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From: Valerie Morishige (ARALECHAN@aol.com)
I was an American living in Japan and I saw MONONOKE
HIME when it first came out in Japan.(Actually, not when it first
came out, but three months after it was released.) Even after three
months of being on the screens, the theater was still packed. The line went
all the way down the five flights of stairs and all the way outside of the
building. I had to sit on the stairs between the theater seats, when I
finally got in.
Needless to say, I loved the movie. It was well worth the
wait. I cried so many times because the scenery and music were so beautiful.
The whole movie was totally moving. I can't wait for the American public to
be exposed to this piece of Japanese art. Thank you for writing such a great
article about the movie.
I just wanted to explain the meaning of the purple
"worms." These "worms" are what happens to animals when they become injured
by humans and succumb to hatred of humans and the Shishigami (the god of life
and death). Whenever someone or something forgets the Shishigami's message to
"live" and succumb to hatred, the worms and purple glob get more severe.
Thank you for promoting one the greatest movies on earth. I think this movie
could really make people think about our relation to the environment. The
message is there for everyone to interpret in their own way.
Thanks for writing. I'm sure that a lot
of folks had similar experiences to yours when they tried to see
MONONOKE HIME. I personally cannot wait to see
this film. Luckily, the film's American release has been set for this July.
Still, it seems like a long time to wait.
Thanks for the heartfelt reminder of exactly how anime can move
people. This is why we watch it in the first place.
From:Steven Hoshino (sportsmaniac@email.msn.com)
Ever since I got addicted to SAILOR MOON (and anime in general, but
especially SAILOR MOON), I can never understand why Anime can be so
successful all over the world, yet in America there are so many barriers
when it comes to an anime series. Look at SAILOR MOON in Canada, they were
willing to give the show the time to grow and prosper and it paid off
handsomely. In America, it's a roll of the dice. Same thing applies to
shows like DRAGONBALL Z. And yet, there are shows that you couldn't pay me
to see that still exist. I even heard one executive of the Cartoon Network
saying that they wouldn't put on Anime because it was too confusing. What
the hell they're talking about?
Yes, it is disappointing that anime seems to have a harder time getting on
television (and staying on) here in the United States. However, a lot of it
boils down to one thing: money. (For more information, you should read
David Ho's article on the politics of children's
television. DRAGONBALL Z seems to be faring better than Usagi and
company, though, since not only did it get renewed for a second season, but
it was expanded into an hour.
As for the Cartoon Network, I really don't know what to make of them. First,
in an USA TODAY article related to the now-infamous POKEMON incident (which is
most likely going to become the next anime urban legend), a spokesperson
for the Cartoon Network stated that they did not air anime because it was,
among other (ridiculous) things, "too confusing." They rationalized that
SPEED RACER and VOLTRON were not anime as well.
And all that was well and good, but then in January, what shows up on the
Cartoon Network but ROBOTECH, which is obviously anime. So the folks at the
Cartoon Network clearly seem to be tap-dancing around the issue.
As an interesting and amusing side-note, POCKET
MONSTERS will be coming to the United States this fall!
So, to sum up: Yes, it's hard to get anime on TV in the US; yes, the Cartoon
Network is confused about "anime"; and yes, POCKET MONSTER is coming. So
maybe getting anime on TV is a little easier now.
From: John Hokanson Jr. (isamu@usagi.com)
First of all, let me commend your excellent efforts in putting
together a truly wonderful e-zine. I have been a semi-avid
reader since you guys started. In essence, EX makes overpriced
pro-zines like Animerica unnecessary (I don't care if Animerica
has high quality paper or print). The artwork, writing, image
quality, and general layout make EX truly a pleasure to read,
and rivals anything else on the internet or free market.
The reason I am writing to you, is to thank you for abstaining
from droning endlessly on about the now-infamous POCKET MONSTERS
(POKEMON) incident. With the exception of the obligatory
news story from Egan Loo (which stuck strictly to the facts
and didn't wander off into such obscure and prejudicial topics
such as the cultural differences between western and eastern
animation), you showed great professionalism in not adding
fuel to the fire of which is merely an isolated incident. While
news agencies like USA TODAY have essentially berated anime
as overly violent and have reassured parents in the most disgusting
and unfactual way possible that anime is not going to be shown
on US TV for such and such a reason, you have done nothing.
