Letters

Someone mentioned in the current "Last Exit" that Disney found "real voice talent [for Princess Mononoke]." I'd just like to clarify things. Just because someone can act does NOT mean that they can voice act, and vice versa. The two are related professions, but not totally connected. Which is why I felt some of the voices were not that great and a virtual unknown, Billy Crudup, is claimed by many to be the best voice in the movie.

I notice that people STILL bother you about having to try a favorite series of theirs despite the fact that your mind is set about it. I personally think they should just let sleeping dogs lie and leave you alone. Many people do not realize that just because someone does not like something does not necessarily mean that they think it is bad, which is the case with your opinions on certain anime. You respect it, but it just is not for you, and people fail to realize it. I feel the same way about certain anime also, yet sometimes get in that situation. I personally cannot stand Tenchi Muyo, but I do respect that other people like it, including you. It just is not a show that I can get into. But if people constantly keep on pushing it in my face, then I would be more prone to not give it another try.

Chris trowa@jps.net
http://gaea.tierranet.com
http://gaea.tierranet.com/escamovie

You don't like Tenchi Muyo? You ignorant Philistine! Kidding, kidding! :-) :-)

I apologize for being a month behind in reading your column, but I thought I'd give you a correction for the correction in your November "Letters" section. Lain used many digital effects, but it also very definitely used painted cels. You can see some of them for sale at "http://www.jps.net/ednart/lain/Lain.htm". People are convinced that many of the newer anime are entirely computer-done, but very few of them actually are. (It seems that even Kare Kano had a few things done as cel art by subsidary studios--I saw a bad Kare Kano cel at Mandarake this weekend.)

--
Atiya Hakeem
katsuragi@penpen.com
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atiya/celgallery.html

Hmm. You're probably right. I saw some scenes in Lain that looked painted. Thanks to the incredible resolution of DVD, you could see slight irregularities in the color if you looked closely. Nevertheless, the existence of cels itself means nothing. I recall that the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, made without cels, had some cels made up to sell.

Another missive from Ryan Matheuszik:

SHOJO MONTH! YEAH! (bet you never expected THAT out of me! ^^;) I cannot BELIEVE you skipped out Card Captor Sakura. Oh well, at least you got Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne. It really is a king amongst paupers in the shojo arena. AND LOOK AT THOSE COMMENTS ON WEDDING PEACH!!! Yes yes yes! I've been receiving about 9 emails a month from angry AOLers and other obnoxious teenaged girls flaming me harshly for calling Wedding Peach a Sailor Moon Ripoff! What a TERRIBLE anime! Yech!

One thing I think would have helped would have been a defenition of "shojo". A lot of anime fans aren't as... experianced... as you and I (I was going to say "pathetic", but changed my mind... ^^;). As well, even some of the longer time fans are unfamiliar with the japanese terminologies (I mean, even though I've been heavilly into anime since 1989, I don't think I knew what "shojo" denoted until about '98... ^^;). Defining terms like this would do a lot for the newer fans, as well as being an education for the uninformed. Just a simple explination of what "shojo" means would have done the trick.

Ah yes.. letters. Let me just agree with you on one point:

If you're in a theatre with more than 5 other people, be it a club showing, convention room or theatre, or an actual theatrical release, politeness dictates you stay seated and remain QUIET during the movie. Not only is it extremely RUDE to talk, but Heaven help you if you talk incessently in the same theatre _I'M_ in. I'm pretty sure the rest of the audience would put up with 3 minutes of me pummeling you to death if it meant enjoying the rest of the movie in peace! I don't see why some fans think it's their right, or in some cases their duty, to ruin an anime for everyone else. One aquaintance of mine who would talk non-stop throughout anime was actually operating under the misconception that most anime fans didn't really like anime, they just enjoyed making fun of it. He quickly shut up when confronted with the truth. The truth is, most anime fans watch anime because they ENJOY it, and would like nothing more than to be able to watch it in peace. Bottom line: you wouldn't talk in a movie theatre showing a Hollywood release (I hope!), and you should have the same respect at an anime showing.

(I personally have booted people from anime showings I was running for talking, so watch out West Coast anime fans! (\/) )

-Ryan
ryanm6@uniserve.com | (http://users.uniserve.com/~ryanm6)

Defining "shojo" can be tricky. Strictly speaking, it means "for girls". Shojo anime is "girls' anime". However, what constitutes anime for girls is a tricky question. Some titles, like those I covered in last month's column, are obvious. Others are less so. Escaflowne, for example, is one anime judged to be for both boys and girls at the same time, with a romantic plot and elegant, shojo-influenced character designs for the girls, and an action-oriented plot with plenty of violence for the boys.

As for the anime fan who didn't like anime, this shocked me. Unfortunately, I seem to have deleted Ryan's follow-up letter, in which he indicated that perhaps as many as 20% of all anime viewers are watching it for the "cheese factor", to heckle it like people do cheap monster movies. Can this really be true?

Here's a dissenting opinion on last year's anime blockbuster:

What I want to say is that I'm sick of hearing about Princess Mononoke. Yes, I was thrilled to find out it was coming to America but can't we just leave it at that, that and begging local theaters to bring it out? I get tired of people constantly talking about how much they love it and analyzing every little detail to me, a person who hasn't even seen it. What's the point of watching a movie if everyone you see spoils the entire movie before you can get a word in edgewise? So I'm going to eventually watch the movie, and I will tell someone I liked it if they ask, but I'm not going to force it on people who don't even give a damn.

Fragraham Lincon vmaggus@hotmail.com

Thanks for highlighting some shows in your Last Exit before Toll that the average Tenchi/DBZ fan may not have seen. Creamy Mami is great! ^_^;; Pretty Sami isn't shoujo, but no one cares. :D Oh, and by saying that 4 girls fight, you spoiled Wedding Peach for me. You suck, sir. :Þ

Animeg3282@aol.com