The end of Ojamajo Doremi closed one chapter in Toei Animation’s role in the genre’s history.
Meanwhile with Sailor Moon, the ending of the Live Action series PGSM as well as the original run of Sera Myu musicals and the discontinuing of the Pioneer/Cloverway localizations marked the end of official Sailor Moon material anyone is currently nostalgic for. In a decade people will be nostalgic for Crystal and the Viz Dub and the new musicals but for now classic Sailor Moon ends in 2005.
Meanwhile the first two seasons of both Futari Wa Pretty Cure and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha mark the beginning of what the Magical Girl genre has been ever since, for both Shoujo and Seinen respectively. The OG PreCures interestingly got their blonde adopted daughter before Nanoha and Fate did.
Pretty Cure literally took over Doremi’s timeslot. Here is a Twitter Thread I made inquiring about Anime Time Slots.
https://twitter.com/KuudereKun888/status/1137272052031938565
And these two years also had their own little isolated projects not particularly connected to what came before or after, like Uta Kata and Tweeny Witches.
This wouldn’t be the last time there would be a game changer year in the genre’s history. I already talked about 2011 which included some of its Magical Girl relevance. But also the end of that year and going into 2012 was the 20th Anniversary of Sailor Moon which sparked the Sailor Moon revival we’re still experiencing.
But these two years were more revolutionary over all with Nanoha clearly being an influence on both Madoka and plenty of the alleged Madoka imitators. Both Madoka and Day Break Illusion shared some key creative staff with Nanoha.
And this was an important time period elsewhere as well, Pokemon was changing via the Advance Generation and Bee Train was changing via Madlax. In Hollywood the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy was ending and The Chronicles of Narnia and the Nolan Batman saga were beginning. Meanwhile DC Comics was building toward Infinite Crisis and Marvel towards Civil War. In WWE the Ruthless Aggression era was starting. And the currently last great Vampire craze was sparked by the publications of Twilight and the books True Blood was based on.
For now this will probably be my last post looking at specific time periods or seasons of Anime's past. But I may return to the idea later with less specific focus on the Magical Girl Genre. For the rest of June I have other Magical Girl topics I want to cover.
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Friday, June 7, 2019
1992, the year that retroactively gave birth to Millennial Otakudom
Most of 1992 and into early 1993 was when Japanese Television was airing both the first season of Sailor Moon and Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger.
Both of these shows in addition to being very influential within their Genres in their home nation of Japan would also within a few years receive creative English Language localizations that would became two of the major Otaku Gateway Drugs for a generation of North American Millennial Weebs, predating even Dragon Ball getting any widely viewed American version. Akira had aired in American cinemas already, but I think that's mainly part of the nostalgia of an older generation.
I mentioned them being influential within Japan as well. For Sailor Moon that claim isn't controversial, it outright invented a new sub-genre. But I know many Americans might assume Zyuranger is important within Sentai only for spawning Power Rangers, however that would be wrong. There were a couple previous Sixth Rangers, but it as the popularity of the Dragon Ranger that made this an almost required aspect of the Sentai formula going forward. It's also considered a turning point in the Sentai franchise incorporating more fantasy and mystical aspects alongside it's Sci-Fi.
Meanwhile on Dragon Ball Z, when these shows were beginning to air is also about when the Cell saga was starting.
One thing about Pokemon I want to remind people of is how the whole Pokemon Speak trope (them saying their names to communicate) was originally only in the Anime, it's popped up in some Games since, often just for Pikachu and Jigglypuff, but the main Games didn't and still don't do it. And it is in the context of that aspect of the importance of the Pokemon Anime that I want to mention how that trope now named after Pokemon had already been a thing in Anime.
Utena which I just observed started airing about the same time as Pokemon did it with Chu Chu, coincidentally voiced by Rachel Lillis in the Dub who also voiced Jigglypuff and sometimes Pikachu when technical problems hindered the usual policy of keeping Ikue Ootani's voice.
But before that it had been done with many of Sailor Moon's Youma and MOTWs all the way back to season 1, suggesting it was something Ikuhara and Sato had a thing for, as well as Chibi Chibi during Stars. And it had been included in the DiC Dub in 1995. I don't remember whether or not this ever happened on Wedding Peach, I do know Wedding Peach provides us with evidence someone involved in making the Pokemon Anime was into Magical Girl shows because of the shout out that show gets in the Erika episode.
So is it possible one of the most Iconic aspects of Pokemon was a product of Sailor Moon's influence?
Both of these shows in addition to being very influential within their Genres in their home nation of Japan would also within a few years receive creative English Language localizations that would became two of the major Otaku Gateway Drugs for a generation of North American Millennial Weebs, predating even Dragon Ball getting any widely viewed American version. Akira had aired in American cinemas already, but I think that's mainly part of the nostalgia of an older generation.
I mentioned them being influential within Japan as well. For Sailor Moon that claim isn't controversial, it outright invented a new sub-genre. But I know many Americans might assume Zyuranger is important within Sentai only for spawning Power Rangers, however that would be wrong. There were a couple previous Sixth Rangers, but it as the popularity of the Dragon Ranger that made this an almost required aspect of the Sentai formula going forward. It's also considered a turning point in the Sentai franchise incorporating more fantasy and mystical aspects alongside it's Sci-Fi.
Meanwhile on Dragon Ball Z, when these shows were beginning to air is also about when the Cell saga was starting.
