We at MIT Anime would like to thank any of you who have visited this humble blog to read about our experiences in anime and our club activities. Seven months ago, we envisioned miteiru! as a space on the Internet for students and fans in Cambridge, MA to discuss in depth about a beloved medium from the other side of the planet. We’ve since enjoyed sharing how we’ve seen anime makes its mark on the Institute and how it’s affected our own adventures. However, throughout this time, it became increasingly clear that this blog was unable to develop enough interest– among both readers and the bloggers– to facilitate the kind of discussion we had hoped for, and as its purpose has not been served, we will be shutting down.
As always, if you have any questions or comments, we would love to hear them; please send messages to anime-inquiry@mit.edu
Many readers of the blog are probably familiar with doujinshi, the Japanese term commonly used to refer to fan comics of anime series, at least as the word is used in the United States among anime fans. In Japan, doujinshi can refer to all kinds of self-published works, from original comics to novels to fanzines, and even games, music and software.
Earlier this year, MIT Anime was approached to write an article for Animerca, a Japanese doujinshi/fanzine for articles about otaku and anime, to be released and sold at various doujin markets in Japan. I wrote a short piece introducing the American anime fandom (particularly with focus on fan creation) to Japanese readers, and my work was then translated into Japanese and included in the doujinshi.
Animerca was published in time for one recent comic market, Bungaku Freemarket in Tokyo, where it sold out of all 250 copies (for reference, circles usually sell less than 50, on average)! They’ll be releasing an updated Animerca 1.5 for Summer Comiket, possibly with new articles– and possibly by other MIT Anime folks as well. It’s all quite exciting~
Anyway, as usual, a copy the original English version of my article is attached here; the Japanese version is only available in the doujinshi. There were two other articles by gaijin– one about American conventions, the other about IDOLM@STER and Dream C Club. Full table of contents behind the cut!
For most connoisseurs of Japanese animation, their sole exposure to Japanese music lies within the openings, endings and various insert songs for whatever anime they watch. Higher level nerds sometimes go the extra mile and partake of music by idols aimed at otaku, or mainstream J-Rock.
However, Japan has a music scene beyond the idols and visual-kei. A music scene filled with individuals who make music solely for the sake of music. And honestly? I don’t feel I’m qualified to really talk about it. However, there are a few groups that I really like, so I figure I can drop some words on them to drum up a bit of interest on this side of the Pacific.
I’ve included links to sample songs for each band, along with a link to CDJapan in case someone gets an itch to listen to more….
Emerging from the flames towards the end of the Shibuya-kei movement, Cymbals continued on in the fine tradition of their Shibuya-kei forefathers of drawing heavily on Western influences. According to Nippop, Cymbals draw heavily on the sound of ’60s-era British pop-rock. But for those who don’t know what means (Like me!), let me break it down.
Cymbals are arguably a rock band, but they touch upon a variety of styles. Their best-of disc, Anthology, probably does the best job of touching upon all the different genres they’ve covered. That said, most of their music is straight up rock characterized by heavy guitar use, brisk pacing, and a very light and fluid sound. However, there is a strong jazz element present throughout a lot of their music. They don’t shy away from horns when they want to, and often times match their guitar riffs to lush piano backing. A number of their songs are simply not rock at all–Love Thing is 100% big band, and their album Sine is completely keyboard driven and atmospheric.
As you could probably tell from that Love Thing video, Cymbals’ fetish for the West goes so far as to affect the language a lot of their songs are sung in. Okii–the band leader– has some English knowledge under his belt, and specializes in writing bizarre lyrics such as, “Can you tell that feeling, flying high deep in my brain?” These lyrics are then delivered to varying degrees of proficiency by vocalist Toki Asako, but her beautiful voice really shines when singing in her native tongue. Toki’s delivery is soft, warm and honestly rather cute, but naturally cute, unlike that of produced idols.
Cymbals had a lot of output in their short time of activity between 1997 and 2003, and a lot of it is rather good. A lot of it very amateur as well, but in a way that’s part of their charm. In the end, they’re really just a bunch of nerdy college kids who were into Western music, and their output reflects that fairly accurately.
While Cymbals simply followed in the footsteps of the Shibuya-kei tradition, Capsule is actually branded as Neo-Shibuya-kei. This time drawing from the vast knowledge of Wikipedia, Capsule is apparently influenced by bossa nova, lounge, breakbeat and electro house. But once again, I don’t know what that means!
