Letters

I'll lead off with some comments from my constant reviewer, who filled in for me last April.

WHY CAN'T THEY TIME THE DVD RELEASE TO COINCIDE WITH THE VHS RELEASE? I've been looking forwards to the release of Cowboy Beebop for MONTHS now, and when I found out Anime Village had announced a DVD version would be forthcoming, I was ecstatic! But here it is, September, and while the first few episodes of Cowboy Beebop are already available on VHS, the DVD isn't even listed on Anime Village's webpage! After a week of pumping my sources, the best release estimate I could get is for the first Cowboy Beebop DVD to be released sometime in the first quarter of 2000. And there's still no info on how many episodes will be on each DVD. Now there's no way in HELL I'm gonna buy the VHS tapes only to buy the DVD a few months later, but meanwhile I'm suffering a living torment waiting for the DVD to come out while the tapes are already available. And Cowboy Beebop isn't the only title to have done this. How hard can it be to author the DVD simoltaneously with the VHS? ARRRGH!

Ryan Matheuszik ryanm6@uniserve.com http://users.uniserve.com/~ryanm6

AnimeVillage really needs to get their collective ass in gear. They are the last remaining major US anime distributor not to jump on the DVD bandwagon. The DVD era at ADV begins shortly, with the DVD release of the new Bubblegum Crisis series. Viz signed an exclusive distribution deal with Pioneer, so I will be surprised if any new Viz series fails to be released on DVD. As I stated at the beginning of this column, anime DVDs are selling like hotcakes. To prove it, all you need to do is watch how rapidly the inventory counts at dwindle after the date of release. The second volume of Serial Experiments Lain even sold out all over, Pioneer had so underestimated demand.

DVD is a growing market, and a solid success for anime. For that reason, I think perhaps the time has come to do what I never advocated with laserdisc: if there is no DVD release, don't buy the VHS. Let the companies know that the solid anime market for DVD is not necessarily a market for VHS. If they want our money, they'll need to release the discs.

I personally am not quite to that point, but I'm getting there. Cowboy Bebop is one example. As much as I want this series, if AnimeVillage won't put it on DVD, they can bite me.

I'd asked what "yaoi" stood for...

Hi! In your October column you asked for a reminder of where the term "yaoi" came from. I don't know who invented it, but the Aestheticism site (www.aestheticism.com) says that it is an acronym for "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi", meaning "no mountain (ie peak; climax), no point, no meaning." Thus, the term is usually used to refer to shounen-ai stories with the emphasis on sex, rather than romance or plot. (I highly recommend the Aestheticism site to any shounen-ai/yaoi fans out there.)

--
Atiya Hakeem
atiya@caltech.edu

---

First of all, the most common misconception is that 'Yaoi' and 'Shounen-ai' both mean the same thing. More often, shounen-ai content is wrongly labeled 'Yaoi' by fans. Shounen-ai means nothing more than it's literal translation, 'boy love'. Simply a relationship between two males, or some sort of exhibited feelings from one male to another. It usually makes for dramatic and romantic plots, however, *nothing* graphic or explicitly sexual. 'Yaoi' is reserved for works of purely graphic sexual acts between two men. Yaoi often is entirely plotless, unromantic, and considered 'hardcore'. One could more closely associate the genre with 'hentai' even. So labelling just any case of boy's love as Yaoi rather than shounen-ai is a mistake. It's like calling any basic heterosexual romance 'hentai' which of course is untrue.

Also, the word YAOI was not conceived by an American fan, as it's used in the japanese language and visible on a number of doujinshi, anthologies, etc. A number of fans seem to think that YAOI stands for "YA mette, O ishiri I ttai", which roughly translates as "Stop, my butt hurts" (ahem). A fansubber group put this into their notes on one shounen-ai title jokingly, and it seemed to take off. I myself don't know HOW the word originated so this phrase could be correct, but it's a bit doubtful.

*Rebecca inuyasha@ix.netcom.com

Thanks to all who answered my question!

I think that Gundam W is too popularized. I personally think that Gundam X (probably never heard of it, huh?) is better, even if there are none of those "bishonen" guys there. Besides, Gundam W just became a favorite of lots of the people out there because of the pilots. But I don't watch Gundam because of that bishonen thing. Like it's about the mechas! So why are the GW fans crazy about the pilots if the show is supposed to be about the mechas??? But it really has brought more fans, to be honest, and as I've noticed, GW-related sites have been sprouting all over the web. I mean, like more than half of the link list for Gundam in Anipike is related to Gundam W!!! Like you folks could place Gundam W instead of Gundam there already! (Ever noticed that? '_' No! I am not asking for that! I'm just telling you...)

