If you haven't heard of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu lately, then you've been living under a rock.

That's right, living under a rock.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6430

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV)

Alternative title:
涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 (Japanese)
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (Japanese)


Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Comedy, Science Fiction

Plot Summary: On the first day of high school a beautiful girl named Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself as having "no interest in ordinary humans". She asks for any aliens, time travelers, sliders or espers to join her. Watching her weird behaviour is Kyon a boy who sits in front of Haruhi and is the only person who talks to her. Commenting on Haruhi's joining every club in school and then quitting Kyon unwittingly gives Haruhi an idea to start her own after school club. Thereafter Kyon and several others find themselves literally dragged into the Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade (the S.O.S. Brigade for short).

A series much more exciting than the pathetic description given here, it's a must-see for all!

It is just a brilliant series. The animation is fluid and high quality, and the dialogue/script is top-notch. The characters are especially interesting, from Kyon and his sarcasm while narrating and Haruhi's bizzare-yet-awesome personality. It's just plain great.

The first episode starts off as a bad student film that makes no coherent sense at all, but hilarious nonetheless. It has everything from bad shots, terrible actors, cheesy script, production members in and out of the film, terrific narration by Kyon who sarcastically critiques the films from the beginng, and Haruhi as ultra director/dictator. A "it's-so-bad-it's-good" kinda film. Very "authentic" and the student film itself doesn't get boring at all. And the end's dancing sequence just tops ot all off with a bang.

Frankly, I haven't watched this great of a series in a loooong time. So go now and catch this series.

Bye for now, and my next blog entry will be a lot less "advert-y." >_>;;

Well, I still haven't got around to finishing my TP rant/article (and that was only a rough draft, not to mention it was only roughly 1/2 to 1/3 finished).

Ahh... I really do hope I get to finish it sometime.

And regarding that issue, here's a great "article" discussing this topic (an answer to a question I sent to John Oppliger):

http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=1211

Sums up my thoughts on the matter very nicely.

Anyways, thought I'd post an update. It's sad that the Anime & Manga Union has been so dead, and now is going AWOL. :(

I really need to try to get that place up and running again.

Yes, this is a rant. But an interesting rant it is.

What do people think of when they hear the word Tokyopop? Why, "manga" of course! Yes, these days, the word "Tokyopop" has become synonymous with the word, "manga." Tokyopop, the one company that kick-started the manga boom a few years ago. Probably the largest manga company around too. Almost everyone knows about Tokyopop, especially due to Fruits Basket. Everyone loves Tokyopop, the one "leading the manga revolution." Right?

Wrong. Me? I personally despise Tokyopop, not in general, though I do tsk at their blatant claims of 100% authentic manga when it obviously isn't what with the editing/censoring and the mediocre translations. But that's not why I hate Tokyopop, nor is it the reason why I'm writing a rant about my hatred for this company, not yet at least. The few specific reasons why I hate Tokyopop is not for the problems that come along with most companies that translate and distribute foreign materials, it's their hypocritical and flawed ideology. Namely, what they label as "manga."

But first, in order to see what I'm talking about, one has to know what Tokyopop puts out as their definition of manga. And here it is:

"Manga is an often-misunderstood concept. Contrary to popular belief, there is no pre-determined "manga look." Manga is a broad Japanese term, literally meaning "entertaining visual." We at TOKYOPOP support this true meaning of manga. It's our guide when we review submissions."

That's straight from their "manga" submission pages.

A little language lesson here, manga literally means "whimsical pictures" so in that aspect, Tokyopop has already screwed up. But as we all should know, manga means comics in Japan, a general term used to describe any kind of comics, whether it be Japanese, American, Korean, whatever. In that Japanese aspect, anything can be manga. But that's not what we're using it as are we? Unless you're Japanese or live in Japan, manga means and stands for "Japanese comics." When we talk about manga in our everyday lives, we are referring to Japanese comics, not comics in general. Most manga have a certain look to them, which we simply refer to as the "manga style." The vast majority of manga share this "manga style" to which we have come to associate manga with.

