ANIME TID BITS…

ANIME TID BITS…
From www.weareanime.com
Compiled by YUKI

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What’s Inside:

Can You Explain Manga Being Reversed?
What is Angel’s Egg?
What Determines Whether Something Gets a DVD Boxed Set?
Are the Meanings of Japanese Names Well-Known in Japan?
Why Aren’t There American Made Anime Television Shows?
Why Are DBZ Fans Called “Newbies?”
What is the “Folded Paper” on the Side of Japanese CDs?
Why Don’t Translating Companies Just Please Everyone?
Who Created the Evangelion h*nt** Movie?
What’s the Worst Anime Ever Made?

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Can You Explain Manga Being Reversed?

English language is designed to be read from left to right. Japanese language is typically read from right to left. In the original Japanese format, manga open from the right and progress to the left- exactly the opposite of English language books which begin by opening to the left and reading to the right. For the convenience of American readers that are used to starting a book on the left, most manga brought to America is “flipped,” meaning that the panels are flopped upside down to face the opposite direction that they originally did. This way, the original right-to-left format appears as left-to-right, the way English language readers comfortable with. However, this mirror-image reversal makes things originally on the left appear on the right, and vice-versa. Usually this isn’t significant or noticeable, however it does stand out particularly in the Gunsmith Cats manga translation, in which cars in America suddenly drive on the opposite side of the road because the art has been “flopped.”

There are exceptions to this policy, the most well known being Blade of the Immortal. Dark Horse Comics typically “mirror images” its manga translations to read left-to-right, however Hiroaki Samura, the creator of Blade of the Immortal, expressed a desire that his manga art not be altered for its English translation. In a compromise, whenever possible the English language translation of Blade of the Immortal literally copy and pastes the individual panels to retain the original Japanese look of the art in Western format.

Perhaps the first manga translation to not compromise its panel layout for the convenience of Western readers at all was the Toys Press publication of the Five Star Stories manga in America, which includes a warning alerting readers to not buy the comics if reading right to left is too foreign and uncomfortable. Viz Communications published the Evangelion manga both ways. The standard edition Evangelion comics and collected graphic novels have “flopped art” while the “Special Edition” volumes are published with their Japanese format intact. And now TOKYOPOP, in a move to present the most authentic possible American presentation of Japanese manga, has announced that all of its forthcoming manga translations will be printed exclusively in their original, unaltered Japanese right-to- left format.

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What is Angel’s Egg?

Originally released on December 22, 1985, Tenshi no Tamago is still considered by many to be one of Mamoru (Ghost in the Shell, Avalon, Patlabor) Oshii’s greatest achievements, and one of the greatest works in anime history. An art film to the nth degree, produced at a time when the Japanese economy was booming, and the anime industry had the ability to indulge in art purely for art’s sake, Angel’s Egg is a philosophical and stylistic work of expressionism, left almost totally up to the interpretation of the viewer. The film is famous in part for its character design by Yosh*t aka Amano. Angel’s Egg is second to only Amano’s short anime music video movie 2001 Nights in perfectly re-creating the spirit and look of Amano’s ethereal, watercolor-like paintings in animation. The film stars only 2 characters and less than 5 minutes of spoken dialogue in a 75 minute long film.

To say what, exactly, the film is about is nearly impossible. Is it a dream? Is it a statement on the eternal cycle of life and death? Is it about the natural decay of time and all things material? Is it a fantastic vision of the future? Is it a statement on the value of religion or belief? Even Mamoru Oshii himself has admitted that he doesn’t know what the film is actually about. Ostensibly, in a post apocalyptic world that may never actually have been prosperous or pre-apocalyptic to begin with, a young nameless girl carrying a very large egg that she cherishes like a baby encounters a young man, a soldier, carrying a large gun shaped like a cross. To say any more would ruin part of the mystery of the film.

Angel’s Egg is very much a product of its time, and a film heavily influenced by the traditions of classic Japanese cinema. The film has a deliberate exceedingly slow pace, and features virtually no “action” or identifiable linear story development. The visual look of the film is lush and stunning, although also very dark and otherworldly. Those that have the patience to watch the entire film are rewarded with a thoroughly confusing, thought-provoking and mesmerizing film that may or may not be a tragedy, depending on the viewer’s perception. Anchor Bay Entertainment has confirmed on several occasions, as recently as last October, that they do own the American translation and distribution rights to the film and do expect to release the film to the American market within “the next couple of years.” The film is already available on special edition DVD in Japan.
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What Determines Whether Something Gets a DVD Boxed Set?

