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Question:
As an anime veteran, how do you, John, try to keep anime fresh and interesting in your mind without resorting to nostalgia colored glasses?

Answer:
I don’t want to present myself as a unique exception, but I do honestly believe that my experience with anime affects my perception. I’ve been watching anime long enough that I’ve come to realize, through experience, that I don’t know everything about anime, and that anime always has the ability to surprise me. Countless times I’ve sampled a show and found it better or more engaging than I expected it to be. Thus I’ve tried, as best I can, to stop pre-judging anime. I think that a sense of optomism is vital to sustain a lengthy appreciation and enjoyment of anime. As an anime fan, I always want to like anime; I always hope that new anime will entertain, surprise, and impress me. Furthermore, I try to never forget that anime is a Japanese medium for Japanese viewers, so I have little right to complain if an anime doesn’t satisfy my particular American expectations and demands. While I, as a veteran fan, may have watched dozens of harem or mecha or ninja anime, I remain conscious of the fact that every new show in a familiar genre may be a new fan’s first introduction to the genre. Furthermore, anime production is a business, so if an anime gets produced, it’s being produced because it has a Japanese audience. So, once again, it’s highly presumptuous of me, a foreigner, to complain that Anime X is the 99th harem anime of the decade and therefore redundant when there are thousands of Japanese fans eager to watch the show.

If every moé anime, harem anime, slice-of-life anime, magical girl anime, and mecha anime was practically the same, the anime industry would have stagnated fourty years ago. We’d have no need of any new anime after shows like Tetsujin 28, Mazinger Z, Mahoutsukai Sally, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Urusei Yatsura. But, thankfully, anime aren’t all the same. Even conceptual remakes like Angelic Layer remaking Plawres Sanshiro, Naruto remaking Sasuga no Sarutobi, and LoveCom remaking The Kabocha Wine still have unique characteristics. Harem anime may draw from a stable of consistent stock character types, but yet some harem anime are more popular than others because they still manage to inject distinctive creativity and identity into their formulaic narratives.

Ultimately, the trick to liking anime is simply wanting to like anime. A fan that constantly bemoans redundancy and expects nearly every new anime to be bad will invariably eventually find enough evidence to convince himself of his sentiment and become disillusioned and bored with anime. The optomistic anime fan sees each new show as a new possibility, a way to put a new spin on a familiar trope, breath new life into a tired genre. Every new Japanese TV season I make a conscious effort to watch an episode of every new anime series I can. I do so not to show-off, but rather to educate myself, and I do so with the hope that each and every new anime I watch will become my new favorite show. Of course, inevitably I won’t become enamored with many new anime, but if I approach new shows expecting to dislike them, I have to ask myself why I’m even watching anime in the first place. If we assume that every new anime in a tired genre will be an uninspired, uninteresting rehash, we’d overlook anime like Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, Lucky Star, Evangelion, Toradora, OreImo, Futari wa Precure, Lyrical Nanoha, and Madoka Magica, which would be a terrible misfortune.

Question:
What are John’s top ten anime that he loves, but everyone else seems to hate? And the top ten anime John hates but everyone else seems to love?

Answer:
This query certainly sounds fun and dangerous. I hope you’ll excuse me for addressing the question in the form of a discussion rather than a blunt, dull list.

I’m certainly not trying to elevate myself, but I’ve long suspected that my taste in anime is more similar to the average Japanese otaku’s taste than the average American’s preferences. I’m not suggesting any sort of praise or respectability in that categorization, merely an objective distinction. Practically every season I find that in several instances my own interests in new anime conflict with the seeming predominate opinion of the American fan community. For example, this season the realistic dramas Uchuu Kyodai and Sakamichi no Apollon were very warmly received by the American fan community. In fact, even the Japanese fan community seems to enjoy both titles. However, I’ve been quite unenthused by both. While I respect the principle of realistic, mundane drama depicted in animation, I personally watch anime to see something different from reality. I want anime to transport me to another world, so I find myself far more enjoying this season’s Natsuiro Kiseki, which is another slice-of-life anime like Uchuu Kyodai and Sakamichi no Apollon, but one which also incorporates just a little bit of literal magic. I have enjoyed entirely grounded, realistic dramatic anime like Millennium Actress, Akagi, Ristorante Paradiso, and Bartender, but even these dramas have had a distinctly anime tone and style, unlike anime dramas including Human Scramble, Uchuu Kyodai, and Sakamichi no Apollon which aim to be live-action dramas in animated form.

