Right, I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible.

Last night, inspired by the latest ‘foreign pirates are killing anime’ outburst from the Japanese industry, I fell into one of my usual rants on Twitter:

“The anime industry avoiding the same elephant in the room as music industry did 10 yrs ago: consumers know worthless product when they see it.

My point isn’t about ‘defending piracy’ – it’s about giving it a cultural context.”

Well, I thought what I was trying to say was fairly straightforward – that like the music biz the anime industry had devalued its own product so much that it is hard to act surprised that people don’t want to pay for it. But judging from the flood of responses I got, apparently a few things need clarifying. Lets have a look:

Wow, what show are you talking about?

I’m not talking about any specific shows, I’m talking about how anime in general is – rightly or wrongly – perceived.

Your theory makes no sense, because good shows sell just as badly or worse as bad shows.

Well, for a start, that’s not my theory at all.

My point is not ‘anime doesn’t sell because it’s low quality’, it’s ‘it is seen as acceptable to steal any anime because it’s all viewed as disposable’. My argument is that this is exactly what happened to the music industry: in a desperate attempt to exploit every revenue opportunity while also reducing costs and investment it devalued its own product to the point that consumers feel little unease with obtaining it illegally.

Nah, it’s not the industry’s fault – people pirate because they are evil and immoral.

Um, maybe. I like to be a little less nihilistic than that. Besides, there are examples of people (I’m thinking Cory Doctorow and Radiohead here) in other media making a success of asking people for money while giving away their work. Perhaps what is needed is some risk taking and imaginative thinking?

OK you clever bastard, so what did the music industry do to solve all this?

Well, the industry itself did nothing really to solve it. What it mainly did was gripe and whine and bitch and demand pointless, ineffectual legal action while still taking the same attitude to the product it was churning out. Sound familiar?

In the end it wasn’t the traditional industry that tried to fix things, but Apple and iTunes that stepped in to present a different model.

WHAT? BUT iTUNES AND APPLE ARE EVIL!!??!?!!?

Yeah, OK. I know what you’re saying – iTunes has many, many issues. Sadly this is not that debate. What is interesting about iTunes is that it showed that by finding sensible price points, breaking up albums into smaller products, supporting micro-transactions and making the whole process very quick and easy it is possible to convince some consumers (in fact, a very large number of consumers) that buying legitimately is less hassle than piracy.

But the anime industry isn’t Apple! It can’t afford to start up a version of iTunes, plus the model doesn’t fit anime at all?

Sheesh, stop taking me so literally. I’m not saying an ‘Itunes for anime’ is the answer. Not at all. To be honest I don’t have a firm answer. I’m just some mouthy Brit on teh internets, its not actually my job to provide any answers. I’d like to think there are people out there in the industry who are much cleverer than me and whose job actually should be to come up with answers, and I can just go back to drinking and babbling on in an amusing chimney sweep’s accent.

But you must have some suggestions?

Well, if we can get back to what started all this: my main suggestion is that the industry stops whining about piracy and using it to deflect blame away from how it has devalued its own product. Connected with that it could stop throwing hissy fits and pulling simulcasts or not allowing foreign distributors from putting out boxsets and blurays. That would all be a good start towards calming down and trying to find a way out of this mess. Or maybe it really is too late.

So this just sounds like your usual ranting – you’re blaming the death of the industry on moe and lolicon and some shows that YOU don’t like despite being quite popular with fans.

Okay. Please – just take a deep breath and read this whole post again. Please.

But commercialization and sponsorship has been part of anime since day one, this isn’t a new thing.

Exactly – and the same is true within music – pop music has been used to sell other products etc since the 1950s. That’s not a criticism of my argument – its further evidence for it! You’d hope that after half a century of doing exactly what I’m describing here that both industries would act less surprised that consumers view their products as low value and disposable. I mean, how stupid do they really think we are?

But what is wrong with a show being disposable? I quite like some shows that I admit are disposable.

There’s nothing wrong with a show itself being disposable! There is always going to be disposable product in every entertainment industry, plus ‘disposableness’ is in itself – like quality – a subjective term.

The issue is this though: don’t whine about something being disposable if you made it that way. If you are a studio that makes shallow, disposable product then don’t act all surprised if people might enjoy watching it once, but don’t want to pay to own a handful of episodes of it on an overpriced DVD. You can’t blame them for that. Instead you need to find alternative ways of monetizing that one, single viewing. Or to price it far more realistically. Again this is how iTunes works, by charging mere pennies for products that its customers view as largely disposable. Not perfect for the artist and industry arguably, but its still a lot better than someone just stealing it.

Or, of course, you need to make a less disposable product in the first place….but lets stop there before we start going around in circles again, shall we?

