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rec.arts.anime: Welcome to rec.arts.anime!
Archive-name: anime/welcome
WELCOME TO REC.ARTS.ANIME
=========================
Edited by
Steve Pearl
December,1995
This is a monthly posting to familiarize new readers with the rec.arts.anime
family of newsgroups.This article can be freely distributed for
non-commercial use, as long as all credits and notices remain intact. If this
is used in any publication, including APAs & CD-Rom Collections, a copy must
be sent to:
Steve Pearl
359 Lloyd Rd
Aberdeen, NJ 07747-1826
Please send all additions/corrections/comments to:
Steve Pearl
359 Lloyd Rd
Aberdeen, NJ 07747-1826
Internet: starbuck@cybercomm.net
Changes to this posting since November, 1995:
- Expanded
o WHAT ARE THE OTHER ANIME GROUPS?
Added the Robotech groups
- Revised
JAILED description with phone number
- Added to definitions
Eyecatches
Coming soon:
Definitions:
Face Fault
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed on this post do not necessarily
represent the opinions held either by the editor or any organization
he's affiliated with.
This FAQ, as well as many other FAQ's appearing on the net, is posted
to news.answers. You can ftp FAQ's mentioned in this document from
rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet. If you do not have ftp, send a message to
"mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu" with the word "help" in the body. The
server will send you instructions on retrieving the files via email.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
o WHAT IS REC.ARTS.ANIME?
The NetNews charter list has this entry for rec.arts.anime:
rec.arts.anime Japanese animation fen discussion.
The charter reflects the nature of the group, which is discussion of Japanese
animation (and related subjects). Until 1990, this was the only NetNews
group for animation, at which point the rec.arts.animation newsgroup was
created for general animation discussions.
But why is Japanese animation singled out? Why not American animation, or
French animation, or Swazilandian animation? Because the Japanese currently
produce some of the best animation in the world, in terms of story and
technical quality. Note that although the animation for most American
cartoons is done in Asian countries these days, rec.arts.anime only concerns
itself with animation originated in Japan for the Japanese.
o WHAT ARE THE OTHER ANIME GROUPS?
Spring 1993 saw the splitting of rec.arts.anime into several
specialized subgroups:
rec.arts.anime Same newsgroup but without sales or stories.
rec.arts.anime.info Anime related news, synopses, reviews (Moderated)
rec.arts.anime.marketplace Buying & selling of anime related merchandise
rec.arts.anime.stories Anime related fan-fiction (Moderated)
When posting to moderated groups, please be sure to read the posting
guidelines, which usually appear every 2 weeks. Because these newsgroups are
moderated, articles have to be "approved" first. Reading of the guidelines
will greatly increase the chances of your article being approved and posted.
There are several other newsgroups not in the rec.arts.anime hierarchy which
may be of interest to the anime fan:
rec.arts.manga Devoted to manga.
alt.fan.bgcrisis Devoted to Bubblegun Crisis and related subjects.
alt.fan.r-takahashi Devoted to Rumiko Takahashi & her works.
alt.fan.robotech Dedicated to all aspects of the Robotech series
alt.fan.sailor-moon Devoted to Sailor Moon anime/manga
alt.tv.robotech Dedicated to the Robotech TV series.
(This group has been rmgrouped but still appears
on some servers)
Note that none of these groups is the suitable place for posting binaries
(ie, pictures, sounds, etc) The proper place for these is in the
alt.binaries.pictures heirarchy. These groups are:
alt.binaries.pictures.anime Electronic anime images
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.anime Adult-oriented electronic anime images
o HOW TO USE REC.ARTS.ANIME (For NEW UseNet users)
If you're a new NetNews reader and don't know the correct protocol and
etiquette for posting messages, the following files accessible in the
news.announce.newusers newsgroup are recommended reading:
- "A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet"
- "Rules for posting to Usenet"
- "Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions"
Some basic tips to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio:
- If you don't see postings about a subject you're interested in (and which
is related to this newsgroup), don't gripe, POST AN ARTICLE ABOUT THAT
SUBJECT! If you receive no reply in a week, TRY AGAIN! Fires don't always
start with the first spark.
- If you feel the need to insult someone, do it by electronic mail, or better
yet, write a scathing message and then throw it away. Please don't do it
here. It's irritating to the bystanders, and harmful to your public image.
- Before you submit a follow-up to a message, read the rest of the messages
in the newsgroup to see whether someone has already said what you want to
say. If someone has, don't repeat it. If you're answering a question, mail
your answer to the person and suggest that they summarize to the network.
This way the net will only see a single copy of the answers, no matter how
many people answer the question.
- If you post a question, please remind people to send you the answers by
mail and at least offer to summarize them to the network.
o DEFINITIONS
The following are short descriptions of terms and abbreviations common in
this newsgroup.
.Z: Suffix for compressed text files. See Compressed Text.
Anime: Japanese word for animation, pronounced "ah-nee-may" The term
"anime" is preferred in this newsgroup over "japanimation" (a
term used by Americans to refer to Japanese animation), as the
latter seems to be offensive to some people.
