6 replies on “Trailer Park Tuesday – July 28, 2009”
I’m skeptical about the Marvel Anime stuff. Iron Man looks interesting, but who the hell is the girlie pirate captain? And only the Japanese could make someone like Wolverine look effeminate.
This is where my geek cred takes a hit. I just don’t care for Anime. Will I watch the Iron Man anime? Probably. Wolverine? Probably not. Western superheroes are only as good as the villains they fight (see Spider-Man 2 vs. Spider-Man 3) and Anime villains are, at best, one-dimensional, melodramatic, mustache-twirling, milksops.
There, I said it. Eviscerate away.
Well, I’ve said this on other boards, and it bears repeating. Different cultures have different esthetics regarding what is or isn’t handsome/attractive on a person. I’d suspect that in Japan the gigantic neckless bald space marines of Gears of War (and just about every character design to come out of say, Wildstorm, Image, and every character design Rob Liefeld looked at for longer than 4 seconds) would probably be considered with similar distaste (not to say that they wouldn’t try to put their spin on the characters, like the Japanese versions of Spawn and Witchblade).
So, I don’t have a problem with characters looking “effeminate” – just so long as they don’t look anorexic, or if I legitimately can’t tell the character’s gender (which is a problem I don’t have with those trailers).
As far as one-dimentional melodrmatic, mustache-twirling milksops go – American comic books, both Marvel, DC, and the independent scene has the exact same problem. For every great Doc Ock, Vulture, Red Skull, Kingpin, or Lex Luthor story, there’s one on par with Lex’s portrayal in Superman II.
Or, to put it another way:
Sturgeon’s Law: 90% of everything is crap.
Alexander Case’s Corollary: Your 10% and my 10% won’t necessarily match – and that doesn’t mean that either of us are necessarily wrong.*
*Unless you’re an Ultimate Warrior fan – then you’re dead to me.**
**That last was a joke.
…the gigantic neckless bald space marines of Gears of War (and just about every character design to come out of say, Wildstorm, Image, and every character design Rob Liefeld looked at for longer than 4 seconds) would probably be considered with similar distaste…
Dude, most North Americans I know consider all of those with distaste. Especially Liefeld. *shudder*
I know a few who don’t.
As it is, for what it’s worth, I like Comic books and Anime equally. From what I’ve encountered online, and in real life, this is about as blasphemous as saying that Star Trek & Star Wars are equally good and that I’d happily read EU stuff from both. It’s becoming a holy war, and it doesn’t need to be. Not all anime character designs are “effeminate”, though to be frank the only anime and Japanese video game characters who wouldn’t look positively effeminate in their builds* next to many American superheroes would be the cast of DBZ and the cast of Cho Aniki – and maybe Ryu, Ken, Guile, Lord Vega/M. Bison, Akuma/Gokui, and Adon (the huge black guy from Street Fighter Alpha) – and with the exception of M. Bison & Adon those are debatable.
I understand that anime isn’t for everyone. However, US graphic novels and comics have been dramatically more of niche books in Japan than they Manga has been in the United states. The Japanese versions of Spawn & Witchblade have done decently, but by all accounts Marvel & DC haven’t done well in Japan.
Until recently.
The X-Men, Spiderman, and Batman films have done well in Japan, with The Dark Knight making over $14 million dollars in Japan (which is better than some domestic movies do). This project provides Marvel an opportunity to capitalize on that, something they didn’t do for the Spider-Man movies, something they didn’t do for the X-Men movies – after all, while these projects are being advertised in the US, they’re not just intended for US audiences. They’re intended for Japanese audiences as well.
Oh, and for the record – while I enjoyed watching Superman: Doomsday, the animation in the Batman: Gotham Knight was better. I wouldn’t have hired an anime studio for Justice League: New Frontier though – it wouldn’t have fit with Darwyn Cooke’s style. I’ll have to see Green Lantern: First Flight to see how it works out there.
*I’m not the biggest fan of referring to characters with lean builds as “effeminate” to me, unless I legitimately have to take a moment to determine what gender the character is supposed to be (like with Fruits Basket or the first Magna Carta game – or Bridget). It feels homophobic, though the sentiment isn’t necessarily intended that way.
Oh, and Erf, that wasn’t all directed at you – it’s just a few thoughts I was thinking over from earlier that I wanted to mention while they were in my head.
