Ep. 093 - At World's End

The home for everything about MAHQ's flagship podcast.
User avatar
jcncasval76
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:44 am
Location: San Francisco
Contact:

Re: Ep. 093 - At World's End

Vent Noir wrote:Is there any way for people who live outside the U.S. to help oppose SOPA?
Well, if I remember correctly, Canada had tried their hands on something like that last year, and the reaction at that time mirrored those that we just have the last 2 days.

Check out this link and it sounds very familiar to SOPA and whatever else Congress has been cooking up lately.
http://openmedia.ca/
Please don't make me quoting certain wrestlers' catchphrases (What?!) or you don't want to find out how nasty it gets (What?!). Tell me you didn't just say that (What?!)
User avatar
Kenji
Posts: 713
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:20 pm

Re: Ep. 093 - At World's End

gundamtype0 wrote:The Japanese otakus' purchasing habits haven't really changed since the late '80s. These guys have been paying these exorbitant amounts of money for VHS, LDs, DVDs, and now BDs for more than 15 years with almost no visible signs of changing.
Actually, looking at the anime "field" over the last ten years, I'd say it has been changing.

Anime, over the last ten or fifteen years, has seen decline so endemic that it should be a new textbook example. Mainstream audiences are being discarded in favor of lowest-common-denominator otaku, who are enticed by catering to specific fetishes and the most cynical use of censorship laws to advertise Blu-Rays during the television broadcast.

Of course, the problem of smut -- and that's what a lot of anime has degraded to, these days -- is similar to Twilight vs. Harlequin bodice-rippers. Harlequin romances gleefully descend into whatever fetish the author's into, which ranges from "turn-off" to "disgusting" depending on how out-of-sync the author is with the reader's personal tastes.

Twilight, if for no other reason than Meyer's idiosyncrasies, doesn't indulge in porn for three whole novels (i.e. the entire phenomenon). This allows the reader's imagination to take control and deliver fantasies most appealing. This, I think, is one of the reasons for Twilight's success.

Similarly, it's difficult to like Seikon no Qwaser or Strike Witches if you don't find what fetishes they're catering to appealing. Of course, mass appeal isn't how these shows were constructed, so they'll push it as far to the envelope as they can to secure dominion over their respective fiefdoms. However, in the big picture, none of these can become a mass-market phoneomenon, and none of them will ever make all that much money, no matter how much they game (e.g. iDOLM@STER and their Gravure game installments) their audience's pocketbooks with cheap tricks.

Further, even fanboys eventually start to feel burned and drop out. Since most companies have a "Red Ocean" mindset, they'll assume their customers are being taken away by smuttier products instead of dropping away due to disinterest, and will intensify their own smut to seize them back. This, as we've already been seeing, gives Sankaku Complex more material to "report" on and contributes to further decline for reasons I've described above.
"This is the truth! This is my belief. At least for now."
User avatar
Mu La Flaga
Posts: 1433
Joined: Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:06 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Ep. 093 - At World's End

The Fowl Sorcerous wrote:the fact that bandai ent had to bid on licenses wasn't even the worst of the stupid. there were plenty of cases where they were forced by bandai japan to win those bids, thus overpaying for a lot of their library.

As for the protagonist(s) of the show that shall not be named - it doesn't ZOINKS matter who wore the protagonist's hat, because they're all terrible characters. Kira doesn't develop at all, Athrun is running through the same development arc as he did the previous series without the gravitas of having to confront his father, and Shin is less and less of an agent in the plot as progresses. So screw all of them, I'm happy the destiny dvds will be going out of print soon.
Ok I hate to say this.
But I wanted to say something of all the times when Bandai is mostly in essence closing up.
You took an opportunity to bash on Destiny and not mention any of the other titles you may very well miss or appreciate what Bandai did?

I mean not to single you out, but your comment just comes accross rather negatively.
I'm not trying to defend Destiny, besides you and Neo had your episode discussing that. :P
(I'm just saying this as someone who considers it an OK series)

I mean really it's a shame people can't see all these series once they run out of print and are out of stock all around.

