Faye who? :-)
Posted on 12/09/2004 10:24:12 PM PST by Simmy2.5
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer
TOKYO - Animation in America once meant Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Winnie the Pooh. These days, it's just as likely to mean Japanese fighting cyborgs, doe-eyed schoolgirls and sinister monsters — thanks in large part to people like John Ledford.
The 36-year-old American is one of the top foreign distributors of Japanese "manga" comics and animation, known as "anime," building his fortune on a genre that is rapidly changing from a niche market to a mass phenomenon.
Ledford, who's so busy his dubbing studio in Houston runs 24 hours a day, says the key to the success of Japanese manga and anime in the United States is their widely varied, cutting-edge subject matter.
"We're kind of like the anti-Disney," Ledford, a bespectacled, fast-talking man with a friendly smile, said during a recent visit to Tokyo. "Disney is very family type. We are appealing to the video-game, PlayStation, Generation X, Generation Y kind of crowd in America."
Although American animation releases, such as "Toy Story," "Shrek" and "The Incredibles," continue to wow audiences, they are largely aimed at children. Japanese anime and manga spans a wide range of topics, including science fiction, horror-thrillers and soap-operatic melodrama. At American video-rental shops, whole shelves are taken up by titles like "Ninja Resurrection," "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040."
One animation, "Ghost in the Shell" takes place in a futuristic world, where memories become individual identities that jump like spirits from one mechanical body to another, a dark science fiction that raises questions about death and the metaphysical threat from technology.
Another, "Apocalpyse Meow," chronicles the adventures of three brave rabbits fighting as American soldiers in the Vietnam War. The rabbits tromp through jungles dressed in camouflage and wielding machine guns, taking part in nightmarish battles amid smoking explosions and hovering helicopters.
Kathie Borders, who runs Wizzywig Collectibles, a store devoted to manga and anime in Ann Arbor, Mich., which carries Ledford's videos and books, says the popularity of Pokemon and YuGiOh! — perhaps the best-known characters — has propelled a boom in anime that's not only for the usually male, 20-something video-game-loving crowd. It's now drawing fans of all ages, and increasingly, women.
"They're fascinated by the difference in the culture," Borders said in a telephone interview, giving as an example stories starring Japanese schoolgirls. "They like reading something that's not the normal, run-of-the-mill story that they might have been used to."
The heroines may wear uniforms and go to schools that have strict rules compared to American schools, but universal themes, such as falling in love and growing up, transcend cultural boundaries, she said.
Ledford, who speaks a little Japanese, started out by bringing video games from Japan to the United States after dropping out of college. He later expanded into manga and anime.
His first anime deal was in 1992 for the cartoon version of his best-selling video-game "Devil Hunter Yoko," about a teenager who defeats goblins — an investment returned in full in just three months. More recently, Ledford's A.D. Vision Inc. has been taking part in funding for Japanese animation. His film unit now records $150 million in annual sales.
Ledford also has 1,000 manga books under license and publishes Newtype USA, the English-language version of a top manga and animation monthly magazine. His Anime Network moved from video-on-demand to a national cable network in July.
Manga and anime may not be for everyone with their heavy dosage of corny romanticism, blood-splattering violence and pubescent sense of erotica. But both are clearly no longer just for Japanese geeks as their counterparts in the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia simply can't get enough.
Shoji Udagawa, vice president at Kadokawa Pictures Inc., a major Japanese film studio, said Ledford understands anime and can help create works that will appeal to Americans as well as to Japanese. Americans tend to like anime with a darker ambiance such as those with robots, he said.
"He fits in well with Japanese but he has something that Japanese don't have," Udagawa said.
Bandai Co. Ltd., a major Japanese toymaker, and electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites). also distribute anime in the United States, such as "Gundam," "Astro Boy" and "Cowboy Bebop." But the established companies tend to look for sure winners, Ledford says, while he offers a broader lineup.
Pokemon alone earned about $29 billion around the world since 1997, and the U.S. anime business, including licensed character goods and box-office revenue, is estimated at $4 billion a year, according to the Japanese government.
Works like "Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyazaki, which won an Oscar and the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival, are helping raise anime's reputation.
Kelly Lamb, a 14-year-old Ann Arbor high school student, has never been to Japan but is an avid anime fan and sometimes makes her own anime-inspired costumes.
"It's so funny and so hysterical," she said of "Excel Saga," one of her favorites. "If you're really feeling down, it's so funny it cheers you up."
Faye Valentine bump
Not a bad one at all, I recall. I haven't watched it dubbed in a while (I prefer watching it in Japanese; just a preference for movies in their native language), but the dub was the first version I saw and I fell in love with the movie then.
No one's mentioned it yet, but for those interested F.L.C.L. or "Fooly Cooly" or "Furry Curry" (whatever they call it) is very good. Good graphics, good music, but sometimes too fast-paced to get what's going on.
Only 6, 1/2 hour shows, but they pack a lot in.
FLCL makes my head hurt. I watched it once because everyone I watch anime with has seen it. I actually hated it, but that's just me.
really? It would cost that much? Crap. I would think they would have some lying around somewhere.
