Oh joy! The New Prince of Tennis will be streaming on Crunchyroll starting January 4! It's a Happy New Year indeed!
Even Karupin approves!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
New Prince of Tennis Anime - On Crunchyroll!
Oh joy! The New Prince of Tennis will be streaming on Crunchyroll starting January 4! It's a Happy New Year indeed!
Even Karupin approves!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Doujinshi as Art
Warning: NSFW - Sexual content and violence
In honor of Winter Comiket, held Dec. 29-31 in Tokyo, I thought I'd revisit the concept of fan-created art.
I've written about fan fiction as art and anime music videos as art before, but not specifically about Japanese doujinshis. When I visited Japan in 2008, one of my first stops was Otome Road in Ikebukuro to see the doujinshi shops. It really hits you when you climb the stairs to numerous floors, all stocked floor to ceiling with shelves of nothing but fan-produced manga, that this particular type of interaction of anime + fandom really does produce something unique, almost a third art form.
Last week I discovered a video with doujinshi pages streamed to a music background that struck me as a great example of this kind of art. Whoever the doujinshi artist/writer was, she created a piece that truly haunts the viewer, with her own take on Shizuo and Izaya from Durarara!! that combines violence, horror, pathos and pain. It's not easy to watch, but once you do, you'll never forget it. And even the person who took the doujinshi, scanned it and added the songs and weirdly fractured English opening and ending statements added her own touch to the piece, making it into, again, something much more than derivative "fan art."
Look at the emotion expressed in the characters' eyes:
Part II:
And the conclusion.
At the end, Izaya says (or tries to say) Shizuo's name: "Shizu-chan."
In honor of Winter Comiket, held Dec. 29-31 in Tokyo, I thought I'd revisit the concept of fan-created art.
I've written about fan fiction as art and anime music videos as art before, but not specifically about Japanese doujinshis. When I visited Japan in 2008, one of my first stops was Otome Road in Ikebukuro to see the doujinshi shops. It really hits you when you climb the stairs to numerous floors, all stocked floor to ceiling with shelves of nothing but fan-produced manga, that this particular type of interaction of anime + fandom really does produce something unique, almost a third art form.
Last week I discovered a video with doujinshi pages streamed to a music background that struck me as a great example of this kind of art. Whoever the doujinshi artist/writer was, she created a piece that truly haunts the viewer, with her own take on Shizuo and Izaya from Durarara!! that combines violence, horror, pathos and pain. It's not easy to watch, but once you do, you'll never forget it. And even the person who took the doujinshi, scanned it and added the songs and weirdly fractured English opening and ending statements added her own touch to the piece, making it into, again, something much more than derivative "fan art."
Look at the emotion expressed in the characters' eyes:
Part II:
And the conclusion.
At the end, Izaya says (or tries to say) Shizuo's name: "Shizu-chan."
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Fool Me Three Times!
What do the following three characters have in common?
Yes, this is another seiyuu adoration post. ;)
I generally don't get caught flat-footed anymore by seiyuu surprises. I've been an anime fan long enough now that I know who most of the big-name seiyuu are, and can recognize at least some of their voices when I hear them.
Recently, though, I was startled to find out that the three characters noted above are all voiced by the same seiyuu, Nobuhiko Okamoto. My surprise came from the fact that I've watched Bakuman, Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) and two seasons now of Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi but didn't make the connection that Okamoto voices all three characters.
His voices as Eiji in Bakuman and Kisa in Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi are the most similar in sound. Eiji is a hyperactive teenage mangaka who makes weird noises like sound effects as he draws, and at first seems like a potential enemy of the two main characters. Very soon though in season 1, Eiji is revealed to be a sweet-hearted supportive character, one who's willing to see all of his assistants become his rivals and competitors so long as they produce wonderful art and stories.
Kisa in Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi is quite a different role. Kisa, despite being diminutive and having a baby face, is actually the oldest character in the series at age 30. Feeling his age among all the pretty young(er) things in Tokyo, he develops what he's sure is a doomed crush in season 1 on an impossibly handsome bookstore clerk named Yukina.
Yukina has a kind and cheerful personality in addition to his staggering good looks, and Kisa can hardly believe it when Yukina begins to pursue him. The Kisa-Yukina episodes in the first season are filled with Kisa's inner monologues about how he doesn't know how to love anybody and that he's too old anyway, etc., et al - to the point of self-loathing.
Season 2 sees Kisa and Yukina weathering a crisis, with Kisa's misunderstanding when he sees Yukina with a young woman. He tries to dump Yukina before Yukina can dump him but fortunately for true love Yukina is stubborn and determined enough for the both of them, and the end of season 2 sees Yukina moving in with Kisa.
