Freitag, 31. Mai 2013

"Oh my God! They killed Cock Robin!" – Anime/Manga-Recommendation: Patalliro!

It is quite ironic that the first shōnen-ai anime to be aired in Japan is a satire of the genre itself originally written by a male author. In the year 1983 the adaption of Mineo Maya’s manga-series Patalliro! (started 1979 and continues until today) brought amusement to many Japanese TV-watchers. By the way, Mineo Maya is one of the few men who draw manga of this genre. If the same show had aired in the United Stated or in Europe at that time, it would have caused vehement protests and been cancelled for sure. Why is that so?

The opening



Patalliro! Tells the story of the 10-year-old king of the same name (feels more like a dictator though), who rules over Malynera, a small island where spring never ends and diamonds are the natural resource number 1. The young king is rich beyond reason and super intelligent enabling him to do whatever he wants. Him having diabetis is no hindrance to screw with everything that meets his way.

For example, British M16-agent Jack Barbarossa Bancoran (usually called Bancoran, but the whole name is just awesome), who tries to solve jewelry robberies or to catch members of the evil International Diamond Syndicate (IDS). He is basically the result of James Bond and Naraku (Inu Yasha) getting a child. His pruple eyeshadow is just one of the many female traits that male characters have in this series. In fact, there are more effeminate men in this series than female characters. Even Patalliro’s servants, the Tamenegi, hide a bishōnen-face underneath their funny looking masks.

Long before the term “trap” was established and characters like Mariya (MariaHolic) or Hideyoshi (Baka to Test) became popular, Patalliro! introduced a cast of men being way more beautiful than any women and on the top of the list stands 18-years-old Maraich, a former member of the IDS who is now Bancoran’s lover. He usually wears women’s clothing, high-heels and (why do I even need to mention this) make-up. We often see him getting really emotional and jealous, which is quite understandable considering Bancoran’s countless affairs with young men. I should mention that Bancoran has the ability to swoon young effeminate men with his glance alone, also giving him the nickname “Bishōnen-Killer”.

The 30-year-old animations take some time to get used to, but the background pictures and character designs, of course, are really beautiful. Castles and roses and all sorts of shōjo-manga clichés create homoerotic overtones; sometimes one is reminded of the first chapter of Dorian Gray. Apart from the animation, the soundtrack, opening and ending are all perfect, just what you would expect from a good anime series.

In terms of actual story, there isn’t much to say. The adventures of Patalliro range from action based adventures to sci-fi to almost everything you can imagine, but it’s essentially a comedy series and has remained so until today. The manga and anime contain so many jokes, one cannot compare them to modern representatives of the genre (except, maybe, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) when it comes to the sheer number of puns. There are so many funny jokes that there is still plenty to laugh about even if you leave all the jokes about yaoi and homosexuality out. Yet, those jokes make Patalliro! such a great satire of the genre and therefore it is even enjoyable for those who don’t like shōnen-ai at all.

Patalliro! is a mostly unknown and underrated series that deserves much more attention. I’m truly thankful to the fans who create subtitles, scanlate and spread information about it, especially for those who don’t speak Japanese or can’t get any of the volumes or DVDs.


Now, I will post some links for those who want to find out more about Patalliro! or want to give it a try. It’s definitely worth the try!

 A great, informational page dedicated to the series: http://www.caithion.net/patarillo/


A part of the first episode (subbed)



The touching ending song



And last but not least: Cosplay Queen Kanda Midori's Maraich-Cosplay




さあ、みなさん。パパンガパン!

誰が殺したクックロビン!






Montag, 13. Mai 2013

Shingeki no Shōnen - Why Shingeki no Kyojin is no deconstructional Anime

Sometime last week, I read that Shingeki no Kyojin is a deconstruction of shōnen-manga, basically because it kills off important characters all the time.  Friendship! Effort! Victory! Those are the three basic principles of shōnen-manga. And Shingeki no Kyojin is deconstructional because victory is not in sight? One could compare it to Madoka Magika, or even to Mohiro Kitohs Narutaru or Bokurano, which are some of the best ones when it comes to taking cliches or whole genres apart. But if one takes a closer look, this just isn't accurate.

