Japanese Animation Catching on in U.S.

AP via Yahoo ^ | Thu Dec 9, 3:30 PM ET | By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer

[melbell]

Pikachu is by far the cutest.

[TalonDJ]

Did you notice they way 'Star' Scanty, the real life group that sings all the opening kept popping up throughout the series? They even opened for her in her last concert.

[weegee]

America has the biggest budgeted movies in the world.

Most nations spend on a single movie what an America studio will spend on just the advertising and wrap party.

[JenB]

Yup, I noticed! Hard not to when every time they showed up they were singing one of the openers.

I never did like the last closing song, it didn't have the emotional power of the second and third songs.

[JenB]

Pikachu's not cute, I don't like Pokemon but even so...

Cute: the animal forms of the Zodiac people in "Fruits Basket".
The Shinigami plushy forms in "Full Moon wo Sagashete" (and Takuto the Cat-Boy Shinigami is cute in his other form, too...)
Kon from Bleach is cute
Al, the little brother and suit of armor from Fullmetal Alchemist. His big brother Ed is hot, not cute.

I love anime... and I love anime guys who are cute-ish without being pretty.

[TalonDJ]

You named a pet peeve of mine. In Japan they don't (usually) match the lip movements. Then when companies dub stuff into English they butcher it so that they DO match the lips. How stupid is that?

[stacytec]

I can't help but think of the South Park Chinpokomon episode when reading this.

[TalonDJ]

My favorite talking animals are the ones in Mononoke. hehehe 'Cute' hardly applies.

[JenB]

Notice that they did not make my list...

The little fuzzy things in "Spirited Away" were cute...

[melbell]

you lost me...I don't have enough anime in my history.

Just started watching it a couple years ago when I married Mr. Melbell...who wants to be Japanese ;)

Anyone know where I can buy a REAL samurai sword that was actually used by a real samurai?

He would pee...

[rabidralph]

All your base are belong to us!

[Eepsy]

Is that based on Doc Smith's Lensmen?

[weegee]

Geeks are deliberately out of the norm (or at least aware of it and determined to revel in their geekdom).

Circus geeks are the kind of guys who pull a "geek trick" like putting a long needle through their cheeks.

Certainly people can recall from their grade school days the different "geek" talents that other kids who show off at lunch or recess.

"Nerds" are generally brains, but generally those are called "Poindexters" or "Preps" (at least in a school environment). Doesn't require any brains to be a geek.

"Freaks" are consumed by their passion for something (witness "acid freaks" and "Jesus freaks", both terms that date to the 1960s). Freaks also fall outside of the norm of society (this does not mean that society is right and they are wrong).

"High Brows" are also consumed by their passion for something and can over intellectualize that passion as a way of defending their love. They tend to be consumed by a certain artistic/style asthetic. They want to be the taste makers.

[JenB]

Ebay?

It's scary, but for fun once I googled "sakabatou" (the reverse-blade sword Himura Kenshin of Rurouni Kenshin carries). You can buy "genuine replica sakabatou" for $100. All of them have comments about "just like the one Kenshin uses".

[rabidralph]

It's news to the all-knowing media. It's not news unless they tell us, you know.

[JenB]

Ok, anyway, that list is unfair. Two of the four are not licensed in this country, one has just started showing on Cartoon Network - but there's no excuse for not having seen "Fruits Basket". It's one of my three favorite shoujo (girls) anime.

And "Fullmetal Alchemist" starts releasing on DVD in February. I can't wait. I'm going to buy the one that comes with the empty art box to keep the series in.

[Eepsy]

I'm medium geeky. I don't go in for cosplay, but I will put my hair up in bishoujo styles if I know I'm not going out in public for the day. Sure makes my kids look at me funny, though.

http://quizilla.com/users/kattahdee/quizzes/Which%20Bishoujo%20Are%20You%3F/

[weegee]

Film production in Germany and Italy may have improved, but quite often they used an international cast and shot on poorly sound shielded sets/locations.

It was very common that the film was overdubbed after the film was completed. I will never comprehend the people who want to watch Fitzcaraldo (3 hours) in dubbed German (when you can clearly seeing the "Irish" main character played by Klaus Kinski speaking in English).

See above about high brows. They've actually risen to the level of "art snob" by expressing open disdain for those who can't see it through "their" eyes.

[JenB]

That quiz is a little biased toward... anime I don't watch, I guess. And honestly, any "Girls of anime" quiz without Honda Tohru is worthless.

[weegee]

Parents who deliberately try to embarass their kids around their friends have learned the POWER of geekdom.

The flip side of this is parents who strive to be "perceived as cool" by their kids' friends.