Generally companies make their decisions based on two factors: whether they think a series will sell better as a set or as individual discs, and what demands the original Japanese licensor makes. In the case of the Tenchi Muyo OAV series, a single boxed set was the way the series was released to DVD in Japan, so it’s possible that the Japanese licensor required Pioneer to release the OAVs in a similar fashion in the US. Series that premier in boxed sets are usually re-issues of previously released titles such as the Slayers, Ranma, Fushigi Yuugi and Maze TV series and Tenchi Muyo OAV series.

Distributors already know that these series were popular on VHS and consumers are likely to want the entire series on DVD. In these cases, knowing that there’s already an established market virtually guarantees significant sales of lots of $150 items. DVD re-issues of VHS titles in boxed sets also helps guarantee profitability. In the case of a long series like Fushigi Yuugi, it’s more cost efficient to release two boxed sets at a lower price than 16 individual, full priced DVDs, especially for a shoujo series that may not sell as well in individual discs released over a long period of time.

New series are rarely released as boxed sets because of the risk involved. There’s no telling whether a new series will be popular or not, so it’s simply better business sense to release new titles as relatively cheap and consumer friendly individual releases instead of as a single daunting, expensive set. In this case boxed sets can be released later to “mop-up” additional sales after the initial demand has cooled off. Series like Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion and Trigun are released as boxed sets well after the initial demand for the series has cooled, so as not to compete with the sales of individual discs. With popular series, individual disc releases are more profitable than a boxed set because individual $30 discs sell much more readily and in much greater quantity than single $200 boxed sets.

Furthermore, being able to release a series as individual discs allows a production company more time for flexibility in release scheduling and product innovation, and prevents a distribution company from having to pay a large initial production fee. It’s simply much less expensive to have to produce one new DVD in a series each month than cover the cost of producing an entire series of DVDs in advance.

In summation, it becomes easier to predict what will and won’t be released in DVD boxed sets if you remember that in most cases boxed sets are not created nor released as a service to fans. DVD boxed sets are released to maximize profits for the releasing company.
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Are the Meanings of Japanese Names Well-Known in Japan?

Allow me to first append the definition of Tenchi Muyo. While it is a pun, it’s actually a pun with two different meanings. “Tenchi Muyo” means both “no need for heaven,” and “this end up.” The commonly recognized translation of “tenchi muyo” in Japanese as “this end up,” signifies the topsy-turvy relationships and events in the series. But now to the main point.

Most Western names either have little cultural meaning or are so distantly removed from their original associations as to not conjure any immediate mental associations. Many Japanese names, though, are actually commonly used Japanese words or have meanings commonly known to native speakers. Largely for this reason, anime and manga creators often utilize this characteristic and select names based on their implied or underlying meanings. In Street Fighter, for example, the name “Ryu” is the word for “dragon,” and the name “Ken” is also the Japanese word for “fist.” Sailor Moon’s name is Usagi Tsukino, or, in proper Japanese, Tsukino Usagi (tsuki no usagi), which literally means “rabbit of the moon.”

This is both a reference to her status as the senshi of the moon, and a reference to a famous and well known Japanese fairy tale about a princess that lives with a rabbit on the moon. The main character of Go Nagai’s Delinquent In Drag is named Banji Suke, or in Japanese “Suke Banji,” a pun on the Japanese term for a female thug or rebel “sukeban.” The br**st size of Lupin III’s Fujiko Mine has increased and diminished seemingly randomly over the years, but the name “Fujiko Mine” has always meant “twin peaks.” Rumiko Takahashi sometimes uses pun names in her creations. Kyoko Otonashi of Maison Ikkoku is characterized by her name. “Otonashi” is the Japanese word for “quiet.” Oyuki of Urusei Yatsura is the princess of the ice planet Pluto. Her name, literally “O yuki” is the Japanese phrase for “honorable snow.” Megane of Urusei Yatsura is the spectacle wearing leader of the “gang of four.” His name is literally the word for “eyeglasses.” Ataru Moroboshi’s name is a Japanese pun meaning “to be struck” which often happens to the foolish boy, and Lum’s name is merely an abbreviation of creator Rumiko Takahashi’s own name considering that technically “Rumiko” may also be spelled “Lumiko” in English.