Shingeki no Kyojin contains so many cliches, beginning with its protagonist's sense of justice, or the training sequences, the thought of effort leading to success or melodramatic flashbacks. Its typical stuff you can read in almost every other shōnen. More important, these building blocks of shōnen-manga are not used in an ironic way, the cliches are not questioned. What makes it special is the combination with the horror-genre, so combination is the word, not deconstruction. If you think that, for example, the combination of Pokemon and lots of cruelty results in Narutaru, you might as well use the term deconstruction, falsely however. Narutaru utilizes the idea of Monster Animes and applies it to Real Life, which is one of the most common ways to deconstruct a genre. A more accurate definition of the term can be found under this link. It is the ironic element, reversing and perverting familiar settings, characters or whole genres to turn them into something new and creating disilliusionment and shock to the reader, especially those who expected stereotypical entertainment. Some people feel disappointed after reading or watching Shingeki no Kyojin because they cannot bear seeing characters die, others think of it as an extraordinary and ground-breaking concept. Both somehow misunderstood the point of the series.


It comes down to this: Shingeki no Kyojin cannot be lined up with Anime/Manga like Evangelion or Narutaru. Its difference from other shōnen is due to its use of horror-elements and its difficult power levels when it comes to enemies, but no more. One could call Shingeki no Kyojin the Touhou or the Sekaiju no Meikyū (Etrian Odyssey) of shōnen-manga, but no more. People may call it exciting, mediocre, cruel, epic, ground-breaking, yet, in the end it is just one of the better shōnen-manga out there, not more and not less.


"Hey Kubyey, people tend to misunderstand us, don't they"




Mittwoch, 1. Mai 2013

First thoughts on Evangelion 3.0 (Spoilers!)


EVA 3.0 in a nutshell by Meguro Fukuzou (mostly nsfw)

“What is this I don’t even…” is what I’d have said if I hadn’t watched End of Evangelion. After an amazing start, we have to realize that 14 years have passed since the end of Eva 2.0, which basically means 14 years of plot are missing and don’t even think of getting an explanation in the movie. The desperate Eva-Nerd is thrown into a completely new situation after analyzing and interpreting for years to understand enough of the series to feel highly sophisticated about it. No, Anno really didn’t give the fans what they wanted, or at least what they expected from the trailers at the end of Evangelion 2.0.

It’s a desolate world, there is no trace left of the social life, no schools, and as a matter of fact: no-slife-of-life scenes. Instead, we get a lot of meaningless Mari and Asuka-fanservice (not the ecchi sort though). And that’s all we get of them, no need for character development, or in Mari’s case, character. She has remained a waste of screen time, and so have the new characters introduced in the movie. The one with the pink hair caught my interest (yes, “only shallow people do not judge by appearances”), but I don’t expect her to be of any relevance in the following movie.

In retrospect, it is really interesting how the characters, one of the strongest point of EVA, have been portrayed so weakly. Ayanami being mute and lacking character is, of course, nothing I can blame her for. But all the effort of making her into an emotional human being is neglected in this movie. Then there is the long awaited appearance of Kaworu, rest assured fangirls. Yet, he didn’t leave much of an impression. Though his relationship with Shinji, still being as whiny as we know him, was the best kind of character interaction in the movie, which is rather sad. Then there is Fuyutsuki’s conversation with Shinji, releaving him the truth about his mother, a great attempt, but the expected mindfuck was rather disappointing.
 When did EVA stop to be an allegory depicting characters and their problems with society and themselves? I guess with the start of the Rebuild-Movies.

Apart from philosophical and psychological themes, there is still the good old plot: the Human Instrumentality Project, Adam, Lilith aso. This movie means a good piece of work, even or especially for people like me who stockpile their EVA theories, only to get them messed up by Anno every time. 3.0 is truly confusing, not only because 14 years of information is not revealed to the audience. Too much happened, and it will take time to figure things out. Of course we’ll never figure them out completely, but there is a lot to be found out and that’s what makes EVA worthwhile, even after 18 years since the start of the series.

This movie was a disappointment. I have to admit, I didn’t expect the Freudian depth of the original series. Nor did I want to see End of Evangelion being redone. I didn’t expect 3.0 to become as good as 2.0 either. 

Yet, I didn’t get what I wanted, but isn’t that why I’m watching Anno?
I’m one of the few people that don’t hate him because of that.

さて、この次もサビス、サビス!