Finally summer is here, and I can start watching new streaming anime again...
However, there is nothing that is actually new on my list. There are only new seasons of anime series I’ve watched before. I combed the anime summer offerings for new series I might be interested in and found nothing.
But hey, new episodes are new episodes, and I’ll be glad to have something to watch again each week.
My most anticipated series is Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War – Part II: The Separation. This is the second cour of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. It’s going to be hard to watch because this is where Uryu Ishida parts ways with Ichigo and his other friends in order to side with the Quincy - his own kind.
The production team did a great job with the first cour last year. I’m anticipating another great season of episodes this time as well.
A couple of things here. First, Rurouni Kenshin is an old favorite of mine, and there are still a lot of fans of the story. As you may or may not have heard, manga-ka Nobuhiro Watsuki was charged with possession of child porn in 2017. This brings up the age-old argument of whether one can separate what the artist produces from who the artist is (see Why It’s Difficult to Separate Rurouni Kenshin from Nobuhiro Watsuki).
There’s no easy answer to that question, and each of us has to come up with his or her own personal answer. The second issue is that this is a remake of the original story as opposed to an all-new story. Which begs the question: do we really need to see a remake of the original? The original series was good, and the prequel OVA series Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal was an absolute classic. I’m not sure why they’re remaking something that doesn’t need to be remade. As such, this probably won’t be on my watchlist.
I remember watching the first season of The Devil Is a Part-Timer! (Hataraku Maou-Sama!) back in 2013. Then I don’t recall hearing about it again until now, when I saw that its third season is about to begin. The second season apparently streamed in fall 2022 and I didn’t even notice.
From Crunchyroll:
Foiled by a hero when he’s inches away from conquering the world, the devil finds himself in modern-day Tokyo. With no real-world skills to speak of, the devil is forced to make ends meet flipping burgers at a fast food joint! To stall any further plans of world domination, the hero tracks the devil’s trail and takes on the lowly tasks of a telemarketer.
It’s been many years since I saw the first season, but I remember it as being a very funny show. I’ll have to get caught up with season two so I can watch the new season.
Finally, Yamishibai is coming back.
Yamishibai is one of my favorite weird little series. Each standalone episode is around five minutes long and most are creepypasta-ish slices of horror in modern Japanese settings.
“Yamishibai” is a wordplay based on the Japanese “Kamishibai” or “paper play.” The animation looks like paper cutout figures in motion against equally crude and unreal-looking backgrounds. The effect is remarkably unsettling.
This will be the 11th season. If you’re a fan, you probably remember the final episode of Season 10 in which Narrator-san broke the fourth wall and became a character in the story. That episode was so much fun and such a surprise that I thought Yamishibai was over; that they were ending it on the perfect note.
I’m happy to be proved wrong. Welcome back, Narrator-san. I’m glad to see you and your paper world again. ;-)
I attended Fanime in San Jose, California this past weekend.
It was my fourth time at this convention. Fanime’s motto is “For Fans, By Fans” and it shows in their panels, most of which are conceived of and presented by fans. There’s little corporate presence at the convention, even in the Dealer’s Hall. It’s always been this way and it’s one of Fanime’s distinguishing traits. It means that there are a lot of panels that focus on things that fans really want to see and talk about.
I’ve been feeling distanced from the anime world lately and wasn’t planning to do a lot at this convention, but I surprised myself. I went to a number of panels, a Lolita fashion show, the Dealer’s Hall, the Gaming Hall, Artist’s Alley, some of the con’s 18+ activities, the manga library, cosplay photo shoots... it almost felt like old times. I really enjoyed myself.
Panels
The Anime and History panel covered anime depictions of various historical eras. The presenter showed slides of different periods like the Heike, Tokugawa, and Meiji eras along with the manga and anime series that were set in those periods. The focus was mostly on Japan’s history, but China and Europe were also discussed.
Next, I attended the Anime and Black Culture panel. Jeffrey Clark is a comedian who also studies anime. His takes on black anime characters like Bleach’s Yoruichi and One Piece’s Usopp and on anime’s treatment of black characters in general was super-funny and entertaining.
Oddly, among some anime fans, Dragon Ball’s Piccolo is considered to be black, although he is green... I asked Clark about this after the panel.
Clark explained that a lot of black families have members in the military and that Piccolo’s gruffness and military bearing make him the perfect “military uncle” figure. I’m still not sure I understand... lol... but it’s fine. I’ll consider Piccolo as black from now on. =D
If you want to follow Jeffrey Clark, his TikTok handle is @DataFist.
Gilles Poitras is a local anime fan, retired librarian, and frequent guest at Fanime. This year he presented a panel called “From Fan to Tokyo Explorer” based on his latest book, Tokyo Stroll.
Tokyo Stroll is Poitras’ guide to Tokyo’s anime spots. He matched anime scenes to photographs of the actual locations, including the famous steps at the end of Your Name. He’d been working on the book before the pandemic struck. Since then, he’s worked to update an online map of the locations in the book, replacing businesses that closed down due to the pandemic with current ones.
Finally, a panel on Cup Noodle. ^o^
Titled “Cup Noodle: Beyond the Styrofoam”... this panel was a hoot. Nissin has advertised its famous - or infamous - Cup O’Noodles cup ramen all over the world, but the commercials from Japan are the best.
The ad team really gets into themed commercials. One of the strangest was the “Hungry Days” campaign.
Imagine two high school students caught in the apocalypse. The sky darkens, and as buildings crumble and fall around them, the boy and girl realize that they love each other and... apropos of nothing, “HUNGRY DAYS” blazes across the screen, along with Cup Noodle, of course. Or maybe it’s kaiju, or Final Fantasy video game characters, or J-pop, or falling in love at the matsuri, or, or...
