A few days ago I came across an interesting post discussing manga-ka Ken Akamatsu’s claim that the moe/harem fad is dying…

According to the post on AnimeNation, written by well known anime expert John, Akamatsu’s claim is that “the moe/harem boom is finished” and that “there are few contemporary harem anime – few anime starring male characters with an active attraction to the opposite sex for viewers to empathize with.” To sum up John’s response to this claim, he believes that the moe fad isn’t exactly “dying,” it’s just changing. I’ll expand on the points he makes in this post with my own commentary.

When first confronted with the idea that the moe craze is dying, it may seem hard to believe what with all the many moe and harem shows that have come out this year – Amagami SS, Mayoi Neko Overrun!, and Shukufuku no Campanella just to name a few. There’s no doubt that it hasn’t died yet, but according to John, the harem genre is “not as high profile as it once was.” Rather, the prominence of series such as Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi, and Ladies vs Butlers! are perhaps revealing a shift from providing their audience with blatant wish fulfilling male protagonists in obvious harems to, according to John, a return to “80′s style romantic comedy.”

On the less harem and more moe side of things, he makes an interesting observation about K-ON!. With all its current popularity among male otaku, the K-ON! girls are not represented in a sexual way…in fact, I’ve noticed that Kyoto Animation doesn’t put out any promotional art depicting them in obviously fan service/ecchi ways.

Moe but not sexual?

John states that Akamatsu apparently uses K-ON! as an example to show that the trend is leaning towards otaku having more respect for female characters and not necessarily having to see them as sexual objects. John cites a few more examples of anime like this, such as Angel Beats!, Sora no Woto, and Seitokai Yakuindomo that “attract male viewers but don’t engender sexual attraction.”

This of course brings up the debate of what exactly defines moe – sexual attraction or simple adoration and a yearning to protect? As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, my take on moe is that it’s a feeling rather than an actual genre – a feeling to protect, support, or be intimate with a character. Thus, the type of character than can be considered moe varies depending on the person. The term is associated with the stereotypical moe girls because they’re usually what male otaku would feel “moe” for.

But I digress. One of the most interesting things John points out in the post is comparing the moe anime of this year to what moe shows were like in previous years, anime like Lucky Star and Rozen Maiden in particular. According to John, the moe attitude of 2005-2009 was more possessive, with the whole “Konata is my waifu” thing and maybe the doll-like status of the Rozen Maidens. He believes that the new moe attitude of 2010 is returning to what it was in the beginning – being intimate with and supportive of the characters rather than possessing them.

Old-school moe?

The yearning to cheer on characters like Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura or to chill with classmates like Osaka and Chiyo from Azumanga Daioh, may slowly be returning.

He also mentions the rise of male moe for female fans, naming characters like Hideyoshi from Baka Test and even Joey from Heroman. And I would like to add Hetalia as a major player in this genre too.

Male moe?

Additionally, he notes the decrease in so-called “lolicon” anime in recent years. Much like how harem anime is shifting to a more ’80s style romantic comedy emphasis, he says that shows like Moetan, Ichigo Marshimaro, and Kodomo no Jikan that premiered during the height of the moe boom are slowly being replaced with another 80s trend of featuring sexy older teen and adult women, namely in recent shows like Queen’s Blade, Kanokon, Ladies vs Butlers!, Sekirei, and High School of the Dead.

I think John definitely has something there as far as his theory about Ken Akamatsu’s claim, though I’m not sure exactly how much I agree with it. The harem trend could indeed be shifting to the lighter romantic comedy style rather than the wish-fulfilling arousal style. But we’re still seeing very blatant harem anime amongst the more revolutionary ones, though, like John stated, they seem to be losing their edge. Despite all the harem titles, it seems like the Key series remain the most popular, but I don’t think the genre will produce long-time favorite classics like Tenchi Muyo! and Love Hina again.

As for moe, I definitely see the shift that John is talking about with anime like K-ON!, Seitokai no Ichizon, and Angel Beats! – most of our adoration comes from wanting to cheer on and support Yui and Kanade or hang out with the Hekiyou Gakuen student council. But I still see the possessive “my waifu” attitude prevelent, for example, with characters like Hitagi from Bakemonogatari or even some fans’ attitude towards the K-ON! girls, Mio in particular.

Popular waifus

Since moe is something dependent on a person’s feelings, it’s hard to point out a trend. And, while I definitely believe male moe is on the rise (perhaps indicating a rise in female fans), it’s hard to say that “lolicon” is disappearing with shows like Hanamaru Kindergarten or the many loli-like characters in other new anime.

In conclusion, I think John has many valid points, but I feel it’s hard to fully agree or disagree with him as of now. It does seem like moe/harem anime is changing, whether it’s exactly as he believes it is or not. Like many other aspects of anime fandom, this is something that will be quite interesting to observe as time goes on.

This was me since last night

If you tried to visit my blog during the last 16 hours, you probably noticed that the pages wouldn’t load. For the first time ever, MAY went down for a significant amount of time, mostly due to my own incompetence…

For those of you wondering what exactly happened, last night I tried to install the WP Super Cache plugin for my blog in order to help it load faster. Not realizing that my Yahoo! server doesn’t allow the necessary .htaccess file, the incomplete installation of the plugin caused my entire blog and dashboard to not load. I sent messages to Yahoo! and the WordPress forum, but no one responded. I went to bed that night full of regret that I tried to install the plugin myself without fully knowing what I was doing. I was so angry at myself for making such a stupid misjudgment that was now causing me so much grief.

Later that night, my friend pkjd, who’s helped me out with site work in the past, managed to get the dashboard back, but every page on the blog except the homepage would lead to a redirecting error. Neither of us could figure out what to do. I called Yahoo! tech support (for the first time ever since buying my domain name over eight years ago), and after searching through all my files, they said they couldn’t fix it since it’s too much of a WordPress issue. And unfortunately, WordPress only has a forum to offer support, and no one was responding to my threads. That news broke my heart and I was ready to lose all hope. I can’t remember ever feeling so devastated. I’ll admit that I started crying like I’d lost a loved one (most people don’t understand the kind of attachment we have to our web sites).