One thing about Pokemon I want to remind people of is how the whole Pokemon Speak trope (them saying their names to communicate) was originally only in the Anime, it's popped up in some Games since, often just for Pikachu and Jigglypuff, but the main Games didn't and still don't do it. And it is in the context of that aspect of the importance of the Pokemon Anime that I want to mention how that trope now named after Pokemon had already been a thing in Anime.
Utena which I just observed started airing about the same time as Pokemon did it with Chu Chu, coincidentally voiced by Rachel Lillis in the Dub who also voiced Jigglypuff and sometimes Pikachu when technical problems hindered the usual policy of keeping Ikue Ootani's voice.
But before that it had been done with many of Sailor Moon's Youma and MOTWs all the way back to season 1, suggesting it was something Ikuhara and Sato had a thing for, as well as Chibi Chibi during Stars. And it had been included in the DiC Dub in 1995. I don't remember whether or not this ever happened on Wedding Peach, I do know Wedding Peach provides us with evidence someone involved in making the Pokemon Anime was into Magical Girl shows because of the shout out that show gets in the Erika episode.
So is it possible one of the most Iconic aspects of Pokemon was a product of Sailor Moon's influence?
1992 was also the birth year of the Tenchi Muyo franchise.
This is my second post in a row pointing out something like this. It seems game changers never come in isolation, we get a couple at least just when new innovations are needed.
This is my second post in a row pointing out something like this. It seems game changers never come in isolation, we get a couple at least just when new innovations are needed.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Spring 1997 Anime Season, and I ramble off topic about Dub voice actors
April 1st 1997 was the day the Pokemon Anime premiered on Japanese TV. The following day, April 2nd, was the premier of Revolutionary Girl Utena. April 3rd was the premiere of Maze, a show not nearly as influential or culturally important as those two shows but when I first learned of it I was indeed surprised to learn that stuff like that already existed in the 90s.
Another Anime to debut on April 1st was Shin Tenchi Muyo aka Tenchi in Tokyo, the 3rd TV Anime of the Tenchi Franchise, but it seems it's not one of it's more well regarded installments. Another Anime to debut on April 3rd was Hyper Police, which shows Monster Girls in Anime are nothing new either.
April 4th saw the premier of the third season of Slayers. Another Anime to debut in April of 97 was a Space Opera re-imagining of Moby Dick called Hakugei Densetu. And that's less then half of what debuted that Spring.
I suppose to some people this justifies their complaints about the state of modern Anime, today we don't even always get one game changer a season, while this season had two back to back. The thing is not every season of the late 90s looked like this one, Summer of 97 premiered nothing we still care about, and the Winter of 97 is most notable for two installments of much older franchises, neither of which is at the forefront of that franchise's legacy today. A Speed Racer Reboot and Cutey Honey F which Toei had put in Sailor Moon's old time-slot after it ended.
What was going on in Western Entertainment media at this time? Well on the WB the premier of Buffy The Vampire Slayer about three weeks earlier. The fact that Buffy's feminist credentials have been called into question so much lately is not helped by the fact Utena had finished airing before Buffy was half way through it's second season. Wrestlemania 13 was on March 23rd, arguably the beginning of the Attitude Era. The Star Wars Special Editions were playing in American movie Theaters. And sadly also Biggie Smalls passed away, Pac and Big never lived to see Pokemon, that is truly tragic.
So on both sides of the Pacific times were changing.
I'd made a post earlier this year about The Dark Age of Anime, this season can be argued to be the beginning of that age, or you could say it began when Sailor Moon ended a few weeks before, but I'm now willing to consider Pretty Sammy equally a part of the Golden Age of the Magical Girl Warrior.
I do not consider Utena properly a part of the Magical Girl Warrior genre, it definitely makes itself a relative of the genre, Ikuhara' Sailor Moon work was very much his training ground for Utena. But the Magical Girl Genre is most certainly NOT what the show is deconstructing.
I suspect a ReDub of Utena may be inevitable. There are many reasons for Netflix to consider Utena the logical follow up to ReDubbing Neon Genesis Evangelion, even though I personally would prefer they focus on making Dubs for stuff that got passed over originally. Like Rose of Versailles which it would benefit people to see alongside Utena, or Gunbuster which should be a necessary companion to Eva. But in the context of my drawing attention to Magical Girl stuff this month I'd say please finally Dub the Pretty Sammy TV Anime, even though it is sad we can no longer do it with the Classic Tenchi Dub Cast.
I am perfectly fine with the Utena Dub and can't understand why it's so often trashed even by other Dub defenders, nothing seems to have been censored out of it? You certainly can't improve on Crispin Freeman as Touga, Lisa Ortiz as Shiori is one of the best vocal performances in the history of mankind, and the way Saionji's voice sounds to me like a Vincent Price impression yet I'm unsure it was intentional is endlessly captivating. I get that on a Meta level some people might have trouble with Utena sounding so obviously like Misty, but I love it. I'm very much not a fan of Misty but it was never the Actress's fault, so I enjoy hearing Rachael Lillis as a character I can respect. The only voice in the existing Utena Dub I can kind of understand not liking is Juri, and I guess sometimes one being weak is enough to drag the whole thing down, but Juri is only important in like four episodes, the same episodes where Lisa is killing it as Shiori.
Still I can accept a New Dub, but please at least try to keep Freeman and Ortiz, they're still working and cannot be outdone.