My 8-year-old thought they were awesome. My 6-year-old and I … not so much. Too much pew -pew -pew in Iron Man and I didn’t know adamantium was effective on demons. I remembered why I don’t watch much anime any more – most of it gives me a headache. Must be getting old.
I’m skeptical about the Marvel Anime stuff. Iron Man looks interesting, but who the hell is the girlie pirate captain? And only the Japanese could make someone like Wolverine look effeminate.
This is where my geek cred takes a hit. I just don’t care for Anime. Will I watch the Iron Man anime? Probably. Wolverine? Probably not. Western superheroes are only as good as the villains they fight (see Spider-Man 2 vs. Spider-Man 3) and Anime villains are, at best, one-dimensional, melodramatic, mustache-twirling, milksops.
There, I said it. Eviscerate away.
Well, I’ve said this on other boards, and it bears repeating. Different cultures have different esthetics regarding what is or isn’t handsome/attractive on a person. I’d suspect that in Japan the gigantic neckless bald space marines of Gears of War (and just about every character design to come out of say, Wildstorm, Image, and every character design Rob Liefeld looked at for longer than 4 seconds) would probably be considered with similar distaste (not to say that they wouldn’t try to put their spin on the characters, like the Japanese versions of Spawn and Witchblade).
So, I don’t have a problem with characters looking “effeminate” – just so long as they don’t look anorexic, or if I legitimately can’t tell the character’s gender (which is a problem I don’t have with those trailers).
As far as one-dimentional melodrmatic, mustache-twirling milksops go – American comic books, both Marvel, DC, and the independent scene has the exact same problem. For every great Doc Ock, Vulture, Red Skull, Kingpin, or Lex Luthor story, there’s one on par with Lex’s portrayal in Superman II.
Or, to put it another way:
Sturgeon’s Law: 90% of everything is crap.
Alexander Case’s Corollary: Your 10% and my 10% won’t necessarily match – and that doesn’t mean that either of us are necessarily wrong.*
*Unless you’re an Ultimate Warrior fan – then you’re dead to me.**
**That last was a joke.
Dude, most North Americans I know consider all of those with distaste. Especially Liefeld. *shudder*
I know a few who don’t.
As it is, for what it’s worth, I like Comic books and Anime equally. From what I’ve encountered online, and in real life, this is about as blasphemous as saying that Star Trek & Star Wars are equally good and that I’d happily read EU stuff from both. It’s becoming a holy war, and it doesn’t need to be. Not all anime character designs are “effeminate”, though to be frank the only anime and Japanese video game characters who wouldn’t look positively effeminate in their builds* next to many American superheroes would be the cast of DBZ and the cast of Cho Aniki – and maybe Ryu, Ken, Guile, Lord Vega/M. Bison, Akuma/Gokui, and Adon (the huge black guy from Street Fighter Alpha) – and with the exception of M. Bison & Adon those are debatable.
I understand that anime isn’t for everyone. However, US graphic novels and comics have been dramatically more of niche books in Japan than they Manga has been in the United states. The Japanese versions of Spawn & Witchblade have done decently, but by all accounts Marvel & DC haven’t done well in Japan.
Until recently.
The X-Men, Spiderman, and Batman films have done well in Japan, with The Dark Knight making over $14 million dollars in Japan (which is better than some domestic movies do). This project provides Marvel an opportunity to capitalize on that, something they didn’t do for the Spider-Man movies, something they didn’t do for the X-Men movies – after all, while these projects are being advertised in the US, they’re not just intended for US audiences. They’re intended for Japanese audiences as well.
Oh, and for the record – while I enjoyed watching Superman: Doomsday, the animation in the Batman: Gotham Knight was better. I wouldn’t have hired an anime studio for Justice League: New Frontier though – it wouldn’t have fit with Darwyn Cooke’s style. I’ll have to see Green Lantern: First Flight to see how it works out there.
*I’m not the biggest fan of referring to characters with lean builds as “effeminate” to me, unless I legitimately have to take a moment to determine what gender the character is supposed to be (like with Fruits Basket or the first Magna Carta game – or Bridget). It feels homophobic, though the sentiment isn’t necessarily intended that way.
Oh, and Erf, that wasn’t all directed at you – it’s just a few thoughts I was thinking over from earlier that I wanted to mention while they were in my head.
My 8-year-old thought they were awesome. My 6-year-old and I … not so much. Too much pew -pew -pew in Iron Man and I didn’t know adamantium was effective on demons. I remembered why I don’t watch much anime any more – most of it gives me a headache. Must be getting old.