Finally, I decided to ask fellow blogger chikorita157 for help (since he was the one who recommended the plugin). And…he was able to fix it!!!

So a big thank you to chikorita157 for saving the day, and of course pkjd for always helping out. I certainly learned my lesson from this incident – that is, not to mess with parts of my blog unless I really know what I’m doing.

And thanks to everyone who offered their concern during the downtime. Now that the blog is back and running, be sure to check out my latest post “What unusual anime activities do you like to do?,” which I posted only a few hours before the blog went down.

Once again, my work schedule is gonna be busy this coming week, so the next new post probably won’t be until Tues. or Fri.

I’m sure we’ve all taken part in some of the usual anime fan activities, such as blogging, reading fan fics, making AMVs, listening to anime songs, etc,. But I’m curious as to what fans’ more unusual anime activities are…

In this post, I’ll share two activities of my own as examples of what I mean by an unusual anime-related activity. I’m sure they’ll sound silly to some people so I hope no one will make fun of me XD

One thing I used to do from time to time (though not so much anymore) is marathon anime opening videos. I would pick out 1 to 2 hours worth of anime openings and watch them one right after another. For series that have multiple openings, I would sometimes watch more than one, but usually I would just pick my favorite one. With this activity, I would sort of get the sense of rewatching each series without having to actually take the time to watch them all again. I was also very meticulous about the order I would watch them in. I liked watching them with the genres as mixed as possible, so I wouldn’t want to watch a Naruto opening followed by a Shaman King opening since they’re both shonen. A good order would be something like 1) Sailor Moon OP, 2) Cowboy Bebop OP, 3) Code Geass OP, 4) Air OP, 5) Digimon OP, and so on. I liked to watch them in this order because I would imagine that I’m showing this anime opening marathon to someone who doesn’t know much about anime, and the variety of genres back-to-back would be a good way to show how diverse anime stories can be. This idea is actually what inspired me to make my anime video project. I even kept a list of the order I liked to watch the openings in, constantly adding new ones as I watched new series.

I haven’t done this activity for a few years now. My life has been busier then it used to be and whatever spare time I have is used for blog work or catching up on anime episodes. Another reason is that I’ve started watching more anime at one time and haven’t gotten around to gathering video files of all the new openings. I used to rip anime openings from raws or fansubs for every new series I watched, since good quality openings on YouTube were unavailable. Now they’re easy to find, so it’s a matter of me taking the time to download my own copies of the openings I like but haven’t gotten yet.

Actually, thinking about this old activity of mine has gotten me to want to do it again, with an updated list of OPs. I do similar marathons with my favorite AMVs sometimes, though not nearly as often as I used to do with openings.

Another (and more embarrassing) thing I started doing since I got into anime (and still do to this day) is make up my own episodes and “watch” them in my head. I would usually do it right when I go to bed before I fall asleep, since it’s dark and quiet and I can concentrate better. Like my taste in fan fics, they won’t be OOC or anything like that. They would simply feature situations or stories I would like to see in the actual anime but haven’t. I’ve done this with all the series that have been my favorite, and a little bit for others in between. Most of these series have been ongoing, in which case I would “watch” my own versions of later episodes or even the finale itself, making sure to incorporate what the original creator has done up to that point.

For the five years I was into Inuyasha, I kept refining my version of how the series would end and “watched” it many times over the years, as well as many side-story episodes. When I was into Evangelion, I imagined a WYDS for the movie, which I actually did turn into a fan fic. Now I’m trying to work on how I want Haruhi to end, though I’m having some difficulty.

LOL, I used to be really hardcore with this activity of mine – sometimes I would watch an episode from that series before I went to bed just to get me ready, and if I fell asleep before I finished “watching” my episode, I would try to finish it in the morning before I got out of bed…yeah, go ahead and laugh.

Like with my anime OP marathons, lately I haven’t been able to “watch” my episodes that much. Mostly it’s because I’ve been too tired every night and I fall asleep right away, so I’ve only been doing little snippets while I’m working out or just chilling in my room. For the past three years it’s been all Haruhi (and a little Kannagi and Lucky Star) but who knows what my next favorite will be.

So yeah, as silly as they are, these are two of my unusual anime activities. I’d love to hear what any of yours are too (don’t be embarrassed!) Also, I’ve only done individual activities, but feel free to share any group ones you like as well.

Anyone who’s been around the fandom long enough knows that there’s a connection between anime and video games. Just about all of the anime fans I’ve met over the years have at least one video game series they’re into. In this post, I’ll examine the nature of this connection, as well as how I take part in it…

The obvious reason for why many anime fans are also gaming fans simply has to do with the fiction/fantasy/escapism elements of the two mediums. Anime allows you to watch creative fictional stories that present characters and worlds with such detail that it’s easy for one to become engrossed in them. Likewise, video games present the same kind of fantastical stories and detailed worlds, but instead of just watching, you can actually take part and control what happens in them. So whether you’re observing or playing, both mediums offer a form of escapism and enriched fictional elements.

With this similarity between anime and games, it’s no wonder that most anime fans prefer games from Japan, from regular video games like Final Fantasy and Blaze Blue, to niche PC games like visual novels and gal games. The similarities in the designs of the characters, the way the stories are presented, the music, etc., between these games and anime bring a comforting connection between the two fandoms.

It’s also no wonder that most anime fans who like games have a preference for the RPG genre, from MMORPGs to regular single-player ones like Zelda. RPGs share a lot of elements with anime – large casts of characters who often develop, a lot of fantasy, magic, and sci-fi, unique terminology, subplots, and detailed stories that unfold in a chronological narrative. The majority of RPGs are almost like watching an adventure/fantasy anime series, except for all the leveling up of course, and the fact that you’re playing rather than watching.

After RPGs, I would say that fighting games are also quite popular among anime fans. The reason being that they offer two of the rawest appealing traits for fans which are also staples of shonen anime – cool characters with cool powers, and satiating our innate fascination with violence.

