Category: 2021

What Are Manga Box Sets And How Affordable Are They?

Published April 29, 2021

I’ve been selling some items on eBay recently and one of the items I was going to sell was the first volume of the manga Battle Angel Alita. When talking to a friend about it, I mentioned that the reason I was getting rid of it wasn’t because I didn’t like it, it was because Kodansha released hardcover deluxe releases sometime ago. While looking it up, I learned that Kodansha have now released a box set containing all of these deluxe editions. However, when I mentioned how much the box set was, about €100, my friend recoiled at the price. Even though it represented a saving compared to buying the manga volumes individually, this experience made me consider how manga box sets, while seemingly affordable, can be quite off-putting to some people.

I should probably begin by explaining what a manga box set is. On occasion, a manga publishing company may choose to release either an entire series or a part of that series in a box set with a card/plastic case and sometimes an extra or two whether it be a small artbook, an unreleased chapter, stickers etc. They also tend to be priced so that the box set is a little cheaper than purchasing the series individually. For someone looking to fill up their manga collection, these box sets prove to be quite an affordable method to do so although that is not to say that there aren’t some issues.

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What Are Anime Filler Episodes And Why Are They Made?

Published April 26, 2021

For those of you who watch various long running anime series such as Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece, etc., you’ve probably noticed that many of these series occasionally enter an arc which feels less substantial than many other arcs within the series, particularly in hindsight. These arcs may focus more on comedy and have little to no bearing on the overall story with seemingly throwaway villains and side characters. These are typically referred to as filler arcs and there are various reasons why these episodes exist and why anime continues to make these arcs.

I think one of the most important aspects to look at when it comes to why anime filler is made is the way Japanese shows are aired on television. If you take a look at the airdates for the episodes of any long running anime series such as Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece etc., something that might stand out to you is how, beyond the occasional one week break, the episodes air continuously throughout the year. This results in about 50 episodes per year, a very impressive number.

A promo image for Naruto. — Naruto’s 80 episode long string of filler episodes has become a thing of infamy.

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The Fascinating World of Warner Bros. Feature Animation

Published April 22, 2021

The 1990s was the beginning of a new era for theatrical animation. The Disney Renaissance was in full swing, seeing a level of success both in the box office and amongst the critics that animation had never seen before. Other studios were eager to profit from this new demand for theatrical animated films and the era saw the establishment of Dreamworks Animation, Fox Animation and many others. However, to me, one of the more interesting studios that was established in this era was Warner Bros. Feature Animation. This studio created many fascinating feature animation films and I thought it would be worth taking a look at some of these films, the general apathy of the world towards this new studio and why Warner Bros. ended up shutting this studio down.

The first film that was produced by this studio was a live-action/animation hybrid à la Who Framed Roger Rabbit called Space Jam. Released in 1996, this film saw revered American basketballer Michael Jordan end up in the world of the Looney Tunes where they have to play and win a basketball match against Swackhammer, tycoon and owner of the intergalactic theme park Moron Mountain and his team of Monstars. The film was a big box office success and became the highest grossing basketball movie of all time. However, critical reception was mixed and, when I look back at it now, the film focuses too heavily on Michael Jordan himself to the detriment of the Looney Tunes cast although I do confess that I was quite a fan of the film as a child.

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Intriguing Reasons Why Games Are Removed From Steam

Published April 19, 2021

The Steam store is known for becoming increasingly cluttered with an estimated 52,115 games available at the time that I’m writing this article. However, it’s interesting to note that not all games continue to exist indefinitely on the platform. Occasionally, games will be removed from the Steam store, although they typically continue to exist in the libraries of players who bought them, for a variety of intriguing reasons and I thought it might be worth looking at a few of these reasons as well as the games that have been affected.

First off, one of the more common reasons you will see a game removed from Steam is the expiration of a license. A pretty popular example would be the removal of the 2010 game, released on Steam in 2012, Alan Wake. In 2017, it was announced that Alan Wake would be removed from both Steam and the Xbox store due to expiring music licenses. It wasn’t until over a year later that Alan Wake returned to storefronts as the music rights were renegotiated. This also happened more recently to Alpha Protocol in 2019 when it was removed due to expired music rights and has yet to to be made available again on Steam.

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The Interesting Use of Manga To Promote Public Awareness

Published April 15, 2021

The promotion of public awareness campaigns can be quite a tricky ordeal to run. I, and many others, have seen billboards, internet ads and the like promoting public health, safe driving, political awareness and many other causes. However, we tend to shrug them off, not even sparing them a second glance. This is not to say that they cannot be effective, perhaps working subliminally. However, any effort that can make someone pay more attention to a public awareness campaign will, of course, be highly desired. In that effort, there are plenty of Japanese organisations that use characters from manga series to promote their causes. Considering this, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the uses of manga to promote public awareness.

I can distinctly remember the first time that I heard of a manga being used to promote some kind of public awareness campaign and how interesting I found the concept. It was back around 2010, not too long after I first started to get into anime, when I heard that the characters of K-On!, a 4-koma manga that was adapted into several anime media, were being used to promote the Japanese census in Kyoto. Since then, we have seen other series such as Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha and Sound! Euphonium (originally a light novel rather than a manga) being used to promote the census within Kyoto. While I would love to see statistics of how effective these campaigns were, the fact that manga characters are continually being used seems to indicate that they have been successful enough to continue this cooperation.

