Buddha Vol. 8 Review

It appears Osamu Tezuka found the concept of filler alien to him, because he’s able to wrap up a series in just eight volumes. All of which are good, but with Buddha he came up with an ending worthy of the subject matter.

Despite some grim turns of events, and some extreme tests of Buddha’s faith and sanity, this volume has a surprisingly uplifting ending as does the deceptively depressing Apollo’s Song which ends on a similar spiritual note, only here Buddha goes on to achieve leaving a legacy to the world whereas Shogo from Apollo’s Song is given another shot in the cycle of life and existence.

Lots of characters that have been around from the beginning die off in this volume, and there’s a few tearful goodbyes to well meaning (and not so well meaning but redeemed) characters. This isn’t like the End of Evangelion, you won’t feel confused about the ending if you’re at all familiar with Tezuka’s spiritual storytelling mode. It leaves a message of hope for the world that is buried in the images and text Tezuka crafts with all his manga.

I suggest you pick this series up if you want old school manga that has an edge to it that Naruto and Bleach sometimes (maybe always?) fail to deliver. You might not become enlightened from reading it but with Buddha Tezuka points out you don’t have to be a monk to contribute to nature and its cycles, you just have to help out where you can.

Embarassing remarks aren’t allowed!

My worst Anime geek nightmare has come true.

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My First Sake

The one in the middle is the one I tried.

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The right Manga drawing style for you

I have been sworn to secrecy about why I cannot post about either Haruhi or Genshiken yet despite having watched both shows. My brain is aching from trying to remember all the plot details so I can do a massive Animated Spree post later on. But instead I’ve got a treat for you, in the tradition of Art Theory: 1900-2000 I will present my views on the best ways to personally draw Manga style drawings.

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Assignments are over!!!

I finished my final assignment today for this year. This means one thing: more Anime blogging time.

Here’s my schedule:

Genshiken

Disgaea

Love Hina

Speed Racer

Lucky Star

[These are all shows I plan to watch very, very soon. And I'll have time to do them now that I'm free!]

Mingling with Manga: Episode 1: Tezuka Troubles

I have a desire to complete reading a manga series about the life of the Buddha. Irony much?

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Format changes in blogging

For those of you who saw my The Animated Spree post at Yukan Blog, you might have noticed it’s a bit different to my usual episodic blogging. This is because episodic blogging doesn’t really suit my brain. It’s hard for me to manage keeping with one thing as I watch lots of Anime in any one week and it’s difficult to explore episodically all of it in a blog entry. Especially with shows people have already seen, which is the majority of my postings about Anime in general.

My idea was to adapt Nick Hornby’s format of reviews from the Believer magazine in The Polysyllabic Spree, where he chronicles the books he’s read in a month and which ones he bought only adding to the pile of things to be read. I admire Hornby’s work, particularly About a Boy and The Polysyllabic Spree, so it’s only natural I would be inspired by him to apply his methods of reviewing to Anime blogging.

Sadly, so far I haven’t gotten many comments on my first Animated Spree post, because I reckon most people are confused about the format change.

The Spirit of Art in Anime Figures (A Stephen Fry Inspired Blessay)

For those of you who don’t know, here it is. Shin’s discourse on the matter of banning Anime figures in Malaysia has a title more colourful than I’m used to encountering, and I know next to nothing about the Malaysian government apart from what I’ve read in his article, but I believe it’s time for me to respond with a Stephen Fry inspired Blessay. Would Stephen Fry approve of somebody trying to emulate his writing style and mood in order to justify Anime figures? I haven’t the faintest idea, but I’ll give it a shot.

Anime figures, as much as they are derided as a less than adequate substitute for real life female companionship, represent an artform which is at the same time skillful and subversive. Depending on which ones you get there are some genuinely beautiful pieces to collect, and they are actual art objects, albeit a commercial one based on a commercial artform, Anime. The mingling of two different artforms is always controversial, and the application of such a union can have the public up in arms, as anybody familiar with art history will recall.

But how should figures be appreciated? I believe, that since they are art objects, but not always objectifying of women by any means, they should be viewed in The Spirit of Art. A good appreciation of the female form is a staple philosophy of any Bohemian, and in some ways otaku are some of the most enigmatic Bohemians of all, due to the fact that some of them desire their figures in the likeness of their favorite Anime girls over real women. This does not mean that all figure collectors feel this way, but there is that element there.

So, on with the Blessay. I will not attempt to criticise the Malaysian government’s attempts to ban Anime figures, because I already said I know next to nothing about the situation going on, but I will attempt to convince you that censorship of an artform only makes it more popular. Just ask Salman Rushdie, he’s living under a fatwa and that still hasn’t changed his mind on censorship. Perhaps it is bad taste comparing censorship of a book that offended Muslims to, what is an act of censorship in a Muslim country of a different artform, but the record shows that such attempts to silence dissenting voices doesn’t work to cease their popularity, and that’s all I have to say on the matter of the Malaysian government.