If a ReDub happens, I feel the need to recommend Cherami Leigh for Utena Tenjou. In Digibro's recent Utena Video he talked about how Light Novel Heroines are often very powerful but always second to the male lead, and how Touga views Utena as that but she isn't. So that creates a pretty strong Meta Value to Utena sharing a voice with Asuna Yuki of SAO. And then Leigh has also done Magical Girl stuff including the OG Minako Aino.
If I had to cast someone new for Saionji it'd have to be the current Aniplex voice of Shinji Matou from their Dubs of UFOtable's Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel, Nasu has admitted in interviews that character was partly based on Saionji. And speaking of Fate/ Voices maybe Kari Walgren could be the one to finally do Juri justice?
Wasn't this post supposed to also be about Pokemon? Speaking of Dub voices, how come Crispin Freeman was never in Pokemon? He was clearly working in the same circles as some of the Pokemon voices in the late 90s, Utena being not even the only time he worked with Lillis, and he also worked with Ortiz in Record of Lodoss War. The first roles that pop into my mind as ones that could have been Freeman roles were the ones done pretty darn well by Dan Green, but it's still something I notice. [Update: Apparently he helped write some of the Pokemon Dub Scripts, that's interesting].
In completely different ways Utena and Pokemon both revolutionized Anime for decades to come. So it's fascinating how just the month of April 97 became so important. Now nearing the end of the Spring Season of 22 years later their impact is still being felt.
And the more obscure stuff that aired at the same time is also interesting, mostly stuff I haven't watched yet but I'm thinking of trying them out.
Update January 2020: The Eva ReDub was a trainwreck, but it's not the fault of Netflix or anyone else on our side of the Pond. It was Ano's own people micromanaging it obsessively like they did the 3.33 Dub.
Looking at how the 20tens Ikuhara shows were dubbed I think it's safe to say Ikuhara wouldn't be like that. Of course those 20tens Dubs seem to be Texas based which wouldn't make my proposed Utena ReDub cast likely, they're all in LA as far as I can tell.
Another Anime to debut on April 1st was Shin Tenchi Muyo aka Tenchi in Tokyo, the 3rd TV Anime of the Tenchi Franchise, but it seems it's not one of it's more well regarded installments. Another Anime to debut on April 3rd was Hyper Police, which shows Monster Girls in Anime are nothing new either.
April 4th saw the premier of the third season of Slayers. Another Anime to debut in April of 97 was a Space Opera re-imagining of Moby Dick called Hakugei Densetu. And that's less then half of what debuted that Spring.
I suppose to some people this justifies their complaints about the state of modern Anime, today we don't even always get one game changer a season, while this season had two back to back. The thing is not every season of the late 90s looked like this one, Summer of 97 premiered nothing we still care about, and the Winter of 97 is most notable for two installments of much older franchises, neither of which is at the forefront of that franchise's legacy today. A Speed Racer Reboot and Cutey Honey F which Toei had put in Sailor Moon's old time-slot after it ended.
What was going on in Western Entertainment media at this time? Well on the WB the premier of Buffy The Vampire Slayer about three weeks earlier. The fact that Buffy's feminist credentials have been called into question so much lately is not helped by the fact Utena had finished airing before Buffy was half way through it's second season. Wrestlemania 13 was on March 23rd, arguably the beginning of the Attitude Era. The Star Wars Special Editions were playing in American movie Theaters. And sadly also Biggie Smalls passed away, Pac and Big never lived to see Pokemon, that is truly tragic.
So on both sides of the Pacific times were changing.
I'd made a post earlier this year about The Dark Age of Anime, this season can be argued to be the beginning of that age, or you could say it began when Sailor Moon ended a few weeks before, but I'm now willing to consider Pretty Sammy equally a part of the Golden Age of the Magical Girl Warrior.
I do not consider Utena properly a part of the Magical Girl Warrior genre, it definitely makes itself a relative of the genre, Ikuhara' Sailor Moon work was very much his training ground for Utena. But the Magical Girl Genre is most certainly NOT what the show is deconstructing.
I suspect a ReDub of Utena may be inevitable. There are many reasons for Netflix to consider Utena the logical follow up to ReDubbing Neon Genesis Evangelion, even though I personally would prefer they focus on making Dubs for stuff that got passed over originally. Like Rose of Versailles which it would benefit people to see alongside Utena, or Gunbuster which should be a necessary companion to Eva. But in the context of my drawing attention to Magical Girl stuff this month I'd say please finally Dub the Pretty Sammy TV Anime, even though it is sad we can no longer do it with the Classic Tenchi Dub Cast.
I am perfectly fine with the Utena Dub and can't understand why it's so often trashed even by other Dub defenders, nothing seems to have been censored out of it? You certainly can't improve on Crispin Freeman as Touga, Lisa Ortiz as Shiori is one of the best vocal performances in the history of mankind, and the way Saionji's voice sounds to me like a Vincent Price impression yet I'm unsure it was intentional is endlessly captivating. I get that on a Meta level some people might have trouble with Utena sounding so obviously like Misty, but I love it. I'm very much not a fan of Misty but it was never the Actress's fault, so I enjoy hearing Rachael Lillis as a character I can respect. The only voice in the existing Utena Dub I can kind of understand not liking is Juri, and I guess sometimes one being weak is enough to drag the whole thing down, but Juri is only important in like four episodes, the same episodes where Lisa is killing it as Shiori.
Still I can accept a New Dub, but please at least try to keep Freeman and Ortiz, they're still working and cannot be outdone.