I’ve been watching gunplay oriented action movies for thirty years. I began watching Chinese “heroic bloodshed” movies in the late 1990s. So I have distinct expectations for action cinema. I’ve watched all of the Trigun anime, all of the Black Lagoon anime, including even the Japanese Blu-ray exclusive parodies, and I made a wholehearted but failed effort to watch and enjoy Sunabozu (“Desert Punk”). I find myself enjoying this season’s Jormungand more than any of those three earlier series. Although Trigun and Black Lagoon are especially popular in America, I’ve long found that both Trigun and Sunabozu don’t satisfactorily merge and balance their comedy and action. Both the comedy and the action feel compromised and incomplete. Likewise, the first Full Metal Panic TV series also feels weaker than its sequels because it tries to evenly balance comedy and action. The predominantly comedy Full Metal Panic Fumoffu and predominantly action “Second Raid” are both superior to the original anime series because they’re more focused, thematically effective shows. Black Lagoon tries so abundantly hard to convince viewers that its characters are masculine, cold-hearted, ruthless thugs and killers that the show comes across as pretentious posturing. Jormungand, by comparison, doesn’t feel like a small dog with a loud bark. Jormungand is lighthearted but not outright comedy, thus it’s able to depict more action than Black Lagoon with far less ridiculous hyperbolic chest-pounding.

I genuinely understand the appeal of High School of the Dead, and I respect its admirable production values. However, I simply can’t overlook it’s abject absurdity, intense ridiculousness, and embarrassingly gratuitous, narratively hollow OVA episode. I just can’t set aside logical reality enough to accept physics that allow breasts to move faster than a bullet, even in “bullet-time.” While that may be the singular most egregious point of contention for me with the series, it’s definitely not the only illustration. Similar to my rational rejection of action anime, I’ve long loved cinematic gunplay, and I’m a huge fan of zombies and the horror genre, but the two have to be merged organically to win my approval, not haphazardly stitched together into a Frankenstein’s monster as was High School of the Dead.

Ironically, while I continue to watch it, I absolutely abhor the current Hellsing OVA series. Americans hate the 2001 TV series which, granted, diverged from the original narrative and ended with an incomplete resolution. And American otaku typically love the ultra-gratuitous “faithful” manga adaptation OVA series. Yet while the TV series had a lovely pervasive gothic atmosphere, the OVA series feels like splatterpunk missing the rebellious punk attitude. The OVA series foremost reveals the glaring weaknesses in inexperienced writer Kouta Hirano’s original manga, which is certainly ambitious yet suffers from way too much redundant and repetitive pretentious monologuing and egomaniacal characters reminiscent of Black Lagoon. Hellsing OVA is terribly paced absurd excess without any of the satire, substance, or literary concision present in equally eccentric apocalyptic splatter anime like Violence Jack and Kakugo no Susume.

I don’t subscribe to the American categorical dislike of certain anime tropes or themes. I don’t hate moé anime just because it’s moé. I don’t dislike tsundere characters just because they’re commonplace. But regardless of their supposed quality, I do dislike certain popular anime that seem to consciously pander to tsundere fans. Shakugan no Shana has been tremendously successful. Toradora is widely praised and well respected. Seto no Hanayome was quite successful and popular. OreImo was a nicely produced fan favorite. Despite buying all four titles on domestic DVD, I haven’t especially liked any of them because all four of them have seemed foremost designed to check off points on a predetermined checklist of characteristics, and only secondarily designed to be engaging stories.

I’m not going to try to be artificially intellectually refined and claim to love all varieties of animation. I prefer 2D Japanese animation. I respect the fact that Japan produces 3D CG and puppet animation. I respect the fact that countless other countries produce eclectic, artistic animation. But I’m an anime fan, not a devoted follower of French, Russian, or Brazillian animation, or even a big fan of Japanese puppet animation like Shin Sanjushi, Kawaii Jenny, or the work of Kihachiro Kawamoto. However, my affection for 2D Japanese anime does periodically extend to unpopular Flash animation series like Haiyoru! Nyaruani, Hanoka, Pugyuru, Gakkatsu, and Thermae Romae. Despite their more primitive look and animation quality, I enjoyed the Nyaruani OVA & TV series much more than the current Nyaruko-san TV series. I absolutely loved the surreal and bizarre Pugyuru. I think that Gakkatsu is adorably cute and weird, and while a bit redundant, I think that the Thermae Romae anime was quite fun and would have been drastically different in tone had it been animated with conventional animation.

