking Ginga seriously with that UFO on his helmet.)

“Alright, let’s go!”

“WAIT NO! WAGA MAOU, STOP!”

“ASK US BEFORE YOU USE TRINITY, DAMNIT!”

Turning into a watch is not fun times.

“There is only one law. Everything dies.”

Yoooo I can take Ginga a little more seriously with those barriers. Yoooooo this guy is WAY overpowered.

Seiji Takaiwa is a god of suit acting~! Making just the little adjustments to show which loser is in control of Trinity moment to moment takes timing.

Also, the only person who can talk is the one in control? That’s. Unfortunate. For them. It’s HILARIOUS for us.

(Tsukyomi, I’m sorry, you don’t deserve to have to deal with these three.)

Nothing they throw at Ginga is working. He’s kicking everyone’s ass. Ass, singular, because bodysharing.

HOO BOY. We have our second female Another Rider… and she doesn’t get to be the main threat in her arc, either. Come on, Toei. … Let’s blame Inoue for this one. He’s here, after all.

Looks like Woz gets a Super mode in Ginga.

Well. At least he didn’t get completely shafted in the power-up regard, once his Character Decay set in.

Justice for Alain. (He! Deserved! Better! Yuujo Burst should have been IN SHOW damnit! Not relegated to the STUPID GOD AWFUL SPECTER V-CINEMA!)

(IT’S NOT EVEN HIS OWN SPECIAL! IT’S MAKOTO’S! IT COULD AT LEAST HAVE BEEN IN THE ‘LEGEND OF HERO ALAIN’ SPECIALS!)

(Yes I will always be salty about how Alain got treated.)

Well! Until next time!

[translationandbetrayals]

A Take On Virtual Idol Multimedia Projects

You may have remotely heard of Love Live!, seen a meme or two; maybe you have listened a couple of Babymetal songs, or you could be a hardcore rhythm game player; nevertheless, it’s highly probable that if you’re somewhat interested in anime or any japanese media in general you’re aware of what an “idol” is and how popular they are in Japan.

And dear god are they popular

*The nine faces of Cancer. Aside from the different eye color and hairstyles they’re practically nonuplets. 

In the last years there’ve been a huge amount of  “multimedia projects” centered on virtual idols. Basically the same as real idols, but 2D. Yes, Yamaha kinda did it first with Vocaloid, and yes, Horipro did it first with their 3DCG Kyoko Date. But even though idols have always been an extremely popular and profitable business in Japan, is in most recent times when virtual idols have received more mainstream success outside their country.

One could say multimedia idol projects are franchises made purely with business purposes. Usually they create a group of fictional characters and make videogames, anime series, manga, movies, music, take on concert tours and everything you can imagine with them. Sure, it’s a hell of a good deal. The mix of moe character designs, catchy music and juicy publicity has proven to be quite effective. Just take a look to one, if not The One most popular of them all, Love Live! School Idol Project. Two anime series, a movie, a highly popular mobile game, quite a lot of albums, and a huge fanbase all around the world that would do absolutely anything for their most beloved idol waifus. I remember how the world almost drowned in tears when School Idol Movie was released like it was yesterday

Is just example of how big can this become.

*Ancient tribe paying respects to their pagan goddesses after a good harvest (circa 750 a.C. Colorized)

Aside from anime and, obiously, music (duh), the biggest part of the market is set on mobile games. They take the typical Japanese mobile game model; a rhythm game you’ve to play to get the resources you need to collect the cute idols, and repeat. It’s addictive, and it makes money. On a personal note, It’s my favorite part. Of course, it’s cheaper to make than an animation and the production values can be really reduced when most of your designs are made from the same face template so there’s a lot of tittles to choose (go check Tokyo 7th Sisters or Square Enix’s Aozora Under Girls!), but since it is way more niche (and the big big mayority of it is still only available on japan) it’s not as popular as your average anime. 

Also, rhythm games are fun, who doesn’t like them?

The quality of this franchises or how good a show made just to promote is questionable, and may be topic for another discussion, but the trend is there. It doesn’t matter if Bushiroad (Love Live) wants to make the “band” train more popular now with BanG Dream! , the virtual idol business is strong, no matter if they’re idols, bands, or cumbia supergroups. The boom series like LL!, Im@s or even Aikatsu started opened the gates to a whole new market overseas, that japan isn’t going to waste.

My take on this? Go play Bandai’s Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls: Starlight Sage. Is the best one out there. The songs are great and the CG models are p. cute ❤

Or don’t. It’s a waste of time actually.

Miguel F. Rodriguez

-As with the other post, i fully endorse this one again. Thanks for the memes, makes this job of correcting and evaluating a more light one.

Finally, to everyone reading this not yet in Idol hell, don’t get into it, it’s a one way road and you will regret it latet, not because it’s bad or anything, but because money will drain in your hand if you have... and even if you don’t, free time will dissapear from your life compleatly