Fancy writing something for the site?

So far this has been strictly a one man show, but this January I’m off on my travels again – a couple of weeks in Thailand this time – and rather than leaving the site without content for a fortnight I thought I could get a few guest writers on-board. The brief is easy – you should have something to say about anime, manga or some other aspect of J-Culture, and at least *some* previous experience of writing online. This site gets a minimum of 30k visits a month, so it’s potentially a good way of giving your work some exposure.

Interested? Here’s what to do:

• Email me a brief overview – just a hundred words or so – on what you’d want to write about. DON’T email me the final piece yet.
• Also include a link to your blog or an example of your writing online.
• Have a look around the site, and make sure you won’t be duplicating something I’ve already done, and that it’ll be something my readers will be interested in.
• Reviews are fine, but I’d rather something like an overview of a classic show or franchise etc that you think people should know about. Or you want to explain some obscure aspect of fandom to a wider audience…whatever. Just keep it fresh and interesting.
• Article ideas must be emailed to me by no later than noon on Friday 11th December. If I like your idea I’ll get back to you ASAP and then you’ll have to get the final piece to me by Friday 8th January 2010. Accepted articles will be published later that month.

So…what you waiting for?

The name Natsuhiko Kyogoku is probably unfamiliar to most anime fans, but the novelist has already had one of his works adapted – Madhouse’s 2008 series Mōryō no Hako – with a second, Loups-Garous, being adapted into a movie by Production IG and due for release in 2010. An expert in Japanese folklore tales and yōkai, the supernatural creatures that inhabit them, Kyogoku-san is best known in Japan for his award winning mystery novels. Unfamiliar with his work myself until now, I was intrigued when US publisher Vertical Inc sent me a review copy of his debut novel – and the first to be translated into English – The Summer of The Ubume.

Ubume is the first in his long running series of novels about Akihiko ‘Kyōgokudō’ Chuzenji, a bookshop owner and yōkai exorcist, and a character seemingly based in part on Kyogoku himself. However, reading Ubume for the first time it never feels like Kyogoku ever envisioned Kyōgokudō as the main protagonist, or perhaps never foresaw a series when writing it. The story is instead told, in first person, through the eyes of Sekiguchi, a hack journalist who comes to his old friend Kyogoku for advice on a story he is working on. It’s a bizzare and horrific tale of a local medical clinic run by the Kuonji family, and of missing children, a doctor that has apparently vanished into thin air and a woman that has been pregnant for over 20 months. It is Sekiguchi that investigates the mystery, and until the novel’s chilling climax Kyōgokudō plays little role beyond discussing the case and the alleged involvement of a yōkai known as a ubume with his friend. It’s here that we see how Kyōgokudō becomes an avatar in the book’s world for the author – despite their expert knowledge on the subject, both openly state that they do not believe in the existence of yōkai, instead seeing them as a metaphorical manifestation of societies desires, values and fears.

And it’s here that Ubume’s main themes come to the surface. This theory of folklore seems almost like common sense now, but in Japan in 1951 – when the novel is set – this would have been almost revolutionary thinking to the average citizen. In many ways Ubume is about Japan in the grip of post-war identity crisis, as it attempts to forcefully separate from it’s feudal, Imperial past and embrace a more western form of democracy and modernity. It is world full of tabloid newspapers and trashy magazines, screaming lurid tales of demonic women and yōkai possession, while elsewhere characters embrace medicine and quest for scientific discovery. Memories of war linger in the background at all times, while individuals talk of their struggle to come to terms with realising what they fought for was wrong. It’s here that Ubume’s yōkai metaphor comes to the fore, as Kyōgokudō repeats his mantra ‘there is nothing strange’, and we realise that we are watching a Japan that is undergoing a subtle yet monumental shift in it’s psychological, philosophical and intellectual make up. Whether an exploration of this time was Kyogoku’s original intent, or whether it just provided a convenient setting to tell his stories and illustrate his yōkai theories is never made clear. Either way it’s inconsequential; as readers we are given a valuable and fascinating insight and snapshot of a period in Japan’s social history that makes the book a fascinating read on it’s own.

It also, paradoxically, leads me to my single, very minor note of concern about Ubume. Much of this exposition is presented in the form of lengthy, deep discussion between Kyōgokudō and Sekiguchi – and while I found it a fascinating read others may find it a little impenetrable at first, especially as it begins in the first dozen pages of the book. For the first half of the book the plot moves very slowly as a result, but as a fan of this typically Japanese style of philosophical musing – and the works of anime filmmakers like Mamoru Oshii – I found it immensely enjoyable. And in the end, as with all intelligent literature, its worth putting in the attention it demands, as watching the mystery unravel and reach it’s startling, dark climax is another joy altogether. The Summer of the Ubume is yet more proof, if it was needed, that Vertical’s eye for spotting the more unusual and captivating work that Japan has to offer makes it a publishing force not to be ignored. Here’s hoping that Ubume is enough of a success to allow them to bring us more of Kyogoku’s novels. I know I can’t wait to read more.