When it comes to this anime fan’s thoughts about video games, I used to be much more into games than I am now. In the 90s, I had a ton of Sega Genesis and Game Gear games, with the Sonic the Hedgehog series being my favorite. However, once I got into Pokemon and anime in the late 90s/early 2000s, I started to become more of a video game connoisseur. Anime took over video games as my favorite pastime, and I realized that I no longer had enough time for both, especially since video games were starting to become more advanced and time consuming.

After the Sega Genesis era and starting with the N64 and Game Boy Color, I began buying consoles based solely on whether there would be Pokemon games for them. Hence, the Game Cube, Game Boy Advance, DS, and Wii followed afterward. Of course, not wanting to be a strictly Pokemon-only gamer, I did buy or rent other games for these systems when I felt like it. But for the past ten years, I’ve only dedicated myself to Pokemon and a few other game series, with anime having priority over games in general.

And as much as friends have tried to push me, I just haven’t had the motivation to play some of the most popular RPGs like Final Fantasy and Zelda. Despite the fact that Pokemon is my favorite game series, in general I don’t enjoy playing RPGs. I’ve given them a chance; I’ve played a little Final Fantasy VII and Tales of Symphonia, but I just couldn’t keep them up. Although I enjoy all the anime elements of these games such as pretty animation, fantasy rich stories, and creative worlds, I don’t enjoy all the leveling up and having to memorize all the huge amounts of items, attacks, etc., do. For some reason, the grinding elements of Pokemon aren’t as hectic to me. There are a couple of other RPGs I love such as Okami and Lost Kingdoms (a Game Cube game) because they have the great attributes of RPGs without all the hassle of leveling up and endless inventories. But for RPGs in general, I would rather watch them as an anime series (or watch others play them, minus too much grinding) rather than play them myself.

Don’t get me wrong…after anime, I would say that video games are my next favorite hobby. Besides Pokemon and other games I’ve mentioned already, I enjoy Harvest Moon, Super Smash Bros., Wario Ware, Nintendogs, and some games based on shows or movies I like, as well as the occasional doujin or anime PC game. I just don’t actively play all the new and popular video games because anime is my main hobby and uses up most of my spare time and money. But I’m the type of person who can play the same games over and over again without getting tired of them. I just finished playing through Okami a second time, I’ve played the same battles in Pokemon Battle Revolution and Smash Bros. Brawl many times over, and I still enjoy playing many of my old Game Cube games, even my old Sega Genesis games on the emulator.

So, how do you feel about the relationship between anime and video games, and how does your game interest compare to your anime interest?

*Announcement: I apologize for the lack of new posts this week. My work schedule has been overbearing, but it will only last a few more weeks (after which, I may be jobless 0_o) So yeah, posts are going to be slow until then. Keep an eye on Twitter to see when I’m ready to post. As of now, my next new post is looking to be Wed. or Thurs.*

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As most of us have known for years, the average American either does not know anything about anime, or has a very distorted idea of what it is. By “distorted,” I mean that they think anime is just one of two things – kiddy cartoons from Japan, or pornographic or overly violent animation for questionable adults – a “porn and Pokemon” misconception as I call it…

This misconception has faded slightly since the early 2000s, mostly due to all the anime that aired on Toonami and Adult Swim. Shows like Rurouni Kenshin, Inuyasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Cowboy Bebop could be easily accessed to people all across the country and provided a taste of the variety of stories that encompass the term “anime.” But it still has done little to change the average view. Thus, since I became a fan, I’m always thinking of relatively easy, non-imposing ways to show the average American what anime is all about.

Of course, the most efficient way to show people that anime is more than kid shows and hentai is to simply show them a variety of anime series. But realistically, someone not interested in anime is not going to use hours of their time to watch different shows just to see that anime isn’t what they thought it was.

Therefore, I’ve come up with seven ways to show the average person that anime is much more than “porn and Pokemon.” They’re listed below in order, with the last one being the most effective. I’ve also listed possible disadvantages for each method as well.

Having the person browse through easy-to-use, newbie-friendly anime sites that provide information about different anime, such as ANN, MAL, or my own AnimeYume.com would be a good way for them to read up on the variety of genres and stories that exist in anime. Or perhaps, giving them a list of specific titles to look up on Wikipedia would also be good. With these methods, they could quickly read short synopsis of different titles without having to take the time to watch them.

Possible disadvantages: Many people don’t spend as much time on the Internet as the average anime fan, so looking up anime web sites is something they may never get around to doing. Also, reading does take more effort than watching, so reading about something they’re not interested in just for the sake of knowledge will be more hassle than it’s worth to most people.

Giving the person manga or other books related to anime could be another effective way. Since so much anime is based on manga, manga chapters are quicker and easier substitutes for anime episodes. Giving the person a volume or two of a good manga series to read takes much less time and effort than getting through episodes of anime. Giving them books about anime to read may provide a more thorough effect in terms of seeing what anime is, but most people would rather read a comic book than read detailed academia books about something they’re not interested in.

Possible disadvantages: Like with anime episodes, many people will not want to take the time and effort to read manga, even though it takes less time to get through a series than anime. And as I’ve mentioned above, only certain people would read academia books about anime when they’re not fans themselves.

The one method on this list that doesn’t require any extra anime-related paraphernalia is simply to talk about anime to the person in question. Provide them with easily digestible synopses of different series to show the variety of stories that anime encompasses. Tell them about other unique points such as character relationships, the fan community, etc,. An even more effective way is to find out what genres of movies and TV shows they like and tell them about anime from those genres. Talking about anime could obviously be used in conjunction with all the other methods on the list.

Possible disadvantages: If you’re someone like me who’s not very articulate, especially when it comes to imposing my interests on others, I wouldn’t be good at this method. But even for someone who would be good at this, going too far with it may start to annoy the person and make them think you’re some kind of obsessed nerd who wants to get them into your hobby. Finding the right balance between how much to tell them about anime without going overboard and sounding imposing, is tricky. And many people have to see to believe, so simply telling them about anime may not pique much interest unless they see for themselves.