Just wanted to say that, not trying to start anything.
As I said your comment comes accross as kind of negative.
Then again I suppose part of your name is Fowl for a reason. :P
User avatar
hotlimit
Posts: 237
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:20 pm
Location: America

Re: Ep. 093 - At World's End

Mu La Flaga wrote: I mean really it's a shame people can't see all these series once they run out of print and are out of stock all around.
Barring any serious legal action against 'internet sharing', many people will still have access to the shows. But yes, the fact that I won't be able to acquire physical copies of them easily if I don't plan now upsets me. I've been putting a little money aside for the two Zeta box sets, so I'll own those eventually, but no MSG, no Seed, no Destiny, no Wing (I haven't even seen Wing before! My fault for not watching when it was streaming)... too sad.
User avatar
Mu La Flaga
Posts: 1433
Joined: Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:06 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Ep. 093 - At World's End

Or to further my point is.
For future potential fans hey will be harder and scarcer to accquire unless someone does license rescues.
User avatar
Dollow
Posts: 72
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 12:36 am
Location: Riverside, CA, US

Re: Ep. 093 - At World's End

(Skyrim) Macho Dragon Mod

I just watch this, and Chris Thank you for mentioning this as I watch this I almost died from lack of air watching this. Thank you.

I was talking to my friend about the downfall of Bandai USA, and he was sad, and we came to the best way to some up the whole topic.

"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops"
Jack from Fight Club.

I feel that is true for the anime business, and Chris your right, if we lost the anime business in the State at least, I would not lose everything good to watch, but I will say I would lose most of it as I am on the brink of completely boycotting visible media in the U.S., I guess a friend of my would say that is personally problem.
Agent Zero of Team Neo
Everywhere I have searched for peace and nowhere have I found it, except in a corner with a book
Dollow's Blog
Dollow's Twitter
User avatar
jcncasval76
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:44 am
Location: San Francisco
Contact:

Re: Ep. 093 - At World's End

Chris, Neo, SoulBro, and everyone,

here's the proof of what Neo and everyone hosting Gundamn was saying, please look at the picture below and BE END OF THE RUBBISH DISCUSSION on Seed Destiny as Shinn Asuka WAS the original main character of that show instead of Kira Yamato. Who else wants to revise history with that again? Thank you.

http://download.minitokyo.net/Mobile.Su ... 173477.jpg
Please don't make me quoting certain wrestlers' catchphrases (What?!) or you don't want to find out how nasty it gets (What?!). Tell me you didn't just say that (What?!)
User avatar
LightningCount
Posts: 918
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:02 pm

Re: Ep. 093 - At World's End

Got some info to add, but great show with a lot of important points.

First, I've recently heard from someone familiar with Bandai that the Gundam franchise DVDs in Canada have traditionally outsold US sales by 3 to 1, and that Vancouver in particular is a "Gundam town."

Also, in a recent interview with ex-Bandai employee Jerry Chu, he noted how Bandai would market directly through Cartoon Network. I think what we're seeing in the anime industry is not just the fall of some companies, but the end of a "wave." No, it doesn't mean it's the end of everything, but it is the other foot dropping on anime trying to step any further from the niche market. Toonami was a kingmaker. If you look at when anime started to take off the marketplace in a more mainstream manner, it was with Toonami, and this continued into the early years of Adult Swim (itself an extension of the Midnight Run concept, as some of its shows were slated for Toonami prior to being bumped up). Gundam Wing, Blue Sub #6, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop...all of these Bandai shows, noted in recent interviews like the ones with Chu or Iyadomi as being successes, were greatly exposed through Cartoon Network. There is correlation. Toonami started in 1997, and hit its stride around 2000, and that's the time you started to see anime have its boom on shelves.

Toonami made Funimation as far as I'm concerned. DBZ was floundering in syndication, until Toonami put together their unique branding to it, and made it "cool." That laid the groundwork for Funimation to move ahead. Similar things happened with Sailor Moon, and to a much smaller extent, Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers. Is it any wonder Gundam Wing did so well when you look at how its content was presented in Toonami's custom trailers and bumps? Conversely, when Toonami was downsizing and on life-support in the mid-2000s, it was around the same time you saw anime in decline at the marketplace. You could go more in-depth than this, and this could go on and on with nuance, but I think that Toonami played a big role in this anime wave. I mean, before that, you had Manga Video and other assorted company titles in Blockbuster, and that was about it.

As for Gundam X and SoulBro's petition, it hurts, man. Probably my biggest lament about "B" going down. GX deserved better, IMO.
My Mecha/Scifi Novels: https://www.goodreads.com/series/168677 ... -war-arm-x
"May you rest in peace, the betrayed and outraged Milliardo Peacecraft."
Most-Wanted Gundam Anime: Episode Zero, Blue Destiny, Rise from the Ashes, Crossbone
Post Reply