While"nothing" may seem like a fruitless endeavor (and usually it
is), in this case it is easily the best thing. In the past, you have
always defended anime, and tried to dispel stereotypes commonly
associated with it. If news organizations or the general public
are too close minded or culturally xenophobic to realize the
error in their ways, nobody is at fault except themselves and
nobody will suffer the consequences except themselves. Anime
fandom will continue to grow despite the erroneous writtings of the
press. And just because one publication is misinterpreting something
and misconstruing it as "unhealthy" doesn't mean that it will leave
any long term negative side-effects in it's wake. Remember, they
used to say the red dye in M&Ms caused cancer, but that doesn't
mean M&Ms were banned, or M&M eatership (I think I just
invented a word) plummeted. And much in the same way, the
unnecessary ranting and rattling of sabers will eventually subside.
Thanks, and take care.
Well, I have to admit, I thought about doing something—writing a
scathing editorial, trying to replicate the incident with a flashlight and a
stuffed Penpen—all sorts of things. Then I just decided to let it blow
over.
I read with great amusement the press that the incident received, especially
one article on the USA TODAY online site that was, to say the least,
tangential. After all, the primary focus of the article was not on the
incident itself, but on how it could never happen in America. It
attempted to allay the (probably nonexistent) fears of readers by trashing
anime. Needless to say, it was offensive to anime and to fans of the genre.
In the end, I did write a letter to the editor pointing out the factual
errors in the piece and lack of research but that was all I did. After all,
what sense is there in crusading here with our readers? We know better.
It is our hope that in time, people will accept anime for what it is—a
unique form of entertainment that is different from other forms of pop
culture entertainment. That much is obvious, given the imitators in our own
popular culture today.
Given time, the POKEMON incident
will blow over, just as most of the others
do. But it's no excuse for poor journalism practices, which seems to be the
real problem when stories like these crop up.
From: John Maxwell (jmax314@yahoo.com)
I just finished the latest EX 2.8. I enjoyed the article on
DIRTY PAIR and the creator. Keep up the good work.
I was wondering who owns the rights to the movies, the episodes, and
upcoming DIRTY PAIR FLASH. Is there TV episodes on video in US? When
are the new DIRTY PAIR FLASH episodes coming out to US and which
company will produce them?
That article took a lot of work to write, but it was worth it in the end!
Who knew that Kei and Yuri had such a long and illustrious career in so many
media?
I believe most of this was covered in the article,
but the DIRTY PAIR movie
is now available under Orion's anime catalog (they bought out Streamline
some time ago), as are the OVAs FLIGHT 005 CONSPIRACY
and AFFAIR OF NOLANDIA. A.D.Vision has the rights to
both the ten episode VAP OVAs and the DIRTY PAIR FLASH
OVAs. DIRTY PAIR FLASH will be released starting this
March.
From: Thomas Hutter (thomas.hutter@unibw-muenchen.de)
Hi, I'm a 21 year old German anime fan and think you're doing a very
good job with this magazine. I also read ANIMERICA and a comparison
doesn't make much sense but your magazine is really worth reading every
article. There's a German anime and manga-mag, too, but they still need
to become more professional (to put it in a positive way).
The reason for this email is Scott Frazier's serious stuff article in
your 2.8 issue. As I was reading this, I more and more adored Scott's
sharp senses and talent to bring problems to a point. The part about
declined young people proved that he really knows to cover a problem in
all its details. But the part about annoying things in anime and manga
made me think "Wow, that's all the things that irritated me but I wasn't
even aware of that!" Scott looks at things very sharply and is able to
write down his thoughts in a manner that makes you say "I always wanted
to say it like that but never did."
Unfortunately, the situation here in Germany is not very good.
SAILOR MOON is the only show on air, with quite
some success, but people start
to think "Ahh,this is anime." On the other hand far too many
people think that anime is that hentai crap out there like UROTSUKI DOJI
(or something like this ;). But I hope things get better and more people
experience some really good quality anime here (Miyazaki's works are
mistaken for children stuff, ignorance of some people really makes me
shake).
Uhh, this mail has gotten quite long (and full with language mistakes I
fear), so I better stop here and hope that I can read many more issues
of your excellent mag in the future. Bye.
It's always nice to hear from our overseas readers, and even nicer to hear
such high praise for one of our writers.
Scott is indeed one of a kind. No matter what he writes about, he always
makes me laugh at least once. And he always manages to find the truth and
make it interesting (and often funny). Editing his articles never seems
like work. Make sure you check out this issue's installment of Scott's
column, as it may well be his Meisterwerk. |
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