If a ReDub happens, I feel the need to recommend Cherami Leigh for Utena Tenjou. In Digibro's recent Utena Video he talked about how Light Novel Heroines are often very powerful but always second to the male lead, and how Touga views Utena as that but she isn't. So that creates a pretty strong Meta Value to Utena sharing a voice with Asuna Yuki of SAO. And then Leigh has also done Magical Girl stuff including the OG Minako Aino.
If I had to cast someone new for Saionji it'd have to be the current Aniplex voice of Shinji Matou from their Dubs of UFOtable's Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel, Nasu has admitted in interviews that character was partly based on Saionji. And speaking of Fate/ Voices maybe Kari Walgren could be the one to finally do Juri justice?
Wasn't this post supposed to also be about Pokemon? Speaking of Dub voices, how come Crispin Freeman was never in Pokemon? He was clearly working in the same circles as some of the Pokemon voices in the late 90s, Utena being not even the only time he worked with Lillis, and he also worked with Ortiz in Record of Lodoss War. The first roles that pop into my mind as ones that could have been Freeman roles were the ones done pretty darn well by Dan Green, but it's still something I notice. [Update: Apparently he helped write some of the Pokemon Dub Scripts, that's interesting].
In completely different ways Utena and Pokemon both revolutionized Anime for decades to come. So it's fascinating how just the month of April 97 became so important. Now nearing the end of the Spring Season of 22 years later their impact is still being felt.
And the more obscure stuff that aired at the same time is also interesting, mostly stuff I haven't watched yet but I'm thinking of trying them out.
Update January 2020: The Eva ReDub was a trainwreck, but it's not the fault of Netflix or anyone else on our side of the Pond. It was Ano's own people micromanaging it obsessively like they did the 3.33 Dub.
Looking at how the 20tens Ikuhara shows were dubbed I think it's safe to say Ikuhara wouldn't be like that. Of course those 20tens Dubs seem to be Texas based which wouldn't make my proposed Utena ReDub cast likely, they're all in LA as far as I can tell.
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
You Don't Tug on The Railgun's Skirt
Today I'm going to do something that "Respectable" Anime Anyalists do a lot more often and discus Character Arcs, well one in particular. I'm not against Character Arcs, I'm just against the common attitude that they are required for a story to be good, or that a story is required for fiction to be good art.
As much as I might like to I can't actually spend all of June watching and talking about only one Genre. But A Certain Scientific Railgun is an interesting companion to the Magical Girl Genre. It shows the variety in options Anime provides us by showing that Magical Girls are not the only kind of Superheroines Anime has. In addition to all the technical reasons that Railgun doesn't qualify as a Magical Girl show or even come close to following that formula. Mikoto Misaka is simply a very different kind of character from a typical Magical Girl protagonist, a personality type like her could be a supporting character in one but not likely the main character. But she's not the antithesis of a Magical Girl either, if you're looking for the Anime version of an Edgy 90s Anti-Heroine I'm afraid I'm not currently the one qualified to make that recommendation.
In one of RavorFists's more recent Noirchives he talks about how one of the Flanderizations of the Film Noir genre is that their protagonists were all cynical nihilist anti-heroes. He mentions that quote of Raymond Chandler "Down these means streets a man must go who is not himself mean". That quote was also used but changed slightly in the Pretty Little Liars episode Shadow Play "Down these means streets a girl must go who is not herself mean", that fits Mikoto Misaka in Academy City perfectly, she is a true traditional Film Noir protagonist in the form of an Japanese Middle School Girl who can do everything Pikachu and Magneto can do, but do it better.
The second season of Railgun, A Certain Scientific Railgun S, has spoiled me for all other Cyberpunk, nothing else in my mind could possibly do Cyberpunk as well. Railgun S was missing from my previous discussion of Film Noir in Anime for two reasons. 1, I hadn't watched any Raildex yet back then. 2, I chose to dodge the entire Cyberpunk sub section of that topic, I didn't think it was really possible for me to enjoy Cyberpunk before I watched Railgun S.
RazorFist also said, possibly in the same video, that he considers the number one non-negotiable requirement for qualifying as a Noir to be "setting as character". That may well make the Anime called Noir impossible to qualify, which I would want to fight him on. But it certainly helps Railgun, in fact the entire Raildex franchise is largely built around Academy City itself being the real ultimate main character, but it works better on Railgun since Index often leaves the city to get into the Magick and Religion based story-lines which Railgun has so far ignored sticking to being pure SciFi.
Misaka's main character Arc is also in Railgun S. But Railgun S needs the groundwork of season 1 in order to fully work. Season 1 is great television on it's own, though I recommend skipping the second episode. Still there will be some people to whom Railgun S is the story that they would be into, so I'm asking them to just trust me and take a 25 episode leap of faith. Misaka does learn some important lessons in season 1, but the main Character Arc there is Saten's. But I don't mind that, I actually wish more Batman stories would be about other characters and let Batman just be Batman.
From this point on I'm going to get into Spoiler territory as I talk about Misaka's Character Arc and some other subjects.
As much as I might like to I can't actually spend all of June watching and talking about only one Genre. But A Certain Scientific Railgun is an interesting companion to the Magical Girl Genre. It shows the variety in options Anime provides us by showing that Magical Girls are not the only kind of Superheroines Anime has. In addition to all the technical reasons that Railgun doesn't qualify as a Magical Girl show or even come close to following that formula. Mikoto Misaka is simply a very different kind of character from a typical Magical Girl protagonist, a personality type like her could be a supporting character in one but not likely the main character. But she's not the antithesis of a Magical Girl either, if you're looking for the Anime version of an Edgy 90s Anti-Heroine I'm afraid I'm not currently the one qualified to make that recommendation.