In Urusei Yatsura, Sakura Taisen, Card Captor Sakura and Hyper Police, the name “Sakura,” which literally refers to cherry blossoms, is given to females that represent distinctly Japanese characters- based on the strong traditional association of cherry trees to Japanese culture. Akira Toriyama, Satoru Akihori and Kazushi Hagiwara have also been known to select names based on puns or names that add comic effect. Many of the names in Dragonball are puns on Japanese words for food, clothing and musical instruments. Satoru Akihori also used foods and drinks to name characters in his Lamune & 40, Bakuretsu Hunter and Saber Marionette series. Many of the names in Kazushi Hagiwara’s Bastard! are puns on the names of Western heavy metal rock bands.

Anime character names with underlying meanings aren’t limited to only Japanese words either. Japan is a highly literate and extremely well educated country, so it should come as no surprise that foreign languages and influences get absorbed and utilized in anime. It wouldn’t seem at all odd to see foreign references in a New York Times bestseller. In Japan, anime is given the same sort of literary respect, so names from Greek mythology appear in St. Seiya, Arion, Five Star Stories, Akihabara Cyber Team and Nausicaa (Nausicaa was a Greek princess who was unafraid to help the shipwrecked Odysseus); the names of the goddesses in Ah! My Goddess come from Norse myth; Heavenly Sphere Shurato uses Hindu myth and names; both Hellsing and Cybernetic Guardian Saigard utilize names lifted directly out of Bram Stoker’s Dracula; the alien Cthulu race of Iczer-One were named after the horror fiction written the grand old gentleman from Providence, H.P. Lovecraft; Detective Conan chose his name as a combination of Japanese author Edogawa Rampo and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Golgo 13′s name is a combination of the superst*t* on of 13 and the Biblical hill of skulls Golgotha; Castle in the Sky Lap*t* is based on Restoration era British literature, and Lupin the 3rd is a descendant of French literature. And on a more lowbrow level, the title “Project A-ko” is a reference to Jackie Chan’s famous kung-fu comedy Project A. (Jackie Chan is immensely popular in Japan.) And there are still even more basic English language name puns in anime. Smith Toren of Gunbuster is an insider joke compliment to American anime scholar and translator Toren Smith. And Justy Ueki Tylor’s name, of Irresponsible Captain Tylor, is simply an English language pun on “Just Awake Tylor.”

Certainly some of the name references in anime are quite obscure, and many are chosen because they have significance only to the author, but it should be assumed that a great number of these subtle references are ones that Japanese fans do recognize and understand.
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Why Aren’t There American Made Anime Television Shows?

Technically “American made anime” is an oxymoron. If it’s made in America, technically it’s not anime. By definition, anime is 2D style animation produced mainly in Japan, intended mainly for Japanese viewers. I can only guess that there hasn’t yet been any significant amount of “American anime” produced because there’s simply no market for it. American television networks largely aren’t interested in broadcasting anime.

American television networks want to target American viewers, and the most sensible way to appeal to the greatest number of American viewers is to broadcast American programming created specifically to appeal to Americans. By and large, the mainstream American public has yet to accept the big eyes, wild hair and more mature subject matter typical of anime, and American television has largely marketed to that consensus. This is clear based on the fact that there are literally thousands of anime TV series available, but only a handful have ever been broadcast on American television.

As television networks exist only to earn a profit for their employees and shareholders, it’s logical to assume that if anime programming was actually generating a lot of money, networks would be quick to license and broadcast more of it. But anime simply doesn’t attract as many viewers as home-grown American cartoons do, doesn’t earn as much money as traditional American cartoons do, and therefore isn’t flooding the American airwaves.

So essentially, there’s no reason to make “American anime.” The market for anime in America simply isn’t big enough nor profitable enough for any American television network to intentionally create or commission animation in Japanese style for Americans when they could instead create something in a much more marketable American style for Americans. Furthermore, it’s much easier, cheaper and faster to simply let the Japanese studios and artists create Japanese animation instead of having Americans attempt to create Japanese animation. While the market for anime in America continues to grow, and we will definitely see more anime on American television in the future, I don’t anticipate seeing any significant advancement in “American anime” in the foreseeable future.
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Why Are DBZ Fans Called “Newbies?”

