Editorial
By James Bade.
"ROOTS"
Just getting back into Toronto on Tuesday evening, I began to reflect on some interesting encounters that I made during my trip. In all honesty, I didn't think that I'd find any sort of Anime related merchandise over there, but to my surprise I did find some anime at a Sunrise: The Movie Company store. They were holding a promotional sale 10% off every Anime title in the store, and if you bought more than one title; every title was 20% off of the ticketed price! Not to mention that you received a FREE Neon Genesis Evangelion Poster as a bonus! With the translation from American dollars to Canadian currency, the price was just right for what I purchased (and for an Eva Poster, you bet your bottom, I'll spend!). This was quite a fortunate find for myself, since I hadn't had any Anime exposure for the past three days (I NEED MY ANIME FIX!), I considered this a relief from an otherwise boring vacation (IF YOU CAN CALL A TRIP TO CINCINNATTI FOR A BOWLING TOURNAMENT A VACATION!!! DAMN MY FAMILY!!!).
No sooner did I purchase the titles, the boredom from the trip continued. As my mother and my uncle bowled the days away, the rest of us (mainly comprising of 18 - 20 year old's) were stuck at the hotel. Our only relief seemed to be a refreshing swim in the pool, or in my case viewing what little Anime I had brought with me recorded on my camcorder (NO! I DON'T MEAN BY POINTING THE CAMERA AT THE T.V. AND RECORDING IT LIKE I WOULD A PERSON!... ALL CAMCORDERS HAVE THE ABILITY TO ACCEPT VIDEO SIGNALS THROUGH THEIR IN/OUT VIDEO CABLE PORTS!!!). One day completely bored out of my mind, I decided to follow my mom on one of her excursions to the bowling alley (I will never make that mistake again...). After nearly 7 hours of NON-STOP BOWLING, I decided to WALK to the nearest mall, and see if there was ANYTHING there that could amuse me. No sooner did I get there I saw a huge plaza (Mini Mall for all you Yankees), and one of the stores which caught my eye was Media Play. I dropped in for a look, and instinctively headed for the video section (It's not my fault! I'm just weak!!!), searching frantically for nearly 10 minutes I was nearly convinced that there was no anime to be found in this store, but just as I was about to give up, I wandered into the Adult video section. Realizing where I had stumbled into I began to leave, when suddenly I spotted Gunsmith Cats from A.D.V. films staring right at me. Before I knew it I was searching through two shelves of commercially released Anime (I didn't know quite what to think at the time, I mean first I'm happy to find any anime in the store , and then I'm shocked that it has to be near the adult video section). The prices at Media Play were not as welcoming as those in Sunrise (partially due to the fact that they weren't having a sale), but this was a lot better than being totally bored out of my mind. To my surprise I stayed in that same spot for nearly 1 hour, just staring at tapes and reading the synopsis' over and over (you'd be surprised at the types of summaries that are being used on the backs of some tapes!), several people would come and look at the tapes then leave, others came for the Adult section...
Another 20 minutes passed, I was about to head back to the Lanes to see if my family was finished when a young man suddenly spoke to me. He was in his mid 20's early 30's, approching me he asked a strait forward (yet unusual question) "You Japanese?", startled and somewhat flattered at the question (OH HUMOR ME FOR IDOLIZING A CULTURE!), I replied "Sorry, no..." we then began a LONG conversation about Japanese animation and how each of us got into the medium. Exchanging stories and laughs about Anime (along with short debates about which Anime would be better to show to a first time Anime fan), the conversation soon turned to the subject of violence in Anime. "You seen this one?" he asked, "Violence Jack?" I replied, "Yeah, I've seen it... ...in it's original Japanese only, version with NO subtitles!", "Yeah... That's a GOOD one!", he replied. Intrigued by this statement, I continued the conversation; "I didn't like it though, too many Rape scenes, and Necrophilia...", "Yeah! But that's what makes it COOL!" he said excitedly. It was at this point that I felt the need to get back to the alley, but something I needed to know made me stay with him.