The American fan community largely seems to revile the current Upotte web anime series, but it’s one of the current anime that I’m most eager to watch each week. I do understand that the concept of anthrpomorphized objects isn’t new after anime including Hetalia, Miracle Train, and Starry Sky, but Upotte is the first bishoujo anime to do use the concept. Furthermore, after the introductory first episode, Upotte has focused on narrative and character building, which I’ve found highly amusingly off-kilter.

The Saber Marionette J franchise has long gotten more approval among Americans than the earlier SM Gals Saber Marionette R OVA series, but I’ve always liked the earlier series more than the more successful later one. Saber R is often criticized for being a creepy hybrid of cute characters and grim, oppressive, violent, sexually provocative setting and story. I particularly like Saber R because it merges the cute and the morose seamlessly. The cuteness of the characters makes sense within the context of the narrative, yet it’s never emphasized enough to become a distraction from the narrative. Saber R is the successful predecessor of later anime like Cat Shit One and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni that put cute characters in disturbing stories.

Now inactive domestic licensor AN Entertainment acquired Miami Guns following my personal recommendation. The American reaction to the show was not nearly as favorable as I and the AN Entertainment staff had anticipated, yet I still firmly stand by my support of the show. Certainly, Miami Guns isn’t the very best absurdist anime comedy ever produced; it’s outshone by titles like Hare Nochi Guu, Ike! Inachu Takyubu, and, marginally, by Excel Saga. But I steadfastly believe that the show is witty, spontaneous, consistently surprising, and very fun.

Question:
With Nanoha A’s the second movie being released in July is there any possibility that Nanoha Strikers will be released as movie as well despite it’s lukewarm welcome among Western anime fans? Also, is there the possibility that Nanoha Vivid and Nanoha Force to become anime series as well?

Answer:
I’m not entirely certain that the Lyrical Nanoha manga spin-offs will eventually get anime adaptations, but a Nanoha Strikers movie seems almost an inevitability. Certainly, the third season of the Lyrical Nanoha anime was less popular among international fans than the second season, but the Nanoha franchise was primarily created for Japanese viewers, and the movies have been practically exclusive to Japanese audiences. Thus I can’t envision why a limited international interest in Nanoha Strikers would have any impact at all on the development of a third Nanoha movie. Since the “Strikers” season was successful in Japan, producing only two films out of a seemingly obvious three-film cycle seems illogical. The Nanoha movie are taking quite some time to see release. They’re not appearing swiftly like the Berserk trilogy that’s debuting all three films within a single year. So fans may have to wait a while yet for word of a Nanoha Strikers movie since the A’s movie has yet to hit theaters.

The success of the second and possibly even third Nanoha movies may determine the probability of additional Lyrical Nanoha anime adaptations. After all, there is precedent for anime adaptations of spin-offs from popular franchises. The Carnival Phantasm manga parody spin-off from the Type-Moon universe recently got an anime adaptation, and the “Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya” spin-off manga has had an anime adaptation announced. The Gundam Unicorn novel series has an ongoing anime adaptation. St. Seiya, Saki, and Hokuto no Ken have had spin-off manga adapted into anime series – namely St. Seiya Lost Canvas, Saki Achiga Hen, and Raoh Gaiden. So anime adaptations of Masaki Tsuzuki & Takuya Fujima’s Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Vivid and Tsuzuki & Yuari Higa’s Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force spin-off manga series should definitely be considered viable possibilities.

Question:
I remember reading on an anime forum a while back that someone stated that those who are anti-military/anti-law enforcement would not like mecha anime. What are your thoughts? Agree?

Answer:
I can’t refute the theory that certain individuals opposed to militaristic structures may reject mecha anime as an insidious form of propaganda, but I can argue that for the majority of reasonable analysts, mecha anime as a genre is not as limited as the provided observation presumes. First, I must assume that “mecha” anime actually refers to robot anime. Broadly speaking, “mecha” is an abbreviation for “mechanical,” thus anime like Eve no Jikan, which revolves around integrating androids into human society, and Galaxy Express 999, which features space-faring steam locomotives, can technically be considered “mecha” anime despite including no giant robots. The giant robots of anime including Patlabor and the “Brave” series are literally giant mechanical police officers. The mecha in countless anime, including Megazone 23, Macross, Gundam, Votoms, and Dragonar are military equipment and therefore advocate military action and aggression, and, by arguable extension, advocate a glamorization of militarization to impressionable children that watch anime.