There’s nothing wrong with being a “new” anime fan or someone who’s recently developed a love of Japanese animation. Even the most die-hard of anime fans was a “newbie” at one time. The stigma associated with “new” anime fans has nothing to do with seniority- it has to do with attitude.

Of course there will be some anime fans that consider devotion to anime itself a status symbol and will be derisive to “newbie” anime fans the way a high school upperclassman will pick on freshmen- simply because he/she can; but a degree of the derision associated with “newbie” anime fans is their own failure to recognize their inexperience. Because anime is still relatively cultish and underground in America, it’s easy to loose perspective on the scope of the anime industry.

Having seen all of the well known anime series that fans often talk about may make one seem thoroughly qualified as an experienced, die-hard anime fan, but relative to the total number of anime series and shows available, a half dozen or dozen major titles is a virtually insignificant number.

Considering that over 200 different anime titles were available in Japan in 2001 alone, a dozen different titles constitutes less than 10% of all the anime released in only 1 year. Relative to 40 years of anime history, familiarity with a dozen different anime titles is analogous to reading Romeo & Juliet and claiming familiarity with all Renaissance drama.

Not only is familiarity with the titles most popular in America not a good signifier of a genuinely wide knowledge of anime itself, familiarity with mainly only the “big” names in America tells of a very limited scope of stylistic reference. Titles like Dragonball, Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Outlaw Star, Tenchi Muyo and Ranma, among other “big” American favorites, represent only anime intended for teen male viewers.

Familiarity with shows like this doesn’t provide any insight into the massively populated fields of shoujo anime, adult anime, and family and children’s anime. Veteran anime fans that have been watching anime for years rarely refer to themselves as authoritative or exceptionally knowledgeable because these veteran fans are aware that it’s impossible to have seen everything. No matter how much anime you watch, there’s always something you haven’t seen. These veteran fans often find “newbies” aggravating because so many of these “newbie” anime fans have little to no awareness of the true scale and scope of their chosen hobby and often try to make broad, seemingly objective statements on the nature of anime based on their actually very limited knowledge.

Dragonball fans especially are often criticized, not because Dragonball is a bad show (because it’s not) but because the people doing the criticism fail to recognize the difference between the show and its fans, and because its fans themselves invite legitimate criticism. Because Dragonball Z is such a massive force in America, it is the “gateway” show for a tremendous number of new American anime fans. That association itself typically engenders a stereotypical connection between Dragonball fans and “newbies.” What bothers many veteran anime fans, though, is the single-minded obsession so many fans devote to Dragonball.

Many “new” anime fans seem to be introduced to anime by series like Dragonball and Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star and Sailormoon, and simply never develop a wider interest in other shows or styles of anime. There’s nothing wrong with being fanatically devoted to Dragonball, however most experienced anime fans would prefer to see fanatic Dragonball fans broaden their horizons with other series and other types of anime. Even simply moving from Dragonball to Evangelion to Cowboy Bebop to Outlaw Star simply signifies a progression from one series to another similar action oriented, contemporary anime series targeted at teen male viewers.

Being a “newbie” is not a matter of time spent watching anime nor does it have any relation to the amount of anime watched. A “newbie” is someone with a limited frame of reference, thus watching 500 episodes of Dragonball doesn’t make one a “hardcore” anime fan, it makes one a hardcore Dragonball fan.

Even being familiar with all the most popular anime series in America but nothing else simply reveals a “keeping up with the Jones’” focus on convention. Of course, all anime fans should watch these shows. They’re well known and popular because they represent some of the best examples of their genre. However, to escape the stigma of “newbie” it’s necessary to broaden one’s horizons “outside the box” and compliment, deepen and contextualize appreciation of Dragonball with samplings of other shows and styles and genres.

Allow me to use this analogy. Anime is like an entire world. The “newbies” are those that sit on their front porch or never travel beyond the end of their block while making broad statements about the condition of the rest of the world. The “newbie” lives in a house called “Dragonball.” The block expands with houses named “Cowboy Bebop” and “Outlaw Star” and “Akira.” The “newbie” may visit these other houses, however he still never leaves this familiar little neighborhood and therefore never matures into anything more than the same “newbie” he started out as. The world is vast and wide, and no one ever becomes a truly experienced “hardcore” anime fan without venturing into that wide world to discover what’s out there.
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What is the “Folded Paper” on the Side of Japanese CDs?