I began to ask him why he felt that Violence Jack was so cool, and all he could say was that This was the reason he got into Anime, for the Violence. At that moment, I began to realize just how right he was... Then as if guided by some force, the man picked up a copy of AnimEigo's BAOH and asked me if I had seen it. To him it was just another Anime flick, but to me it was one of the most Ironic things to have ever happened to me... I responded that I had seen the film, and in fact I had seen it (once again) in it's un-edited non-subtitled version. I then continued to say that this film was the First film which I ever saw of Japanese Animation, and that it was the capitol reason why I started collecting Anime in the first place. Nearly bursting with aspiration for himself, the man waved the tape in my face (in a friendly manner) saying "See! You got into it 'cause o the Violence!", smirking to myself at the manner in which he spoke (Ohio natives have a DEEP accent) , I replied "Yeah, I know... but I grew out of it.", not being that much older than the man (although it would seem he doesn't see many asians in those parts) he replied "Yeah, but you're not that old are you ?" then patted me on the head (this is what agrivated me and I decided to leave). This situation isn't exactly what I wanted to have happened on my vacation, but it did make me realize just how trends are started, how some things are just FADS to some people, and how truly special some things are to others. For this person, anime is a FAD which he will grow out of (at least for now), but for myself, I realized a long time ago that Anime was something that was more than just a new WILD ACTION FILCK, and I wanted to see just how special really Anime was. Discovering that Anime was more than just Violence and Sex, was a LONG and sometimes difficult road (you won't believe how many times I had to defend myself from the pull of my peers, who said that watching CARTOONS was a waste of time). However, when I did find the other aspects of anime, Love Comedy, Romance, Role Playing, Mecha, Etc. I truly saw how much Anime was a part of my life. Anime is a special medium which has captured the hearts and minds of many people in the Hollywood industry, some, like Rick Berman (producer / writer of Star Trek TNG) have come out publicly speaking about his influences in Anime, and how anime is important to many people . However, it is also important to realize how people got into Anime in the first place.
In my case, it stated before I knew what Anime was (shows like Grandizer, Starvengers, ROBOTECH, Etc.), in fact I didn't even realize that it was Japanese until I started collecting Anime religiously. Baoh was the first Anime title which I had seen, in its original un-subtitled format. In all honesty, I did begin my anime life wanting Violence, this didn't mean that I was a violent person, it just meant that I wanted to see something which was different from the average cartoons which I was accustomed to watching. It is this fascination with a new form of Animation, which attracts people to the Anime medium. Seeingsomeone's head being blown off in a cartoon (you can take this any way you want to, echi or otherwise), will attract at least a handful of people regardless of upbringing, or religious background. Why? Because it's different, because its unlike anything anyone has seen here in North America. It is for that reason alone that Anime has become so popular nowadays, and at its current state here in North America Anime is nothing but a FAD, to most people, a FAD which will eventually end.