There’s been a lot of bad news and vibes around the US anime industry recently – with some rather major players taking a hit – but for once here in the UK things seem to be ticking over quite happily. Sure we might be a few months behind our American cousins, but judging by the amount of screeners and press releases that have been jamming up my mailbox over the last month it looks like the UK distributor’s schedules show no easing up at the moment. It’s certainly more than I can review in detail before they hit shops, so in the first of what will be a regular feature here’s a run down of stuff that’s due to drop next month – keep an eye on the site over the next few weeks for more in-depth analysis of the pick of the crop.

Ghost in the Shell 2.0

UK release date: 26th October

The big one next month – the UK finally gets it’s hands on the controversial visually over-hauled version of Oshii’s 1995 cyberpunk classic. The DVD screener I was sent had no extras on it, so I’ll hold off until I get my Bluray copy before commenting on the UK release any further – but I will say that the transfer looked great, though I’m still not sure it is enough to dispel my reservations about the changes I raised when reviewing the Japanese Bluray back in January. Stay tuned though, as well as for my imminent look at the Innocence Bluray release. Now, where’s Sky Crawlers?

X The Series – Volume 1

UK release date: 5th October

The other big UK release this October, and long-overdue, is the 2001 TV series based on CLAMP’s legendary demographic defying manga X. It’s been years since I watched the 1996 anime movie based on the same franchise, but i might have to go and grab the DVD of the shelf again, as from first glance the series seems to outstrip that production in terms of visual brilliance – a rare and unusual achievement for a TV show. It certainly captures the manga’s unique (at the time, at least) blend of ornate shōjo visuals and seinen violence, and as such will be one I’ll be examining in much more detail over the coming weeks when I’ve had time to sit down and spend some quality time with it.

Devil May Cry – Complete Series

UK release date: 19th October

My only previous encounter with the Devil May Cry franchise was the first game on the PlayStation 2 several years ago – the stylish, violent, gothic brawler now spawning an anime series that seems to be…erm, a stylish, violent, gothic brawler. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – at first glance Madhouse seem to have hit the nail on the head when it comes to catching the spirit of the game – this is over-stylised, action-packed slightly emo looking exploitation anime at it’s most colourful. I’m interested in how it’ll look on Bluray, and hopefully I’ll it will be fun for the same reasons I enjoyed the game – just minus the occasionally tedious jumping puzzles. Check back next week for a full review.

Claymore – Volumes 5 & 6

UK release date: 12th October

I have to admit, Claymore is one of those shows I probably should have seen but never got round to it. Another Madhouse production, like Devil May Cry it’s yet more stylised violence and demon slaying, but clearly with a little more going on under the hood plot-wise. Certainly coming in at Volume 5 made it a bit hard to follow, but that’s probably a good sign, and the frenetic, over the top sword fights seem like fun. I particularly enjoyed the deep, washed out palette and the soundtrack that seemed to mix up metal riffs, drum and bass breaks and, erm, free-form jazz drumming. Yeah, really.

Bleach – Series 4, Part 1
Naruto Unleashed – Series 7, Part 2

UK release date: 26th October

Ahh, Bleach and Naruto, with your hyperactive but angst-ridden, teen samurai’s and bratty ninjas, will your stories never end? Will your protagonists ever finally come-of age? I’m no fan of either colossal franchise, but then I’m hardly the target demographic – and if you are a fan, then you’ve probably got both these new collections marked in your school planner already. So enjoy. Who the hell am I – some miserable old geezer – telling you what you should be watching anyway? Yeah, like, whatever.

Seeing as it it is Go Nagai’s birthday today, I thought I’d repost this article. Yeah, I’m a lazy opportunist.

I’m not usually someone that indulges too much in nostalgia, especially for the 1980s. But I cannot deny the mounting excitement I’ve been feeling over the last couple of months, knowing that the original Star Fleet/X-Bomber Ｘボンバ TV series was to be finally given an official DVD launch in the UK. One of the reasons I usually avoid nostalgia is the almost inevitable feelings of disappointment that are associated with it – anyone that’s gone back and played a retro video game from around that time only to realise that their rose-tinted spectacles are broken will understand exactly what I mean. The question is does Star Fleet suffer the same fate nearly 30 years later?

