Anime-related rant
I've been planning to write this rant for a long time...I just didn't get to it since the past couple weeks I've done nothing but play FFX and Xenosaga, and have hardly actually watched any anime...but tonight I didn't feel like playing games and I watched the two prime-time animes on every wednesday night--Tenisu no Ojosama (Prince of Tennis) and then Hikaru no Go, and doing so made me want to get around to doing this rant.
The main point is that the most popular shows at any given moment...are schlock. Well, that's not entirely true. It isn't always the show's fault (such as in the case of Inuyasha which is wonderful), but rather it's the fact that the show is hijacked by opportunistic capitalists who merchandise the hell out of the show until it's nothing more than a vehicle for its own merchandise...which is pretty much what seems to be the case with Inuyasha...although the show itself still manages to keep some of its integrity being a Takahashi creation (although I'm sure the manga is much better). Other similar examples of good shows turned to schlock by merchandising would be Detective Conan and One Piece. But then there's shows like Tenisu no Ojosama that aren't even good in their own right. Its animation is substandard even for popular prime-time anime, and it's all done with digital paint, which while bright and smooth, completely lacks character. Not to put down digital animation in general, as it can produce some truely stunning animation when its used for purposes other than just making really cheap animation. I won't rant too long about how bad Prince of Tennis is, but it's just totally uninspired and uninteresting. There are two good things I can say about it though. First of all is the fact that some of the character designs actually look kinda like Japanese people, which isn't very common. Second of all, since it's just about tennis there's no opportunity to make it into a collectible card game (unlike crud like Yugi Oh which was pretty much created merely to market its card game, though it at least looks more interesting than Prince of Tennis). Then again, there's Hikaru no Go which is pretty much just about Go, but IT does have a CCG. If kids want to "live the show" so to speak, why don't they just cosplay as characters from it and play Go. Well, they probably are too uninspired to play Go...although after each episode they do have a segment where they teach Go strategy, and I've learned a bit by watching it. Of course, these are just the really popular, prime time anime here. There's a few very good anime airing right now too, but most of it is on at like 2 in the morning when I'm more likely to miss it, or at least it is in my area. Hmm...speaking of good anime, part two of the new Rurouni Kenshin Seisou Hen OVA should be out in a few days. w007.
Tomorrow I have my placement test for the next quarter. I have to do well in that cause that would suck to have to start over again in my current class. I'm sure I'll do fine, possibly even top of my class, but I guess I should study a little bit. The only reason I'm not studying now is because I just ate a bowl of udon AND a really big unadon, so I was much too full to concentrate on studying...but now I should be a little better. And I'm pretty tired so I should get cracking now before I can't keep my eyes open any longer. When I was leaving for the computer lab to write this my neighbor 牛 had his door open and was cooking that good-smelling cantonese style that he's always cooking. I turned to say "konbanwa" to him, but kept walking and promptly smacked into a pole.
The main point is that the most popular shows at any given moment...are schlock. Well, that's not entirely true. It isn't always the show's fault (such as in the case of Inuyasha which is wonderful), but rather it's the fact that the show is hijacked by opportunistic capitalists who merchandise the hell out of the show until it's nothing more than a vehicle for its own merchandise...which is pretty much what seems to be the case with Inuyasha...although the show itself still manages to keep some of its integrity being a Takahashi creation (although I'm sure the manga is much better). Other similar examples of good shows turned to schlock by merchandising would be Detective Conan and One Piece. But then there's shows like Tenisu no Ojosama that aren't even good in their own right. Its animation is substandard even for popular prime-time anime, and it's all done with digital paint, which while bright and smooth, completely lacks character. Not to put down digital animation in general, as it can produce some truely stunning animation when its used for purposes other than just making really cheap animation. I won't rant too long about how bad Prince of Tennis is, but it's just totally uninspired and uninteresting. There are two good things I can say about it though. First of all is the fact that some of the character designs actually look kinda like Japanese people, which isn't very common. Second of all, since it's just about tennis there's no opportunity to make it into a collectible card game (unlike crud like Yugi Oh which was pretty much created merely to market its card game, though it at least looks more interesting than Prince of Tennis). Then again, there's Hikaru no Go which is pretty much just about Go, but IT does have a CCG. If kids want to "live the show" so to speak, why don't they just cosplay as characters from it and play Go. Well, they probably are too uninspired to play Go...although after each episode they do have a segment where they teach Go strategy, and I've learned a bit by watching it. Of course, these are just the really popular, prime time anime here. There's a few very good anime airing right now too, but most of it is on at like 2 in the morning when I'm more likely to miss it, or at least it is in my area. Hmm...speaking of good anime, part two of the new Rurouni Kenshin Seisou Hen OVA should be out in a few days. w007.
Tomorrow I have my placement test for the next quarter. I have to do well in that cause that would suck to have to start over again in my current class. I'm sure I'll do fine, possibly even top of my class, but I guess I should study a little bit. The only reason I'm not studying now is because I just ate a bowl of udon AND a really big unadon, so I was much too full to concentrate on studying...but now I should be a little better. And I'm pretty tired so I should get cracking now before I can't keep my eyes open any longer. When I was leaving for the computer lab to write this my neighbor 牛 had his door open and was cooking that good-smelling cantonese style that he's always cooking. I turned to say "konbanwa" to him, but kept walking and promptly smacked into a pole.