However, a strict observation reveals just as many giant robot anime that are not affiliated with legal structures. Classic robots including Mazinger Z and Tetsujin 28gou were created by visionary private individuals, not by government agencies. The giant robots in anime including Giant Gorg, Gold Lightan, and Gadguard are friends and partners to their child owners, not government or military machinery nor advocates of any legal or political ideology. The giant robots in anime including Yuusha Reideen, Rayearth, Wataru, and Yamato Takeru are legendary, revered machines that are either feared or respected, but these mecha, again, don’t specifically represent and advocate traditional, organized enforcement of social status quo.

Robot anime is intended to encourage home video and merchandise sales. Robot anime is designed to entertain viewers. I do not believe that robot anime, as a genre, consciously or even practically makes a concerted effort to propagate any sort of political agenda. I absolutely don’t believe that the mecha anime genre collectively makes an effort to advocate social normalism, militarism, or socio-political anarchy. The individual who believes that mecha anime, as a genre, advocates psychological reinforcement of established governmental and military structures will be nearly impossible to refute, but a comprehensive and rational examination of the breadth of robot anime should clearly reveal that the genre only consistently advocates a sense of futurism, a speculative interest in the potential of science and technology that can either reinforce social norms or be anarchic, and is frequently both at once.

Question:
I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that several anime have been licensed in the US by companies before the shows have even aired, or only aired a couple of episodes. Sentai in particular just picked up Medaka Box, Sakamichi no Apollon, and Mysterious Girlfriend X even though these shows are as of yet unproven in their native markets, much less the more particular American one.

Any insight into this action? Given how fiscally prudent American licensees have been of late, tossing money around before shows are even finished airing seems risky on the face. The only mitigating factor that pops to mind is, since the shows are an unknown quantity, perhaps these companies are able to negotiate favorable conditions based upon that uncertainty?

Answer:
In several respects, the American anime industry is not what it once was. Particularly the contemporary influence of digital distribution – both licensed and unlicensed – and the constitution of the contemporary American anime consumer market have a bigger influence in licensing trends and decisions today than in the past. But at the same time, swift acquisitions of untested titles is not a sudden, new development in anime licensing. In the early 2000s even small licensors had the opportunity to acquire new anime titles preemptively. AN Entertainment, for example, was offered exclusive American distribution rights to Afro Samurai and Yugo: The Negotiator before a single frame of animation for either title had been drawn. (As history now knows, AN Entertainment passed on both titles, for various reasons.)

With the exception of corporate owned Viz Media, today’s active anime licensors – FUNimation, Sentai Filmworks, Maiden Japan, Discotek, Media Blasters, NISA, and Nozomi Entertainment – are all privately owned distributors managed by anime enthusiasts. These licensors are mainstream distributors like Hulu or Sony that distribute anime as a sideline, or bulk distributors like Crunchyroll that seek to obtain any and every title available. Today’s active home video distributors are managed by individuals that are familiar with anime and the domestic anime consumer audience and can therefore make licensing decisions based on intangible considerations including genre, originating studio, and creator profile. Sakamichi no Apollon may be an original, untested property, but the mere fact that it’s the first series collaboration between Shinichiro Watanabe and Yoko Kanno since Cowboy Bebop is an appealing marketing angle that mainstream executives may not appreciate, but which hardcore anime fans and knowledgeable anime licensors salivate over. Likewise, Medaka Box may be a largely unknown title in America, but knowledge that it’s written by Nisio Isin and animated by Gainax is enough substantial pedigree to make it an investment with great potential.

The domestic anime distribution industry moves faster now than it ever has before, by necessity. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, an anime title jumping across the ocean within twelve months was a rapid localization. These days, when Crunchyroll streams Saint Seiya Omega a week behind the Japanese broadcast, the American release feels out-of-date. The competition to acquire top shelf, high profile, and eagerly anticipated anime titles these days is so intense that multiple licensors are now acquiring overlapping rights to the same titles. In the 1990s and early 2000s, a distributor like Viz Media could afford to sit on titles like Recca no Hounou and Monster for years before finally shuffling them onto American DVD. Domestic licensors don’t have that luxury anymore. Online distributors including Crunchyroll, NicoNico, and Viki have pressured physical media distributors into a brisker licensing pace. And the domestic audience, which is now almost exclusively just hardcore anime fans, has largely adopted a Japanese mentality of “out of sight, out of mind.” Contemporary visible anime are hot while shows from a mere season ago – a mere four months ago – are already old news. When domestic digital distribution and the remaining American fan community are literally on the cutting edge of anime releasing, the physical distribution industry has to keep up or get left behind. Domestic distributors that specialize in niche releases for small sub-divisions within the niche anime community, like DiscoTek and Nozomi, don’t need to keep up with the rat race. But distributors like FUNimation, Sentai, and Media Blasters that seek to remain high profile and relevant to the entire domestic anime market, instead of just small fractions of it, are now obligated to consider speculative licensing rather than sure-fire acquisition. Thankfully for anime fans, the experience and knowledge of the active “zero-day” licensors results in domestic DVD and Blu-ray licenses for titles with strong credentials and American collector & consumer appeal, like Sakamichi no Apollon, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, Medaka Box, and Eureka Seven AO rather than shows like Sengoku Collection, Kuroko no Basuke, Shirokuma Café, and Arashi no Yori ni ~ Himitsu no Tomodachi that have practically no American DVD or Blu-ray sales potential.