The quickest and easiest method on the list is simply to show the person good anime pictures from a variety of titles. Thumbing through a bunch of pictures online or on paper takes less time and effort than any other method on the list. Not just any pictures will do though – they should be good quality artwork images that show the variety of character designs and styles, facial expressions, detailed settings, interesting clothing, etc., that exist in anime. The kind of quality scans and wallpapers on Anime Paper, or the many fantastic fan art images on pixiv, would be best. Giving the person actual anime artbooks to look through would be good, too.

Possible disadvantages: Although “pictures say a thousand words,” they still are not enough to tell someone about anime in terms of story, plot, creativity, character development, etc. The pictures may attract the person to the visual style of anime, but without knowing the context or anything about the story or characters doesn’t say much else about anime other than what it looks like. But perhaps combining this method with #5 would be better – as you show the pictures, you could tell the person information about the story and characters.

Showing the person the openings and ending videos of different anime could give them a good idea of the mood and style of each series without having to actually watch it. People would be more inclined to check out a minute and half long videos instead of half hour episodes. OPs and EDs could also introduce people to Japanese music, which is an essential part of anime.

Possible disadvantages: The foreign sound of some Japanese songs and singers could turn people off. Also, some OPs and EDs are misleading or don’t represent their series very well to someone unfamiliar with it.

Instead of making someone spend the hours to watch anywhere from 13 to over 50 episodes of an anime series, showing them especially good scenes from different series, such as the many character development-laden scenes in Naruto, the relationship turmoils in Toradora!, the gut-wrenching sadness in Clannad After Story, or the flashy action in Gurren Lagann, would give them a good idea of how engagingly and powerfully anime can present its stories.

Possible disadvantages: You’d have to make sure to pick scenes that can be enjoyable even when taken out of the context of the episode or series. Some people might not like it if they don’t know what the context is regardless of other factors.

As strange as it sounds, I believe showing someone a few good AMVs gives them an excellent grasp of what anime is about. I believe they’re the most effective method because 1) they’re short, 2) they can showcase many different series in just a few minutes or 3) the excellent aspects of just one series, 4) they use a variety of music that can match different people’s tastes, and 5) they often emphasize the most appealing themes of anime, such as romance, action, emotions, beautiful animation, character development, etc., which are precisely the things that average people are unaware of. AMVs like “Beautiful Day” which portrays the beauty of anime, “Jihaku” which portrays the gripping emotions of anime, and “Attack of the Otaku” which portrays the visually fun and cute side of anime, would be perfect to show someone about anime in a short amount of time. Actually, I think taking twelve minutes to show someone three good AMVs may be more effective than having them spend hours watching just one series.

Possible disadvantages: AMVs are full of feeling, which is obviously a big part of anime’s appeal, but like #4, #3 and #2 on the list, without the context of story and characters, part of their appeal is lost. Most showcase a lot of the visual styles and emotions of anime, but not much else.

What is Anime? – the Visual Definition and What is Anime? – the Written Definition are two projects I’ve worked on precisely for this purpose. I’ve showed them to friends and professors with great results! Check them out if you’re interested =)

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If you can think of other good ways to show people that anime is more than just “porn and Pokemon,” feel free to comment below. And if you’ve tried these methods on someone, I’d love to hear how they went =)

Before the days of streaming and abundant torrents, I used to watch very few anime series at a time, usually only via dubs on TV or DVDs I bought or borrowed from friends. But in mid-2006, I started consuming more anime at one time than ever before thanks to the flourishing of fansubbed torrents, along with getting a better computer. Since then however, I’ve noticed that as I’m continuously watching new anime titles, my retention of any one title has been diminishing…

During my early years of fandom, starting from when I first got into anime in 2000 until around 2005, I had watched about 30 different anime titles over the span of those five years. But since 2006, I’ve been watching roughly about 30 new titles per year, meaning that the number of new anime I watch each year is five times greater than it used to be! For the past few years I’ve been watching as many titles per year as I used to watch in five years. As was mentioned in my previous post about anime generations, this mass consumption of anime that most of us take part in is simply the result of the times – easily accessible streaming, fansubbed torrents, direct downloads, IRC, Web 2.0, and the desire for fans to sample a little of everything and be hip on all the latest anime in Japan.

So for me, what have the results been from greatly increasing my yearly anime intake? During my pre-mass consumption years, I used to remember almost everything about each series I watched. This was helped by the fact that, since I wasn’t watching a bunch of series weekly at once, I rewatched series much more often than I do nowadays. Thus, for just about all of the anime I watched in my first five years of fandom, such as Slayers, Trigun, Tenchi Muyo!, Digimon, and many others, I had rewatched them all at least twice. I remembered the names of all the characters, even minor characters. I even remembered other details like the names of episode titles, terminology, and background information specific to that series.

I used to remember all their names. Now, not so much.

Since I started mass consuming anime in mid-2006, I didn’t notice how it affected my retention of any particular series until sometime in late ’07 when I began attending university. At the time, I was watching the first season of Clannad as it was airing (among many other series). Midway through, I started noticing that I had trouble recalling what happened in the previous week’s episode. I would watch a new episode, then a few days later, if a friend started talking to me about it, I would be like, “What happened again?” Only until I started hearing about it or when I watched the following episode, I would be like “Oh yeah!” I blamed it on being a university student at the time and all the information I had to cram into my head for classes was pushing out my anime recollections.

However, the trend has been continuing since, even though I haven’t been a university student for the past year. With so many anime coming and going in my mind all the time, I can no longer retain the names of all the characters, details, specific events, etc., in my mind the way I used to. For series that I watch only once, I can always remember the names of at least a few characters, a general summary of what the series is about, how I felt about it, and maybe a few other things. Basically I can retain a holistic knowledge of the series, but I’ll be damned if someone asks me about a specific scene in a specific episode or other particulars, even if I only watched the series a short time ago. I think half of it has to do with mass anime consumption and the other half is simply that my memory sucks XD

I really liked Eden of the East, so I feel like an idiot for only remembering vague details about it

Over the years, I’ve found that I have to rewatch a series at least three times in order to really remember a lot of specifics about it. I’ve done this with a few of my favorites like Azumanga Daioh and Wolf’s Rain. Thus, I can remember a lot more about these two than I can about Nyan Koi!, a series I only watched less than a year ago. It also has to do with how much I liked a series. I thoroughly enjoyed almost all the episodes of Angel Beats!, so I remember a lot more about it than Working!! even though I was watching them at the same time. My retention of anime also has to do with how I was touched by certain scenes. I can usually remember at least one scene in all the anime I’ve watched that stood out to me even if I can’t remember much else about it. For example, in Escaflowne, an anime I watched one time nine years ago, I remember a relatively insignificant scene where Merle licks Hitomi, but I can’t remember more relevant scenes. I can remember this, yet if you were to ask me what happened a few weeks ago in an episode of Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, an anime I’m currently watching, I probably couldn’t tell you off the top of my head. Yeah, my memory is really inconsistent.