For the uninitiated, X-Bomber was a Japanese puppet and models based children’s sci-fi show created by manga legend Go Nagai. Heavily influenced by Star Wars and the mecha/giant-robot stories that Nagai and others had been crafting for years, it was a moderate success in Japan, and was bought and re-dubbed by now defunct British TV company London Weekend Television, who started airing it on Saturday mornings. Overnight it became a huge cult hit, not just with Star Wars obsessed kids but adult sci-fi fans too. At first glance, due to it’s use of puppets and it’s futuristic setting, it is reminiscent of Gerry Anderson shows like Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, but on closer inspection it’s very different. The character and mechanical designs are instantly recognisable as being of Japanese origin, and it’s ongoing, 24 episode story arc – with a surprisingly dark vibe at times – sets it apart from western work. I was never much of a fan of Anderson’s work as a child, but I remember becoming instantly obsessed with Star Fleet – something about the way it looked, the action sequences, the pacing and it’s epic storyline caught my attention fully. Along with Battle of the Planets and Speed Racer it was my first, very early, introduction to animanga and Japanese culture in general (even if I didn’t know it at the time), and as such I’m fairly sure that without it I wouldn’t be running this website right now.

So how does it bare up to inspection some 29 years later? To my surprise and delight, pretty damn well. The character and vehicle design work still makes it a joy to watch – most of the model work is fantastic, and is a thrill to watch knowing that everything you see is hand crafted, especially when we’re so used to being bombarded with CGI. Even more surprisingly, after watching just a handful of the 24 episodes, it’s clear the plot and script still stands up to my now-adult scrutiny, and I’m looking forward to sitting down and catching up on the whole show, time permitting. It’s no 2001, but it’s still Saturday morning space opera at it’s finest, and better written than some other franchises I could mention.

The DVD box-set itself, apart from the slightly garish packaging, has been nicely and thoughtfully put together. Aside from the 4 discs, there’s also a fold out, double sided poster and a collection of the British drawn comic originally serialised in the 80s teen magazine Look-in. All 24 episodes of the show are intact, with a re-mastered soundtrack from composer Paul Bliss, and the best quality visual transfer you could hope for considering the show’s age and TV origin. There’s a number of extras included as well, one of which is possibly the highlight of the whole package for me. The 30-minute ‘Making of’ featurette on disc 3 includes not only interviews with the English dub’s director Louis Elman and some of the voice actors, but also Go Nagai himself, and even Gerry Anderson. It’s a fascinating insight into the show’s origins, development and journey across the continents, and for me the only thing lacking would have been some sample footage with the original Japanese soundtrack included, as a comparison. Presumably this wasn’t possible due to copyright issues, and it in no way detracts from what is a carefully put together, great value package.

There is a rather tragic story that comes out in the documentary, however. Apparently the show was such a huge success here in the UK that Elman had no problem, based on just a short treatment, in securing funding from LWT for a second season. In fact, they were so enthusiastic about the project, they even agreed to fund the original Japanese studio to produce it. However, when Elman made the call to Japan, he was shocked to find a fire had gutted the studio, destroying all the models and sets. A tragic loss certainly for the modelers and producers that had put so much time and passion into this lovingly crafted series, but perhaps a blessing in disguise for the memories of it’s fans – maybe one perfect, unique series that we can now treasure again is what makes Star Fleet/X-Bomber so special.

I can’t write a piece about Star Fleet without giving props to Andy Thomas’ awesome fansite SF:XB, which has given me years of fanboy pleasure.

Mariko Koike is one of Japan’s best known women writers, having built a reputation on the popularity of her romance and detective novels, short stories and essays. While winning critical and commercial acclaim in Japan, along with a string of award, she has of yet failed to gain popularity outside her home country, mainly due to the obvious language barriers. Which is way I was particularly interested when publishers Vertical Inc sent me a copy of her first novel to be translated into English, The Cat in the Coffin.

The story follows aspiring young artist Masayo, who moves to Tokyo to work for artist Goro Kawakubo as a live in housekeeper and tutor to his daughter Momoko. It seems like a dream opportunity for her; a generous salary, accommodation in the city and – most importantly – one-on-one art lessons from widower Goro, the son of a far more famous Japanese artist.

Things, however, do not go exactly to plan. For a start young Momoko is increasingly reserved after the death of her mother, retreating into a world where her main companion is her cat Lala, with Masayo struggling to communicate with her outside of the classroom. To complicate matters even more, Masayo finds herself falling for the suave, dominering and – at times – slightly creepy Goro. Just as she’s making headway with both, things take a tuen for the worse, when Goro meets, and starts having a relationship with the glamourous but cat-hating Chinatsu.