The main point of these “spine cards,” as they are often called, is to carry the CD UPC code and suggested retail price. It’s common for Japanese CDs and video games both to have these spine cards. Japanese laserdiscs and some books have a similar paper band around them, sometimes referred to as an “obi,” a reference to the wide sash worn with a kimono. The “obi” serves the same purpose as a CD spine card or may carry additional advertising information such as pictures of other CDs or books by the same artist or related CDs or videos.

Although there’s no practical purpose to keeping the spine card, it’s common for both Japanese and Western consumers to keep them anyway. It’s not uncommon at all to find used laserdiscs, video games and audio CDs in Japanese second-hand stores that still have the spine card included. While the spine card or obi have no practical purpose once the CD or book has been purchased, keeping them provides a sense of completeness for collectors. A spine card can also often be used as a useful distinguishing point between legitimate, official Japanese CDs and bootleg Chinese copies. Chinese produced bootleg anime and J-pop CDs do not have a retail price printed directly on the CD packaging, thus usually no spine card.
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Why Don’t Translating Companies Just Please Everyone?

Your dilemma is ample evidence that the market for anime in America is simply still not quite as big or as influential as many American anime fans seem to think it is. This can be determined by consideration of which companies do and which don’t issue alternate versions of their anime releases, and the way in which these companies choose to market their releases.

Pioneer is exceptional for releasing two completely different versions of Card Captor Sakura, but keep in mind that Pioneer is a Japanese company with a policy of marketing directly to hard-core anime fans in America. FUNimation also releases edited and uncut versions of Dragonball Z, but FUNimation is likewise run by a Japanese businessman that knows that Dragonball has a devoted, mature market in America that will pay extra for an uncut, unedited version. Rhino Video is to be commended for going out of its way to include not 2 but 3 different versions of Gatchaman on their Battle of the Planets DVDs, but again Rhino, with its roots in the music industry, has always focused its attention on releases specifically for eclectic tastes and target consumers.

Anime is significant enough in America for even Columbia Pictures to take note and license anime titles, but not a big enough product line to warrant Columbia releasing anime under the Columbia or TriStar banners. Instead Columbia Pictures has created a new subdivision, Destination Films, specifically to release mainly Asian films including anime and John Woo and Jackie Chan films.

Companies like Fox and 4Kids are much more concerned with the “bigger picture” than the hard-core anime fan market. They deal with sales figures in the millions of units rather than the scale of anime, which is measured in, at most, the hundred thousands. To a large degree, pleasing the relatively small anime fan market is simply not worth their time or effort. On a relative scale, it’s not difficult or expensive to include alternate versions on a release, but these companies are either unaware that there’s a market for alternate versions, or they specifically don’t want to include alternate versions.

The Buena Vista company, for example, simply wasn’t aware that there was a tremendous demand for a subtitled version of Mononoke Hime on the Princess Mononoke DVD. After a successful letter writing and online pet*t* on campaign made Buena Vista executives aware that the release of a subtitled version would result in significantly increased sales and profits, anime fans saw results. In the case of children’s titles, though, it’s very possible that American distribution companies simply don’t want multiple versions available in America. Titles like Pokemon, Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh are aimed at American children. If DVD releases tout a bonus “uncut version” there’s a danger that mainstream consumers will begin to question the content of these releases. The concept of “uncut” inherently implies that the show was previously edited.

This in turn may make some consumers fear that the show contains content unsuitable for children that needed to be edited and thus buy something else instead. The inclusion of an uncut version also gives rise to the possibility that a child will accidentally watch an unsuitable version of the show because it’s on the same DVD. It’s natural to expect parents to avoid this possibility by simply buying a different, unqualified all ages suitable release. Multiple versions or releases also carry the possibility of confusing parents or grandparents who don’t notice the difference between edited and unedited versions. So it’s possible that companies like Fox and 4Kids would rather keep their children’s titles purely simple and straightforward and easy to buy. It’s simply much easier for an anime illiterate consumer to purchase a different title altogether than decide which version of Pokemon is suitable for his or her child or grandchild. Naturally, its reasonable to expect that distribution companies would want to minimize this possibility and maximize their potential sales.

Furthermore, the release of edited, dubbed only anime releases is simply, possibly more profitable than releases with multiple versions. When Fox, for example, releases a children’s anime series on home video, their cost includes little more than replication and distribution expenses. Twentieth Century Fox doesn’t have to pay for the production of the show because it’s already been made in Japan and already been licensed and translated by some other company. All that Fox has to do is put it on DVD, sell it and enjoy the profits.

