Watersheds and Tropes

I've touched on this before, but I wanted to flesh out my thoughts on tropes. Somewhere between "Lord of the Rings" and "Dungeons and Dragons", sylvan elves and deep-dwelling dwarves became common, even an old hat. It wasn't just Dragonlance or "Crystal Shard", Dennis McKiernan's "Iron Tower" trilogy featured halflings in the form of warrows. The other example was the change from the monstrous vampire of Bram Stoker to the Anne Rice/Camilla sauve immortal. These trends are not accidental, nor are they entirely acts of cynical plagarism.

E.B. White said it best when he wrote "Let [the writer] start sniffing the air, or glancing at the Trend Machine, and he is good as dead, although he may make a nice living. Any reader of R.A. Salvatore or fan of Drizzt Do'Urden can readily feel the heart felt sentiments in his early novel. Imitation has been called a form of flattery, but that statement misses the joy that sends the newborn fan to the library or bookstore fiending for more.

Out of the thousands of fans, a handful may combust and try to become creators themselves: writers, artists, film makers, game makers, etc. The first inspirational work was actually a vector with direction and the impulse that sent the fan moving. The vector may be dominant or it may be nearly lost amidst a plethora of different influences, but it is there and all of the influences are still there. Inspiration does not happen in a vacuum.

The analogy that I propose for these tropes is a watershed. A river cuts its own path through erosion. As rain falls, it gathers and reinforces the river. Tolkien's pen let flow the first stream. As other authors, tributaries, linked up with Middle Earth's conception, swelling the stream into a fullbore river.

The same idea applies to yaoi. These girls found the BL images to be beautiful. The few who decided to become mangaka had these moving images in mind when they first put pencil to paper. When they reached out for other fans, they connected with those that had similar inspirations. And when they reached the stage where they began publishing, their art reinforced the current of shounen-ai work, then a new generation opened their works and a few of them picked up their pens.

The rushing river reinforces itself as it down cut into the bedrock, but even mighty rivers meander and die, but that is an article for another time.

Current Reading

I am reading about Russia, Japan, and Albany, NY:
"Russia under the Old Regime 2nd Ed." by Richard Pipes
"Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa
"Legs" by William Kennedy

Princess Army Epiphany

I have a friend of Polish ancestry and we never let her live down hanging with us at the college anime club when it played Princess Army: Wedding Combat. This show managed to live up to it's kitschy title in all of the wrong ways. The air headed female character had two potential loves. A master martial artist who dominated the well known martial arts world in Poland of all places (this yaoi poster boy was labeled a "typical Polish male" to the consternation of our lovely Polish friend). The other was a well meaning local boy. There was also a gay guy that liked judo ground work. After the pseudo-rap scene, we just about had it.

I think that this was truly the definitive moment, when I realized that not all anime was for me. Not Detonator Orgun, not Oz, not even Battle High, I have Princess Army: Wedding Combat to thank for the epiphany.

Scanlations

Here are the Ivyscans releases that I've contributed to:

Desert Storm part 3
Innocent Dragon chapter 1A & 1B
Yokohama Monogatari Vol. 1 chapters 7 & 8

In the works are
Hana Saita (short story)
Innocent Dragon chapter 2A & 2B
Yokohama Monogatari Vol. 1 chapter 9

Gee, it really felt like I did more in the past 10 months. However, I shouldn't complain since I can barely keep up when I do get the assignment and, more importantly, quality takes time. Also, each piece was 40 pages, which will bring me up to 9 x 40 pages = 360 pages.

Back to work.

The Pen and the Scythe

I went to a funeral today. A friend's mother passed away. She was 64. He was always talkative and solid guy. Not book smart, but sharp and wise. He's a family man.

At the funeral, under the warm, clear sky, I couldn't say a word. I signed the card that was passed around work. I said what I could in there. Whatever is written is never enough, but the only way to write is to remember who it is for. In this case, it WILL not be enough. However, if the words and sentiment can bring a moment of comfort, then they have done their job.

The preacher quoted the "Prairie Home Companion" while speaking directly to the grandchildren. He talked about a "storm home", where the children of Lake Woebegone stayed when the snow cut off the roads and couldn't go home. He told the children that their grandmother had gone to her storm home in Heaven and quoted a Psalm where there he talked about a city where there is a foundation and walls made by God. And where Jesus prepares rooms for people and there was one for their grandmother.

The preacher sounded a little bit like Garrison Keillor, while his words were more hushed that huge, he tried to comfort the children, who needed it the most. Here were simple words at their best, performing the miracle of connecting human sorrow. That sounds can connect human hearts really is amazing.

The RICE must flow.

I'm convinced that this is a law of medieval East Asia and still a force in modern Asia.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080919/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_tainted_rice

Creativity versus Originality

"The difference between originality and creativity is that the originator is the one who is the surprised by creativity."

I might be mangling my Teacher's quote, but in that sentence, he provided razor sharp dividing line between the two phenomena. Many moons ago, when I was in college, an art exhibit showcased crucifixes soaked in urine. One of my then-friends gleefully pointed it out as a poke in the eye to Christianity. Reflexively, I declared that it wasn't art, but had to back away when asked to define art. Instead, I commented that it wasn't good art. My friend had the grace to conceded that point.

More recently, a young woman claimed that she had created an exhibit from the remains of an abortion. Fortunately, the story turned out to be just a story. Again, here was art as a statement, which turned out to be bad art. No one had done it before, so it stood in its originality. Yet it was so starkly lacking in creativity, which is necessary to transcend the level of an intellectual exercise or a gaudy show of technique.