Anyway, I think that your column in Anipike is cool! Maybe you should try to update it....like twice a month or something?

Sarah Tan
stan622@skyinet.net
http://www.freeyellow.com/members7/sodapop62287/anti-yyh.htm

As for me doing this twice a month, no thanks. Once a month is exhausting enough. :-)

I'd asked about readers' opinions of dubs:

I've been involved in Anime on and off since the early 80's. Back then, all we had at C/FO meetings was a nth generation dub and program notes. I remember all the arguments on sub Vs dub. I remember when Trish Ledoux was a fan AND when she was essentially kicked off the news group and compared with the 'evil one' Carl Macek over the wonderful Viz "Ranma 1/2" dub. As a beginning fanfic author now, I wonder how many others don't hear Nabiki's wisecracks or Kasumi's "Oh, my" in (shudder) ENGLISH when they write...

Anyway, WHY did I write you? Simple.

I have a Laserdisc player and bought both "Evangelion" Laserdisks ADV came out with. And I LOVE the dub. Gendo on the dub is perfect. Shinji is, to me, a good match for the character AS *I* see it. Misato overacts a bit, but I do like her dubbed voice. Rei is wonderful. Perfect as the 'nth generation dub' human being. Emotionless and soft spoken. Then there's Asuka.Some people feel her voice is too strident for the character. I feel it is a good match... And, as a bonus, she can actually speak German when called for. (Switching over to the Japanese track when Asuka's speaking uh... 'German' makes "Revenge of the Bioroids" sound like top flight work.) Ritsuko is good too. Sorry, I can't pick out any more specific vocal characterizations...

Since they didn't come out with more LDs, I ALSO have all the rest of the episodes on English language tape. I believe in supporting good work, and the Evangellion dub is one of the best, IMHO.

Besides, I LIKE dubs, and will ALWAYS buy one over a sub... (it's fun to have to argue with the vendor that YES, I DO want a dub at Anime Expo... Of course at the video store, one has to argue that Yes, they DO want a sub ;^) Alas I DID have to buy the subbed "Escaflone" when it seemed there would be no dub...

One final note... You didn't mention the DiC "Sailor Moon" or "Pokemon". I am still astonished what a really good job Dic did of keeping the storyline more or less intact in "Sailor Moon". And "Pokemon" might well be the new "high watermark" for dubs...

A whole new generation will be/has been introduced to Anime with these two...

Well, that's it and THANKS for standing up for (at least a few) dubs!

Kevin D. Hammel
========================================
khammel@anime.sobhrach.com
kevinsff@pacbell.net
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/
========================================

On the subject of "image thieves":

    I understand both sides of the story. And trust me, it is not just with anime images, either.

    I admit that I am a reformed image thief. I was one of those that direct-linked or didn't give credit. But then I started to realize the hazards in this. Nasty e-mails and slow loading, not to mention broken image icons all over the place.

    But one of the things that really burns me is when people say "you can't have this". I went to a site that had quotes from a semi-popular Sailormoon character. I could get these anytime I felt I wanted this oh- so-witty repartee or threatening phrases. At the bottom of the page the webmaster put a trite little note saying "Before you use these, ask my permission first, but I doubt you will get it, since it took me so long to get them". Umm, hello, reality check here please, people will take the quotes whether you let them or not.

    Images, quotes, multimedia, it doesn't matter. There are a lot of people out there who really don't give a flying s**** whether or not you allow them to take what you have. Netiquette is something most people don't follow.

    I have moved off my evil ways. I deleted most of my image gallery keeping those that were good and giving credit where it is due. I now make my own graphics and make freebies for other people. I ask that they link back but I know most won't. I take it all in stride though.

    It would be nice if most people gave credit where it is due. I am not even hinting that it is right to not give credit. I would love to see people get the credit due them. All I am trying to express is that people, both thieves and 'victims', just need to chill a little.

Sincerely,
Silverfire BLDFAM@prodigy.net
http://homepages.go.com/~reanna20/index.html
From the Edges of Sanity

Now for the huge section. I asked for feedback on fanart sites, and boy, did I get it...

You mentioned what to look for in a good fan art site. Up until earlier this year, I had my own fan-art web site for a good two years, and have visited almost every one that is linked off the 'pike and then some. What I notice more out of a good fan art site (and what I tried to do with my site before I simply couldn't keep up with it anymore) is creativity. I'm not talking splashy web graphics or tons of computer-rendered art..but artist who try to keep a theme to the site and come up with their own original works. Even the most artistically challenged person in the world can tell when someone put time and effort into a piece, and when someone just traced over magazine layout art in a NEWTYPE.