Okamoto has a young-sounding voice, one just made to play teenage shonen heroes - and young men in love. Here's one of Kisa's character songs from Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi:
As Rin Okumura, the lead character of Ao no Exorcist, Okamoto plays the teenage son of Satan who trains to become an exorcist so that one day he can defeat his father. His voice as Rin is considerably lower and more macho than as Eiji or Kisa, and I somehow managed to watch him as Rin for 25 episodes without connecting him with these other characters in Bakuman and Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi that I was also watching that same anime season.
Okamoto even has a distinctive voice: he's not one of those seiyuu that has a voice that is kind of bland and indistinguishable and whom I can never recognize without looking up the cast list. So, really, it comes down to the usual thing; like so many other seiyuu in anime, he is simply wonderfully talented.
I'll look forward to being fooled again by Okamoto in future series. ;)
Yes, this is another seiyuu adoration post. ;)
I generally don't get caught flat-footed anymore by seiyuu surprises. I've been an anime fan long enough now that I know who most of the big-name seiyuu are, and can recognize at least some of their voices when I hear them.
Recently, though, I was startled to find out that the three characters noted above are all voiced by the same seiyuu, Nobuhiko Okamoto. My surprise came from the fact that I've watched Bakuman, Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) and two seasons now of Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi but didn't make the connection that Okamoto voices all three characters.
His voices as Eiji in Bakuman and Kisa in Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi are the most similar in sound. Eiji is a hyperactive teenage mangaka who makes weird noises like sound effects as he draws, and at first seems like a potential enemy of the two main characters. Very soon though in season 1, Eiji is revealed to be a sweet-hearted supportive character, one who's willing to see all of his assistants become his rivals and competitors so long as they produce wonderful art and stories.
Kisa in Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi is quite a different role. Kisa, despite being diminutive and having a baby face, is actually the oldest character in the series at age 30. Feeling his age among all the pretty young(er) things in Tokyo, he develops what he's sure is a doomed crush in season 1 on an impossibly handsome bookstore clerk named Yukina.
Yukina has a kind and cheerful personality in addition to his staggering good looks, and Kisa can hardly believe it when Yukina begins to pursue him. The Kisa-Yukina episodes in the first season are filled with Kisa's inner monologues about how he doesn't know how to love anybody and that he's too old anyway, etc., et al - to the point of self-loathing.
Season 2 sees Kisa and Yukina weathering a crisis, with Kisa's misunderstanding when he sees Yukina with a young woman. He tries to dump Yukina before Yukina can dump him but fortunately for true love Yukina is stubborn and determined enough for the both of them, and the end of season 2 sees Yukina moving in with Kisa.
Okamoto has a young-sounding voice, one just made to play teenage shonen heroes - and young men in love. Here's one of Kisa's character songs from Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi:
As Rin Okumura, the lead character of Ao no Exorcist, Okamoto plays the teenage son of Satan who trains to become an exorcist so that one day he can defeat his father. His voice as Rin is considerably lower and more macho than as Eiji or Kisa, and I somehow managed to watch him as Rin for 25 episodes without connecting him with these other characters in Bakuman and Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi that I was also watching that same anime season.
Okamoto even has a distinctive voice: he's not one of those seiyuu that has a voice that is kind of bland and indistinguishable and whom I can never recognize without looking up the cast list. So, really, it comes down to the usual thing; like so many other seiyuu in anime, he is simply wonderfully talented.
I'll look forward to being fooled again by Okamoto in future series. ;)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Incongruous Things - Seiyuu + American Fangirl Edition
Daisuke Ono attempts to explain in Japanese to an intimidatingly tall non-Japanese-speaking Asian-American fangirl dressed as Haruhi that he is, in fact, Itsuki. ;)
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Why I Love Shonen Anime
Why do I love shonen anime?
Well, there are heroes--
... and rivals
...and sometimes pretend rivals.
There are mentors...
... who show the way to the ones who come after them.
When I watch shonen anime, it makes me feel like this
... like the sky's the limit, and at any moment
... something incredible can happen
... and I feel a hundred feet tall
... like I can do anything
... and I'm raring to go and live my life, because life is exciting! =D
There are awesome villains...
but shonen anime never lets me forget that every villain
comes from a place
... where he was once a vulnerable and innocent child.
The journey is long and occasionally raucous
... but all journeys will come to an end.
BUT - there will be many good times along the way
... and with my nakama by my side
... the journey will be unforgettable.
Well, there are heroes--
... and rivals
...and sometimes pretend rivals.
There are mentors...
... who show the way to the ones who come after them.
When I watch shonen anime, it makes me feel like this
... like the sky's the limit, and at any moment
... something incredible can happen
... and I feel a hundred feet tall
... like I can do anything
... and I'm raring to go and live my life, because life is exciting! =D
There are awesome villains...
but shonen anime never lets me forget that every villain
comes from a place
... where he was once a vulnerable and innocent child.
The journey is long and occasionally raucous
... but all journeys will come to an end.
BUT - there will be many good times along the way
... and with my nakama by my side
... the journey will be unforgettable.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