Kyoto City National Census anime advertisements:
2010: K-On!!
2015: Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha
2020: Sound! Euphonium pic.twitter.com/ZM5efflRGX
— ultimatemegax (@ultimatemegax) August 31, 2020

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How Prominent Is Anime In the Japanese Box Office?

Published April 12, 2021

I was perusing Anime News Network some time ago and came across an interesting article called “Japan’s Box Office Dropped 45% in 2020, With Demon Slayer Accounting for 1/4 of Total“. While the article has a variety of information concerning box office grosses, percentage of Japanese movies revenue etc., what really stood out to me was the fact that five of the top ten highest-grossing Japanese movies were anime films. These were Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train at first place, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s New Dinosaur at fourth place, Violet Evergarden: The Movie at seventh place, Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel III. spring song at ninth place and My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising at tenth place. This made me ponder the question of how prominent is anime in the Japanese box office.

Before I begin discussing this topic, there are a few facts that I wish to point out. First, it’s important to remember that 2020 has proven to be a highly unusual year given the fact that the world is, as of the writing of this article, facing a pandemic on a scale not seen in many decades. The quarantines in place throughout the world to slow the effect of this disease has also had a dramatic effect on many industries including the film industry and has seen box office grosses plunge dramatically. Secondly, it’s important to remember that the success of Demon Slayer was quite an anomaly with the article clearly pointing out that the Demon Slayer movie grossed a quarter of all revenue in the 2020 Japanese box office! For perspective, the second highest-grossing Japanese movie of the year, the live-action film Kyou Kara Ore Wa!! only grossed about a seventh of what Demon Slayer managed to gross. Finally, I’d like to mention that while I do intend to look at some of the highest-grossing anime films of all time, I also intend to look at how the average anime film performs in the box office and how they compare to Japanese live-action films.

The poster for the film “Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train”.

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Why Reviews Are Important When I’m Picking Media To Consume

Published April 8, 2021

When I was in secondary school, I began to become fascinated by the worlds of anime, manga, movies, TV shows etc. while also doubling down on my passion for video games. However, as you might imagine, this was quite a lot of media to juggle while I had to attend school and do homework. I had to try to determine what was worth spending my precious time and money on and one of the ways I could determine that was to watch and read reviews. When I spoke to my friends about this, I distinctly remember them saying “Ignore the reviews. Just watch what you want”. While I partially understood their reasoning, I thought it might be worth discussing why reviews remain important to me when it comes to picking the media that I consume.

I probably should emphasise that when I began to explore these media, I wasn’t entirely sure where to begin. I had watched plenty of movies and TV shows and played many video games as a kid but I was entering a new world of more mature media and had no idea where to begin. Not to mention that I was practically clueless about where to begin with anime and manga. While I did ask friends and family what some of their favourites were, I wanted to learn even more and find some hidden gems. To do that, I sought out reviews of media that I found interesting to see what the reviewer’s thoughts were and whether I should check them out.

A picture of my horror film collection in October 2020. — When I discovered horror films in secondary school, I had no idea where to begin and I turned to online reviewers to find out what movies I should seek out.

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PC Vs Consoles: Which Is The Better Platform?

Published April 5, 2021

The recent announcement that Days Gone, a game that was exclusively released on PlayStation 4 in 2019, was coming to PC this year along with a “slate” of other Sony games was, to me and others, a cause for celebration. I even wrote an article about which Sony games I’d love to see come to PC! However, some fans of PlayStation were upset by this announcement and, while the reaction has been relatively tame compared to the announcement of Horizon Zero Dawn for PC, this vocal minority remained visible. This has made me ponder the differences between the platforms and why some people may feel more attached to one over the other and so, I decided to take a look at PC vs consoles and which is the better gaming platform.

However, I should preface this article by stating that I have made my personal preference for PC as a gaming platform clear in the past. However, I intend to look at the advantages and disadvantages of both PC and consoles when it comes to gaming and I hope to discuss the topic as impartially as I possibly can. It’s also important to note that the conclusions of this article are my personal opinion and that you are free to agree or disagree with me.

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Why I Hate The Term “The Big Three”

Published April 1, 2021

When one first discovers manga and anime, you quite often begin choosing titles based on what critics, fans and friends have to say. By the time I got into manga and anime around 2009, I began to hear the term “The Big Three” frequently. Naturally, these series were amongst the first that I watched and were quite formative on my initial tastes. However, as time has gone on, I have slowly come to detest and hate the term “The Big Three” for numerous reasons.

First off, I should begin by explaining what “The Big Three” are. The term refers to both the manga and anime incarnations of One Piece, Naruto and Bleach and were considered by many to be essential reading/watching when it came to exploring the worlds of manga and anime. However, the term has become not only irrelevant as time has gone on but it has also contributed to misinformation when it comes to both the manga and anime industries and the role that these series play within them.

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The Fascinating World of Anime Production Committees

Published March 29, 2021

I’ve spoken before about the economics of anime but, in that article, I was more focused on the sources of revenue rather than the actual production of the anime themselves. Today, I’d like to take a look at the world of anime production committees and why I find them so fascinating.

To begin, let’s discuss what a production committee is. When an anime is being developed, a committee is established where companies invest money into production and are awarded certain rights such as merchandising, domestic broadcast rights, overseas distribution etc. These investments help to minimise the risk to any one company by spreading costs while allowing them to make money in their field of expertise.

Bandai is typically part of the Gundam production committees to secure merchandising rights.

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