A good starting reference to fan art on the Web is the Anime Artist headquarters at http://headquarters.clearscape.com/ While not at frequently updated as in the past (It has changed hands over 3 times in the last year...) It's still the best place to start when looking up fan artists and getting a sample of their work before checking out their sites. A lot of artists contribute to this site, and it offers features such as Impromanga and The Academy for artists to brush up on their writing, basic figures and technique.

Another place to look for fan art is by checking out Monthly sites. A Monthly site usually picks one topic, varying from Anime characters to video games to rock stars, and an artist sends in their interpretation of the subject. Some sites do judging, while others just serve as showcases. These were really popular about a year or so ago. Only a few are left, most have died due to having too many webmasters and ever-changing URL's. (The Artist's Headquarters suffers from that very same affliction now) About a year ago Monthlies were all the rage and a ton of them sprang up almost overnight (The most current list can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Springs/8196/Monthlies.html) Some are still thriving, but most are all but forgotten...too many galleries, not enough artists.

Some monthlies of note are Monthly Anime Character: http://clearscape.com/mac/ The longest running monthly, and the original. Currently being maintained by Chun.
Monthly Anime Gaijin: http://terraqueens.com/MAG/ One of the few monthlies to survive the glut of '98. Artists come up with their own characters and others interpret them.

I am a bit sad though, that you chose now of all times to feature the fan art community on the web. It's in a lull right now...most sites haven't had updates in a long time, and a link that works one day is gone the next. At the beginning of the year there was a lot of hostility among artists and many people (myself included) bailed out of the scene, sick of over inflated egos, stolen art and lack of originality. But at the same time maybe an article featuring fan art may rejuvenate this stalled part of the online anime community. I just hope I have helped in giving you some good leads. if you have any other questions, please email.

Thank you for your time

Christine Carpenter makochan@dcarpenter.com Assistant Reviewing Editor: T.H.E.M. (formerly of the PSi-Ko's Domain, Monthly Anime Outcasts)

---

In your request 'for what to look for' in your upcoming reviews of fanart site, I would say review the website not the art (although great looking art would be a plus!).
Things I would consider a great looking fanart site:
-thumbnails of pic, and fast loading times.
-time and effort put into the site and the artwork, some people might disagree but people who take the time to color their work tend to do better stuff.
-easy to navigate
-features that make it stand out from other sites

Also, I think it would be interesting if you pointed out a site or two that you like just based on artwork alone.

===
Jason Kirckof suarus@yahoo.com
Rising Dragon: Jason's Online comic and fanart
http://members.tripod.com/Suarus/RisingDragon.html
http://home.att.net/~dkirckof/

Thanks, Jason, but as I said before, I'm not sure I want to make the jump to being an art critic.

I know this site is not on the 'pike, but I figured it is really nifty for people who like StarCraft as much as I do ^_^ http://gundamcentury.tech-base.com/
It is a total conversion for StarCraft in progress. It transform the three races into three warring Gundam factions. So far it seems very well done and I think it's worth looking into if you like Gundam and StarCraft.

On the subject of fanart sites, I think understand your problem. Fanartists, naturally, are better at making graphics than most other people in general. Their webpages, therefore, tend to look better on the average. However, their art style tends to be integrated with the pages themselves, and it is not your place to say whose page looks better just by appearence because, as you put it, "what I consider good art will probably not match your opinions."

How do you judge art without judging art? Isn't web design an art in itself? You can determine how practical the page is to use, and how uniquely interesting is the subject matter, but can you determine the good from the bad without angering more than just a small minority? :) Last time I checked, there is no systematic way to go about this, and you have to use your sense of "good" and "bad" either way :)

So, I propose to you some ways to "judge" (if you can still call it that) sites by what makes a good fanart site, a good fanart site. This is not complete by any means, but just some ideas and different ways to look at it, perhaps from a less-art-judging perspective--so you can isolate the site from the quality of the art.

1) Loading speed. This is by far the weakest side of all fanart sites. They are usually very graphically intensive, and we know that's not a good thing.

2) Intuitiviness and Creativity. How different is the structure of the page designed (not how it look), such as how the navigation is handled, etc. Also how easy is it to move around, to figure out where is what. After browsing through lots of them, you should get an idea as to what tends to be the average design, and see if any pages sticks out from the norm. You can draw doesn't mean you can design.

3) Content. Put youself in the shoes of a guy who wants to download some fanart. How easy would it be for you to fill your computer full of the stuff? A pretty site with no content is just a pretty site you won't want to visit again. Beauty is only skin deep, if I can extend the cliche here :).

4) Updatedness. This is hard for you to tell in a short time, but this is quite important. People don't like abandoned dojinshi projects or what have you. A site that is updated often is a site that improves often.