It took five viewings to consider myself a (semi) Wolf’s Rain expert

Looking at how mass anime consumption has affected my retention of each series I watch, it seems like I should stop watching so much anime at once and stick to giving more attention to just a few. I’ve thought about it, but I really do enjoy keeping up with many of the latest series as they air and being familiar with so many different titles even if I have to spread my retention thin among them. Most anime I watch are fairly average and dispensable, but I feel it’s important to watch them anyway for the sake of increasing my knowledge of the fandom. Even during my years of mass consumption, I’ve put aside time to rewatch series I really liked, such as Kannagi, Toradora!, and Air. I still have a long way to go in terms of rewatching all the series I especially liked and catching up on older titles, but I’m in no particular rush. Mass consuming anime definitely has its disadvantages, but it’s where my fandom is right now.

So how well do you retain anime? If you watch a lot at once, do most go in one ear and out the other? Or, are you unlike me, and actually remember a good amount of details about each one? And if you don’t mass consume anime, are your reasons like those I mentioned in the post, or something more?

In total, I got 244 responses to the survey since I first posted it. You can see the results for each of the 22 questions below, with the highest percentage for each being in bold. I also commented on some of the results, especially if they differed much from the last survey I did in 2008.

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In ’08, YouTube-like sites got slightly more votes than torrents. But now it looks like torrents are making a comeback.

Question:	1. What’s the main way you watch anime?
Download via torrents	42.6%
Streaming on official sites	4.1%
Streaming on unofficial sites	12.8%
Streaming on both official and unofficial sites	22.7%
DVDs	10.7%
I read manga more than watch anime	7%

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Not too surprising here (Sailor Moon was mine).

Question:	2. What was the first anime you ever watched? (if none of these are your very first one, pick one that’s among your firsts)
Sailor Moon	19.7%
Pokemon	24.6%
One of the Dragon Ball series	9.8%
Robotech	2.9%
Voltron	6.1%
One of the Macross series	1.2%
Cowboy Bebop	1.6%
Inuyasha	2%
Tenchi Muyo!	1.2%
One of the Gundam series	0.8%
A Studio Ghibli movie	4.5%
Naruto	0.8%
Bleach	0.4%
Evangelion	0.8%
Digimon	2.9%
Ranma 1/2	0.8%
Yu-Gi-Oh!	3.7%
Cardcaptor Sakura	4.1%
Fullmetal Alchemist	0.4%
Rurouni Kenshin	2.5%
None of these were among my firsts	9%

———-
Nice to see that most people are not totally anti-dub.

Question:	3. Do you like to watch anime dubbed or subbed?
Either way, I don’t really care	11.9%
Definitely subs (I hate dubs!)	29.6%
I prefer subs but I have nothing against good dubs	50.2%
I prefer dubs unless the dubs are bad	3.7%
Definitely dubs (I don’t like reading subtitles!)	2.9%
Neither, I watch anime in raw Japanese	1.6%

———-
My answer got the most responses, though I’m kind of surprised at how many people rarely or never buy DVDs.

Question:	4. How often do you buy official DVDs of anime you’ve watched via streaming or fansubs?
Just about all the time	2.9%
As often as I can	9.5%
Only if its an anime I really like	38.7%
Rarely	19.8%
Never	29.2%

Question:	5. How do you feel about manga?
I like manga just as much as I like anime	39.8%
I like manga more than anime	12.3%
I only read manga from a few series	13.5%
I like reading manga sometimes but I prefer watching anime	24.2%
I rarely or never read manga	10.2%

———-
Guess I’m one of the few who watches between 15 and 20 series at a time.

Question:	6. On average, how many anime series do you watch at one time? (meaning you watch at least one episode of the series every week)
Less than 5	49.4%
Between 5 and 10	39.8%
Between 10 and 15	6.2%
Between 15 and 20	3.3%
Between 20 and 25	0.4%
Between 25 and 30	0%
More than 30	0.8%

———-
This year FMA got almost as many votes as Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note did combined in ’08. Obviously Brotherhood has a lot to do with its popularity this year.

Question:	7. Which of the following shonen series do you like the best?
Bleach	3.4%
Naruto	7.2%
Dragon Ball	4.6%
One Piece	8%
Inuyasha	4.2%
Yu-Gi-Oh!	0.8%
Rurouni Kenshin	3.8%
Yu Yu Hakusho	3%
Hikaru no Go	1.3%
D-Gray Man	1.3%
Konjiki no Gash Bell!!	0.4%
Fullmetal Alchemist	32.5%
Death Note	11%
Soul Eater	6.3%
Claymore	4.6%
Shaman King	0%
Detective Conan	1.7%
Gintama	3%
Tsubasa Chronicle	2.5%
Fairy Tail	0.4%

———-
Not too different from ’08. Ouran scores high once again. And nice to see that Sakura still has fans :3

Question:	8. Which of the following shojo series do you like the best? (a few josei and mahou shojo included)
Fruits Basket	8%
Sailor Moon	7.1%
Cardcaptor Sakura	16.4%
Fushigi Yuugi	2.1%
Kimi ni Todoke	6.7%
Lovely Complex	3.4%
Itazurana Kiss	0.4%
Nana	2.9%
Ouran High School Host Club	17.2%
Paradise Kiss	0.8%
Gakuen Alice	0.4%
Nodame Cantabile	8%
Vampire Knight	4.6%
Full Moon wo Sagashite	1.3%
Shugo Chara!	3.8%
Revolutionary Girl Utena	8%
Pretty Cure	2.1%
Magic Knight Rayearth	0.8%
Kare Kano	5.9%

———-
Code Geass love is still going strong.