In one of RavorFists's more recent Noirchives he talks about how one of the Flanderizations of the Film Noir genre is that their protagonists were all cynical nihilist anti-heroes. He mentions that quote of Raymond Chandler "Down these means streets a man must go who is not himself mean". That quote was also used but changed slightly in the Pretty Little Liars episode Shadow Play "Down these means streets a girl must go who is not herself mean", that fits Mikoto Misaka in Academy City perfectly, she is a true traditional Film Noir protagonist in the form of an Japanese Middle School Girl who can do everything Pikachu and Magneto can do, but do it better.
The second season of Railgun, A Certain Scientific Railgun S, has spoiled me for all other Cyberpunk, nothing else in my mind could possibly do Cyberpunk as well. Railgun S was missing from my previous discussion of Film Noir in Anime for two reasons. 1, I hadn't watched any Raildex yet back then. 2, I chose to dodge the entire Cyberpunk sub section of that topic, I didn't think it was really possible for me to enjoy Cyberpunk before I watched Railgun S.
RazorFist also said, possibly in the same video, that he considers the number one non-negotiable requirement for qualifying as a Noir to be "setting as character". That may well make the Anime called Noir impossible to qualify, which I would want to fight him on. But it certainly helps Railgun, in fact the entire Raildex franchise is largely built around Academy City itself being the real ultimate main character, but it works better on Railgun since Index often leaves the city to get into the Magick and Religion based story-lines which Railgun has so far ignored sticking to being pure SciFi.
Misaka's main character Arc is also in Railgun S. But Railgun S needs the groundwork of season 1 in order to fully work. Season 1 is great television on it's own, though I recommend skipping the second episode. Still there will be some people to whom Railgun S is the story that they would be into, so I'm asking them to just trust me and take a 25 episode leap of faith. Misaka does learn some important lessons in season 1, but the main Character Arc there is Saten's. But I don't mind that, I actually wish more Batman stories would be about other characters and let Batman just be Batman.
From this point on I'm going to get into Spoiler territory as I talk about Misaka's Character Arc and some other subjects.
Monday, June 3, 2019
Pretty Sammy may be the Key to the Magical Girl Genre.
I watched the OVA incarnation of Pretty Sammy over a year ago I think, not long after Bennett The Sage had done his Anime Abandon episode on it. I observed on twitter how this is the first example of an Imouto character in a Harem getting an AU where they're a Magical Girl becoming it's own full sub franchise (and how the Dark Magical Girl Rival really only appears in that sub set of the genre). This happened to have been the first incarnation of Tenchi I'd watched at all, that's how much I'm into Magical Girls, but since then I've watched the Mihoshi Special, Tenchi Universe and the first 6 episode OVA series.
The OVA Pretty Sammy was a fun affectionate parody of the genre. Ben couldn't recognize it as a parody mainly because he doesn't get the genre in the first place and so probably can't count any affectionate one as a parody. It doesn't help that this genre has engaged in self parody from it's inception, there is no joke on the formula that Sailor Moon didn't already make in some form, particularly in episodes Ikuhara was involved in.
Now I have completed the 1996-97 TV Anime of Pretty Sammy, also known as Magical Project S. It's a separate continuity from the OVAs. Pretty Sammy is almost a microcosm of the Tenchi Franchise as a whole. Both start with a series of OVAs that lay out the formulae, then there is a 26 episode TV Anime that fleshed out and perfected it, then there is more post 2000 stuff few care about because the Waifu Warriors moved on to other Harems.
The Pretty Sammy TV Anime starts out seemingly like just as much of a pure Genre Parody as the OVAs were, more so perhaps, here is a clip I put on Youtube from episode 3 to show just how hilariously awesome it can be.
But in the latter part once we've gotten to know the characters it seamlessly becomes much more of a straight forward Magical Girl show, but still with that Otaku sense of humor Tenchi helped popularize. It doesn't follow exactly what I've defined before as the ideal 26 episode structure, but it does something similar. It gets really good, I've rated it a 10 out of 10.
It is influenced by the Magical Girl Anime that came before, with the MOTWs often feeling like they're particularly in the spirit of the Daimons from Sailor Moon S. And there are shout outs to other Anime/Manga and Toku media as well.
But I also feel it's an overlooked influence on what's come since, one particular scene has me convinced someone involved in making Nanoha season 1 must have seen it. The fact that it went off the air just before Utena, Pokemon and Buffy started is fascinating (paralleling my observation that Tenchi Universe finished right before Eva started), it also aired concurrent with much of the last season of Sailor Moon.
Pretty Sammy may not quite be the first Magical Girl show officially marketed as Senien rather then Shoujo, but unlike it's peers it captures the spirit of a proper Magical Girl show in a way that anticipates Nanoha and Madoka, but it also never gets as dark as they do or even as dark as Galaxy Fraulein Yuna Returns. It is a Fun time even when it does get intense.
I think even future writers of Shoujo Magical Girl Anime might have been influenced by this show, it anticipates Pretty Cure not just in the use of the English word "Pretty" but also in the Mascot Characters coming from a sort of parallel Fairy Queendom.