At its core, Capsule is simply another vessel for hot ‘n’ hip music producer Nakata Yasutaka to mess around with dials and knobs creating all manner of electronic music. Nakata is all about mixing up styles, and as a result Capsule’s sound has shifted greatly over their near 10 years of activity. Their sound has gone from being a straight up pastiche of Shibuya-kei (which is ironic, since Shibuya-kei is mostly pastiche of Western music); to playful and lighthearted (almost otaku-ish) electronic pop; to heavy electronica. What remains consistent, however, is Nakata’s ability to create very complex and engaging electronic arrangements that are rarely ever boring.
Vocals are handled by Koshijima Toshiko, and as one progresses through the duo’s discography, her voice becomes more and more vocoded to the point where she sounds completely different. Her vocals are wispy, airy and at times seductive, with hint of cuteness where necessary.
While Nakata has fallen into the habit of producing albums that all more or less sound the same, there’s a lot of variety across Capsule’s back catalog, and a lot if it is very good.
Ore no Sei de Koushien ni Ikenaktta- Because of me we Couldn’t go to Koushien
Pachinko Yatteru Aida ni Umareta Mamonai Musume wo Kuruma no Naka de Shinaseta… Natsu- That Summer When I Let my Baby Daughter Die in The Car While I Was Playing Pachinko
Ano Otoko no Ryou ga Ookatta- That Man Blew a Huge Load
Gojuuyon Hiai, Machibou- Waiting in Vain For 54 Days
If you hadn’t already gathered, those are a few song titles by Omokage Lucky Hole. Their subject-matter ranges from the absurd, the pathetic, to the downright dirty. They mostly focus on that last one.
According to Japanese Wikipedia, Omokage Lucky Hole is a “Japanese funk band”, but that isn’t terribly accurate. While a lot of their songs certainly are funky, they often times fall into the category of R&B, with lots of smooth, slow jams and a few no-nonsense hip-hop pieces. They also have a good number of fast-paced, upbeat pieces that jive more with the funk side of things than with R&B. Their compositions are primarily driven by loud, commanding, and energetic horns; backed by solid bass and percussion; with an electric guitar added in when needed. How they structure their songs fluctuates between very standard and by the book structures, to more interesting and organic ones.
Their distinct funky sound is only part of what sets them apart from a lot of Japanese musical acts. As I mentioned in the opening, a lot of their strength lies in their lyric writing. The topics covered are oftentimes sordid, and usually focus on the the pathetic nature of Japanese middle-class life. Lead vocalist Acky’s delivery of each and everyone sordid lyric oozes with soul, and he will often times sing from the point of view of a woman, using the feminine Japanese pronoun “atashi”. These lyrics, matched with Acky’s singing and the band’s funky instrumental backing, makes for some of the most ironic, and at times downright hilarious music I’ve ever heard. It’s very dry humour–and at times very dark–but it hits the part of me that laughs at suicide jokes in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
If you can’t understand Japanese, the instrumental portion of Omokage’s music should be enough to engage you if you’re a fan of funk and R&B. However, just a hint of Japanese knowledge adds a completely new dimension to these songs, and you’ll start listening to them for the lyrics. Which is rare in Japanese music, I find.
For my class CMS.616 Society and Culture of Digital Games: Cheating, Games, and the Ethics of Play Media, I had an assignment to analyze a game with some sort of ethical challenge, to determine how it implements moral choice and whether this implementation is respectful or meaningful. A lot of my classmates did cool games that involve choosing good and evil actions, like Fable, Infamous, or Mass Effect.
Of course, as a hopeless otaku, I decided to do an anime visual novel: School Days.
If you aren’t familiar with School Days, it’s a dating simulator that spawned two sequels, a manga, an anime, six light novels, and a radio drama. Like most dating sims, your character is presented with a series of choices, which he has to navigate to reach the goal: to get with one of the game’s lovely bishoujo of your choice. School Days is notable in a sea of similar games for two things: it’s fully animated and voiced, unlike most VNs that involve interacting with still images and written text, and it has three shockingly violent possible endings, each involving the death of a main character, something that is practically unheard of in what is often a fluffy, cutesy genre.
Anyway, I’ve uploaded a PDF of the paper here; it’s seven pages and assumes no prior knowledge of the game. Since it’s long, I don’t particularly expect many people to read it, but if you do, I’d like to hear your opinions.
Last weekend was MIT’s Campus Preview Weekend, where high school seniors who have gotten accepted to the Institute travel up here to get a sneak peek of what MIT’s really like. Naturally, the school tries to make a good impression to convince admitted pre-freshmen that they really want to go here, so they give avenue for a lot of the student groups to put on cool events. Of course, the Anime Club got to take part as well!