The truly creative appeals to the senses through perspiration, the mind through skill, and to the emotions with the lingering echo of the spontaneity that gave birth to the work. It is this holistic trinity of body, will, and spirit that grants great novels, paintings, movies, and other works a life of their own, like Pygmalion's statue. They are truly the children of their creators, and like children of flesh and bone, the creator gains immortality through the continuing life of their children.

Sister Soldier

For the longest time, I hesitated in watching a show about nuns with guns. Between the price and Hillary Haag's voice, I decided to give "Chrno Crusade" a try and, ye, it was good. The series is uneven, but very good.

At the outset, the tone and the animation of the series changed drastically from episode one to two. The pilot episode was deliciously dark and moody with drained bodies and a monstrous demon. The smooth action and detailed animation won me over. During the next few episodes, the series looked like it was going to settle into a monster of the week slugfest, with a kid sidekick (Azmaria), and ominous overtones, but still formulaic. This was reinforced by the introduction of gadgets like the Gospel round.

My expectations were pleasantly shattered, when the story ramped it up with the Prophecy of Fatima and continued to grow in size, until it encompassed a rebellion in the realm of Hell and an assault on Heaven itself.

Despite the DBZ inspired battles between the Devils, the sincerity of the series and pitch perfect voice acting carried the spirited series to the level of definite quality.

Shinkai III: Killing Me Softly

I admit that I'm a sucker for sappy, sentimental movies, so Shinkai's "5 centimeters per second" go me hook, line, and sinker. This work showcased even more sophisticated animation and visuals than his previous work "Place Promised in Our Early Days". However, "5 cm" shed the storyline and plot that weighed down Shinkai's poetic bent in "Place Promised".

Practically every scene looks beautiful and amazing. The character designs are simple, but effective against the soulful backgrounds and incredible landscapes. There is none of the foil-shine from early CG fractals; these are digitized oil colors. He managed to capture the smear of dusk clouds, the blaze of the sunlight, the glare of the train lights, and even the subtle motion of falling snow.

My personal siren Hillary Haag played the lead female role Akari and completely pulled me into the sweetness of the first story and led me to the kill by the end of the third, short vignette. I knew what was going to happen when the trains passed by each other in the last scene, and I had to ask "carve my heart out with a spoon, why don't you?" And so they did. Sappy stuff gets me everytime.

One Shtik to Rule the All

The first time that I heard the title "My Heavenly Hockey Club" [1], I automatically put it on my auto-pass list until I heard the author's name: Ai Morinaga. The mangaka behind "Your and My Secret" [2] and "Yamada Taro no Monotogari" [3] has been called appalling, and I have to agree, though she is also appallingly funny.

In each of her works, there is one bizarre conceit that is presented and then explored, extrapolated, and exploits the situation until it becomes a self-contained microcosm of madness that becomes everyday. In "Your and My Secret", the main characters are a girly-man and a barbaric girl who switch bodies and find out that they are more compatible with their new gender roles.

"Yamada Taro" follows a dirt poor youth who seems princely and rich. Morinaga manages to squeeze humor out of a normally serious situation by stretching it to its absurd limits and mixing in some innocent and not-so innocent bystanders for the reader to laugh at. The prime victim is Ikegami who falls for Yamada, since he's a prince and then realizes he's poor, but stays stuck on him.

"My Heavenly Hockey Club" is no less subtle. It is a blatant parody of "Ouran Host Club" and even has its own man-'ho host chapter in volume 3. For those who haven't been exposed to the other Haruhi, the heroine in "Ouran" damages a rare vase at her prestigious high school and is roped into joining the host club as a cross-dressing hostess. "Hockey Club" similarly begins with the plebian Hana, who is borderline narcoleptic, sleepwalking to school. She is hit by a rich boy's car. Since his field hockey club is short a member, he uses the car's damage to blackmail her into joining the all-boy's hockey club. Like "Ouran", much is made of the patrician and plebian divide.

Ouran Host Club [4]

Not Ouran

And that exhausts my limited knowledge of "Ouran". To continue with "Hockey Club", the newly established field hockey team attempts to play a match. Since there are no other teams nearby, they use the club's considerable resources to get into stupid situations. Hana is tempted along, because she is a slave to the basic pleasures in life: sleeping, eating, and bathing (really, soaking). The rich boy Izumi initially treats Hana as his personal toy, not in an ecchi way, but as an object for his own amusement.

As the club stumbles from disaster to disaster (meeting a bear, eating magic mushrooms, getting lost in a jungle), Izumi develops an attachment to Hana. The lack of physical attraction on Izumi's part, his fear of ghosts, and his general ambivalence toward girls adds up to a kid-like feeling to this budding romance. As Izumi bumbles from one chapter to another, he seems like a grown up child, simultaneously shielded by his wealth and landing into mayhem because of it. If he sounds like an annoying person, you would be correct.

But you must remember, when reading Ai Morinaga, you aren't laughing WITH the cast, you're laughing AT them. [5]

= = =
[1] Originally licensed by ADV, this is now licensed by Tokyopop. [6]
[2] Currently fan scanlated by the NCIS group.
[3] Licensed by Del Rey.
[4] Combine the kid and the tall blond and, voila, you've got the girly guy in the middle of the "Hockey Club" shot.
[5] The dividing line between a tragedy and a comedy is that, in a tragedy, misfortune befalls someone you respect. I've forgotten the source for this.
[6] With new, unimproved, and unnavigable site!