Question:
How popular is the Please! franchise in Japan? Just recently the 10th anniversary blu-rays for Onegai Teacher and Twins came out in Japan and the first prints sold out pretty fast. Mizuho resin statues and pvc figures are numerous, and they all sell really well, the anime was well received, so why isn’t there a 3rd series in the franchise? Is the Please! franchise not popular enough in Japan to warrant a TV sequel or do I miss something?

Answer:
I don’t know for certain, but my best guess is that the absence of a third “Onegai” series is due more to disinterest from its creators than lack of demand. Furthermore, in a loose sense, the argument may be made that viewers recently did actually get a third installment in the “Onegai” series.

Screenwriter Yosuke Kuroda’s Onegai Teacher television series aired in 2002 and was followed by its 2003 direct sequel Onegai Twins. Earlier this year Kuroda and Onegai Teacher/Twins animation character designer collaborated on the production of the Ano Natsu de Matteru television anime series. Examination of “Ano Natsu” suggests that Kuroda may not have wanted to directly continue the “Onegai” franchise but, instead, develop a new, similar story. Not to divulge too many spoiler details, Ichika Takatsuki and her mecha companion Rinon parallel Onegai Teacher’s Mizuho Kazami & Marie. Onegai Teacher’s Hatsuho Kazami does have a parallel in Ano Natsu. Onegai Teacher’s Koishi Herikawa isn’t very different from Ano Natsu’s Kanna Tanigawa. Remon Yamano in Ano Natsu is obviously patterned after Onegai Teacher’s Ichigo Morino. In effect, Ano Natsu de Matteru may be called a loose conceptual re-make of Onegai Teacher. In the same way that Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari is creator Masaki Kajishima’s loose continuation of the Tenchi Muyo franchise under a different title, Ano Natsu de Matteru seems to be Yosuke Kuroda’s continuation of the “Onegai” franchise under a new name.

Question:
Will Tokyo Mew Mew be relicensed by a another company?

Answer:
Interestingly, arguably prior to the 2004 debut of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, there was little if any need to distinguish the qualifying categorizations “bishoujo” and “shoujo” when discussing magical girl anime. With only rare exceptions like Cutey Honey and Nurse Witch Komugi-chan, magical girl anime were anime starring cute girls, targeted at a preadolescent female audience, thus simultaneously “bishoujo” and “shoujo” anime. However, the introduction of anime including 2004′s Lyrical Nanoha and 2005′s Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo introduced a new genre of magical girl anime not intended for the typical shoujo anime audience but rather for an older male audience. That new niche has expanded with anime including Cho Henshin Cos-prayers, Chikyu Shoujo Arjuna, Getsumento Heiki Mina, Nanatsuiro Drops, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Hokago no Pleiades, Kaito Tenshi Twin Angel, and Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, to name a few. While shoujo magical girl anime have always been under-represented on the American market, they seem to have vanished entirely in America’s post-crash home video market.

Excluding titles limited to online streaming, provided my recollection is accurate, since 2008 a total of zero shoujo magical girl anime have been licensed for American home video release. FUNimation did license-rescue the 2001 Shin Shirayuki Hime Densetsu Pretear television series this past February, but considering that Junichi Sato & Kaori Naruse’s original manga was published in Asuka Magazine, the story arguably skews toward an older shoujo audience than typical magical girl anime. Over the past five years, contemporary shoujo magical girl anime including Fushigiboshi no Futagohime, Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z, Shugo Chara!, Pretty Cure, and Sugar Sugar Rune have gone unlicensed for American DVD. Classic mahou shoujo anime including Akazukin Chacha, Maho no Yosei Persia, Maho no Princess Minky Momo, Hime-chan no Ribbon, Maho no Idol Pastel Yumi, Maho no Tenshi Creamy Mami, Maho no Angel Sweet Mint, and Himitsu no Akko-chan have remained unavailable in America. Expired American licenses for Card Captor Sakura, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, and Ojamajo Doremi have not been renewed or re-acquired. In light of these facts and the prolificacy of contemporary American DVD and Blu-ray acquisitions for anime from other genres, the probability of an American license rescue for Tokyo Mew Mew seems extremely limited.