Question:	9. Which of the following mecha series do you like the best?
Evangelion	20.5%
RahXephon	4.4%
Gundam Wing	3.9%
Gundam Seed	4.8%
Eureka 7	8.7%
Code Geass	27.1%
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann	13.1%
Full Metal Panic!	11.4%
Macross	6.1%

———-
AzuDai and Lucky Star love still going strong, too.

Question:	10. Which of the following slice-of-life/comedy series do you like the best?
Azumanga Daioh	24.8%
Ichigo Mashimaro	2.7%
K-ON!	18.6%
Lucky Star	22.6%
Hayate no Gotoku!	7.5%
Hidamari Sketch	4%
Minami-ke	5.3%
School Rumble	14.6%

Question:	11. Which original anime motion picture do you like the best?
My Neighbor Totoro	5.6%
Princess Mononoke	10.4%
Akira	2.2%
5 Centimeters Per Second	10.8%
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time	17.7%
Spirited Away	16%
Nausicaa	3.9%
Summer Wars	5.6%
Blood: the Last Vampire	1.7%
Perfect Blue	1.7%
Tokyo Godfather	3.9%
Grave of the Fireflies	3%
The Sky Crawlers	0.4%
Steamboy	0.9%
The Place Promised in Our Early Days	1.3%
Howl’s Moving Castle	13.4%
Ponyo on the Cliff	1.3%

Question:	12. Besides watching anime or reading manga, what other aspects of the fandom do you take part in?
Working on an anime blog or web site	4.8%
Fan art	4.5%
Fan fiction	4.3%
Doujinshi	2.7%
Video games	8.8%
Trading cards	1.9%
Figures or other collectibles	5%
Cosplay	2.6%
Japanese language and culture	9.4%
Web comics	3%
Anime conventions	6.1%
AMVs	4.8%
Japanese music	13.1%
Japanse live-action TV shows or movies	4.9%
Fantasy books, TV shows, or movies	6.6%
Online gaming	4.1%
Online discussions (forums, IRC, podcasts)	8.3%
Other non-Japanese animation	5%

Question:	13. Which of the following Japanese video game series do you like the best?
Pokemon	22.8%
Final Fantasy	20.5%
Sonic the Hedgehog	2.2%
Mario	10.3%
Zelda	10.3%
Disgaea	4.9%
Kingdom Hearts	11.2%
Harvest Moon	4%
Games based on anime that I like	3.1%
Otaku games (dating sims, visual novels, gal games, etc)	10.7%

Question:	14. When you’re talking with people who don’t like or are ignorant about anime, how do you act?
Keep quiet so as not to make the fact that you like anime obvious	5.4%
If you’re asked, pretend you don’t like anime	2.5%
If you’re asked, say you like anime but don’t go into detail	40.1%
Passionately proclaim your interest in anime no matter what	12.8%
Try to avoid the topic, but if it comes up, you won’t lie about your interest and will just be honest	39.3%

———-
I’m one of the fewer fans who has a very consistent anime watching schedule.

Question:	15. On average, about how much time do you spend watching anime?
2 or more hours a day	18.9%
2 or more hours every few days	18.1%
2 or more hours every week	8.6%
An hour or less every day	11.9%
An hour or less every few days	5.8%
It varies all the time	36.6%

———-
Watching a variety of series is probably better than just the new stuff – I should try it someday.

Question:	16. The anime you’re currently watching is MOSTLY…
Seasonal shows, as they’re airing in Japan	38%
Recently aired shows that are available online	7.4%
Anime that’s recently available on official English streams or DVD	3.7%
Old series I’m trying to catch up on	6.6%
A mix of series from various time periods	44.2%

———-
Didn’t expect these results. Slice-of-life series have certainly gained popularity in the West over the years.

Question:	17. Out of the following, what would be your preferred genre of anime?
Shonen	11.9%
Shojo	8.5%
Mecha	3.8%
Drama/Romance	6.4%
Drama/Comedy	5.5%
Slice-of-Life/Comedy	24.6%
Sci-fi	10.6%
Fantasy	6.4%
Horror	3.4%
Action/Adventure	8.9%
Drama/Mystery	10.2%

———-
Aya and Jun tie for this one, though Aya won with 20% in ’08 (and sad to see lack of Hayashibara love). With the recent news about Aya, I wonder how her popularity will hold out.

Question:	18. Out of the following popular seiyuu, who is your favorite?
Megumi Hayashibara	7.4%
Maaya Sakamoto	8.3%
Aya Hirano	9.7%
Mamiko Noto	3.2%
Mamoru Miyano	4.6%
Kappei Yamaguchi	0.5%
Akira Ishida	1.4%
Takahiro Sakurai	1.8%
Jun Fukuyama	9.7%
Rie Kugimiya	6.5%
Nana Mizuki	7.8%
Tomokazu Sugita	2.8%
Yui Horie	4.1%
Romi Paku	6%
Tomokazu Seki	1.8%
Miyuki Sawashiro	3.7%
Kana Hanazawa	2.8%
Rie Tanaka	5.5%
Norio Wakamoto	6.9%
Daisuke Ono	3.7%
Shinichiro Miki	1.8%

———-
Didn’t know Asian Kung-Fu Generation was still popular (UVERworld won in ’08).

Question:	19. Out of the following Japanese singers/bands who have performed in anime, who do you like the best?
Megumi Hayashibara	2.3%
L’ Arc-en ‘Ciel	7.7%
FLOW	8.2%
Shoko Nakagawa	2.3%
Aya Hirano	9.5%
May’n	2.3%
Megumi Nakajima	0.5%
UVERworld	4.5%
Asian Kung-Fu Generation	10.5%
Nana Mizuki	6.4%
YUI	7.7%
Angela	1.8%
ALI Project	2.3%
Lia	5%
Mayaa Sakamoto	5.5%
abingdon boys school	5.9%
Hikaru Utada	7.7%
Do As Infinity	1.8%
Steropony	3.2%
KOTOKO	4.1%
MELL	0.9%

———-
Because manga is (relatively) cheap?