Wait, I found it on You Tube!
Those were the weirdest and most sublime… the rest were just hysterically funny. Arnold Schwarzenegger did a whole series of Cup Noodle commercials back in his bodybuilding days. And there are anime series tie-in commercials featuring Sword Art Online and Attack on Titan, among others.
The panel was made more fun by the presenter’s droll commentary that accompanied the slides and commercials. The presenter’s name is Nick Redman and his Twitter is @NickNickGoose.
Dealer’s Hall
I didn’t spend much time in the Dealer’s Hall, but was in there for a little bit.
The first thing I saw when I walked in was this:
An anime merchandise vendor named Thousand Skies had their U-Haul truck stolen. All their Famine goods were inside, so they had to bring their planned Anime Expo inventory instead.
I bought some stickers because I felt bad for them. The incident was featured on the local news.
It’s not funny, but... I’m imagining kawaii art being hawked in a dark alley somewhere in America, right next to the fentanyl pills and crystal meth...
On a lighter note, I went to the Artist’s Alley and walked around some. I saw a lot of artwork that was based on the artist’s original characters. Either that, or I’m truly out of touch with the latest anime and simply didn’t recognize characters from newer anime series.
The Gaming Hall was huge and full of video games, tabletop games, and arcade games. One arcade game I love is the Namco Taiko no Tatsujin drum game from Japan.
I’ve played this game before. It’s quite vigorous as you have to beat the drum constantly, while a shrieky little voice screams at you in encouragement(?).
It’s fun though. There are a lot of tie-ins with anime franchises, which means you see familiar characters in various scenarios as you beat the drum. You can look up these videos on You Tube.
Here’s a good example of Taiko no Tatsujin.
Seeing how extensive the Gaming Hall was, I reflected on how anime and gaming are often conflated with each other in the U.S. I’m not a gamer, but even I can see that gaming is absolutely huge. It is a big, big market. I’ve been going to anime conventions since 2006 and have witnessed the evolution of how gaming has crept into anime spaces.
There’s another interest that has entered the animesphere in a big way.
Elegant Fashion Show
This used to be called “loli” or “gothic Lolita” dress. At least, that’s what I remember from about ten years ago. Now it’s expanded into various subsets like “elegant” and “pop.”
This kind of fashion is very popular now at anime cons. At this year’s Fanime, the loli dress phenomenon took over the entire Hyatt hotel across the street from the convention center with workshops, clothing sales, fashion panels, and especially two fashion shows – an Elegant Fashion Show and a Pop Fashion Show.
I attended the Elegant Fashion Show. I got in line late for it, so was forced to be one of the standing room only crowd that stood against a wall for two hours. I was near a corner of the room so my camera’s POV was sort of not helpful, but I tried to take decent pictures regardless.
I have to say I’m not really into the Japanese fashion angle at anime cons; fashion seems less related to anime than gaming is, but I don’t mind J-fashion’s presence there. It’s all good.
Night Market and Other 18+ Activities
Finally, I ventured into Fanime’s adult realm. The adult side of things took place at the Doubletree Hotel a few miles from the convention center, serviced by free shuttle buses.
Incidentally, this was the same Doubletree that Clockwork Alchemy used to take place at. Clockwork Alchemy is a steampunk convention. It was linked with Fanime until the two conventions amicably parted ways. It still exists and is held at another Bay Area hotel.
Fanime’s adult programming consisted of three tracks: adult video rooms, an adult manga library, and the Night Market.
The adult video rooms were a strange disappointment. Everyone including me expected hentai and got regular anime instead, to wit: episodes of Classroom of the Elite and Vinland Saga.
I’d never seen either anime, so I settled in to watch some episodes. And saw nothing that would qualify either as “adult” programming. Both were really odd choices as such. It wasn’t just me; I heard others express disappointment over this and both video rooms were almost empty. I guess the con staff lost their nerve, lol.
I had much better luck in the adult manga room. Here, along with some outright hentai-ish books, they had yaoi manga and light novels... in other words, my kind of books.
My favorite find in the room was Spiritual Police, a yaoi manga by Youka Nitta.
Youka Nitta draws beautiful male characters. She’s been around the scene for many years, and is the author of the Embracing Love series, among many other works. I read through half of Spiritual Police and liked it. It’s about a burned-out police detective who receives healing treatments from a blind healer – who also happens to be psychic. I’ll probably pick up the series the next time I’m at a Kinokuniya bookstore.
The Night Market was a ballroom full of adult art/trinket vendors (think phallus-shaped candles, etc.). I only found one thing I really liked, a piece of fan art, and it wasn’t even an “adult” item.
The artist told me that this character is named Vesper Noir, and that he is a “virtual YouTuber” endorsed by HOLOLIVE. I don’t know what a virtual YouTuber is - lol. Some aspects of fandom are beyond my current understanding... I just liked his romantic visage and the dusk atmosphere behind him. It’s an evocative image, the kind of fan art that I like to encourage by purchasing it.
I enjoyed my time at Fanime this year. I don’t know if this means I’m back to going to conventions again: I may or may not be. But it was great to just have fun at a convention again.
My years as an anime fan, then as an industry person editing books, my Japanese language studies, and anime convention-going are all sort of mixed together in my mind. I feel like I’ve been slowly pulling away from the whole complex or maybe it’s slowly pulling away from me.
I try to be aware of where I’m going. Like they say, if you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up somewhere else. We’ll see. Either way, I highly recommend Fanime. It’s held in San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area every Memorial Day Weekend, which is the last weekend in May. It’s the best regional anime con in my experience and if you go next year, maybe I’ll see you there.
