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Skip to contentA blog about my passions of anime, manga, video games etc.
It always amazes me how different the tastes are between Japan and the West when it comes to anime and manga. Perhaps no better example shows this than the difference in popularity of 4-koma manga.
4-koma (also known as yonkoma) refers to manga that is organized as 4 equal vertical panels (although there are some examples of left to right yonkoma). They are read from top to bottom and are derived from Kishōtenketsu, an East Asian style of storytelling.
There is a common misconception that anime, as a whole, has only one art style. “Just big-eyed cute girls right?” or “Just spiky headed male characters right?” However, this could not be further from the truth! As anime has grown, many creators and artists have left their mark on what the look of anime can be.
As touched on in “Western Animation: Why it’s Worth Watching“, anime was initially heavily influenced by western animation. Momotaro: Sacred Sailors, the first animated feature film from Japan, attempted to copy the Disney style seen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia. Looking at Sazae-san and Astro Boy, both based on manga from the 40s and 50s, we can see characters drawn in a squat style similar to Betty Boop or Popeye.
Back in college, one of my lecturers told us to watch the film “Casino” by the next class. When I returned, he asked me what I thought about the film. I told him that I admired the acting in the film and the technical aspects such as the cinematography and score. However, I also said that I found the film to be a typical gangster film and that I didn’t understand why it was a story that needed to be told. His response was “But it’s based on a true story”.
This is an answer that infuriates me and yet it is an answer that I hear frequently. There seems to be a mindset that if something is based on a true story, whether it be a film, TV series, book, etc, it somehow elevates it to the level of being intellectual and beyond criticism. Logically, this also convinces people that stories of pure fiction are somehow subpar and have little cultural merit.
It can take a long time to complete a video game. The average video game can take you anywhere between 10 to 20 hours to beat and there are plenty that can take even longer! While many video games are undoubtedly fun, doing the same thing for hours upon hours can potentially exhaust you. You might be tempted to take a break and do something different, perhaps play another video game of a different genre or watch a film or a TV series. The game developers, of course, don’t want you to do this and many choose to include minigames…
When exploring the world of manga, it is very easy to get caught up in mainstream manga. Titles like Naruto, My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan are certainly entertaining series but, after a while, you burn out and begin to ask questions such as “Do I still like manga?” or “Should I move onto another medium?” The answer I found was to begin branching out to manga off the beaten path. Seinen and Josei titles certainly demonstrate the variety that can be found in this medium but nothing proves this better than experimental manga!
But what is experimental manga? Also known as alternative manga, they are often avant-garde, featuring unusual art-styles and cover themes not found in mainstream manga. Magazines that feature these works often eschew the common practice of defining themselves by demographics such as Shonen, Shojo, Seinen or Josei (although to be honest, most experimental manga would probably fall into the categories of either Seinen or Josei).
Most assuredly one of the most infamous aspects of anime and manga, I have made my opinion on fan service well known. However, let’s discuss the history of fan service, what it started out as and what it has become and how it should perhaps change, particularly as Japanese popular culture becomes more global.
When hearing the words “Fan Service”, I and many others immediately imagine the image of highly sexualized anime and manga characters (usually female) in provocative positions and outfits. However, it might interest you to remember that the term fan service simply means content that pleases the audience and can mean a wide variety of things.
It seems like the logical answer to this question should be a resounding yes. Surely the majority of gamers finish the games they play, right? While pondering the question, I was reminded of a statistic I saw many years ago where I read that only 10% of players finish the game they are playing. Of course, that news story is quite old by this point. I went looking for more recent information and discovered a news article from late 2017 which calculated how many people completed a game based on their achievements. While not as dire as the earlier news story, it does seem to show that a majority of gamers do not complete the games they start. Why is this?
An obvious answer would be that people give up games they are not enjoying. I know for sure that I have given up on games in the past because I was not enjoying them. Life is too short and time too precious to be spending time playing a game that you dislike (unless you are reviewing the game, streaming the game, doing research etc).
Long ago, I can remember going to an anime film festival in Dublin. I saw many great films such as Redline and Summer Wars but one of the standouts was a film called “The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya”. Watching it, I could tell it was a sequel but I still remember how much I enjoyed the film. I bought the TV series from a now defunct company called Beez Entertainment and soon discovered that the franchise had started out from something called a “Light Novel”.
Light novels are targeted at a young adult audience and are generally 200 to 300 pages long. The most distinguishing characteristic of these novels is the anime/manga style artwork that are scattered throughout the novel, often depicting a scene from the previous page. While many light novels are first published as volumes, some are serialized in anthology magazines before being compiled into volumes.
It is likely that, if you’re an anime fan, you have heard the term OVA before. But what is an OVA and how and why has this format developed? An OVA stands for “Original Video Animation” and refers to anime that’s released initially on home video formats such as DVDs and Blu-Rays (although historically this would also include VHS and LaserDisc).
It is important to note that direct to video doesn’t have the same negative reputation in Japan as it does in the West. Back when VHS began to be released, a new genre known as “V-Cinema” was developed which saw Japanese indie directors release their films straight to home video. By the time the first OVA (Dallos) was released, direct to video was viewed as a respectable, perhaps even prestigious, way to release content.
I remember going onto the Humble Store in the past year and seeing that Square Enix games were on sale. From past experience I knew that the sale would only include their Western titles such as Tomb Raider, Life is Strange and Deus Ex. A few days later, I saw that Square Enix Japan had decided to join the sale. However, whereas Square Enix’s Western titles were as much as 85% off, their Japanese games were limited to 50% off or less. This made me think about how Japanese publishers price their games during sales compared to Western publishers.
The first thing I want to address is the possible misconception that this article is about self-entitlement. I could easily imagine someone reading the first paragraph and thinking “This guy just wants cheap games!” However, as I’ve mentioned before, I primarily play Japanese games and my only platform for video games these days is the PC. It wasn’t too long ago when very few Japanese games came out for PC and I wish to see them succeed on the PC platform.