There is no absolute manga style or look that dictates what a manga is or isn't. There is nothing that says if a manga doesn't have that "manga look," then it's not manga. So is Tokyopop correct? No, they aren't right. While there is no absolute axiom that mandates what a manga must look like, there does exist the "general manga look." Yes, there IS a pre-determined "manga look."

What is this "pre-determined manga look?" you say? "Isn't that close-minded" you ask?

And so shall I answer to the best of my abilities.

When you go to a book stores, you'll probably find on their shelves, one of those "How to draw manga" books. When you open up those books, it'll more than likely show you how to draw in what we call the "manga look." Whether it be a poorly made, poorly instructed crappy book made by an American, or an authentic "How to draw manga" book written by a Japanese creator, it will teach you how to draw in that "manga look." And here's the reason behind that. If you ever go to Japan, you'll see manga, and the manga you'll see will be drawn in that "manga look." Of course it would, why wouldn't it? Why is it that the vast majority of the comic made in Japan share that "manga look?" Because that IS the general manga look of that country. That's how comics look in Japan. That's how they're drawn, that look was created and developed in Japan. That is the prelevalent look and style of the comics in Japan.

Yes, you see, that is, literally, the general manga look, thus the reason why the very vast majority of the comics made in Japan share that "manga look."

Of course if a comic made in Japan doesn't necessarily have to have that "manga look," it's still considered a manga. In general, any Japanese comic is manga by nature. As I've said, there is no absolute rule dictating all Japanese comics must look a certain way, but since that "manga look" we're talking so much about is, in fact, the general look of the vast majority of the comics made in Japan, there does exist a general manga look (bah, I'm rolling my eyes now...), a "pre-determined manga look."

So Tokyopop, if it doesn't look or feel like a manga, or isn't made in Japan, it ain't a manga.

But wait, what about Tokyopop labeling these Korean comics as manga, as well as original creations that may or may not resemble manga, as manga? If they look like manga, surely they MUST BE MANGA?

And here's where I say we should call the Guinness Book of World Records to award Tokyopop for being the most deluded and pot-smoking company I've seen.

This is perhaps, the most serious problem with this company, and all these other damned companies trying to jump on the manga bandwagon.

Let me ask you guys a question, is margarine, butter? Is artificial sweeteners, sugar? Perhaps a product that closely resembles the iPod should be labeled and sold as an iPod? Are celebrity look-alikes the real thing? Is Coke, Pepsi?

The answer is a big, fat, NO.

No, no, no, no, no, no!

Another wonderful quote provided for us by Tokyopop:

"There are many elements in manga that set it apart from other comics and give it a unique position in the pantheon of sequential art styles. Determining whether something is "manga-like," as far as TOYKOPOP is concerned, is becoming more and more challenging -- the boundaries of manga are being expanded by the very artists that we publish. Our editors look for manga style, manga structure and manga influence. It's a lot more complicated than just picking art with big eyes and speed lines."

Again, from their submission pages.

Here's my stand about their "Rising Stars of Manga" anthology as well as that statement above. Bull****.

Ignoring the defnition of manga, let's say what makes a manga is determined by it's look and style (as the philosophy of the ignorant masses are concerned, if it looks like manga, then it is). Even then, the majority of the crap/"original property" churned out by Tokyopop looks nothing even remotely resembling manga, which of course, they label as manga, pushing that propaganda of "there's no set manga look." Let me tell you what they're doing, they are taking newly created American comics, either influenced by manga, thus resembling manga, or not, and labeling/pushing them to the consumers as "manga."

In the end, these aren't real manga, they're at best, pseudo-manga. A comic heavily influenced by manga, thus looking, feeling, resembling manga in most aspects.

*To be continued later, chew on what I've wrote for now. There's a lot more to come.*

Huh, the entry page looks just like the page for writing posts. Meh.

Anyways, yesterday was a good day, as I finally purchased Metal Gear Solid 3! Hooray! Excellent game. But BK was sold out at CC, and it's only $10 too. :( Oh well.

