Immortallium's Blog

Anime and Manga References in Western Media

Published March 4, 2021

I’ve recently been getting into a live-action TV series called “American Horror Story”, surprise, surprise, and while I was watching the first season, I noticed that a character called Violet was reading a manga, Nana to be specific. While gaining a newfound respect for the character for her good taste in manga, I also enjoyed the fact that it was subtle. I only recognised that it was Nana due to my familiarity with the series and, save for a brief shot which clearly shows off manga artwork, most people would probably mistake it for a prose novel. Soon after, I began to think about other anime and manga references in Western media.

Western animated series and films in particular contain many references to anime and manga. This makes sense to me as many modern animators are fans of the mediums of anime and manga. Easily one of the most famous examples of this is the appearance of a Totoro plushie in Toy Story 3. John Lasseter stated in an interview “we thought it was a very appropriate homage to let Studio Ghibli know how much they mean to us“.

@ChibiUFO @MichaelToole always fun to see manga on TV! I thought it was cute to see Nana on American Horror Story. pic.twitter.com/18bgDAHmO5
— ⚡Bubblegum Midlife Crisis⚡ (@bunnycartoon) January 6, 2015

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Why Are Clip Shows Even Made?

Published March 1, 2021

I’m sure that at one point or another we’ve all been watching one of our favourite TV shows, enjoying the content and eager to see the next episode when we come across an episode that is merely a compilation of clips from previous installments. Whenever my family comes across one of these shows, they pretty much give a collective groan and even make the unusual request sometimes to skip this particular entry. Taking this into account, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what clip shows are in general and why they are made.

A clip show fundamentally refers to a TV episode of a series where various clips from previous episodes are strung together to fill up the time. Usually there is a frame story that tries to explain why we are seeing all these clips again with characters reminiscing being a typical example. These clip shows are often critically derided and their only purpose seems to be to create an episode with as low a budget as possible.

Friends infamously had 6 clip show episodes.

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The State of the Epic Games Store Going Into 2021

Published February 25, 2021

As many of you are probably well aware of at this point, my primary platform for playing video games is PC. In the modern age, Steam, run by the Valve Corporation, has dominated the market to the extent that many people have accused the store of having an effective monopoly over the gaming market on PC. While other stores exist, they have all paled compared to the Steam userbase and are not considered to be true competitors. Enter the Epic Games Store which has sought to break this seeming monopoly through free games and exclusives funded through the success of Fortnite. I’ve spoken before about how I considered the Epic Games Store’s existence to be a good thing but I have also expressed reservations over the feasibility of the store in the long term. Taking all of this into account, as well as some new information that has been provided, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the state of the Epic Games Store as we enter 2021.

In the interest of full transparency, I should mention that I’m still not registered with the Epic Games Store. I still consider the Epic Games Store as a whole to be a substandard experience compared to Steam and even some other smaller distributors. However, I would hope the fact that I consider Epic Games Store’s existence to be good for the industry as well as how I’m willing to criticise Valve a sign that I’m going to be as impartial with this information as I can be.

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Interesting Cinematic Techniques Within Manga

Published February 22, 2021

Manga is a visual medium just like photography, television, film etc. I’ve compared the use of manga paneling to cinematography before but the comparisons between manga and cinematography go even further. Today, I’ve decided to take a look at the use of cinematic techniques within manga and why I find them so interesting.

Looking at some of the earliest manga such as The Four Immigrants or The Mysterious Underground Men, you’ll notice that cinematography seems quite restrictive with the imagery looking more like watching a play. However, early manga artists like Osamu Tezuka were heavily influenced by Disney films as well as live-action films in general. They sought to introduce a cinematic look and feel to their manga by borrowing several techniques.

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The Most Watched Anime Episodes Of All Time

Published February 18, 2021

When you think of the most popular anime series of all time, you probably think of series such as Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball etc. However, a group called Video Research have been collecting comprehensive anime viewership ratings in Japan since 1977 and, taking a look at their list, it may shock you to see that not only are none of the typical names we Westerners would expect there but also that the most recent episode comes from 1990! Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the most watched anime episodes of all time.

First off, it’s worth noting that, according to Video Research, one of the most viewed anime episodes of all time was an episode of the original 1963-1966 Astro Boy with a 40.3% household viewership. Unfortunately, it’s unclear which of the 193 episodes it was as no specific airdate was provided. However, I find it fitting that a series that has had such an impact on the medium of anime, from storytelling to animation techniques, has one of the most watched anime episodes of all time.