These days, the majority of anime licensed for domestic home video release are either high profile shounen titles or otaku-oriented niche anime. There simply aren’t enough hardcore anime disc collectors left in America, and not enough mainstream distribution channels, to support the acquisition and physical distribution of conventional shoujo anime in America anymore. While titles including Card Captor Sakura, Corrector Yui, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Princess Tutu, Saint Tail, Ground Defense Force! Mao-chan, and Fancy Lala did get licensed and released domestically prior to 2008, the only variety of magical girl anime that gets licensed in the post-crash industry is male otaku-oriented anime including Papillon Rose, Madoka Magica, Uta Kata, Yumeria, and Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?

Question:
I am a beta male, and as such I enjoy male anime characters that express their emotions. To me, it gives them more depth and personality as a character. However, I see such a blatant disgust among the western fandom for these kinds of men. They are dubbed as being too “whiny” or “emo.” I often hear from fans how they wish that anime men went back to being more masculine. What’s wrong with a male anime character having angst, sensitivity, and emotion? Isn’t that part of being human?

Answer:
Speaking as an American male, I do appreciate seeing assertive, masculine male protagonists in anime. I appreciate that Ao Fukai in the current Eureka Seven Ao isn’t a whiny pushover. I appreciate the way Kuroko no Basuke’s Tetsuya Kuroko and Medaka Box’s Zenkichi Hitoyoshi feel no hesitation to express their thoughts. However, at the same time we also see characters like Accel World’s Haruyuki Arita, Sakamichi no Apollon’s Kaoru Nishimi, and Tsuritama’s Yuki Sanada who have varying degrees of self-loathing and anxiety. As Americans, we should remember at all times that anime isn’t primarily made for us. Anime is designed to be accessible to Japanese teen viewers, so typical anime for male viewers either present idealized characters that viewers can aspire to be or characters that viewers can easily empathize with and relate to. While Americans are socially encouraged to be outgoing, independent, expressive, and socially adjusted, Japanese society still values a degree of personal restraint and decorum. While public expression of personality is far more tolerated, and even encouraged in contemporary Japan than it was in past generations, school aged Japanese boys are still largely expected to conform to formal, disciplined, rational structures of behavior and appearance that conflict with public displays of anxiety and emotion. In other words, many real-life Japanese teen boys continue to sublimate or consciously restrain their emotional and psychological anxieties. It’s precisely because many real-life Japanese teens do this that anime incorporates teen boy protagonists like Haruyuki Arita, Suzumiya Haruhi’s Kyon, Gantz’s Kei Kurono, Guilty Crown’s Shu Ouma, and Hyouka’s Houtarou Oreki who monologue to themselves about their frustrations and anxieties. The appeal of such characters to Japanese viewers is a sense of empathy, a confirmation that such perspectives and thoughts are normal and common among teen boys.

Here in America male expressiveness or angst within pop culture has been largely associated with lacking masculinity and outright ridicule. Objectively, there’s nothing “wrong” with emotionally tortured teen boy protagonists in anime. They serve a relevant purpose for their core demographic anime viewer. But since Americans aren’t the core demographic viewer for anime, Americans don’t perceive or react to these characters quite the same way that Japanese viewers do. Americans typically have a different expectation and demand from anime than Japanese viewers. Where Japanese viewers want anime to be an alternate world that they can immerse themselves in and relate to, Americans want anime to fit into their world, satisfy their real-world expectations and demands for exciting, engaging fantasy entertainment that makes sense to an American perspective. Typically American anime viewers don’t examine or react to anime protagonists in terms of how contextually the character fits the setting of the story or how appealing the character may be to Japanese teen viewers; Americans perceive anime characters in terms of their own uniquely American standards and expectations and how believable or likable the character seems to be from an American’s judgement. Since contemporary Americans collectively disparage “emo” tendencies and exhibitions in both real life and American popular fiction like The Twilight Saga, naturally Americans automatically apply the same judgements and standards to imported pop culture entertainment, even when applying such foreign standards isn’t actually appropriate. Judging American pop culture by American standards is logical. Judging imported Japanese pop culture with American standards doesn’t make much sense, but countless American otaku do so regardless because they act without thinking about the logical appropriateness of their reactions.