Some readers might recall the discussion on Pani Poni Dash! in my post about MIT appearances in anime last year, in which SHAFT shows that apparently MIT students all wear lab coats, dress shirts, and ties (and short skirts, for the girls!) ALL THE TIME. We decided to play that up here for the pre-frosh, even though we knew that there was no way anyone would understand it.
Thomas and J in the OFFICIAL MIT UNIFORM
We participated in three events over the weekend: the Welcome Festival, where we held an impromptu karaoke booth for passerby pre-frosh to sing anime tunes; Activities Midway, where we handed out flyers and gave out pins; and the highlight of our weekend– a Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged marathon with live virtual Q&A with LittleKuriboh!
If you aren’t familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, it’s a fan parody of the original anime series of similar name, created by LittleKuriboh in the UK. Each episode tightly condenses episodes of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! into a couple of minutes, adding in satirical jokes and silly character voices that poke fun at Yu-Gi-Oh!’s campiness and rather silly plot, all out of love for the series. It’s a delightful watch (and the source of tons of Internet memes).
Pre-frosh at Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged Marathon
We watched 20 episodes of it and ate snacks (“Wait a minute, did you just watch a bunch of episodes in two hours?” “Yeah, so?” “That’s against the rules, isn’t it?” “Screw the rules, I have snacks!”), then held a hilarious live Q&A with LittleKuriboh all the way from England. He discussed a lot of his creative process, views on the characters and popularity, and graced us with character monologues (including reading the MIT Wikipedia page in Marik’s voice!) and a live performance of his song Brooklyn Rage. It was utterly glorious.
Of course, we wouldn’t simply write about this glorious event without posting the proof of it online! You can listen to the full audio below (not yet edited).
Just got back from AnimeBoston, our big local annual anime convention! This was my third year at the con, and it was the same huge, energetic event as before, with a final attendance count of 17,236, up 2K from last year.
Not quite anime-related, but this certainly might be relevant to some of your interests.
Here’s one item I recently crossed off my List of Things To Do Before I Die: to see Utada Hikaru live in concert! As part of her first US tour, the beloved Japanese pop diva stopped by Paradise Rock Club in Boston, right next to Boston University, on February 5, 2010. Of course, since she’s not nearly as famous in the States, the event was much smaller than anything she would normally have back in Japan– Paradise only holds about three hundred (with maybe one hundred at the foot of the stage), and tickets started at a mere $26.50USD (but easily multiplied ten times in price through arbitrage!).
Although none of us knew it at the time, apparently Hikki was around Boston for quite a bit more than just the concert! Matt McGann, Associate Director of Admissions, wrote the following on the MIT Admissions Blog:
“J-pop fans: I’ve been reading MIT applications long enough to know that some of you will be super-excited to learn that Hikaru Utada was hanging around MIT, getting ice cream with Prof. Ian Condry. (If you are among those who are excited, you wil probably enjoy Prof. Condry’s course Japanese Popular Culture, being taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays this term)”
You have no idea how much jealousy is coursing through my veins right now, Professor Condry.
Mamoru Hosoda will be hosted by MIT for the screening of the New England premiere of his film Summer Wars (open to the public). The screening will be followed by a Q&A. There will be additional conversation and pizza reception events at Harvard and MIT respectively. Madhouse Producer Saito Yuichiro may be there as well.
The film is nominated for the Japan Academy Award for Best Animated Film. : ) Digimon and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time are among some of his other works.
Philip Tan, US director of the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab (readers may remember his Hatsune Miku lecture from this post) is currently working to play Project Diva, the Vocaloid game for the PSP, as part of GAMBIT’s Complete Game-Completion Marathon, a lab game marathon raising money for earthquake relief in Haiti. His goal is to unlock 32 songs in 30 hours– quite ambitious!
You can watch his effort online, live streamed from Singapore, here!
Alternatively, here’s an embedded video– but swing by the live stream to drop a line of encouragement. And please do donate; CGCM is trying to raise $10,000, and every dollar counts!
If Vocaloid isn’t quite your cup of video game tea, there are several other teams who are also marathoning all kinds of other games, which you can read up on at here and watch streams for here.
Hello! I’m yomikoma, a non-MIT-affiliated MIT Anime Club member. I have a (relatively new) review blog at yomikoma.dreamwidth.org. Nice to meet you.
As an anime viewer or Japanese culture enthusiast, you’re likely to have learned a bit about the games Go and Mahjong, and maybe even Shogi. However, I think the game of hanafuda is not very well-known among American anime fandom – probably because it’s not as popular these days and is often seen as a bit old-fashioned. Since hanafuda plays a major part in Summer Wars (showing in 26-100 at 7pm on March 1, don’t miss it!) I thought this would be a good opportunity to provide a quick introduction to the game.
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