Just some ideas. I hope it is of at least some help :)
Jeffy

"Jeffy" and I then went into an exchange in email, the gist of which was that, in my opinion, there is a lot that can be objectively judged about a website, whereas the judging of art is completely subjective. The closest I get to being an art critic when I review a website is when I comment on the attractiveness of the design.

Do the same thing you do with every other topic - is the web page any good? Aside from not straying into subjective stuff like "good art", an artist with the time and design sense to create a good web page is probably a good artist as well. The folks who can't draw a stick figure will tend to have sites of a similar quality.

Also, it might be better to save it for another topic, if at all, but covering the sites of the various anime-inspired amateur/semipro artists might be worthwhile, and they do tend to have fanart in the bargain.

+Damien Wellman-damienw@juno.com--SkidMark1 on EFNet---------+
The One-and-only Defender of Cards That Suck - L-DP #4
SMI @ http://members.xoom.com/skidmark1

You said:
: Before we move on to the topic, I'd like some help. I'm considering covering fan art pages. Here's the problem: There are a ton of these pages. I need to know what I'm looking for before I go in. "Good art" is not a helpful answer. I'm no art critic. I have a good feel for what makes a good web site, since I consider that to be a fairly objective standard. What makes good art, however, is very much subjective. I can't find good art for you, because what I consider good art will probably not match your opinions. So the question remains: What type of sites do you want me to highlight? :

Yeah, it is subjective, so I don't think I can single out any individual artist pages. But there are a lot of nice pages that focus on the artist community in general. This is more or less a complete list of all the main ones.

http://artist.anime.net
Online Comic Artists Directory - A must-bookmark for anyone interested in anime-inspired art on the web. Features mostly English pages, and offers two styles of listing. I envy Clay for his ability to hammer out killer CGI. ^o^
Also, the OCAD Bulletin Board is where most artists hang out when they feel talkative.

http://www.tamon.co.jp/TINAMI/
It's the Japanese directory OCAD is based off of. May be hard to browse through if you don't have a Japanese font (but really, if you're an anime fan, a Japanese font is pretty much necessary =P)

http://headquarters.clearscape.com
The Anime Artist Headquarters. It used to be a much better site, but it got a little disorganized about a year ago, and no less than 3 maintainers have tried to get it back together since then (myself included @_@;) There are still a couple nice, big galleries featuring art and comics from tons of artists, and the currrent maintainer is still trying to get it moving again. Formerly the Fan Art Headquarters, but times are a-changin' and a lot of artists hate the term "fan art" these days. The name change was the only really useful thing done during my reign. @_@;;

http://animeartacademy.clearscape.com/
Artists can find a good variety of all kinds of artistic advice at this site.

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Springs/8196/Monthlies.html
A complete list of "Monthly Artist Jam" sites. All these sites follow the general format of providing artists a topic to depict once a month. Monthly Anime Character was the first, followed by Monthly Animefan Alternative, then Monthly Anime Outcasts. A whole slew of related sites followed after that, including the most popular one, Monthly Anime Gaijin. Monthly Online Manga is my personal favorite... well, that and Monthly Anime Hentai... ^o^

http://www.interlog.com/~excells/ofu/
Ontario Fanartists (ack) Unite: Closest thing to an APA I've seen in this community, though they claim they're just friends. ^o^

http://tang.simplenet.com/doji/
http://pixelscapes.com/impromanga/
Both these sites feature improvised comics where artists take turns adding to a story in a "round robin" fashion. This is simply one of the coolest things the internet has to offer. =) The original Impromanga page (created by Yves Belanger) got a "Site of the Year" mention by Jei-dono.

Sorry, I didn't mean to be this wordy. Anyway, uhhh... those are my suggestions. I can't think of a good way to conclude this message, so I'll do it "Cow & Chicken" style...

END.

--
NOTE THE NEW EMAIL! geobreeder@wendy-project.com
Joshua F. Lesnick
http://wendy-project.com/
"I know the whole industry is full of neurotic
artists. Aren't I at least a LITTLE bit
different from the rest?" --JFL
"Iiii'm so happyyy! So gosh-darned, incredibly HAPPYYYYYYYYYY!"
    --man who saved money on car insurance.

I haven't forgotten the flame war, Josh. I doubt anyone on rec.arts.anime.misc has. During that flame war, you made it clear how little you respected my opinions. When the flame war ended with you storming off the group, the two of us were not on good terms. Seeing as how we haven't exchanged a word since then, I see no reason why that would have changed.

Taking all that into account, I have to admit I'm astonished that you would want to participate in a discussion forum moderated by me.