FAD's are quick to catch on, and also die just as quickly... Some of us remember the YO YO come back of 1988, The Ninja Turtles craze back in 1986 - 1990, The continuing remote control car fad, and I can even recall an old Toy Car Fad in which you 'upgraded your mini toy car with attachments to make them go faster and faster. All of these were just FADS, and they lived their lives and died just as quickly as when they started. Anime, is just a FAD for many people today, but for myself and others who have dared to continue Anime, it has become something more. Something which we can be proud of, something which many of us have tried hard to present to others in a NON-bias way, in the hopes of bringing more and more people into this unique medium which has captured our hearts. I'd like to offer a partial reason to people as to why Anime hasn't died off like some other FADS (most fads only last a few years, some not even 6 months, while anime has been an underground FANDOM ever since ROBOTECH, and only recently *1990* come into the mainstream) through my own experiences:
For myself, trying to find Anime where there was none proved to be quite a challenge. Searching Chinese LD shops for LD's, Plus my mentor Erol who had an abundance of Un-translated Anime in his house, seemed to be my only outlets into the anime world. Having nothing to go with, I nade it my business to find out more about Anime. This led to BBS's (the internet wasn't yet as famous), more chinese stores, the viewing of un-subbed Anime, and the catching of 'KEY' phrases in Nihongo for 'cool' sayings (BAKA ^_^). This only furthered my need to learn more about this unique medium where cartoon characters can kill each other, and engage in sexual activity (UROTSUKI DOJI was big in those days ^_^ *un- subbed*). Finally exausing my resources, I was content with the ammount of knowlege I had accumulated until then. Realizing that my labors could go no further unil I could find new sources of information, or sources for visual consumption to fuel my quest of Anime knowlege. Then sometime back in 1991 I stumbled across a Blockbuster Video store which rented SUBTITLED JAPANIMATION, it was then that my hard work during thepast years seemed to pay off. I knew more about the medium than the average person, and I knew what I wanted when it came to renting, so I wouldn't be dissapointed when I rented it (Also I didn't waste any money trying to decide which title I wanted the most). I realized then that it was the journey which kept the excitement going for me, the fact that I found something different, and that I struggled to find out more about it, made me feel that this medium was special and important to me. However, I can never replace the feeling when I watched subtitled Anime for the first time. Actually understanding what I was watching seemed like a dream come true. It is here that I must back track and explain something else to the new anime fans who are only now getting into anime...
While I and many others like myself had to struggle with un-subtitled anime, there are now so many companies out there who are providing professionally released anime to the general public. What was once an underground fandom has become profitable in the eyes of a select group of perhaps loyal anime fans such as Viz Video, or hard core business people like Central Park Media. However, no matter who produces the Anime here in North America, the result is the same, and I believe that in the words of a fellow Otaku Kent (who has also witnessed the progression of Anime from Fandom to Mainstream), said it best "Your Members are Spoiled!". While Kent and I had to struggle to understand Anime, and enjoyed the ride getting there. The Anime fans today havebeen 'spoiled' by the Fansubs, North American anime sub's / dub's, to the point that there was no longer any fandom involved.
These days anyone can just pick up a title from A.D.V., AnimEigo, U.S. Manga Corps, Software Sculptors, Etc., and not care weather or not it was a work created in Japan, or who created the titled, or even who designed the characters in the show. To some of these new fans (like the man I met in Cincinnati), Anime is just Violent fun! And to them it's just a FAD which will live its life and die. This may seem a little harsh on some of the new fans just getting into Anime, but you must understand that the way things are right now, you're getting everything served to you on a silver platter. The whole reason that we Otaku are the way we are, is because of the hardships which we had to face to become the fans we are today. If it weren't for those hardships , then Anime would just be a FAD like any other, something to get bored with and tossed aside like anything else if it didn't suit his or her tastes. Or to be used by leaders and accepted by followers, and once the leaders gets bored of Anime, so do the followers. It is my hopethat this will not happen to the future generation of Anime fans.
There is light at the end of the tunnel though... And history it seems has a chance to repeat itself. Like Robotech, which had a large underground following, Sailor Moon also has the same type of Fandom. I have noticed on my surfing of the web, how many SM sites there have been recently, and in all honesty many of the sites currently published aboutSailor Moon, rival those of ROBOTECH. The quest for the whole picture (the truth) of Sailor Moon has prompted fans to go beyond DIC, to go strait to Japan, and even to TOEI for more information about Sailor Moon . Like Kent and myself, these fans are beginning a long journey to find the truth about their favorite shows. Who created them, how far they have continued, and any possibility of getting more episodes here in North America. It is these fans who will keep the Anime FANDOM from falling into the trap of the FAD. It is for these fans that Anime continues to push forward to better things. Never dying, and always fresh in the minds of those who understand it for what it truly is...
Not violent fun, but a medium created by one culture to be embraced by so many other different cultures. With this in mind, I believe that Anime will continue FAR into the future, with no fear of dying like so many FADs before it.
J.B.
(Editted by A.D.J)