Twelve Tweets in Anime

Merry Christmas

CCY’s Twelve Moments in Anime event have always been on my mind through out the Christmas vacation. Yet, because I knew that I was too busy this Christmas (as I went back to Hong Kong for various reasons), I wouldn’t have time to have the time to write a post everyday. So I decided to not join.

Yet, by coincidence, I was sitting in front of the family computer 30 minutes before the arrival of the new year in Hong Kong (FYI, it is 13 hours faster than Toronto). With nothing but to spam twitter before the new years, I decided to do what other bloggers did in days in 30 minutes before the new years, to talk about 12 things related to anime in 2009. In order to do that, I didn’t make posts, but just thought of topics right on site and just tweeted about them.

I have to say, it was a bit messy:

The controversy around the word otaku

Then what is this? Are they just a bunch of anime fans too?

In the recent few months, a rather controversial (within the anime blogging circle) appeared. Calling themselves The Otaku Elimination Game, they call themselves to correct the mass error in the usage of the word ‘otaku’ in the western anime blogging circle. Within the other few anime blogs that I have glanced through when I was follow the OEG, that quite a lot of the bloggers in the community had voiced supported (while, obviously some, mainly more famous bloggers, have either ignored or strongly voiced opposition to them) for the OEG. The reason is out there and true: out commercialism is just there to capitalize our anime fandom, by using a word that we are supposed to be called upon, when in history, that same word have been used negatively in the country that it originated from. That word I’m talking about it otaku.

According to Otaku Elimination Game, otaku is:

a psuedo-offensive word used to describe someone who has such an obsessive interest in a particular subject that they don’t leave their house because they are too engrossed in it

From: http://otakuelimination.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/the-word-otaku/

Upon reading this, I was immediately shocked on how closely this definition framed an otaku to a Hikikomori. This compared to the other definition of otaku shared by some anime bloggers:

“having an  interest in anime, manga and stuff related to them”

Which tends to frame the word otaku to the meaning of an anime fanboy. The former places the word in a negative light by placing it close to a social problem in Japan, while the latter places in a more neutral, or even in a positive light, making is as if otaku is just one of the many kinds of fanboys out there (like Apple fanboys etc…). While I do understand the logic behind the latter definition, I find myself supporting OEG’s definition more, if not completely.

Shout-outs (Nov 30 – Dec 08 2009)

I donno what to put, so here is a picuture of Kaorin from Azumanga Daioh

Because y lack of research and my current preoccupation with a new visual novel, I decided that I’m going to postpone some blogging ideas that have been on my mind and just talk about some stuff that have been happening in the past week and something that is going to happen. Well, it is also because that this past week been more interesting compared to the several weeks before, so it is a good chance for me to write and think over about it.

• I’m going back to Hong Kong for Christmas
• Yesterday is the first time I saw snow this year
• There were changes in my portable audio/video equipment
• I’m starting Cross Channel, and thats why I’m too lazy to blog about Maria-sama

I’m blogging this in the kitchen so that I won’t forget what I want to talk about later, but this is not helping, as [goes to check] some of the pasta is stuck to the pot now T_T.

Gokigenyou

This will happen to you if you watch too much Maria-sama ga Miteru

After having a nice kraft dinner, I proceeded to finish the last few episodes of Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Season (I don’t even know how to pronounce it). Hence, bring my marathon of the whole Maria-sama (excluding the Specials from the 4th season) to and end. In conclusion, despite the fact that this anime is shoujo anime, I found myself enjoying the series (maybe it is because this anime is shoujo anime, that everyone have a bit more character depth and that they don’t provide as much fanservice as other anime *cough*Saki*cough).

Even though this series have a huge yuri overtune, it wasn’t as bad as Saki, mostly because it is both backed by character depth, has a reason for their dependence for each other, and it is elegant. Obviously I would not fall for yuri that easily, but…they are so elegant. ヽ(´▽`)/

I remembered reading that this anime is very similar to ARIA (one of my favorite anime of all time, OF ALL TIME!), and in some degree it is true. Like ARIA, the pacing of this anime is quite slow, and that it will develop one problem and takes either the whole episode or two to, well, get over the issue, which usually is handled in a anti-climax way. But different from ARIA, Maria-sama seem to take every small issue, and exaggerate it, only to, again, end it with something simple. Though I did say that they like to exaggerate really small issues, the did it in an elegant way, keeping in tone of the anime, making it seems is if it was natural and not forced. In short, its another slow paced slice-of-life kind of anime, but just at lot more elegant.

The main focus of the whole series is around Yumi-chan (voiced by Ueda Kana ヽ(´▽`)/ ). She started off as a normal girl that had a hidden crush on her going-to-be onee-sama, Sachiko, then continued till her second year, where she was lifted to a high position from the student body. Of all the characters in the series, Yumi had the most character development, both her inner personality and the other’s view of her. Without watching development of Yumi, I think I would be quite surprised on how much Yumi actually changed by the end of the 4th season. And this reflects on one of the strengths of this series, the strong character depth and character development.