As far as what was on TV goes this is probably now definitively my favorite Magical Girl show of the 90s as I honestly feel it is no where near as flawed as every season of Sailor Moon can be at times. There might be individual episodes of Sailor Moon that no episode of Pretty Sammy can compete with, but that doesn't make the complete package better. It is indeed a perfect example of why two cour shows are the best, and it seems to be the only Magical Girl show to be two core which may be what's holding the genre back.
And it's also probably easily my favorite Tenchi project. If you are one of many Western Tenchi fans for whom Kiyone and Washu were your favorites then this gives you plenty to enjoy.
Sadly it's not easy to find now. It's never been Dubbed into English and is not currently on any of the legal Anime streaming sites or YouTube. There was an official Subtitled release once but that was a long time ago. And even many of the popular unofficial streaming sites don't have this one, even ones said to have pretty much everything. Whoever currently has the rights to it I highly recommend you get on it.
And if you even need to ask, obviously the Yuri is strong with this one if I gave it a 10.
I'm going to try Sasami Magical Girls Club next, It'll probably not get it's own blog post, if I feel like saying anything about it it'll probably be via an Update to this post.
The OVA Pretty Sammy was a fun affectionate parody of the genre. Ben couldn't recognize it as a parody mainly because he doesn't get the genre in the first place and so probably can't count any affectionate one as a parody. It doesn't help that this genre has engaged in self parody from it's inception, there is no joke on the formula that Sailor Moon didn't already make in some form, particularly in episodes Ikuhara was involved in.
Now I have completed the 1996-97 TV Anime of Pretty Sammy, also known as Magical Project S. It's a separate continuity from the OVAs. Pretty Sammy is almost a microcosm of the Tenchi Franchise as a whole. Both start with a series of OVAs that lay out the formulae, then there is a 26 episode TV Anime that fleshed out and perfected it, then there is more post 2000 stuff few care about because the Waifu Warriors moved on to other Harems.
The Pretty Sammy TV Anime starts out seemingly like just as much of a pure Genre Parody as the OVAs were, more so perhaps, here is a clip I put on Youtube from episode 3 to show just how hilariously awesome it can be.
It is influenced by the Magical Girl Anime that came before, with the MOTWs often feeling like they're particularly in the spirit of the Daimons from Sailor Moon S. And there are shout outs to other Anime/Manga and Toku media as well.
But I also feel it's an overlooked influence on what's come since, one particular scene has me convinced someone involved in making Nanoha season 1 must have seen it. The fact that it went off the air just before Utena, Pokemon and Buffy started is fascinating (paralleling my observation that Tenchi Universe finished right before Eva started), it also aired concurrent with much of the last season of Sailor Moon.
Pretty Sammy may not quite be the first Magical Girl show officially marketed as Senien rather then Shoujo, but unlike it's peers it captures the spirit of a proper Magical Girl show in a way that anticipates Nanoha and Madoka, but it also never gets as dark as they do or even as dark as Galaxy Fraulein Yuna Returns. It is a Fun time even when it does get intense.
I think even future writers of Shoujo Magical Girl Anime might have been influenced by this show, it anticipates Pretty Cure not just in the use of the English word "Pretty" but also in the Mascot Characters coming from a sort of parallel Fairy Queendom.
As far as what was on TV goes this is probably now definitively my favorite Magical Girl show of the 90s as I honestly feel it is no where near as flawed as every season of Sailor Moon can be at times. There might be individual episodes of Sailor Moon that no episode of Pretty Sammy can compete with, but that doesn't make the complete package better. It is indeed a perfect example of why two cour shows are the best, and it seems to be the only Magical Girl show to be two core which may be what's holding the genre back.
And it's also probably easily my favorite Tenchi project. If you are one of many Western Tenchi fans for whom Kiyone and Washu were your favorites then this gives you plenty to enjoy.
Sadly it's not easy to find now. It's never been Dubbed into English and is not currently on any of the legal Anime streaming sites or YouTube. There was an official Subtitled release once but that was a long time ago. And even many of the popular unofficial streaming sites don't have this one, even ones said to have pretty much everything. Whoever currently has the rights to it I highly recommend you get on it.
And if you even need to ask, obviously the Yuri is strong with this one if I gave it a 10.
I'm going to try Sasami Magical Girls Club next, It'll probably not get it's own blog post, if I feel like saying anything about it it'll probably be via an Update to this post.
Sunday, June 2, 2019
The Night is Darkest just before the Daybreak
In The Dark Knight (and one of it's trailers) Harvey Dent says "The Night is Darkest just before the Dawn". This is apparently an expression that already existed though in this Millennial Bat-Nerd's mind it will always feel like a reference to that film. It's an expression I've used when explaining why I enjoy so much fiction that can get pretty dark and bleak even though I'm ultimately an optimist who prefers happy hopeful endings. Including in a blog post that I flat out named that in the latter part of 2016.
It happens to fit my theology, since I believe the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Sun(Shamash/Helios) of Righteousness of Malachi 4:2, happened at Sunrise on the day of the week we happen to have named after the Sun. And in light of some of my recent rethinking of the Biblical Calendar possibly also the Sunrise of the morning after the Spring Equinox, when the days start being longer then the nights. Luke 1:78-79 uses Sunrise terminology in Zacharias' Prophecy.
And that of course includes my controversial defense of the Darker takes on the Magical Girl Warrior sub-genre of Manga/Anime (where I often see the main protagonists as Christ-like). Which is why I was positively giddy to see the line used in the Canadian Dub of the last episode of the first season Futari Wa Pretty Cure. And today I'm intrigued to find a pretty good Dark Magical Girl show that is seemingly referencing this idea in it's title.
Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou is the name of a 13 episode Summer 2013 Anime who's official English Title on Crunchyroll and VRV is Day Break Illusion, but MyAnimeList lists the alternative English title "The Sun Penetrates the Illusions". Google Translate actually favors the official title, however much you think it's trustworthy. It's apparently also known in some language(s) under the title Il Sole penetra le illusioni.
Digibro once on a chart implied this was THE darkest Magical Girl show, but that was made before stuff like Raising Project, Site and the possibly upcoming Apocalypse were a thing.
Taiyou is a Japanese word for the Sun, it's not the only one, but from what I've read is the one that would be used when referring to the Sunrise or Sunset. In addition to being in the title of this show it's also the family name of the main protagonist. Her given name is Akari which is a word for Light, making her full name "Sun Light", The Fourth Gospel talked a lot about The Light.
This show actually works better as a darker take on the usual Magical Girl formula then either Madoka or Yuki Yuna in that it partly follows the victim of the week format. It shows how terrifying the idea of a demonic force turning a normal person into a horrible monster over some small emotional insecurity would be. However it explores that darkness while remaining firmly optimistic thanks to it's protagonist. And it subverted my expectations in ways that actually worked, unlike a certain 2017 film.
On a broader nerdy note, I found myself comparing the Leguzario who run Sefiro Fiore to The Watcher's Council from Buffy.
Peter Hiett once said to watch all the Harry Potter movies looking for Jesus. This show can also qualify as a Magic School Anime, and I already justified how the MC's name fits.
I notice how Seria Hoshikawa is kind of like the Older Brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Luna Tsukuyomi's name fits with how most commentators seem to think the Moon is Rachel in Genesis 37 and Revelation 12, making Seria Leah. But I've argued the Moon represents Leah in those passages which makes this not fit as well. The text of Genesis gives us no indication Leah was ever jealous of Rachel, it was Rachel who was jealous and I see that as typologically relevant to Romans 9-11.
At any rate it's a good show and I'm annoyed Aniplex hasn't made a Dub for it yet.
It happens to fit my theology, since I believe the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Sun(Shamash/Helios) of Righteousness of Malachi 4:2, happened at Sunrise on the day of the week we happen to have named after the Sun. And in light of some of my recent rethinking of the Biblical Calendar possibly also the Sunrise of the morning after the Spring Equinox, when the days start being longer then the nights. Luke 1:78-79 uses Sunrise terminology in Zacharias' Prophecy.
And that of course includes my controversial defense of the Darker takes on the Magical Girl Warrior sub-genre of Manga/Anime (where I often see the main protagonists as Christ-like). Which is why I was positively giddy to see the line used in the Canadian Dub of the last episode of the first season Futari Wa Pretty Cure. And today I'm intrigued to find a pretty good Dark Magical Girl show that is seemingly referencing this idea in it's title.
Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou is the name of a 13 episode Summer 2013 Anime who's official English Title on Crunchyroll and VRV is Day Break Illusion, but MyAnimeList lists the alternative English title "The Sun Penetrates the Illusions". Google Translate actually favors the official title, however much you think it's trustworthy. It's apparently also known in some language(s) under the title Il Sole penetra le illusioni.
Digibro once on a chart implied this was THE darkest Magical Girl show, but that was made before stuff like Raising Project, Site and the possibly upcoming Apocalypse were a thing.
Taiyou is a Japanese word for the Sun, it's not the only one, but from what I've read is the one that would be used when referring to the Sunrise or Sunset. In addition to being in the title of this show it's also the family name of the main protagonist. Her given name is Akari which is a word for Light, making her full name "Sun Light", The Fourth Gospel talked a lot about The Light.
This show actually works better as a darker take on the usual Magical Girl formula then either Madoka or Yuki Yuna in that it partly follows the victim of the week format. It shows how terrifying the idea of a demonic force turning a normal person into a horrible monster over some small emotional insecurity would be. However it explores that darkness while remaining firmly optimistic thanks to it's protagonist. And it subverted my expectations in ways that actually worked, unlike a certain 2017 film.
On a broader nerdy note, I found myself comparing the Leguzario who run Sefiro Fiore to The Watcher's Council from Buffy.
Peter Hiett once said to watch all the Harry Potter movies looking for Jesus. This show can also qualify as a Magic School Anime, and I already justified how the MC's name fits.
I notice how Seria Hoshikawa is kind of like the Older Brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Luna Tsukuyomi's name fits with how most commentators seem to think the Moon is Rachel in Genesis 37 and Revelation 12, making Seria Leah. But I've argued the Moon represents Leah in those passages which makes this not fit as well. The text of Genesis gives us no indication Leah was ever jealous of Rachel, it was Rachel who was jealous and I see that as typologically relevant to Romans 9-11.
At any rate it's a good show and I'm annoyed Aniplex hasn't made a Dub for it yet.
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Galaxy Fraulein Yuna is a Hidden Gem
The thing about being someone who didn't get fully into Anime till 2014-2016 is that learning the history of this art-form and the community of people who are fans of it in the West is a difficult and murky journey.
I spent a long time assuming that the only stuff that got legally localized before 2000 were Saturday morning kids shows, the occasional big movie like Akira, GitS and Ghibli films, and then stuff like Eva, Utena and Lain at the very end of the 90s. And the occasional anomaly like Robotech which I first heard of via SFDebris.