Anonymous FTP: A method to log into a remote machine without needing an
account, and extracting software from it. A list of machines with
anime resources available through anonymous FTP is given later on.
If you want to use anonymous FTP but don't know how, ask your local
System Administrator.
APA: Amateur Publication Association, a generic term for a kind of
"members only" fanzine in which the members of the association send
art or text contributions (known as "tribs") to the fanzine editor,
who then compiles all the tribs into a magazine which is sent back to
the contributing members. Note that a member of an APA is expected
to contribute something (i.e., no passive members). [For more
information, and a list of Anime APAs, send me e-mail]
Aspect Ratio: The proportions of the image rectangle. Most theatrical anime
uses an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, with some exceptions. For example,
WINGS OF HONNEAMISE uses an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This means that
the image is 1.85 times wide as it is tall.
BGC: Bubble Gum Crisis, a popular SF OVA series. The name is a slang
for a situation which is ready to blow up at any time.
BGM: Background music, expanded here to include songs.
Browser: An application for accessing the web. Popular ones include "lynx"
for text-based unix systems, Netscape & Mosaic for unix, Mac & Pc
systems, and Macweb for Mac systems. There are several others out
there as well.
CD: Compact Disc. There are four major types of anime CDs:
soundtrack - Contains the musical score for the anime. An exception
is the soundtrack for Akira, which includes the voices and
sound effects! If you just want the music, get the Akira
Symphonic Suite instead.
symphonic - A full-symphony rendition of the music in the anime.
image - Contains music that "evokes the memory (or mood) of the
film".
This includes new versions of music on the anime, music written
for the film but not included in it, and other (maybe new)
music somehow related to the film.
high-tech - A synthetizer rendition of the music in the anime.
CD-V: CD-Video. A five-inch disc that has one track of audio-and-video,
and three or four additional tracks of audio-only. It looks exactly
like a CD, only with gold foil instead of aluminum used for the data
surface.
CAV: Constant Angular Velocity. The name used for a method of encoding
images in a LD which can retrieve individual image frames from
a video. This mode allows such special effects as "perfect" freeze
frame, "perfect" slow motion, and frame-by-frame stepping. A LD
using CAV can only store 30 minutes of video per side.
CLV: Constant Linear Velocity. The name used for a method of encoding
images in a laserdisc which provides twice the capacity of CAV disks
(up to 60 minutes of video per side). The special effects available
in CAV disks are not supported in CLV disks, but some high-scale
LD players use special electronics to simulate those features.
Compressed text: Text files compressed with the Unix compress(1) program.
This is done to long text files (like anime scripts) to save disk
storage space. In order to view such a file, you must first run
uncompress(1) or an equivalent program in order to convert it back
to its original form. You could also use zcat(1) to view the
contents of the file without decompressing it.
Dubbing: Translating an anime film into another language, using voice actors
to provide the voices in that language.
Dubbing: Copying video/audio tapes. Dubbing anime tapes for purposes other
than having a backup copy is illegal according to the US and Japanese
copyright laws.
ED: Ending credits. A good place to find good animation and BGM.
Eyecatches: The short animation sequence in TV anime that announces to the
viewer that there is a commercial break and when the commercial break
is over. They've proven so popular that recent OAVs have them also,
even though there is really no need for them. (although the Giant
Robo and Ranma 1/2 OAV eyecatches are basically still frames)
Fan Service: Something that is done specifically to appeal to the male
fans of an anime. Usually involves nubile young females, either
nude or in poses wich accentuate their shapely bodies, etc, etc...
FAQ: Frequently Asked Question. A question which is frequently asked
by new (or casual) users of a newsgroup. In order to increase the
Signal-to-Noise ratio, some newsgroups have a person in charge of
posting a monthly list of FAQs and the correct answers. The Anime
FAQL consists of four postings which (hopefully) cover most things
new rec.arts.anime users look for:
1) An introduction to the newsgroup and its slang.
2) Answers to common questions.
3) Recommendations for good anime.
4) Anime Resources, both electronic and commercial.
This list is posted here the first week of every month. You're
looking at #1.
FTP: See Anonymous FTP.
GARAGE KIT: See Model Kit.
GIF: GIF is a format developed at CompuServe to store color computer
graphics in a compact, machine independent format. To view a GIF
file you need a program that reads the GIF file and produces an
image in the format used by your computer system. The /gifstuff
directory in the ix3.ucc.utexas.edu anonymous FTP site contains GIF
viewers for Amiga, Apple II and IIgs, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Sun, and X.
If you can't find what you're looking for, you can ask in the
appropriate newsgroup for your computer, or in alt.graphics.pixutils.
IMHO: In My (Humble, Honest) Opinion.
JAILED: Standing for "Japanese Animation Industry Legal Enforcement
Division", this organization was organized by almost all of the
American Anime companies (With the exception of Streamline Pictures &
Star Anime Enterprises) to combat Bootlegging & Piracy. In their
stated goals, they said they wuld not be targetting Fan Activities.
JAILED operates out of NYC and can be called at 800-917-9799 to turn
in commercial pirates.
KOR: Kigumare Orange Road, an old romantic fantasy/comedy TV series
popular in this newsgroup.