Including alternate versions means more effort, which costs more and therefore cuts into sales profit margins. It’s true that the inclusion of uncut versions may result in increased sales to hard-core anime fans, but major companies probably either aren’t aware that this additional potential market exists, or this market is considered too fringe and too small to be worth the additional time, effort and expense to market to. By releasing “special editions” of anime such as Zoids or Pokemon or Digimon, home video companies may be able to maintain long term, repeat customers in anime fans, but major distribution companies simply aren’t looking for long term sales from children’s titles. Children’s series like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh are considered fads, so major distribution companies focus on immediate turn around and quick, big profits before interest in a given franchise cools off.

To an executive at a major film and video distribution company, titles like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh are no different than any other cartoon. They’re made to sell commercial advertising time on television, and they’re made to sell as home video impulse buys to parents in malls or the endcap displays in Target and K-Mart family discount stores. These executives don’t think of Pokemon or Digimon as art, and they don’t recognize these shows as having a devoted fan base seriously interested in the original artistic integrity and collectibility of these shows.

These programs are simply marketing fodder to be sold quickly and forgotten. Until anime achieves enough foothold and recognition in America for the “average person” to recognize the difference between an anime title and some other Western produced children’s cartoon, it’s unlikely that we’ll see children’s anime marketed in America any different than any other children’s cartoon.
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Who Created the Evangelion h*nt** Movie?

The Evangelion: Jinrui Hokan Keikaku (literally “Human Instrumentality Project”) h*nt** movie is more commonly known as the “Human Salvation Project” through its translation by a private anime fan known as “Gendou” and a rare English language fansub. I’ve also heard of this film referred to as the Evangelion “Ani-gan” movie, which may be a reference to its creator. While a translation does exist, no one, including myself, seems to know anything concrete about the origin of this short animation. I’ve always assumed that it’s a Japanese fan production because the spoken dialogue & on-screen text is all Japanese, and the anime simply looks like a Japanese fan production, albeit a surprisingly competent one.

The fact that it’s censored, in accordance with standard Japanese custom, also suggests that it’s a Japanese production. Every copy of it that I’ve ever seen has had Chinese subtitles, leading me to speculation that the version of this short movie available on the internet is a version that got distributed in Asia and had Chinese subtitles added to it in Hong Kong or Taiwan.

This is the only Evangelion fan produced h*nt** anime that I’m aware of.Gainax itself has produced some official h*nt** model kits and CD-ROM illustrations of Evangelion characters, but no actual ecchi Eva animation. However, there are other similar Japanese fan produced pornographic anime episodes including one impressively produced short parody of Rayearth, and numerous parody shorts focusing on Ranma, Sailormoon, Tenchi Muyo, Maison Ikkoku and other anime characters, all produced by a Japanese fan artist by the name of “Sato-san.”

None of these productions are officially sanctioned by the original anime series creators, but as with virtually all doujinshi productions, they are tolerated in the Japanese market and are sold at Japanese doujinshi shops and conventions.
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What’s the Worst Anime Ever Made?

Having not seen all of the anime ever made, naturally it’s impossible for me to try to pick the worst anime ever made. Word of mouth about great titles spreads rapidly, but most people having seen a really awful anime usually try to wipe it from memory as quickly as possible rather than file it away as trivia or torture friends with it. Even based on personal experience it’s difficult to come up with a singular worst anime ever seen because I do tend to forget about bad anime pretty quickly. And even with those that I do remember, my opinions are subjective, so what was bad to me may be passable or even enjoyable to someone else.

All that being said, it’s still difficult for me to select a single worst anime I’ve ever seen. A few candidates, though, do come to mind. Although it’s been over a decade since I saw it, the second Violence Hero Riki-Oh OAV remains in my mind as one of the most painful 45 minutes I’ve ever experienced. I don’t even remember exactly what was so bad about it, but I do recall that after watching it I was quite upset about having been incontrovertibly emotionally damaged. I was likewise horrified by the slightly more recent OAV Dog Soldier: Shadows of the Past, which was little more than a horrendous Japanese rip-off of the American Rambo cartoon. I have little argument with anime blatantly stealing concepts from American films and animation, but why would anyone have thought it was a good idea to re-make the Rambo cartoon as an anime OAV featuring appropriately poor animation quality and a nonsensical story about a stolen cure to the AIDS virus that doesn’t actually exist.