It was mainly discovering Bennett The Sage and his Anime Abandon series on YouTube that made me realize how many OVAs, lesser known movies and even some TV Anime did get properly Dubbed onto VHS and then early DVDs in the 90s and even 80s. Lots of what he's covered is stuff I'd likely never watch myself but that I can certainly enjoy watching him mock. But there is other stuff where I can from watching him humorously crap on them tell that I'd probably unironically enjoy it.
One realization that slowly dawned on me as I watched more and more of those was how many trends I thought of as inherently post 2000 Anime trends did have their roots already planted in the 20th Century, they just usually weren't in TV Anime. What I'm referring to is "Moe" related tropes. I've discovered that it might just be possible to label Project A-Ko the first true Otaku Anime. Then came Tenchi Muyo as the proto-type of the Harem genre, and plenty of other interesting forgotten gems.
The one that is most fascinating to me at the moment is Galaxy Fraulein Yuna. This franchise was originally a series of Video Games, but it had two OVA serieses, a 2 episode one and a 3 episode one, totaling 5 episodes.
It's like a Magical Girl show and a Mecha show at the same time, which gives it unique similarities to Nanoha and Symphogear. I'm also comparing it to Prisma Illya manly because the Dub has the same lead Voice Actress. Further backing up the Nanoha connection is that Shinbo directed the second OVA series.
It's aesthetics do feel 90s, yet it's so ahead of it's time for something I know was made in the 90s.
I can't speak to how things may be different in the games, but these OVAs are possibly the first Magical Girl Warrior Anime without a Het Male love interest thrown in. There is a character who kind of plays the Tuxedo Mask role, but that character is a woman.
Yuna is also explicitly gay, she's a pretty kinky Lesbian in fact. It's played as a joke largely which can be problematic. But this isn't a side character who's there just to be that joke, this is the main Hero of this Universe, she has those Magical Girl protagonist qualities I love about Usagi Tsukino and Nanoha and right on down through the PreCures and good post Madoka stuff, making Superman look look like a cynical nihilist in comparison. And she's made unambiguously gay in a way modern Anime hesitates to even with the joke characters.
I watched the first two episode OVA awhile ago, but put off Galaxy Fraulein Yuna Returns because I knew it was gonna go down a somewhat darker path. But now that I've seen it, they are worth it, the emotions hit quite well.
They aren't a hidden masterpiece. But they are a fascinating overlooked relic of Anime's past. And I recommend them to anyone who likes Nanoha or Symphogear or Madoka or Yuki Yuna Is A Hero.
I spent a long time assuming that the only stuff that got legally localized before 2000 were Saturday morning kids shows, the occasional big movie like Akira, GitS and Ghibli films, and then stuff like Eva, Utena and Lain at the very end of the 90s. And the occasional anomaly like Robotech which I first heard of via SFDebris.
It was mainly discovering Bennett The Sage and his Anime Abandon series on YouTube that made me realize how many OVAs, lesser known movies and even some TV Anime did get properly Dubbed onto VHS and then early DVDs in the 90s and even 80s. Lots of what he's covered is stuff I'd likely never watch myself but that I can certainly enjoy watching him mock. But there is other stuff where I can from watching him humorously crap on them tell that I'd probably unironically enjoy it.
One realization that slowly dawned on me as I watched more and more of those was how many trends I thought of as inherently post 2000 Anime trends did have their roots already planted in the 20th Century, they just usually weren't in TV Anime. What I'm referring to is "Moe" related tropes. I've discovered that it might just be possible to label Project A-Ko the first true Otaku Anime. Then came Tenchi Muyo as the proto-type of the Harem genre, and plenty of other interesting forgotten gems.
The one that is most fascinating to me at the moment is Galaxy Fraulein Yuna. This franchise was originally a series of Video Games, but it had two OVA serieses, a 2 episode one and a 3 episode one, totaling 5 episodes.
It's like a Magical Girl show and a Mecha show at the same time, which gives it unique similarities to Nanoha and Symphogear. I'm also comparing it to Prisma Illya manly because the Dub has the same lead Voice Actress. Further backing up the Nanoha connection is that Shinbo directed the second OVA series.
It's aesthetics do feel 90s, yet it's so ahead of it's time for something I know was made in the 90s.
I can't speak to how things may be different in the games, but these OVAs are possibly the first Magical Girl Warrior Anime without a Het Male love interest thrown in. There is a character who kind of plays the Tuxedo Mask role, but that character is a woman.
Yuna is also explicitly gay, she's a pretty kinky Lesbian in fact. It's played as a joke largely which can be problematic. But this isn't a side character who's there just to be that joke, this is the main Hero of this Universe, she has those Magical Girl protagonist qualities I love about Usagi Tsukino and Nanoha and right on down through the PreCures and good post Madoka stuff, making Superman look look like a cynical nihilist in comparison. And she's made unambiguously gay in a way modern Anime hesitates to even with the joke characters.
I watched the first two episode OVA awhile ago, but put off Galaxy Fraulein Yuna Returns because I knew it was gonna go down a somewhat darker path. But now that I've seen it, they are worth it, the emotions hit quite well.
They aren't a hidden masterpiece. But they are a fascinating overlooked relic of Anime's past. And I recommend them to anyone who likes Nanoha or Symphogear or Madoka or Yuki Yuna Is A Hero.
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