Anime Today talks Japanese pop culture with Patrick Macias, editor of Otaku USA Magazine!
Posted on: Friday, May 11, 2007
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Episode run down:
Summer's finally here in the US, and while you may be getting ready to get out of school for the summer, students in Japan just headed back to school in April. Kris and Judy will be joining us later in this episode to talk about what it’s like to be a student in Japan.
If you're a fan of Japanese pop culture, we have a great interview for you in this episode. Patrick Macias, the Editor-in-Chief of the new magazine, Otaku USA, will be joining us to talk about differences in American and Japanese anime fandom, his new book, The Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno, and the much anticipated launch of his new magazine.
We're kicking off this episode with Chad and What's Hot in the World of Anime and Manga, followed by a new Uso Deshou mystery plot. At RightStuf.com, we're in the middle of a Funimation and AN Entertainment sale, and Shawne will be bringing us some highlights. The Anime and Gamers Guide to Japan with Kris and Judy is up next, and then Nick and Rich will return with the winners of our Gravitation contest, and you'll be able to test your luck in a new Gravitation contest as well.
Listen to the first half of our interview with Patrick where we talk about how he got into anime and Japanese culture and how that was just the beginning of his writing career. Marie heads all the way back to 1996 with her review of the classic series Vision of Escaflowne and then Judy-sensei takes us back to school in the latest Mini-Japanese 101 lesson. In the second half of Patrick’s interview, we discuss his latest book, his upcoming magazine, and his outlook on the future of otaku in America. Finally, we have a few reviews that our customers have posted in our online store at RightStuf.com.
Patrick Macias, Editor Otaku USA Magazine
Patrick’s website: http://www.patrickmacias.com/
Patrick’s blog: http://www.patrickmacias.blogs.com/
Patrick’s tour of figure and model convention Wonderfest 2007 on NHK World TV's Tokyo Eye: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkDXfN5cxMA
What's Hot?
In a world where the Cold War never ended, East and West continue to battle for technological and political supremacy. Mylene Hoffman, field commander of the elite Double Zero intelligence division, exists in this world – her eyes open and her body always ready for battle. Liberating benevolent scientists, tagging along with would-be monster-slayers, and facing down the world's most hard-boiled assassin are all in a day's work for Mylene. Is there a problem she can’t solve with high explosives, fast-talk and the right moves behind closed doors? Find out when the anime adaptation of legendary creator Shotaro Ishinomori’s 009-1 manga makes its North American debut on June 19th!
An infamous space pirate. A ditzy galaxy police officer. A crown princess from another world. The greatest scientific mind in all the universe! What could these women of interstellar importance have in common? They’ve turned high school student Tenchi Masaki’s life upside down… and they’re all fighting for his attention. Is it a dream? A nightmare? Just how much excitement can one guy take? Join the fun when the Tenchi Muyo Universe Collection – featuring 26 episodes of comic insanity – streets on June 19th.
In the 23rd century, mankind has fled Earth and emigrated to the moon. The last outpost of civilization is the Lunar Republic of Eden, where the omnipresent Citizens Administration Council grants residents everything they need—except their freedom. Now that 15-year-old Takeru’s mandatory education is complete, he has a six-month period of freedom while the Council determines his social status. So what do he and his friends do in the meantime? Race their customized Lunar Terrain Vehicle in the ultimate tube race! The clock starts ticking when Freedom, DVD 1 streets on June 26th!
With exams approaching, Akari and Hiroyuki unexpectedly have the house and a whole day to themselves! Class rep Tomoko has her hands full when the other students keep changing the plans for their Cultural Festival project: Will their café be doomed to failure before it even opens? And there’s a new girl in school… With charming eyes, bright green hair and the strangest metal ears, she’s like no one you’ve ever seen! She’s a prototype maid robot sent to the school for her final field test, but no expected what happens next! The fan favorite To Heart returns with Vol. 3: The Bonds of Friendship on June 26th!
Destination is a state of mind when Kino and her motorcycle Hermes take on the winding road as they travel from country to country and maintain their pledge of only staying in each land for three days. Who will they encounter next? The Keiichi Sigsawa novel series that inspired the anime Kino’s Journey continues with Kino no Tabi: Book Two of the Beautiful World on June 29th.
