Picture Perfect Paranoia

Reading this Wikipedia entry on the more scientific meaning of a “stigmatized” topic reminded me of one of the most controversial anime launches last Fall Season. Remember the hullabaloo regarding the TV debut of Kodomo no Jikan (Wikientry) (official site)? For those with rather selective memories, the main premise, so to speak, of this anime involves a rather adult humor type of interaction between a young male elementary school teacher and one of his students, who happens to have a precocious knowledge of matters pertaining to relationships and sexual relations.

A lot of people were rectionary and thus engaged in a spirited discussion in talk section of both Kojikan and Lolicon in Wikipedia. Despite walls of text, both sides presented their pro and anti arguments well, especially the author of the Lolicon as a Storytelling Device, whose point of discussion is to explain the facets of familiarity with the device.

Marked differences in societal norms have led several scenes and developments in later volumes of the manga to fall victim to misinterpretation, especially by North American readers with little more than a passing familiarity with Japanese culture, a fact that the series author Kaworu Watashiya has lamented about in one of her blog entries.

Despite the “confirmation bias, social convention, pressure to conform, hypocrisy, and ego” other users have blamed on the aforementioned Wikipedian, he/she is quick to point that he/she is standing in the middle of the fence, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the stands presented.

Here is the Wikipedia’s statement:

Instead of going the “pedophile apologist” route by dismissing any questionable scenes as figments of a reader’s dirty-minded imagination or their looking too much into things, I acknowledged their existence directly and either linked to articles explaining their purpose in the narrative or provided examples to dispel purely negative interpretations and balance things out, leaving readers to come to their own conclusions with the new information provided.

And herein lies the focal point of the debate.

I suspect that the “real” issue people have with this series is that it subtly raises questions about something Rin herself touches upon when she tearfully comments at one point that, “Aoki only pays attention to me because I’m a child, but he also doesn’t pay attention to me because I’m a child.” There’s this dichotomy in child psychology today where, while the welfare and emotions of a child are considered extremely important, there’s this tendency to call into question, if not downright dismiss or condemn, a child’s interpretations of his or her own feelings if they deviate significantly from what adults believe the “expected” or “proper” response should be. Rin is this dilemma personified: she has the feelings of an adult female (what Aoki referred to at one point as her “premature heart”), certainly has the sexual knowledge of an adult female, and definitely has more life experience than most of the adults in the series due to the losses and hardships she’s endured in her nine brief years of existence. But she is a child and has the mind of one and thus lacks the level of cognitive development required to properly and constructively deal with it all. So she engages in “black box thinking” by attempting to make her teacher fall in love with her based solely on her knowledge of sexual mechanics from various dubious sources. This strategy is akin to trying to develop a romantic relationship with someone of the opposite sex based solely on information gleamed from hardcore porn movies: doomed to spectacular failure. What makes Rin’s situation especially tragic is that her love for Aoki appears to be genuine, but no one takes her seriously because of her age, causing her endless grief and frustration.

In any case, Matthew Skala’s critique of vox populi child sexuality and the controversy surrounding this series that I linked on the main article page summarizes the points I’ve argued here a lot more clearly and concisely.
In closing, the Wikipedian merely wishes to point out that in dealing with such a touchy issue, because it concerns a child’s understanding of sexuality with a humorous tone, speaks volume about how much we teach our children about the birds and the bees.

Reactions or comments? Feel free to disseminate your thoughts/opinions.

Opening Theme

Cheer~Makka na kimochi~ by Kanako Sakai

Ending Theme

Devotion”by BRACE;d

Life of a voice actor/actress is not an easy one. Not only in the Land of the Rising Sun itself, but here in the Pearl of the Orient as well.

Voice acting, as defined by wikipedia, involves lending out your voice to an animated character on screen, mainly by reading scripts on paper and paying attention to timing of dialogue, while watching the character interact with others. However, it not just that. It also involves pouring out your emotions, fleshing it out (as they say), and bringing that character to life. And in Japan, it can propel your popularity to national levels.

But of course, as stated earlier, success comes with hardship, and this is what Aka, an up-and-coming seiyuu, learns on her first day of work. Demanding schedules, rigid practice, professional relationships, and fierce dedication are what you need to survive . Fall back, and you’ll surely lose your way around.

Fortunately, the job is not all torture. With the right connections, as in any moderately paying job, the job gets done in less time than letting yourself suffer from too much hard work. Therefore, socializing with your manager is a good asset into becoming a rising voice actress.

Now, let us see what the life of a voice actress is from the eyes of two individuals, of coexisting business relationship. Manager and actress.