Not surprisingly most of the story centers around the resulting love triangle, but to dismiss the book as yet another ‘chick-lit’ romance novel. This was certainly my fear when I first picked it up – especially as someone that, although obsessed with many aspects of J-culture, tries hard to not enthuse about something just because ‘it’s from Japan’; those of you familiar with my views on J-Pop and high school anime dramas will have heard the rant before.

But The Cat in the Coffin goes deeper than that. From even the earliest chapters there’s a darker edge to proceedings, and Koike succeeds in portraying a sense of the awkwardness of 1950s Japan as it undergoes shifts in its social and sexual structures. To this male reader the character of Goro comes over as somewhat creepy and insidious from the very start, although perhaps the aim is for female readers to find his dominating sexual arrogance attractive, as the female protagonists do.

It’s certainly an accessible book – feeling perhaps a little too so for my personal tastes at times, although it’s unclear whether the sometimes simple writing style is Koike’s own or a byproduct of the (excellent) translation by Deborah Boliver Boehm. It’s short too, making the book a great wet weekend read or – as I found – the great way to fill a nine-hour long haul flight. If you fancy a bit of darkly tinged romance or a quick sample from the world of Japanese woman’s writing, plus a way of supporting one of the most interesting independent translating publishers around at the moment, The Cat in the Coffin is well worth picking up.

The Spring 2009 anime season marches on, and as always time is my enemy. Trying to keep up with the shows I am interested in is hard enough, let alone taking time out to sample the season’s other offerings. But sample I have, and here I present my findings on the first episodes of four shows that, while I may not follow them, you may want to check out.

K-On! (2009)

There’s no denying that Kyoto Animation’s K-On! is the fan favourite this season, with the internet buzzing with enthusiasm and otaku bed-wetting glee. And it’s easy to see why – the story of four girls who join their high school’s music club to stop it from being shut down is a beautifully animated, professionally polished, and occasionally genuinely funny production. Sadly (for me at least) the things that make it appeal so much to foreign otaku – the moe fetishism, the over-kawaii character design, and the use of unsurprising, very established archetypes for all the main protagonists – are exactly the same things that bore me about current, mainstream anime. While I can see the attraction, but I can’t ever shake the feeling that I could just be watching yet another US high-school drama – the sort of thing that as a fully grown man just doesn’t appeal. The fact that it’s set in Japan and (admittedly very well) animated just isn’t enough for me sadly – but I’m sure I’m very much in the minority amongst the hardcore anime fans, so check it out yourself and make your own mind up.

Saki (2009)

Another teen drama about girls in a high-school club, Gonzo’s Saki seems at first sight to be very similar to K-ON! in it’s premise and characters – and in many ways it is. However this isn’t the music club – it’s Mahjong club, something that makes the show seem – to non-Japanese viewers at least – seem gleefully insane at times. The way the Mahjong games are portrayed in the show has to be seen to be believed – tiles are thrown like they were Pokemon balls, J-Pop-techno pumps away in the background, and the ‘action’ is frequently interrupted by cut-scenes explaining the rules of the game or particular special moves. It’s so exhilarating and colourful – like the traditional game has been transformed into a battle sequence from a Japanese RPG – that it feels like the whole thing is a marketing exercise by some Mahjong Society of Japan to lure new recruits. Apparently it’s not, but it is baffling, kinetic and surreal enough to almost demand my attention for the rest of the series.

Unfortunately, Saki does one thing – and does it a lot – that will probably stop this from happening: fan service. Regular readers will know this is one of my bugbears, and again maybe this makes me an outsider from the otaku-hardcore, but watching barely teenage schoolgirls wearing skimpy clothes being soaked in the rain does nothing for me. In fact, it makes me feel pretty damn uncomfortable and party to exploitation. But that’s just me, and if that’s your cup of green-tea then you’ll love this, and I’m pretty sure I’ll probably check out some more episodes, if I can manage to avoid cringing and flinching between the Mahjong action sequences.

Ristorante Paradiso (2009)

I was drawn to Ristorante Paradiso primarily because of it’s subject matter – an anime show about a small restaurant in Rome is unusual enough, but even more so when it’s staffed by mature gentlemen rather than scantily dressed young waitresses. In fact, that’s spectacle wearing mature gentlemen to be precise – the secret of the establishment’s success. It seems the clientele – also slightly mature, well-to-do Roman women – like that sort of thing. Yeah, Ristorante Paradiso is an unusual one.

Intriguing as the plot is again I can’t help thinking that as I’m not a Japanese housewife, perhaps I’m not exactly the target demographic here. Mildly erotic soap opera has never really been my bag, to be honest. That’s not that I’ve ruled the show out completely – I’ll probably be back again to check in on the elegant artwork, European art-house vibe and gentle pacing, plus as it’s the first solo outing by outsourcing studio David Productions I feel like I owe them a chance to show what they can do.