1980s anime is famous for its extreme emphasis on style over substance, but the Bavi-Stock OAV simply disregarded all semblance of animation quality, story or even logic. The contemporary Battle Royal High School OAV proved that nonsensical, utterly confusing, ridiculous s*x and violence could still be produced well and provide mindless entertainment. But Bavi-Stock simply couldn’t even get that much right.

Getting everything wrong also occasionally applies to the Gundam franchise. In an attempt to take Gundam in a new direction and attract new viewers, the 1994 G-Gundam TV series was the first Gundam series to be outside of the traditional Gundam time continuity. Even with direction by Yasuhiro Imagawa, who impressed the world with the Giant Robo animation, silly mecha and mecha designs, an awful story eliminating the socio-political sub-text traditional of Gundam, and painfully poor art design and animation turned G-Gundam into one of the biggest mis-steps in anime history. But unfortunately, in 1996 the error was repeated with the Gundam X TV series, the only Gundam series of the 80s and 90s to be canceled due to poor ratings. The biggest flaw of Gundam X was in simply creating a series with absolutely no likeable characters. Every character in the series was simply so self absorbed and ill-tempered that watching the series was simply an exercise in aggravation tolerance that most fans quickly decided to forgo.

Video game adaptations make up a large portion of my list. The Battle Arena Toshinden anime OAV series had great potential with direction by Masami Obari (who’s usually reliable for entertaining, if somewhat illogical, fluff) and character design by Tsukasa Kotobuki. While the first OAV served up exceptional style (at the expense of logical story), the hideous second episode completely gave up any pretense of style, story or even production values. A similar criticism can be made of the entire Tekken OAV series, which chose to virtually disregard the already constructed story from the games in favor of incohesive character studies of painfully uninteresting and underwritten characters, topped off by distressingly poor quality digital animation.

The Samurai Spirits TV movie and the first Powerdolls OAV also proved that a great license doesn’t necessarily make for a great anime adaptation. Both video games had the potential to be wonderfully exciting entertainment. However, poor animation quality, infantile writing, and action based on the “A-Team” school of accuracy sunk both of these shows into sub-mediocrity. Sin: The Movie was yet another failed experiment and video game adaptation by my standards.

In attempting to create an American story with Japanese style, the Sin OAV simply failed to succeed on either front. Poor characterizations, uninspired action, mediocre animation quality, poorly integrated and unnecessary CG and thoughtless production and costume design all suggest a mish-mash of influences and styles struggling to keep their heads above water and merely succeeding in dragging each other down.

I’ll probably meet with resistance over mentioning Weiss Kreuz and Dragonball GT, but both of these TV series and the Gundress movie top my list of greatest disappointments. Dragonball GT was, for the most part, at least watchable because it had such well developed characters to work with, but without the guidance of Dragonball creator Akira Toriyama, the wit and humor of Dragonball was lost, and the aimless, arbitrary later half of Dragonball GT virtually screamed of a production staff making up the story as they went along. With its concept of stealthy teen assassins, rockin’ J-pop score and impressive opening animation, Weiss Kreuz had a virtually paint-by-numbers formula for success that managed to implode itself due to horrendously poor animation quality, at times stunningly bad art design, contrived and unoriginal writing and painfully clichéd characterizations that relied on tired stereotypes rather than individuality and personality.

The same flaws, coupled with a rushed production schedule and severely under funded budget caused what should have been every anime fan’s dream action film to become every animation fan’s worst nightmare in Gundress. Featuring a story, character and mecha designs all provided by Masamune Shirow, and assembled after the success of the Ghost in the Shell motion picture, it would seem like the fast-paced, violent and gritty mecha action of Appleseed combined with a bevy of beautiful anime ladies in skin-tight uniforms would spell guaranteed success. But the story and budget of a 45 minute OAV expanded to a feature length film simply spelled disaster the like of which the Japanese anime industry has never seen before or since.

Gundress is the only anime film I know of that was actually released to the public in Japan before it was even finished! Unfortunately, the final, completed film released only briefly in a limited edition DVD available only through Japanese internet sale did little to support the films annoyingly bloodless (both literally and figuratively) action, weak, underwritten characterizations, glaring lapses in logic and story development, simply ugly art design and appallingly stilted and clunky animation quality.
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compiled by YUKI ASK JOHN all rights reserved.