As I’ve said elsewhere, all my writing was pushed back by Anime Boston this past weekend – but I didn’t leave empty-handed! Both literally (bought more manga and wall scrolls I have no idea what to do with), and figuratively, because Dai Sato was there and I managed to catch him at two fantastic panels. I didn’t actually take notes during his talks, unfortunately, but he had tons of interesting things to say that I figured you folks might appreciate, so I’ll run down the highlights of what I remember.
Category Archives: Discussion Response
Why Don’t Anime Characters Ever Have Parents?
Question:
Why is it so rare that main characters in anime actually have parents? Or if they do have parents, they’re away on an extended trip, or just never show up in-show. Given how unlikely it is any teenager would be left to their own devices in real life, it seems weird that this comes up so often in anime.
Do Characters’ Ages Really Matter?
Management: Just a mini-question today, since I found myself searching the archives for this and realized I’d never posted it in the first place. Organization!
Question:
Are shows starring adults meaningfully different from those starring teenagers? Are shows set in college meaningfully different from those set in middle or high school? I ask because I see this distinction made all the time, but generally it doesn’t seem meaningfully different outside of a setting/character-appearance sense.
What Makes Fandom So Great/Terrible?
Question:
How do you feel about labeling/defining yourself as a dedicated “fan” of a show or creator? How about the preaching of shows, or the nature of hype/anti-hype?
Why Do Critics Hate Popular Shows?
Management: This one should obviously go without saying, but it comes up so often in response to criticism that I figured I might as well give a more full response. A couple thoughts that I’d rather just link than constantly paraphrase.
Question:
Why are critics so against shows that are popular? Just because perfectly good shows likes SAO or Titan become popular, they have to pull at the seams and attack them? It seems mean-spirited and pointlessly non-conformist to put down shows just to look “critical.”
Formative Experiences and Character Writing
Management: Been a while since I’ve done a general criticism post, eh?
Question:
Are shows starring adults meaningfully different from shows starring teenagers? How about college students versus high school students? I ask because in many shows (Working! versus Servant x Service, etc), the differences seem largely superficial – the humor and character interactions all carry over.
What’s Up With All These Incest Shows?
Management: Yeah, this one’s kinda merciless. What can I say.
Question:
What are your feelings on the apparent increase of shows centered around brothers, sisters, and incest?
Bobduh:
This… might get a little cynical. Fair warning.
Brief Aside on the Beauty of Uchouten Kazoku
Management: So yeah, I’m pretty much just evangelizing at this point. I was asked why I found the visuals of Uchouten so striking, and basically compiled a collection of many of my favorite moments. Of course, every other shot of this show is beautiful, so this isn’t even close to exhaustive. As usual, my responses were to real questions, but I’ve shortened the questions to their most basic form to keep it as general as possible.
Question:
Can you explain why you find the visuals of Uchouten Kazoku so beautiful? I agree that there are a number of standout moments, but it often feels like the backgrounds are just photographs someone put through a posterizing filter, which can clash with the hand-drawn characters. What do you get out of them?
Summer 2013 Halfway Point: Season So Far
Management: Sequel to this post. My general thoughts so far on the winners, losers, and casualties of my summer season.
This has been a very good season, and though there hasn’t been anything I enjoy as much as I enjoyed OreGairu in the spring, I think the top show is technically better this time. But the top tier is really good all around. In descending order:
Criticism versus Nitpicking and Grounded Conflict
Question:
What separates a legitimate criticism of a show from nitpicking? Can one complaint be more “valid” than another, if they’re both things the show is actually lacking or doesn’t explain or whatnot? And is there a scale for this stuff – do fifty tiny complaints add up to one big one, or does it require some single significant failing to constitute a legitimate criticism?