An image of Astro Boy flying in the 1963 TV series. — The 1963-1966 Astro Boy.

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Why Trope Deconstruction Is So Fascinating

Published February 15, 2021

Anyone who has consumed even a moderate amount of storytelling media will realise that many stories fall back on clichés and common themes in order to express themselves. These are called “Tropes” and, while tropes aren’t a bad thing, it can become quite tiresome when you see one appear over and over. However, some works are self-aware of these clichés and take the opportunity to reinterpret them in different, unique ways. This is called “Trope Deconstruction” and I thought I might share my thoughts on why I find these works fascinating and enjoyable.

When I was a child, I was, for the most part, blind to tropes, simply consuming media such as movies, TV series, books etc. without much consideration for the tropes that made it up. By secondary school, I had begun to develop an interest in horror films and set about consuming them with great gusto. By the time I reached Scream, I had begun to develop a particular interest in slasher films and the various tropes associated with them, in particular that of the final girl.

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Video Game Collectibles: Why I Both Love And Hate Them

Published February 11, 2021

In the past few years I have become quite an addict to video game achievements. This has seen my average game completion percentage on Steam jump from about 30% up to 64% (keep in mind that this is currently across 262 games!). However, for some seeking achievements, it’s inevitable that you are going to run into video game collectibles, a controversial topic for video gamers that has its origins in the early days of the medium. Knowing all this, I thought it might be interesting to examine video game collectibles and why I both love and hate them.

Video games have had a long history when it comes to collecting items whether it were the pellets and fruit of Pac-Man, the coins of Super Mario or the keys of Doom. These collectibles served as critical components to the gameplay by increasing the score, gaining lives or unlocking new pathways.

Look at how many collectibles there are in Pac-Man! This doesn’t even include the fruit that later appear!

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Some of the Most Distinct Manga Art I’ve Ever Seen

Published February 8, 2021

Whenever people think of the art-style associated with manga, most people will probably think of large eyed, attractive (if male, spikey haired) characters with realistic proportions. While it’s true that much of the art of manga is drawn in this style, it’s worth noting that not all manga is drawn in this fashion. Knowing that, I thought it might be worth discussing a few manga titles whose art has been amongst the most distinct I’ve ever seen.

While it would be very easy for me to point to older manga series as being distinct artistically, I will be trying to remain aware of the context of their creation. What I mean by that is that I could point to many of Osamu Tezuka’s earlier titles for having a distinctly Western animation look but, given that that was how manga was typically drawn at the time, I would avoid giving that example. Instead, I’m going to take a look at manga art that was distinct from other titles even within the time of publication.

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Why the Young Animator Training Project is Important

Published February 4, 2021

I’ve spoken before about “The Economics of Anime” where I broke down how anime in general earns revenue. As part of that article, I mentioned how pay for animators have been kept obscenely low and that this is leading to a crisis within the industry where fewer and fewer Japanese animators are working on anime series and, instead, much of the animation is being outsourced to overseas studios. As one of many responses to this dilemma, the Young Animator Training Project was established.

The Young Animator Training Project was originally established in 2010 as an initiative by both the Japanese government’s Ministry for Cultural Affairs and the Japanese Animation Creators Association, a company that seeks to improve the working conditions of the industry’s animators. They were originally provided $2.27 million to create four short films with all animation to be done within Japan itself with the goal of teaching younger animators the skills and techniques associated with animating.

The four animated shorts produced in the first year of the project.

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How Important Are Dark Themes in Children’s Media?

Published February 1, 2021

I’ve been listening to YouTube videos, in the background, as I work recently and I noted in one of the videos that a YouTuber brought up “The Land Before Time” after they saw a dinosaur in the game they were playing. The other YouTuber responded by saying “That depressing children’s movie?”. Hearing this reminded me of how surprisingly dark some of the themes are in children’s media but also how I believe that it is vitally important that children’s media tackle these subjects.

Having brought up The Land Before Time, I think it might be worth discussing Don Bluth’s philosophy when it came to directing animated films. His policy was “that kids can handle dark stuff as long as it has a happy ending” with many of his films not afraid to tackle the topics of death, trauma, abandonment etc. While some may criticise this philosophy, I believe that it makes sense that children’s media should teach kids some of the darker points of life as a way for children to understand and interpret the world.

The Land Before Time wasn’t afraid to tackle the theme of death.

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