Nakama Britannica

I read The Anime Almanac’s recent essay with a great interest. Effectively titled “Greg Ayres and the Fight Against Fansubs”, it presents an industry-biased perspective on the massive proliferation of anime fansubs, via the enthusiasm of Greg Ayres, a “hardcore otaku” turned professional English dub actor. Basically, this colourful-looking chap travels to conventions dotted all [...]

Lately, I’ve been reading a flood of essays tackling anime and escapism. Meditating on the latter, it’s clear that this subject is essentially very personal, if just because the word ‘escapism’ implies that the viewer has something to escape from. Of course, there is nothing new about that idea, as everyone slips into dreams every and now then, be it occasionally dragging ourselves to the local cinema, sitting for a few hours reading a book or spending an entire evening in-front of the TV. All of that is escapism too, and it’s exactly the same as enjoying hours of Japanese cartoons, just not as eccentric. But, after all, that’s an important distinction to make, as, in the deepest depths of our hearts, I think most of us yearn to be a part of the collective, to be (seen as) normal, but fact is, anime isn’t normal; it’s niche, foreign and strange.

As an anime fan, it’s not often that I say this, but lately, I’ve been watching a lot of live action US TV. My current favourite is The Wire, and at the moment, I’d much rather watch that than, say, Macross Frontier, Soul Eater or Code Geass. The funny thing is, four, maybe even five, years ago; my opinion was almost polar opposite. I was absolutely sick of US TV and about ready to claim anime as God’s own genre. During that era, I’d watch almost anything; Gainax’s mind-numbingly average This Ugly Yet Beautiful World remains probably the worst anime I’ve actually sat through from beginning ’til end. What a waste of time.

One of the more interesting debates I’ve read lately was kicked off when the UK’s first and only dedicated anime TV channel “Anime Central” invited the so-called crème of British cosplayers to strut their wares on digital television in front our derisive nation. Though many of the UK’s long-suffering elite were excited by this, just as many were horrified; not as much by the cosplay itself, but rather the anticipated reaction from random outsiders (themselves potential anime fans) only too willing to rip-the-enthusiasm out of the inescapably “geeky-looking” anime addicts.

A lot has been said about the current crop of anime airing in Japan; some have described it as the worst ever, but then, someone will always say that anyway! What is clear is that there is no massive franchise sweeping all before it; there is nothing as well-animated and as thoroughly entertaining as Death [...]

In a time when the pursuit of anime was often limited to a couple of beardy old men and a third-generation video tape, I can’t imagine they spent much (if any) time arguing over what to watch; simply that it was Japanese and animated was enough; after all, beggars can’t be choosers. 15 long years [...]