Valkyria Chronicles (2009)

Based on the popular Sega tactical RPG of the same name, Valkyria Chronicles is set in a alternate, fictional 1930s Europe. and is centered around the story of militia group defending their quiet Germanic town from an approaching army of invading enemies. The first thing that strikes you about the how is it’s visuals – not only do they stick very closely to the graphics of the game, but they also ape it’s water colour art style, right down to being able to see the texture of the canvas below. It’s a similar technique as used in 2007′s Mononoke – although to create a far softer, less radical look – but it is no less aesthetically pleasing.

After watching and enjoying the first couple of episodes, I’m still not sure how closely I’ll follow the rest of the series – while the plot and artwork are interesting, so far the characters seem quite flat and basic, and the setting and historical background feel like they need more fleshing out. Hopefully the latter will come with time as the story unfolds. Oh, and it also features tanks. Big, bold, cool-looking, almost steampunk, stylised WW2 era tanks. Which, I have to admit, usually equals quick-win for me.

With the anime industry facing recession and accused of creative stagnation, a common recent tactic has been to take two well established genres and weld them together, often with questionable results. Satellite Studios‘ Basquash! pulls the same move, merging sports drama and mecha action to depict a futuristic world where basketball is played with giant robots.

Let me just say that again: basketball played with giant robots. While Basquash! is ostensibly a kids’ show, some of you may – like me – be unable to resist watching something based on that concept whatever your age. Set on the planet of Earth Dash, it is centered around Dan JD, a teenage street basketball player that inadvertently becomes the hero of the sport. I say inadvertently because Dan actually hates the giant robots (or ‘Big Foots’ as they are known) – partly because the basketball they play is slow and uninspiring – but mainly because an accident involving one left his little sister crippled. However, when he accidentally re-invents the sport as a high speed, skillful street game he finds himself thrown into prison for a year, emerging to a world obsessed with his new creation. Egged on by his friends, and seeing an opportunity to raise enough cash to take himself and his sister to the Moon – where their advanced technology will allow her to walk again – he reluctantly agrees to take the controls again and play.

So far it sounds like a pretty standard teen action anime show – but there a number of things about Basquash! that make it stand out from that, pretty large, crowd. The first one that strikes you is it’s incredible production values. The world of Earth Side is incredibly fleshed out – its messy but always sunny urban setting is a beautifully rendered playground meets junkyard, infinitely detailed and teaming with life. It is reminiscent of Studio 4°C’s high budget movie Tekkon Kinkreet in many ways, especially in how it manages to convey the feeling of a believable, lived-in world that always feels like cartoon fantasy. The background art is astonishing throughout, especially the iconic, vast, hologram-festooned, neon-jeweled Moon that hangs in the sky both day and night, dominating not only the city visually, but also the lives of its inhabitants economically and psychologically – the source of their oppression and the object of their desires. It is the show’s defining image, both beautifully mesmerising and threatening in equal measures.

Similarly the character designs grab the attention immediately. While obviously drawn up with the teen market in mind; their street-wise urban look also seems just clumsy enough to feel convincing. Even their kawaii genetically engineered pets – seemingly only there to provide an opportunity to shift more collectible capsule toys – don’t grate to hard. But of standout interest are the designs of the Big Foot mechas themselves – instead of going with the almost generic, current trend for post Gundam and Evangelion style of gleaming, ultra hi-tech robot designs the show goes in the completely opposite direction. Scrap built and awkward looking – with their cockpits fashioned from scrapped retro car bodies – each Big Foot looks unique and customised, fitting perfectly with the shows junk yard aesthetic. In fact, almost every aspect of the show’s visuals suggests a staff that, while still ensuring they ticked every box on the marketing checklist, managed to maintain consistent artistic vision throughout the long, laborious production process and apparently with a considerably higher than average budget. A true rarity in the current climate, and making Basquash! worth checking out for this alone.

And there are other ways in which Basquash! is slightly unusual. One of it’s most baffling is the amount of sexual content in the show. Fanservice is, perhaps regrettably depending on your viewpoint, not uncommon in modern anime TV, but there seems to be something qualitatively different about the show some fans are already calling Boobsquash! There seems to have been an attempt to make the shows sexual side fit naturally – as though its an essential part of the chemistry that fuels the shows playful, energetic pulse. It takes the form of more than just the familiar T&A close-ups – though there’s no shortage of these either – there’s a strong, explicit sexual energy amongst some of the key characters, with one female player seemingly orgasming when she loses to a male rival. It’s hugely suggestive but done in a stylistic, knowing way that implies eroticism rather than screams it, but while its a device employed skillfully in past shows like Cowboy Bebop and Michiko to Hatchin, theres no denying that giving Basquash! a sexual edge feels jarring at times – even considering how differently Japanese pop culture treats sexuality – in a show that seems so primarily aimed at children.