Opening Theme

Bouken Desho, Desho by Aya Hirano

Ending Theme

Hare Hare Yukai by Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, and Yuuko Gotou

Haruhi Suzumiya
“Kyon”
Let’s face it.
Life, as we know it, has been fashioned by our Creator before the exact moment in time we were born. We are made to interact with one another, develop our skills, personalities, reputation and what not to the best of our abilities. Basically, we are to hone our selves in the most perfect way we can.

Faced with issues on all fronts, from the trivial to the necessary to the crucial, somehow we struggle in our own way break free from restrain and fashion our lives our way. As such, we are creating our own identity.

Read the rest of this entry »

title translated to The Moment the Cicadas Cry

Opening Theme

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni by Shimamiya Eiko

Ending Theme

why,or why not by Oshima Hiroyuki & Katakiri Rekka

[screenshots pending]This is a rather popular title, currently airing on Japanese Television (dunno which station). Based on a popular, amateur created murder-mystery computer game, it is pegged as a Psychological Horror, according to ANN. That is, there’s mystery and gore, with cuteness for good cover-up measure.

Currently listening to the OP (same title), and from there (as well as the OP video of the anime) you can guess how it was categorized as such. Prepare to jump out of your seats, ladies and gentlemen.

By the way, it’s picking popularity after Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu at YouTube. It’s a must-see, I guess. Search Result: Higurashi Search Result: Haruhi

Opening Theme

YOU by Yuria

Ending Theme

Innocence by Hashimoto Miyuki

[screenshots pending]There’s always a typical staple in every haren anime series: the male lead. Adjectives that would best describe him, aside from being “dull”, are “bland”, “carefree”, and “nonchalant”. At the least pretext, he doesn’t do much to advance his feelings for every girl he’s beein been associated with, or rather the girls who fawn over him for his simple acts of kindness. He just lets the girls, who have eyes for him, struggle to either keep their feelings for themselves, or let it out and hope for the best. The result for the girls, or course, would be altering, as far as their love life is concerned.
The girls vying for the affection of the main male lead are another common element of the genre. More often than not, each of the characters feature a particular one-sided personality that it’s so obvious who each viewer will be rooting for. Of course, being a harem anime, this is inevitable.

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Opening Theme

Start Line by COACH☆

Ending Theme

Aoi FIELD” by COACH☆
Kimi no Koto by COACH☆

[screenshots pending]

I admit it. I’m not a romance buff. Being exposed to various televised novels of struggle involving lovers - affectionately called telenovelas here in the Philippines - I was not pleased with how cliches on love, such as “love conquers all” and “love prevails”, were used to ensure a happy ending for the “love team”. Clearly, there is a demarcated line between the fated lovers and the eternal rivals of the “love team”.

Even in the realm of anime, that is, until the anime boom of the 1990’s, the situation is no different. The proliferation of so many series of the harem genre further strengthened my bias on the field. We see the common staples: flying managers, weak males sought after by girls with stereotypic qualities, magical girlfriends, and the like.

And then came Suzuka, the latest romance anime to grace the TV screen in 2005. At first glance, you would infer it to be a harem anime of standard fare, with the occurence of a boy living under one roof with many women of varying personalities, from the icy Suzuka, to the consoling cousin Miho, to the drunk Yuka, to the busty Megumi, to best friend Yasunobu, and finally to kind girl Honoka. Everyone will be playing their respective roles in this series.

The only striking difference of this series from the others in last year’s line-up of romantic shows is the lack of any fanservice from the first episode. What’s more, the pacing of the story is what you would expect in a soap opera, only it’s animated.

If you’re both a romance buff, like I am now, loves to watch soap operas, and wants a change from the overused cliche of romance in anime, watch this.

I downloaded a new video file from Eclipse Fansubs. Stangely, it is titled “Shakugan no Shana-tan”. Why is it titled as such? It is then that I decided to find out for myself.

As I was watching the clip, I suddenly felt a few years of my life wasting away. Damn.

This is another example of capitalizing on the main character’s charisma and turning it topsy-turvy. That is, towards uber-cuteness.

J.C. Staff earned an OK sign from me. Damn it! Making Shana too cute for words.

uru-chai! uru-chai! uru-chai! uru-chai! uru-chai! Hahaha! Indeed, I was living a life a minute shorter.

credit due to Basugasubakuhatsu Anime Blog for the pic.