LD: Full-sized (twelve inch) laserdisc. There is also an eight-inch
format, usually known as "LD8". Bob Niland has written a variety of
general articles on LaserDiscs. They can be requested from him via
email at rjn@hpfcjn.fc.hp.com or via ftp from princeton.edu
(128.112.128.1, in directory pub/Video/Niland) See the FAQ for
more information on ftp.
Letterbox: The term used to describe the method on which a film with an
aspect ratio grater than 1.33:1 (the aspect ratio of a TV screen) is
shrunk so that the image fits in a TV screen. This will cause black
bands at the top and bottom of the screen; the greater the aspect
ratio, the more pronounced the bars. The word comes from an analogy
of looking at the screen through a letter-box slot.
Manga: Pronounced "man-gah". A type of Japanese artform which has its roots
in Ukiyo-e wood prints and other traditional art. In its popular
culture form of Asian sequential art and graphic storytelling,
manga can be found in most Japanese bookstores.
Many popular anime were adapted from original manga. Manga related
postings should be posted in rec.arts.manga, a newsgroup that was
created to discuss manga in its many incarnations.
Mailing list: A method of communication between fans of a given subject
without the need of a newsgroup. A member of a mailing list sends
e-mail to a machine called a "mailing list server", which in turn
sends copies of the e-mail to all the members of the mailing list.
To subscribe to the mailing list, send e-mail to the mailing list
server. The first line of the e-mail should look like this:
subscribe list-name yourlogin@youraddress Firstname Lastname
Mecha: Roughly, Japanese for "mechanicals". Most of the so-called
"giant robot" anime features are known as mecha features.
Model kit: Scale model. The most popular varieties of these are:
injection-molded - this is the typical polyestyrene scale model
most people are familiar with.
garage kits - usually done from plastic resin (for mecha) or vinyl
(for character models). These tend to have smaller production
runs and be VERY expensive (up to hundreds of dollars!).
OAV: Original Animation Video. An anime feature released directly to
video without a previous theatrical or broadcast release. The US
equivalent would be "made-for-video". In terms of quality,
theatrical movies are usually the best, followed by OAVs, and network
TV shows at the end. Also known as OVA (Original Video Animation).
OP: Opening credits. Another good place to find good animation/BGM.
Otaku: Japanese for "obsessed fan" (a term which applies to many people in
rec.arts.anime :-) ). See The Frequently Asked Questions list
for a more detailed definition.
OVA: Original Video Animation. Same thing as an OAV.
Script: An English-text script for a particular anime feature. Very useful
for Japanese-impaired anime fans.
Service Shot: A shot or sequence which is blatant Fan Service. Example:
The Lynn Minmay zero-G shower scene in Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Subbing: Slang for subtitling.
Subtitling: Translating a film into another language, using text at the
bottom of the screen as a running translation of what the characters
are saying.
Synopsis: A text description of an anime feature, possibly with some
snippets of dialogue thrown in. Unlike dubbing, subtitling, and
scripts, a synopsis does not require the approval of the legal owner
of the feature before it is made publicly available.
UFO Catcher: Japanese name for the Crane Game often seen at arcades.
Sometimes the prizes include plush dolls of anime characters.
URL: Universal Resource Locator. (Yes, I know I need to expand this)
(How's this: A URL is used by programs (usually browsers) to find a
specific file or location anywhere on the internet. A URL can also
be considered a "unique resource locator" as each one is unique.
For example, two sites may have the same file called PRISS01.GIF,
but the URL's will be different, such as
ftp://tcp.venice.com/pub/anime-manga/sorted/bgc/priss01.gif and
http://www.rit.edu/~bmk7411/anime/priss01.gif
(Those two are probably not valid URL's, since I just made them
up. I KNOW the second one will fail! :)
For the technically minded, a URL is made like this:
http://www.rit.edu/~bmk7411/anime/priss01.gif
^1 ^2 ^3 ^4 ^5 ^6
1: The type of service (such as FTP, Telnet, etc.).
2: The seperator to the actual address.
3: The address (or site) on the internet where the information
can be accessed.
4: The seperator to the local directory/folder of the information.
5: The folder/directory structure to locate the item.
6: The actual file itself. This isn't always there, and when it
isn't the computer pointed to by #3 will send over a default
file or other information.
UY: Urusei Yatsura, a famous comedy SF series.
WotW: WARRIORS OF THE WIND. See the Frequently Asked Questions List for
the NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND vs. WARRIORS OF THE WIND
entry.
WWW: World Wide Web. A global, interactive, dynamic, cross-platform,
distributed, graphical, hypermedia information system that runs over
the Internet.
<>
Steve
---
Stephen Pearl (Starbuck)
Internet: starbuck@cybercomm.net
QUOTES: "What is Starbuck-ing?" -Adultress 19
"Works for me!" -Rick Hunter (The Cop, not the Robotech Defender)
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edited by Steve Pearl- Moderator, rec.arts.anime.info
Email submissions to anime-info@cybercomm.net and questions about the
newsgroup to anime-info-request@cybercomm.net