And that is perhaps Basquash!’s biggest enigma – what exactly is it’s intended target demographic? It’s common anime industry marketing practice to create child-orientated product that also appeals to wealthier 20-something otaku – but Basquash! pushes it so far at times that it almost feels like, perhaps unintentional, satire. With some interesting things to say thematically about social inequality and the media, hopefully this is part of the writers intentions, and we’ll have to watch some more of the following 21 episodes to see if it lives up to this deeper potential. What is clear is that they intended to create a show that oozes cool, street smarts and above all fun – and whatever you think of Basquash!, it’s hard to disagree that they have, so far at least, succeeded.

It’s the same old story: too much anime, not enough time. The new spring season kicks off in Japan this week, and here I am still trying to catch up with last season’s offerings. Well at least I can save myself – and maybe you – some time; this month’s first episodes round up features two shows I might watch more of and two I’ll shortly be dragging to the trash can. Still, that’s not to say you might not enjoy them.

Kurogane no Linebarrels (2008 – 2009)

What do you do when one tired, creaking, over-milked anime formula just isn’t enough? Why, get two of course, and force them to mate and reproduce yet more dull, retarded spawn. Like Gonzo‘s Kurogane no Linebarrels (Linebarrels of Iron). Based on the shōnen manga by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi, it combines both the magical girlfriend and mecha genres in the most painfully obvious way possible. Kouichi Hayase is a 14 year old schoolboy who, surprise surprise, is being bullied by some of his school mates, while some of the others, apparently meant to be his friends, just patronise him. That is, of course until a mysterious girl falls on top of him from the sky (they do seem to have a nasty habit of doing that), and somehow gives a giant mech to pilot. Or something.

This show really has nothing to recommend it. The art is at best generic, and at times just nasty – the CGI mechs in particular are hideous to look at, failing completely to sit realistically in front of the 2D backgrounds and looking like they where rendered on a Sega Saturn. The plot is, well, minimal in the first episode, and the characters apparently just another collection of overused stereotypes. The whole thing feels like someone left it to the last minute, panicked, and then just tried to rip off Neon Genesis Evangelion yet again, but with all the clever and beautiful bits left out. Shame, as I had heard interesting things about the manga in the past, and while I might still check that out I won’t be coming back to the anime again. Next.

Kurokami (2009)

Produced by Sunrise and based on Dall-Young Lim and Sung-Woo Park‘s manga, Kurokami (Black God) is, thankfully, much more interesting. While it again plays with established ideas like magical girlfriends and the supernatural, it does so in a more intelligent and challenging way. The plot is based around Keita Ibuki, a young computer programmer haunted by the death of his mother at an early age, and obsessed with discovering to truth about her doppelganger that somehow seems to be responsible. One night, while eating alone at a Ramen stand, he encounters a young homeless girl Kuro, who transpires is actually a Tera Guardian/Mototsumitama – a God-like being charged with maintaining the balance of existence.

The art is better than average, with some nice, moody depictions of Tokyo and some attractive, if not highly original character designs. The dark-edged script is where the show really shines though, with the first episode delivering a shocking, jaw-dropping ending. Worth checking out.

Kuroshitsuji (2008 – 2009)

Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) looks interesting at first – yet again based on a successful manga and the fact that it’s set in Victorian era London certainly grabbed my attention. Sebastian Michaelis is the butler to 12 year old Ciel Phantomhive, the head of an aristocratic family and their sweet and toy producing empire. But, of course, Sebastian isn’t just your average butler – that wouldn’t be in anyway interesting enough. He is in fact – guess what! – a demon.

I’ll be completely honest with you; I didn’t make it past the advert break in the first episode. While the artwork looks interesting at first with it’s kind of moe-goth take on Victorian England, I just couldn’t see past the childish humour and stereotypical characters I’m afraid. Granted, I’m probably not the target demographic for this one – I’m guessing 13 year old emo girls will be loving swooning over the enigmatic Sebastian – so if you fit that description give it a go and let me know how wrong I am.

White Album (2009)

Seven Arc‘s White Album is actually based on a visual novel (or dating sim – a uniquely Japanese form of video game) and a subsequent manga. The central protagonist is university student Tōya Fujii, and the show is based on his angst ridden stumble through life, and in particular his relationship (or lack of it) with up and coming idol singer Yuki Morikawa.