A mysterious cult is sacrificing beautiful young women to a demonic force that has promised them the Kingdom of France in exchange for the blood of the victims. Only one man can save Paris from chaos and terror: the Chevalier d'Eon! And the darkness he discovers extends from the dark alleys of Europe to the palaces of kings! The manga component of the Le Chevalier d'Eon franchise makes its North American debut on June 30th!
Save 25% or more on these titles by preordering them from RightStuf.com at least 10 days before their street dates. Get another 10% off by joining the Got Anime purchasing club for Frequent Buyers.
Shawne's Specials and Amp Up Your Savings Sale!
How is your wallet holding up against my direct assault:? If you have anything left in there, well... good, there’s more to come!
We’ve got a great sale running right now that ends this weekend! With summer on the way, you can take the top off your convertible and crank the volume to 10! Amplify your savings on DVDs from FUNimation and AN Entertainment -- It's the perfect time to get your pre-orders in for Afro Samurai, Beck, Mushishi, Peach Girl, Suzuka and Tsubasa or fill in your collection with fan faves like Case Closed, Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist, Hare+Guu, Kodocha and Slayers Season 1!
Through May 13, take 40% OFF the retail price of DVDs from FUNimation and AN Entertainment. (This includes pre-orders!)
Just use the reusable coupon code amplify when you check out through RightStuf.com:
As always, if you're a Got Anime member, you can stack your discounts for even more savings! Check out www.gotanime.com to check out this great purchasing club!
If you’re not sure which products are included in the sale, you can click on the "Amp Up Your Savings!" graphic on the upper right hand corner of our main page: It will take you to a list of which DVDs are eligible! Bargain bin, weekly special and closeout items are not eligible for the coupon, however, because they're already awesome deals.)
You should always check out our weekly product specials. Every week on Thursday, I slave away, looking for bargains that I can pass on to our customers. There’s some great bundles in there, plus box sets, books, and more. You can jump directly to the specials at www.rightstuf.com/specials.
With the Funimation sale looking to wind down this weekend, I have to keep up the spirits of the minions. I keep telling them that your wallet’s defenses are not impenetrable.. It may be simply time for a new offensive.
See all of Shawne's Weekly Specials!
Check out the Bargain Bin!
The Anime and Gamer's Guide with Kris and Judy
A typical Japanese classroom.
Japanese high school students wearing the sailor fuku uniform.
An article on the Japanese education system:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2150.html
Right Stuf Contests and Updates
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Congratulations to the winners the latest Gravitation giveaway: Shweta C. of Wexford, Pennsylvania; Alex P. of Kyle, Texas; and Amanda M. of Highland, Illinois! Each of you will be receiving a Gravitation bag featuring “Suitcase Shuichi” that’s perfect for toting your summer gear!
Seven is the lucky number for the next contest! (As in, there are seven Gravitation keychains up for grabs!) A little Bad Luck can be a good thing, so stop by gravitation.rightstuf.com and click on the contest link for your chance to win before June 7th! The winners will be announced on the June 8th Anime Today podcast.
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Get ready for “Fukubukuro Fun!” Remember a few episodes back when Kris and Judy talked about the grab bags of random goodies? Well, for this new contest, we’re putting together our own grab bags of anime swag:
- Four runners up will receive the Mahoromatic Summer Special CD/DVD set.
- Four more runners up will get the Paranoia Agent Original Soundtrack CD.
- And 3 “grand prize” winners will receive the Mahoromatic Summer Special CD/DVD set, plus Samurai 7 storyboards AND the Tenjho Tenge Soundtrack CD!
To enter, check out our Contests page , under “What’s Hot” at RightStuf.com and get your entry in before May 24th! We’ll be announcing the winners on the next episode of Anime Today!
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While supplies last – customers pre-ordering Galaxy Angel AA, DVD 1 through RightStuf.com will also receive a free copy of the Galaxy Angel DVD 1 “What’s Cooking” limited edition!
Marie's DVD Review: Escaflowne
In a slight change of pace, this week I’m focusing on one of anime’s classics, the Vision of Escaflowne TV series. It’s come to my attention that some newer anime fans may have actually not heard of the show, and while I like checking out the latest and greatest new titles like any other girl, there’s nothing wrong with a little old school as well. And since the Escaflowne Anime Legends Collection was released just last year during the 10th anniversary of its original Japanese broadcast, there’s really no excuse not to check out one of the gold standards of animated story-telling.