Opening Theme

“Koikaze” by éf

Ending Theme

“Futari Dakara” by Masumi Ito

…when two people live in close domestic proximity during the first few years in the life of either one, both are desensitized to later close sexual attraction and bonding. This phenomenon, known as the Westermarck effect, was discovered by anthropologist Edvard Westermarck. The Westermarck effect has since been observed in many places and cultures, including in the Israeli kibbutz system, and the Shim-pua marriage customs of Taiwan, as well as in biological-related families.¹

…When this does not occur, for example where a brother and sister are brought up not knowing about one another, they may find one another highly sexually attractive when they meet as adults: a phenomenon known as genetic sexual attraction. This observation is consistent with the theory that the Westermarck effect evolved to suppress inbreeding.¹

…Finally, there is also the much rarer phenomenon of consensual incestuous relations between adults, such as between an adult brother and sister. This is illegal in most places, but these laws are sometimes questioned on the grounds that such relations do not harm other people (provided the couple have no children) and so should not be criminalized. Artificial insemination and distant adoption have compounded these problems. There are known cases of people having romances, or even marrying, only to later find out they are closely related.²

The paragraphs above are a few snippets I brought from an entry on incest and the Westermarck effect. And this is somehow what the anime series, Koi Kaze, seems to convey. The way the issue is address here is controversial, that is, the theme presents the societal taboo of incest (in most Western countries).

We meet Koushirou Saeki, a 24-year-old marriage consultant who’s out of love, now that his girlfriend confessed that she likes someone else, and leaves him. It is the season of Spring, and he feels morose in his current situation. He finds love, in the most unusual of circumstances. He encounters a female high school student, Nanoka Kohinata, who he later finds out to be his younger sister³ he hasn’t seen in years.

Now that they are living in the same house, they try to adjust themselves to living together. However, they find an unusual attraction between each other, and are struggling to get these feelings from getting in between their brother-sister relationship.

Basically, that’s the premise of the story, but the story itself deals with a very controversial topic. The interaction of Koushirou and Nanoka creates a bond between them that seems inseparable, as brother and sister.

As time goes by, they begin to slowly be attracted to each other’s “good qualities”, that the result would be finding comfort in each other’s arms.

I advise everyone that this is a series aimed at the older teens and young adults demograph.

¹Wikipedia Article on Westermarck Effect ²Wikipedia Article on the Modern Views of Incest ³In Japan, when a man and a woman marry, not only is the wife eligible to change her maiden name to her husband’s, but the husband as well, from his family name to his wife’s surname. I think this is why (to the viewers unfamiliar with this custom) Koshiro and Nanoka were assumed to be from different families.

Opening Theme

“Ureshii Namida” by Noriko Sakai

Ending Theme

“Ano Hi Ni” by Maki Kimura

First review up, and it’s one of those 90’s anime I mentioned earlier (it was made in 1992).

For those of you who haven’t seen (or heard about) this show, well here’s your chance to catch a glimpse of this rare gem, courtesy of yours truly.

We have Yota Moteuchi¹, (a play on his name Motenai) the main character and all-around nice guy. So nice, in fact, that he even lets his childhood friend and longtime crush Moemi Hayakawa get along with his fellow classmate and best friend Takashi Niimai.

Dejected that his love was left unrequited, he goes to a video shop and purchase a VHS tape (very popular back then) of “video girls”, one of those novelties of a loveless man where you pop the tape in your VHS player (again, very popular at that time) and watch as a girl pops up on your TV screen and tries to interact with you, to console with you, and to mend your broken heart.

Later on, this concept of girls popping up on TV screen becomes a magical reality, as suddenly, this video girl Yota’s seeing, Video Girl Ai Amano, comes out of his screen and into his room. He was almost gushing for joy at the sight of this goddess coming into his life. And here is where their story begins.

This is a tale of a touching yet endearing romance that almost jerked a tear out of my eye. Watch as Yota and Ai struggle as their love gets tested throughout the show. “For brokenhearted people only”, as the intro screen of the tape shows. Yes, this OVA delivers that magnificently.

The animation shows its date pretty well, as we get to see watercolored backgrounds, shots of static screens, and of real places in real-life Japan.

Even the voices are appropriate for their respective characters. Ai’s feisty voice instantly reminded me of her role as the female Ranma Saotome of Ranma 1/2², with Megumi Hayashibara also voicing her. Yota’s seiyuu, Takeshi Kusao, delivers his heart wrenching role as the dejected, hopeless and too-nice guy Yota Moteuchi. Hearing Yuri Amano voice the cute Moemi Hayakawa lets you draw in and feel as if you want to comfort her for her unsuccessful, yet trying, attempts at catching Takashi’s attention. Ever the uninterested cool guy, Takashi’s seiyuu, Kouji Tsujitani, makes you want to knock some sense into his head and take notice of Moemi.

Based on the original manga of the same name, by Masakazu Katsura, directors Hiroshi Watanabe and Mizuho Nishikubo have certainly outdone themselves to bring together this classic to life.

¹In Japan, a person’s surname is pronounced/written first before the given name. In this case, I’m using the Western format, given name first, then the surname. ²Don’t believe me? Listen to how female Ranma talks and you will clearly hear that distinctive tone here on Video Girl Ai.