Any show that opens with a dream sequence triggered by it’s hapless main character waking to the sounds of his girlfriend being interviewed on TV instantly gets my attention for some inventiveness with it’s narrative, and similarly the show is highly polished visually. The problem was as I followed it’s characters bumble around campus life, endlessly talking about relationships, I couldn’t help feeling that I might be watching the Japanese equivalent of the OC or Dawson’s Creek. Having said that the scripting is pretty tight, and – time permitting – it is quite likely I might be coming back to check out some more.

So there you go – as always, let me know in the comments below if you think I’m missing the point about one of these shows or just utterly wrong. And check back over the next few weeks to find out what I think about some of the new season’s premieres.

I’m not usually someone that indulges too much in nostalgia, especially for the 1980s. But I cannot deny the mounting excitement I’ve been feeling over the last couple of months, knowing that the original Star Fleet/X-Bomber Ｘボンバ TV series was to be finally given an official DVD launch in the UK. One of the reasons I usually avoid nostalgia is the almost inevitable feelings of disappointment that are associated with it – anyone that’s gone back and played a retro video game from around that time only to realise that their rose-tinted spectacles are broken will understand exactly what I mean. The question is does Star Fleet suffer the same fate nearly 30 years later?

For the uninitiated, X-Bomber was a Japanese puppet and models based children’s sci-fi show created by manga legend Go Nagai. Heavily influenced by Star Wars and the mecha/giant-robot stories that Nagai and others had been crafting for years, it was a moderate success in Japan, and was bought and re-dubbed by now defunct British TV company London Weekend Television, who started airing it on Saturday mornings. Overnight it became a huge cult hit, not just with Star Wars obsessed kids but adult sci-fi fans too. At first glance, due to it’s use of puppets and it’s futuristic setting, it is reminiscent of Gerry Anderson shows like Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, but on closer inspection it’s very different. The character and mechanical designs are instantly recognisable as being of Japanese origin, and it’s ongoing, 24 episode story arc – with a surprisingly dark vibe at times – sets it apart from western work. I was never much of a fan of Anderson’s work as a child, but I remember becoming instantly obsessed with Star Fleet – something about the way it looked, the action sequences, the pacing and it’s epic storyline caught my attention fully. Along with Battle of the Planets and Speed Racer it was my first, very early, introduction to animanga and Japanese culture in general (even if I didn’t know it at the time), and as such I’m fairly sure that without it I wouldn’t be running this website right now.

So how does it bare up to inspection some 29 years later? To my surprise and delight, pretty damn well. The character and vehicle design work still makes it a joy to watch – most of the model work is fantastic, and is a thrill to watch knowing that everything you see is hand crafted, especially when we’re so used to being bombarded with CGI. Even more surprisingly, after watching just a handful of the 24 episodes, it’s clear the plot and script still stands up to my now-adult scrutiny, and I’m looking forward to sitting down and catching up on the whole show, time permitting. It’s no 2001, but it’s still Saturday morning space opera at it’s finest, and better written than some other franchises I could mention.

The DVD box-set itself, apart from the slightly garish packaging, has been nicely and thoughtfully put together. Aside from the 4 discs, there’s also a fold out, double sided poster and a collection of the British drawn comic originally serialised in the 80s teen magazine Look-in. All 24 episodes of the show are intact, with a re-mastered soundtrack from composer Paul Bliss, and the best quality visual transfer you could hope for considering the show’s age and TV origin. There’s a number of extras included as well, one of which is possibly the highlight of the whole package for me. The 30-minute ‘Making of’ featurette on disc 3 includes not only interviews with the English dub’s director Louis Elman and some of the voice actors, but also Go Nagai himself, and even Gerry Anderson. It’s a fascinating insight into the show’s origins, development and journey across the continents, and for me the only thing lacking would have been some sample footage with the original Japanese soundtrack included, as a comparison. Presumably this wasn’t possible due to copyright issues, and it in no way detracts from what is a carefully put together, great value package.

There is a rather tragic story that comes out in the documentary, however. Apparently the show was such a huge success here in the UK that Elman had no problem, based on just a short treatment, in securing funding from LWT for a second season. In fact, they were so enthusiastic about the project, they even agreed to fund the original Japanese studio to produce it. However, when Elman made the call to Japan, he was shocked to find a fire had gutted the studio, destroying all the models and sets. A tragic loss certainly for the modelers and producers that had put so much time and passion into this lovingly crafted series, but perhaps a blessing in disguise for the memories of it’s fans – maybe one perfect, unique series that we can now treasure again is what makes Star Fleet/X-Bomber so special.

I can’t write a piece about Star Fleet without giving props to Andy Thomas’ awesome fansite SF:XB, which has given me years of fanboy pleasure.