In effect, the disparagement of “emo” anime characters is a nearly unavoidable knee-jerk reaction. Americans are culturally indoctrinated to respect Alpha males, and the contemporary marginalization of the goth and emo interests in American teen culture has consciously widened the distance between lionization of assertive, masculine fictional characters and derision and enmity for “emo” characters. Given the vast diversity of anime available to American viewers, and even the diversity of characterizations found in contemporary male anime protagonists, there’s plenty of anime available to satisfy all tastes. Emotionally and psychologically conflicted male characters may not suit the taste of every American otaku, but roundly criticizing their very existence is a short-sighted, narrow-minded rejection based on immediate, instinctual reactions and not on rational, considered thought. No otaku is expected to like everything, but automatically criticizing certain types of anime characters just because they exist or seem especially prevalent in contemporary anime fails to consider the cultural and timely explanation and reason for their existence.

Question:
How did Mobile Suit Gundam end up becoming such a cultural phenomenon in Japan. With numerous sequels, spin-offs, games, models and references in other anime (Keroro Gunso for example where the title character’s main hobby is building Gundam models (or Gunpla). Did Yoshiyuki Tomino ever believe that that series he created back in 1979, would become a long running franchise that almost unmatched by other anime series.

Answer:
Despite him making a number of international appearances, I’ve personally never met Mr. Yoshiyuki Tomino nor heard him speak. So I don’t know how much he ever expected Mobile Suit Gundam to become the global phenomena that it has evolved into. I imagine that creators rarely ever expect or predict that particular creations will become historical landmarks and cultural icons. Gundam is sometimes referred to as the Star Trek of Japan for very appropriate reason. Star Trek and Mobile Suit Gundam were both initially failures; their TV broadcasts canceled prematurely. Intense fan support, word of mouth, and feature films helped resurrect both franchises and move both into their relative cultural consciousness. Furthermore, both franchises sparked imagination by introducing new, groundbreaking ideas and philosophy into their respective cultures.

While Star Trek contributed to the American recognition of racial integration, advanced technology put to practical daily use, and the socio-political vision of a unified and peaceful future global society – all ideas revolutionary to the mass market American viewing audience of the 1960s, 1979′s Mobile Suit Gundam introduced a nuanced and practical political world view to anime and, more importantly, impressionable young viewers. The giant robot anime of the 1960s and 70s was strictly either children’s entertainment like Tetsujin 28-gou and Chojin Sentai Barattack, or clearly delineated heroic anime like Mazinger Z and Getter Robo that depicted admirable teens defending the world against villainous monsters or aliens. Gundam was the first robot anime to depict a story in which the motivations of the antagonists were not simply villainous, and the actions of the “heroes” ethically debatable. Furthermore, although prior anime like 1976′s UFO Robot Grendizer tai Great Mazinger movie did depict the chivalrous Mazinger robot used by evil aliens, the fundamental identity of heroic vintage robots was always righteous and moral. 1979′s Gundam was the first anime to depict giant robots as merely machines absent of any inherent morality. Like any other tool, they could be equally used for good or harm.

The robot anime of the 60s and 70s was fanciful entertainment, much of it designed to sell toys. Mobile Suit Gundam depicted, for the first time, a plausible speculative future in which science and technology were applied to military might, creating autonomy and strength. Rather than just tell a story, Gundam introduced a world setting, a vision of a world future not tied to individual characters but concepts, technological and social advances, new ways of life. 1963′s Astro Boy depicted a future world that integrated robots and advanced technology and, as a result, captured the collective imagination of Japanese society. Throughout the remainder of the 1960s and 70s, no other anime depicted such a world. The typical robot anime of the 60s and 70s depicted robots and advanced technology tied to specific privileged individuals – heroes or the children of scientists. Gundam tapped in to the existing Japanese fascination with technology and depicted futuristic technology accessible to all. But unlike the largely peaceful, hopeful, and idyllic Tetsuwan Atom, Gundam painted a darker, more conflicted and politically tumultuous image that felt like a believable extension of present day reality.