What I am going to talk about in this Blessay is how the collection of Anime figures as art objects rather than sex objects actually builds an appreciation of artworks, and of course, a healthy fascination with the mysterious allure and beauty of women. Sorry Germaine Greer, you already roasted me when you had the chance at that book talk I went to, and a feminist/Marxist backlash is probably expected from posting something like this on one’s blog.

Consider the art of sculpture, as high art. Sculpture is one of the defining elements of the Arts even before the Greeks had thought of their Muses. Now, as we know, Anime is popular culture, and thus any figures and PVC sculptures based on Anime characters are in fact commercial products. However it is not quite the same as hanging a print of a Picasso on your wall, or a Matisse reproduction. These Anime figures are collectables and have value of their own, judged by their rarity and skill in creation.

To purchase an Anime figure is not always an easy task, adding to the suspense and enjoyment of acquiring them. Because they are not easy to come by in some areas they hold a mystique of that which cannot easily be possessed. In this way it is easier to understand why some otaku and Anime fans find the activity of obtaining a rare figure of an Anime girl holds as much or even more than the courting and romancing of a real one. It took me some time to find the right places and the right people to get figures from, and these connections which evoke a sort of underground bootleggery (even though you may be buying legitimate merchandise legally, the cliches of trenchcoats, sunglasses and suitcases in shady locations is all part of the fun). The thrill of getting these figures home from the Anime shop cannot be compared, as you try to get home with such subversive artworks without somebody looking at you funny or asking you what’s in your bag. The embarrassment of getting caught in public with these in a shopping bag, and the satisfaction of getting home undisturbed, all builds part of the hobby experience.

Why is it so embarrassing to be caught with them? Because it is a bit hard for respectable members of the community to understand why you may be holding in your possession sculpted figures of scantily clad women, and this is what makes people who collect figures worry all the more, because of what other people think of you. What other people think of you is quite important in Australia as it probably is in Malaysia where figures are being banned, and I suppose the embarassment of being caught with a figure which has her panties showing is far less consequential than having it actually confiscated from you on sight.

Yet still, people collect them, knowing full well that other people might not understand the way they appreciate these things. These figures are admired for their beauty, and obtained out of a love for the characters they represent. I haven’t been collecting them long but I think I understand now that there’s more to collecting them than crass commercialism, more than just a hobby of the perverted soul, but something uplifting. To own a figure is to possess what cannot be obtained in reality, as all representations of beauty in Art are, unattainable perfections which cannot be fulfilled in life. But, to quote Lovecraft, it made men dream, but unlike in Lovecraft’s horrific mythos young men aren’t dreaming of extradimensional horrors but of women they love but whom they cannot have, a mystique and allure comes from collecting figures of Anime girls, you can look but you cannot touch. One can only admire such women in The Spirit of Art, only as Art will one ever know such divine perfection.

And the world would indeed be a sadder, bleaker place without knowing that such collectables do exist and that if you’re in the predisposition of collecting you can have them. I know my life would not be as complete without Anime or Anime figures to look forward to, and if you don’t agree with me there I can only look at you and sigh, knowing I can never convince you of my opinion.

The Trouble with Figure Pictures

I’ve been wanting to do some figure photography of my figures for some time, but I’m actually supposed to be studying for exams and finishing my final Ext. 2 English assignment first. That and I’m not sure if my digital camera even works anymore.

Basically I got some new figures, the Lucky Star Petite Nendoroids I showed you earlier, and the Mizuho Kazami PVC statue that I told you about but was too shy to admit wanting. I do figure photos a bit differently because I tend to take pictures of them with other figures interacting with each other, sometimes figures which aren’t even Anime figures, mainly for LOLZ. So expect a great debate between The Thing from the Fantastic Four and Rei Ayanami, Anakin Skywalker running away from my Lucky Star figures because he likes his women older than he is, and Boba Fett trying to hunt some bounty, in this case the bonny lass Mizuho.

I also got today a designer toy called Astro Cat, who looks like a cross between Astro Boy and a cat. Designer toys are figures too, even if they aren’t Anime figs, and I plan to get more of them. But until I get access to my camera after exams, you’ll have to wait until I’m done.

The Blogger Prince (of Filler)

While reading Machiavelli’s The Prince it got me thinking about how I could apply this to Anime blogging, and I came across this passage:

The other superior expedient is to establish settlements in one or two places; these will, as it were, fetter the state to you. Unless you establish settlements, you will have to garrison large numbers of mounted troops and infantry. Settlements do not cost much, and the prince can found them and maintain them at little or no expense.

You can’t apply this to your blogging the same way Machiavelli did, but you can certainly apply it without implementing the following measures detailed in The Prince:

He injures only those from whom he takes land and houses to give to the new inhabitants, and these victims form a tiny minority, and can never do any harm since they remain poor and scattered.

Basically what I can say is that blogroll listings are like settlements in that you can maintain them easily and they’re good for establishing your power base. However, you must regularly read other blogs in order to maintain relationships and power structures. I’m currently increasing my blogging empire beyond the Yukan Blog bloc and while the dasaku lot have been good to me, a shameless grab for power is in order for me to get more hits by interacting with other bloggers. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. Or do I?