Edward and Alphonse Elric are the greatest Alchemists to ever walk the world. The older, known as the Full Metal Alchemist attempted to recreate his recently deceased mother and wound up nearly destroying himself and his younger brother Al. Al was immediately sent beyond, leaving Ed alone without a right arm and left leg. Such is the law of equivalent trade. Miraculously, Edward did what very few have ever done; indeed he might be the only one. He performed a soul transmutation, and placed his younger brother's spiritual remains into a suit of armor. What begins as a horrible tragedy turns into an adventure filled with horror, humor, murders, thrills, traitors, and tyrants. So why do so few people know about it?
Because this is the world of anime, and while my sister Jamie and I got to experience one of the most incredible stories ever told this winter break, many will not even know anything about it or that it even existed. Anime, like video games, has fallen under its own weight of inward, criticizing and odd fan base, and also suffers from a culture gap between the west and the east. So what is happening to Anime? What makes it so inferior and what keeps it from being wholly experienced by much more people?
Embarrassment
I'll tell you straight up what the most odd places to find people is in a book store or movie store. It's the anime, manga, and role-playing sections. Do not deny that whenever you walk by those mainly white manga books with big overdrawn eyes and flawless pasty skin and ridiculous clothing and hair, you immediately look around to make sure your curiosity has not been noticed. It's okay to be interested in those kinds of things. That's why there are whole sections dedicated to people who want to buy them and experience them. But somehow it's just not the same as walking through the cooking, architecture, or sports section. Walk through the cooking section and if you're a woman, you might be looking for a great recipe for a get together. If you're a man, you're attempting either to stop eating tuna fish and hot dogs, or you wish to be a more cultured individual, or you're looking to drop a couple pounds. Architecture is a radiant show of competence. I can tell you right now, I would have a huge amount of respect for anyone just looking in the architecture section. I couldn't help but ask, "dude, do you build things?" Sports is a complete beast of its own.
Go to the Manga section, or Anime section of a movie store, and you're gonna get looks. I know because I've done it. Then I go check out whatever they're looking at online. The point I'm making is that like video games, a sense of embarrassment comes up when discussing these hobbies. Not I'm not saying all, because I can think of four people right now that would say, "no dude I don't care" but it all depends on the receiving end of the conversation. If I was ever at a bar sitting directly across a stranger of the opposite gender, there is no way in hell you will ever hear me say, "I watch Anime, play video games, read about philosophy, and eat hot dogs." Now granted I have a large problem being myself in social situations which is why I try to avoid them, but the fact remains that my self-esteem cannot cope with it. So like video games, anime has become an underground culture, and with that breeds....
Contempt
Let's be clear: we all know what kind of smack talk goes on in Call of Duty and Halo Reach. If a new gamer was introduced to this social experience, he could actually call it cyber-bullying. Veterans know "you just gotta let that stuff go" but it's not a for sure thing. As video game technology improves, like Kinect for the Xbox 360 which allows the body to be a controller, and the Wii, more family players and fringe consumers are getting in on the game, literally. This can be said for Anime as well. "Anime" is just short for animation. Try to count all the animated and computer generated movies and tv shows in the past five years. You can't, because now the world has become so used to it that it's a second nature thing. Ever since Toy Story, the animated world has skyrocketed forward. There's no going back, but this is a big sign that things are improving. But one big thing is stopping both video games and anime from taking off: the fanbase.
You guys have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores, it just makes it okay for guys to call you that. -Tina Fey, Mean Girls.
While this movie has nothing to do with video games or anime, I think it points out a blaring subject. As long as the community continues to debase itself with bad sportsmanship, ridiculous and unnecessary sexual content and sometimes violence, and crude jokes, these two will never take off. Anime has a huge problem with often times using women as a medium to bring in audiences. Sailor Moon anyone?
Not to mention the countless sex driven games like "Dead of Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball" which obviously used the volleyball to show off other things.
Until this kind of crap is halted, video games and anime to people comes off as being childish, when really it's not anymore. And until we prove this to people like Matt Chandler, all people will follow the rule that all video games and anime do is ruin our children. This is a bold faced lie when you consider amazing games like LIMBO, and Mass Effect 2 and consider amazing anime shows like Full Metal Alchemist, Trigun, Avatar(it's American, but it's good), and Dragon Ball Z.
Growing up Animated
Anyone in my generation will always conclude that TOONAMI, a program short consisting of anime that aired right after school on Cartoon Network, was the best thing that ever happened to them on TV. Sailor Moon, Reboot, Inuyasha, Gundam Wing, Hamtaro, Zoids, Batman: the Animated Series, and the ever famous Dragon Ball Z were all shown on it. It ran for over ten years. It defined our entire generation. Heroes and villains were all fully realized. What's amazing is that many people have no idea what any of these are.
TOONAMI died in September of 2008. Ever since, Cartoon Network in my opinion has struggled to find an identity. Zane and I continue to watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Adventure Time (best cartoon on air right now). But other than that, CN needs to do something grand like TOONAMI to really blow off Nickolodean's goo and Disney's child stars. TOONAMI was everything for every child. Wanna see stuff blow up? Watch Dragon Ball Z, or Gundam Wing. Wanna see characters struggle with identity? Watch Outlaw Star or Inuyasha. Wanna watch philosophy of human nature? Watch the Big O, or Gundam Wing...again, or Outlaw Star...again.
It's important to understand where these shows carried us, and what they provided for a growing world of television and a loss of traditional family lifestyles. In an almost horrible or grand way (whichever you prefer), TV, and Anime really did become our "babysitter." And while some want to kill the babysitter, some do not even know who it was. And in our case, it was TOONAMI.
Every guy my age remembers hurrying home from school to catch whatever show they wanted. Remember? This was before TiVo, and it's not like my parents were running out to buy all 20 seasons of Dragon Ball Z.
TOONAMI wasn't the only breakthrough to mainstream life. Adult Swim, also on Cartoon Network also provided more mature shows for more mature audiences starting at 10 at night. Full Metal Alchemist, the show I started this essay with, is on air right now on Adult Swim. My generation experienced a golden age of anime. We could catch the shows after school, eat dinner, go to basketball or football or band or dance practice, come home and finish up with shows at night.
So what's wrong with it? After all these huge examples, I feel like Anime is in a lull. Maybe it is because I'm older but without TOONAMI, I feel like all the ground gained is lost.
I'm looking at the wiki page for TOONAMI. Their motto was, "building you a better cartoon show." Their slogan was, "the revolution will be televised."
The next time someone wants to watch Full Metal Alchemist, or wants to try showing you Animatrix, or maybe has an interest in Wolf's Rain, don't throw it away. Give it a shot. You might be decently surprised. The next time you become decently surprised at an anime cartoon show meant to entertain people five years younger, tell someone. Maybe then, we'll all be better for it. And for the people like me who feel horribly embarrassed about it: relax, and watch what you want.
No comments:
Post a Comment