Since the 1979 debut of Mobile Suit Gundam, very few other robot anime have even attempted to similarly create an accessible, plausible vision of future society. Although modern robot anime have gotten more realistic, Votoms, SPT Layzner, Dancougar, Dangaioh, Dragonar, Iczer-One, Exkaiser, Goldran, Rahxephon, Gasaraki, Godannar, and countless other contemporary robot anime have told stories revolving around protagonists with robots. These shows have been successful among otaku but haven’t captured the imagination of a broader, mainstream audience. Particularly robot anime including Patlabor and Evangelion, however, that begin with and primarily revolve around their setting and the concept of robots and technology being integrated into society and everyday use have proven more accessible to a wider audience and become more iconic outside of the insulated otaku community. Gundam was the first anime to let viewers – not just children or otaku viewers, all viewers – envision a plausible future that involves giant robots affecting ordinary people’s, ordinary everyday life. The extensive franchising and marketing of the Gundam property has been allowed by the core concept’s ability to relate to and involve ordinary people outside of the otaku sphere. While typical robot anime has revolved around “him,” the hero, Gundam has revolved around “us.” The most successful Gundam anime have been the ones that most depict a universal, accessible scenario that viewers can imagine themselves in as themselves, not as a fictional heroic protagonist. Similarly, while Americans frequently adore Star Wars because we envision ourselves as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, or Leia Organa, we respect and adore Star Trek because we envision ourselves as literally ourselves walking a starship hallway or having a friendly drink with a loquacious alien.

Question:
With Bandai America no longer dubbing and distributing anime, who will take on the work? What if a new Gundam comes out, and Brad Swaile and other company would do great dubbing the show? I was looking forward for Turn A Gundam to come out, but since Bandai closed up shop, it may not ever be out dubbed over here in America. Also, what about video games made by Bandai/Namco?

Answer:
Regrettably, to a certain degree, Americans may simply be out of luck. Over the past several years the majority of anime produced by Bandai Namco owned studio Sunrise has either been localized for American release by Bandai Entertainment – including Girl Who Leapt Through Space, Kurokami, Code Geass, Freedom, and My Otome – or it simply hasn’t reached America at all, including King of Thorn, Colorful, Idolmaster Xenoglossia, and Battle Spirits. However, a handful of recent anime produced by Bandai Namco, through Sunrise, have reached America through alternate distributors, including Viz distributing Inuyasha Kanketsuhen and Tiger & Bunny, FUNimation distributing Keroro Gunso, and Kodai Ouji Kyoryu King coming to America courtesy of 4Kids Entertainment. While the retreat of Bandai Entertainment from American licensing and distribution will certainly compromise the number of Bandai produced anime reaching America, other distributors have proven to step in where possible to acquire and distribute select titles.

The future availability of the Gundam franchise in America, though, looks quite grim. Considering that the Japanese Gundam Unicorn, AGE, and Seed Blu-rays include selectable English subtitles, Bandai Namco clearly seems to have determined that formally distributing Gundam anime in America is not financially worthwhile. So in order to accommodate the very small American hardcore market of Gundam consumers, Bandai Namco is simply making the Japanese Blu-rays slightly more accessible to American importers. Bandai has never allowed American home video distribution of any Gundam anime by non Bandai-owned distributor. That policy doesn’t appear susceptible to change in the foreseeable future. The American anime fan community had many years and plenty of warning to support the domestic anime distribution industry but largely chose to instead encourage unlicensed distribution and online streaming. In a case of reaping what we’ve sown, we can partially hold ourselves responsible for failing to encourage and support the continued DVD and Blu-ray release of Gundam and other Bandai-Namco produced anime in America.

Distributors like Bandai-Namco are not obligated to release their anime for American consumers. Americans don’t have a right to expect subtitled or dubbed releases of Gundam or any other anime. As many contemporary anime now reach America simultaneous with their Japanese release, we seem to have forgotten that anime is made primarily for Japanese viewers and consumers, and it’s only distributed in America as a supplemental market. Japanese studios and producers do not create anime expecting to recoup their production costs from the international market. America will only continue to get anime as long as we convince the Japanese production & distribution industry that America is a profitable, fertile market. Americans failed to convince Bandai-Namco to continue American distribution, thus we no longer get anime directly from Bandai-Namco. On the gaming front, at least, Bandai-Namco produced titles do still sell in America, so games continue to get localized and released.

Judging by available evidence, we had our chance to support Gundam anime in America, and not enough of us did. Bandai-Namco has proven amenable to allowing some of its anime titles to be acquired and distributed by domestic distributors, but the chances of seeing titles like Turn A Gundam, Gundam ZZ, and Gundam X on American DVD or Blu-ray now seem very remote. Evidently henceforward, Americans that want Gundam anime will have to import Japanese release.