Perhaps I should just buy him classes to learn how to use one. That would be cool, too. I am married to the hardest man in the world to buy for. He has the bamboo sword (can't remember what they are called) that you use for practicing...he actually has two of them...but I'm not tough enough to even practice with him...first time that thing struck flesh I would be a pile of groaning flesh and the floor.
I know I'd be thrilled with kenjitsu lessons. Is his stick called shinai or bokken?
Maybe it was the robots coming out of your head, ha ha ha.
True animation is a waltz; Japanese animation is, at best, a break dance.
Like I asked another person, have you seen any anime more recent than "Speed Racer"? Because I'll put the latest shows out of Japan against anything American except Pixar.
Faye who? :-)
Yes, I love Spirited Away, and it did win the Oscar last year, beating a couple of blockbusters in Lilo & Stitch and Ice Age. Sort of an upset.
And while there's a lot of anime you would never want to show kids, there's still a lot that's great for kids, and a lot that's not at all childish. Hayao Miyazaki's films (Princess Mononoke, which is rather violent, being an exception) are an example of intelligent stuff that kids can enjoy, but are great stories that anyone can like. Maybe a few are a bit intense or complex for a seven year old, but I Kiki's Delivery Service is a terrific film, one that my younger siblings saw before even I did.
Hong Kong action films were big throughout the 1990s but they didn't hit American screens (apart from art/revival theaters) until Asian talent started to flee HK pending the 1997 handover to Communist China. Even still the best work sits unscreened. Look at Hollywood's recent fiasco with Shaolin Soccer...
Have you heard, there is this OL' pin up chick named Bettie/Betty Page! If you read The Rocketeer comics in 1984 you did (and she stopped posing in the 1960s). Don't even bother asking the media about Candy Barr...
"Hey garage rock is big! There are these bands with names like The Strokes that play rock and roll (not really) who don't have any dance moves" (you can DANCE to garage rock bands). Rock that doesn't roll is not rock AND roll. Meanwhile the Fleshtones continue on has they have since 1976 (possibly being their biggest in the 1980s when they were on IRS records and perceived as "New Wave").
Quentin Tarantino understands cool. He's a greek. His films celebrated all this cool "stuff" that the popular culture could gravitate to if only uncool corporate heads weren't playing tastemaker. Some of these things were cool "at one time" but today the MSM is strictly "squaresville".
I tune out cable and just seek out what catches my eye (old or new). The "good finds" keep me on the hunt. Just when you may think that "there are no more good...", you'll discover that overlooked nugget. It's a shame that we have such a wealth of older film/audio recordings as well as printed materials (books, magazines, comics, and even ephimera like pamphlets...) and the dominant culture says "throw that all out, here's the next big thing". I wasn't DONE looking at THAT.
And some of the of the anmerica cartoons the come on that night are just as good as the anime Teen Titans is okay but Justice League Unlimited is VERY good in quality and has timeline that goes all the way back to Fox's Batman: The Animated Series back in the early 90's.
But the best animated show that comes on that night has got to be Megas XLR. This show is a parody on several levels to where they put everything in a blender from the movies like "Blue Brothers", "Animal House" and "Army of Darkness" (Yes, Bruce Campbell himself voice acts a reoccuring villian named 'Magnanimous' that is a parody of every character that Mr. Campbell has played) to nearly every cartoon genre, anime genre (barring hentai) and giant monster genre and they hit 'Puree'.
T he show Megas XLR is set in the present and is about a fat '20 something' gearhead (gamer) from New Jersey name Coop who find a headless, slighting used Super-robot called Megas (from the future) buried in a huge junkpile which he fixes up, give it a hot-red 70's muscle care for a head and customized the control to the point where only he can pilot it (guys, Coop put everything from playstation controlers to DDR 'dancing game').
Coop also has a sarcastic friend named Jamie. Unfortunely for them, a red-haired warrior babe from the future named Kiva (who originally sent Megas into the past) wants it back, but so do the alien army called the Glorft (who pack some serious firepower in the form of a army super robots) who follow Kiva back into the past and who Kiva originally stole Megas from want it back too.
Plus it has a very catchy theme song."
Nearly every episode of this show I have watch has made me laugh to the point of tears, it is currently in the middle of it's second (13 episodes each) season. I cannot recommend the Megas XLR series enough, if you are an anime, YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS SERIES!!
But be warned, you may find the series very addicting.
Excel Saga is pretty damn funny.
Some of the others get to be a bit too graphic for kids. IMHO
shinai sounds familiar!
maybe that's it!
Fullmetal Alchemist must be watched in the original Japanese to see its full power. That show had me in tears every third episode. It is my favorite anime - an opinion I share with half of the anime club I attend.
The English voice actors just don't "get" the characters the way the Japanese actors seem to have. And the seuiyuu for the main character is a wonderful actress, Paku Romi, who I just love...
It'll be available on DVD soon. Give te sub a try.
Excel Saga is one of the only series I have (hundreds of dvds) that I would NOT show to kids.
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