Question:	20. When it comes time to spend money on anime, what do you usually buy…
DVDs	16.1%
Figures	7.8%
Posters	7.3%
Manga	18.3%
Art or other anime books	8.3%
Pencil boards	0.9%
Cosplay and accessories	2.5%
Plushies	4.9%
T-shirts or other apparel	4.6%
Trading cards	1.3%
Video or computer games	7.2%
CDs	5.2%
Miscellaneous character goods (keychains, pins, pens, etc)	8.6%
I rarely or never buy anime products	7%

———-
Most people not having my level of obsession is probably a good thing.

Question:	21. How would you rate yourself as an anime fan?
Total anime fan; I eat, sleep, and breathe anime 24/7	14%
I’m a pretty big fan but not totally obssessed	56.4%
I like anime but it’s not my main interest	20.6%
Some anime is okay but I’m not a fan at all	0.4%
There’s only a few anime that I like	2.5%
I’m new to anime so I’m not sure yet	0.8%
I used to like anime more but my interest has been diminishing	5.3%

———-
Can’t believe Haruhi beat FMA this year, especially considering Brotherhood vs Endless Eight. Perhaps the Haruhi movie was enough to squeeze out the win.

Question:	22. And just for fun, out of the following popular series, which do you like the best?
Death Note	4.2%
Bleach	1.7%
Code Geass	7.1%
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya	13.3%
Naruto	5%
Bakemonogatari	4.2%
K-ON!	2.5%
One Piece	4.6%
Evangelion	2.9%
Fullmetal Alchemist	11.7%
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann	0.8%
Lucky Star	1.7%
Azumanga Daioh	1.7%
Toradora!	2.9%
Eden of the East	1.3%
Clannad	6.3%
Elfen Lied	1.3%
Ouran High School Host Club	7.9%
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni	4.2%
Inuyasha	1.3%
Cowboy Bebop	5%
Eureka 7	4.2%
Hetalia	2.1%
Monster	2.5%

———-
These results pleased me ^^

Question:	*BONUS* How often do you read Mainichi Anime Yume?
Whenever there’s a new post	33.3%
Only posts that interest me	24.8%
Once in a while	20.1%
Rarely	21.8%

———-

Once again, I want to thank everyone who participated~! Hope you’ll also take part in the next one…whenever that will be =P

I wasn’t in a hurry to watch Black Rock Shooter, which is why I just watched it a couple of days ago. Saying there was hype for this 52-minute OVA would be an understatement – as soon as it came out, 9 out of 10 blogs on Anime Nano wrote a post about it. So, if you’re still not sick of hearing people’s opinions about it, here are mine…

I had no familiarity with Black Rock Shooter before watching this OVA – I hadn’t heard or seen the original song, music video, or illustrations. I decided to watch the OVA because of all the hype and because Nagaru Tanigawa (author of the Haruhi novels) wrote the screenplay.
I can pretty much divide my opinions about it into what I liked and what I disliked. I’ll start with what I liked.

The first thing that caught my eye was the design of the “other world” (not sure if it has a name) in which Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master fought. If anything represents my idea of a dream world, the design of that world, with its haunting colors, desolation, and mysterious, archaic architecture, is spot on.

The OVA was not lacking in aesthetics either. The animation was fluid and the background music was good. As someone who doesn’t notice background music very much, I did notice it at key parts and I also liked how there was lack of background music in most of the OVA – it forced you to focus more on the subtleties and dialogue between the characters.

Which leads to what I liked most about Black Rock Shooter – how beautifully and realistically the friendship and eventual jealousy between Mato and Yomi is portrayed. Their first meeting and conversations followed by the many typical activities that friends do, was very well played and I could just feel their friendship blooming. Even though most of their time together throughout the school year was rushed through for lack of time, the initial way their friendship was portrayed was perfect.

Then, when Yuu is introduced, Yomi’s jealousy is again surprisingly realistically presented. I’m sure many of us have experienced something like this – you make a good friend, but then feel pangs of jealousy when they start giving their attention to someone else. Such a common conflict between friends is very sympathetic, and it was conveyed well in Black Rock Shooter. Mato’s reaction to Yomi’s disappearance was also realistic and fitting. I guess what I want to say is that the realism of the character interactions and emotions in Black Rock Shooter are what I liked the best.

But…going on to what I didn’t like about the OVA is simply lack of explanation about the Black Rock Shooter/Dead Master world and the abruptness of the ending. To me at least, it’s extremely ambiguous as to whether the fight between Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master in a desolate world is just a metaphor for what happens between Mato and Yomi, or whether the two girls really did get transported into a fantasy world, take on alter-egos, and duke it out in order to save their friendship. If it’s the latter, then an explanation as to what/where this world is and why/how the girls became a part of it, is necessary.

I was waiting throughout the whole OVA to find out what the connection was between the dream-like world and the real world. Instead, after the OVA focuses on a realistic, slice-of-life setting, in the last few minutes something fantastical suddenly happens – the phone strap begins to glow and Black Rock Shooter appears before Mato. Then, just as suddenly as the two worlds finally connect, the OVA ends. Again, it’s very vague as to whether the fight between Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master is a metaphor or whether Mato and Yomi are literally transported into a fantasy world. I don’t mind when an anime leaves things up to the viewer’s interpretation, but in the case of this OVA, it still needed explanation.

Adding to the ambiguity is the final scene after the credits role. We’re given the impression that Yuu is starting to experience the same jealousy as Yomi. We did get a glimpse of her alternate character earlier, but what exactly happens with her is untold. The way this OVA ends really makes it seem like there will be more – either a sequel OVA or a more detailed TV series – to explain what happens to her. However, despite this open ended ending, as of now I can’t find any info about any future Black Rock Shooter anime.

So there’s my two cents on Black Rock Shooter. An otherwise good OVA that unfortunately needs more explanations and perhaps a sequel or thorough retelling.