My allergies have been keeping me up, so that sucks. In fact, it's the reason why I'm still up. :evil:

...Well that's it... -_-;; For now at least.

***ARCHIVE, ENTRY FROM OTHER, NOW DEFUNCT BLOG***

Filler #2 - Celebrities, Shopping, And The Great Lie

This'll probably come off as rant-ish, but hey, I gotta say what I gotta say. And take the seriousness with a grain of salt; it's there for effect.

What it is (http://www.candies.com/): The commercial starts off with a quick (and I mean quick) shot of a Kohl's store, then cuts to a Hilary Duff in a limo with a ridiculous amount of shopping bags, all of which are from Candie's. To mention, Duff's "new" song, "Supergirl" is blaring in the background throughout the entire commercial. Next, we see Duff stepping off her limo to attend some event or another, and as she walks down the "red" carpet, there are hundreds of photographers with constantly flashing cameras on either side (the entire thing is overly exaggerated I might add). There are a couple shots of her clothes/accessories mixed in there (her bag appears to be a "Prada"). As Duff continues to walk down the carpet, Michelle Trachtenberg, Samaire Armstrong, and Ciara, respectively, are shown in shots from Duff's perspective where the stars are awed and are "checking out" Duff's "gear." Duff is then shown where she mouths, "What?" with a shot of Ciara shuffling her jacket to indicate where to get the clothes/accessories Duff is wearing. Then it is a close-up shot of Duff saying, "Candie's, at Kohl's." Trachtenberg and Armstrong are then shown nodding in understanding and the three stars rush to their own limousines. They promptly arrive at Kohl's/Candie's and run toward the entrance, along with their bodyguards/assisstants. Immediately thereafter is the three smiling and literally strutting out with a Candie's bag each, with their bodyguards at either sides of the Kohl's entrance, their arms full of bags.

And: "Any girl can wear Candie's!" enthuses Ciara. "Someone may relate to me or Hilary or Michelle or Samaire, but what is great is that no matter what her style she will relate to one of us. That's what makes it so real."

"When you see the Candie's ads, you can envision yourself with your friends having a great time," remarked Duff.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When I saw this commercial for the first time, my immediate thought was, "Holy crap..." I was disgusted; it was so...paper-thin! It's been said, and I've known of it but the impact is as strong as ever. From what I can gather, this commercial in its effort to sell to its demographic portrays a disturbing image of modern society. It's blatant message of "be cool, be us, buy because it's the only way" is not to be taken lightly.

Millions of Americans are obsessed with celebrities, those wonderful and fascinating people. People like us, yet living in a glamorous world of their own, beyond the reach of all but them. An exclusive club of the crème de la crème of society. The normal life appear dull in comparison to the excitement to be found within their lives. They are right there in our TV sets and we see them, so close yet so far away.

And naturally, people want to copy those they see as idols, and be like them. They want the accesories, the clothes, the styles, the hair, everything! And the industry plays right into this dangerous obsession for enormous monetary gain. They promote the image that be like them, and you'll be popular and happy.

I see kids in my classes talking about "that skirt" or the "brand name here" bag that costs $300. Not necessarily celebrity-influenced but very materialistic nonetheless. These kids must have the/a "certain item" to be up-to-date. They go shopping nearly every day, spending hundreds of dollar every week, buying more and buying new. And it just never ends. The illusion of "right in the eyes of society and of high status" persists. They view different as a threat to their status and alienate it thus molding further their views of "right in the world."

Ciara all but implies that all girls (whether they may deviated slightly from the criteria of a "girl of today") identify with celebrities and the attatched stereotypes, including liking products endorsed by the celebrities. That Candie's is an easy, widely available resource to acquire status of the "norm." The persuasion that this is reality, and Candie's is a means to achieve the goal.

Continuing on, the said commercial exemplifies the epitome of such ideas and the current situation of shopping and image. It just leads on and propels the march of the vizards into making the industry richer, and the depth of the people poorer. When people percieve something as real then that perception grows to become reality.

That is the scariest truth of all.