Escaflowne follows the tribulations of Hitomi Kanzaki, a high school girl on the track team with a talent for reading tarot cards and a crush on her sempai, Amano. But just when she’s finally gotten up the courage to tell him how she feels, she literally runs headlong into a young swordsman fighting a dragon. She’s suddenly whisked away by a mystic force to Gaia, a planet where the Earth hangs in the sky like a moon and giant suits of amour called “guymelefs” dominate both construction and battle. The swordsman’s name is Van, and he’s actually the prince of a small country on Gaia named Fanelia. Fighting a dragon is a rite of passage for princes to become king in Fanelia, and the heart Van cut from the dead beast powers a secret royal guymelef called Escaflowne.
Feeling obligated for inadvertently abducting Hitomi, Van brings her home to his castle, where she’s depressed about being separated from her friends and family – and especially Amano. But she soon doesn’t have time to worry when the nearby empire of Zaibach suddenly attacks and sets the capital city on fire in their quest to obtain Escaflowne. Now Van must find a way to convince the other countries that Zaibach is a threat, stop their takeover of Gaia, and keep Escaflowne out of evil hands, all while on the run from Zaibach soldiers. But he’s not alone, and Hitomi finds herself in the very thick of it. Her affinity for tarot turns out to be a gift of divination, and her ability to see the future and divine hidden locations saves her and her comrades more than once in dramatic fashions. Together Van and Hitomi battle deadly catgirls, uncover hidden family secrets, and even walk with the dead while trying to stay one step ahead of villains in the shadows.
Along with Evangelion, Escaflowne led sort of an anime revolution in 1996, pushing the boundaries of what anime could be and what kind of stories it could tell. It also pushed the aside the rigid definitions of genre. By combining tropes from across the anime board that had previously had little contact, it created a whole that was at once cohesive, new, and exciting. Catgirls, giant robots, swordfights, love triangles, machines that alter fate… Escaflowne had it all.
In fact, Escaflowne is one of the very few anime I can think of that benefited from having its production schedule slashed. As explained in the extras, Escaflowne was originally planned for 39 episodes and then cut to 26 before production began. Even so, the director and writers decided they would still tell the entire story they had originally envisioned without cuts. The result? 26 tightly plotted episodes that constantly kept the action moving and are nearly entirely devoid of any kind of filler. I don’t know if there’s even another anime out there that can say that; certainly none I can think of offhand.
But even as the plot keeps moving, the characterization never slouches. Every character is fully fleshed out, and don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself sympathizing with the villains as their murky pasts are revealed and their motivations grow more complex.
Of course, you can’t talk about Escaflowne without mentioning its soundtrack. Composed by the famous Yoko Kanno working in collaboration with her husband, Hajime Mizoguchi, the music sweeps and soars along with the flying ships and dragons. “Dance of the Curse” is just about the most amazing fight instrumental ever. And the vocals and catchy theme song were sung by the equally well-known Maaya Sakamoto, who pulled double-duty on the show: she also voices Hitomi.
While it’s an older series and doesn’t sport the slick digital animation that recent fans have come to expect from modern productions, it definitely still holds up well. Although it makes use of CGI for a few shots, Escaflowne was primarily animated by hand – which means every detail and line had to be carefully drawn in every frame. And when it comes to the close-ups on the guymelefs or flying ships, that’s a lot of detail.
The new Anime Legends collection contains everything present on the original DVD release – albeit in more compact packaging – and includes one of my favorite DVD extras ever, the Japanese Club Escaflowne interviews. For each segment, Tomokazu Seki, who voiced Van, dressed up as a bartender (complete with fake mustache) and invited a few of the series’ other Japanese voice actors to visit his “bar.” There, they talked about the show and anything else he felt like, usually with alternately hilarious and insightful results. A small word of warning though - there are some spoilers so you’ll probably want to hold off watching these until after you’ve seen the entire show.
There are very few excuses not to check out Vision of Escaflowne. I know I recommend a lot of things in the course of these reviews, but few of them have quite the absolute universal appeal and quality that Escaflowne does. It’s in a class at the very top, and if you haven’t seen it yet, well, what are you waiting for?
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