“biribiri”

I came up with this idea a while back and have been wanting to try it out. It’s a pretty random project I know, but I thought it would be fun. Turns out, I had a blast making it, so I hope you’ll derive at least some amusement from it too…

Note: I based my choices on similarities between the characters and pokemon in terms of looks, attributes, personality, etc,.

<--------------->
*fiery wings

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->
*mysterious helmets

<--------------->
*red and slash-happy

<--------------->

<--------------->
*clean, blue dragons

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->
*wandering purifiers

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->
*Kabuto and Kabuto

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->
*happiness

<--------------->
*love

<--------------->

<--------------->
*nyan~!

<--------------->
*hamster!

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->
*Transform!

<--------------->
*Voltorb’s Japanese name is “Biridama”

<--------------->
*teleportation ftw!

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->
*Wonder Guard ftw!

<--------------->
*they can sense auras

<--------------->

<--------------->
*gotta take off their masks to see their true selves

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->

<--------------->
*aliens

<--------------->
*time travelers

<--------------->
*espers

<--------------->
*gods

Yeah, this was pretty silly, but I sure had fun with it – I actually laughed to myself while editing some of the pictures for this post XD I’ll probably think of more to add later on, but I’m gonna stop here.

Feel free to leave a comment to give me feedback or come up with some of your own.

Good character development is one element we love to see in anime. If done well, it can take a seemingly unlikable or uninteresting character and pleasantly surprise us by turning them into something special. Today I decided to think back on some of my favorite “redeemed” characters – characters I wasn’t thrilled with at first only to be utterly amazed by them once their character development kicked in…

I don’t have a ton of redeemed characters; I tend to at least be neutral to most characters at first, always expecting some redeeming qualities as long as they’re not a total villain. So the five characters I’m discussing on this post are ones where I wasn’t expecting to be as impressed with them as I ended up being.

Inuyasha is one of my most memorable redeemed characters because I definitely did not like him in the early episodes, only to have him, and the Inuyasha series in general, become my biggest obsession for many years.

In the beginning of the series, he was just arrogant, hot-tempered, and uncaring, concerning himself only with his own desires. I was still a pretty new anime fan when I first watched Inuyasha – up to that point, I was used to male protagonists who were “nice guys” like Tenchi (Tenchi Muyo!), Vash (Trigun), and Gourry (Slayers). Seeing such an antagonistic character as the main protagonist was a bit confusing to me at the time. We did get a few hints early on that there might be good in him, but episode 13 is the one that changed my opinion of him. That’s the first episode where his human side really starts to come out (literally) as does his early feelings for Kagome. Since then, his good side continues to grow more and more – his hot-tempered personality doesn’t completely change, but by the middle or latter part of the series, he’s a completely different character from the selfish punk he was at the beginning. In the later episodes, he fights to protect others and is always thinking of them before himself. Unfortunately, his long and well construed development can only be fully appreciated by watching or reading all of the Inuyasha series.

Like Inuyasha, my first impression of Ami from Toradora! was rather negative, too. As soon as she dropped the pleasant facade and started showing her true personality, I couldn’t get over how distasteful she seemed, especially in her bitchy treatment of Taiga. But, since Toradora! is a much shorter series, it only took a few episodes to see that she’s not as bad as she appears to be. In her own subtle, mischievous way, I could see that she understood each of the characters’ feelings more than they did and was trying to lead them on the right path. She went from being an unlikeable romance interruption to an observant guide for the other characters, a rather unique role really.

Actually, the main five Toradora! characters ended up amazing me and should be on my list, but I just picked Ami because she’s the only one I didn’t like at the beginning.

Ken from Digimon Adventure 02 is perhaps my very first redeemed character. Unlike the others, he was clearly defined as a villain at the beginning of the series. When I first saw him, he seemed like just a generic evil villain who acts like a snobby genius in the real world and a tyrant in the digital world. Being an even newer anime fan at the time than when I first watched Inuyasha, I didn’t pick up on the foreshadowed character development that the series provided (his loyal digimon, his parents, etc.) But finally, after one of his major plans fails and his digimon displays sincere selflessness for him, we’re then treated to an entire episode devoted to revealing his past and how he’s developed up to that point. I remember how utterly wowed I was when I first saw this episode many years ago. After that, he becomes one of the kinder and gentler characters (and one of my anime crushes). I know character development like this in anime isn’t unique, but at the time I hadn’t seen anything like it before, so Ken will always be memorable to me.

Unlike the others, I didn’t particularly dislike Haruhi at the beginning – I just didn’t think that much of her really. After I heard about all the hype for her, and that fans were calling the Haruhi series the next Evangelion, I simply had to check it out. After my first viewing of the 14-episode 2006 series, my initial impression of her was “She’s interesting I guess, but what’s so great about her?”

It wasn’t until a year later in 2007 when I decided to give the series another watch (this time in chronological order) that I finally started to see what a special character she is. She’s just such an unusual character that one can get a false impression of her if you don’t read between the lines of what she does, so to speak. Then, when I read all the novels, her amazing development became clear as day. She’s now one of my favorite characters and the Haruhi series is also my favorite. Unfortunately, the anime still hasn’t reached the more explicit character development stories that the novels cover. But if you want to hear more about her brilliant character, I’ll leave that up to Ultimatemegax.

And lastly we have Gaara from Naruto, whose unexpected character development amazed me more than any other. When he first appeared at the beginning of the Chuunin exams, I thought he was just a creepy, enigmatic villainous character put there to be uber powerful and create more drama for the other characters. But after seeing the episodes that reveal his past in major detail, my opinion of him did a total u-turn.

It’s not only his background that’s well written, but what becomes of him because of it – he has his own unique world view and ideology for the things he does, twisted as they are, that strangely make sense considering what he’s been through. Thanks to a memorable clash with Naruto, he goes from creepy, mysterious, and deadly antagonist to respectable and honorable protagonist. If you need more reasons for why Gaara is such an incredible character, I wrote a post all about it here.

So, are there any anime characters you thought were unlikable or mediocre at first, only to end up liking them very much later on?