Cartoons Are Cool

Last time: Arak, Robert E. Howard, Lovecraft, pop culture…

We got a bookmark when we went into Borders the other day. They were giving different kinds away. This one was gift suggestions for “Graphic Novel and Manga Lovers.” Look at how they put those together. 7 manga, 3 Western-style comics. One DC, one Encyclopedia of the Marvel U, one other thing (don’t recall what right now), 7 manga.

I’m standing in this Borders in Dallas (was visiting my family), looking at the manga shelf, and look up, and see The New Frontier box set. It’s on the other side. That seemed symbolic. And new. At the Borders closest to where I live, it’s manga here on these easily-accessible shelves, and then all the Western-style graphic novels shoved over here on the wall, behind the ladder, like Borders was the little girl with the new duckling in the Daffy Duck cartoon saying “You can have the bed where my OLD duck used to sleep.” This literal Western-is-the-flip-side-of-Eastern-and-vice-versa thing was an interesting change of arrangement.

Manga and Western-style comics, living back-to-back? It’s still not side-by-side… and guess which ones were facing the door so you saw them first (manga), but if people let go of the division between these two types of fan-ness and combine them into one, maybe comics can come off perceived life support again… and maybe this can help the comic-book retailers, too. We all talked, a month or so ago, about the perceived split and how it could be affecting comic-book-shop retailers… we’ve talked about it before. But the biggest reason graphic novels are important right now (perhaps you’ve seen me asking interviewees “do you think maybe flimsies will be replaced by graphic novels?) is so comics can get into big chain bookstores… so if THEY are (shown, I admit, more by the little bookmark than by shelving strategies) willing to group these two types of readers together, perhaps manga can be seen as working for the common good of Western-style comics for a change, instead of just as competition.

Things aren’t perfect, obviously. Indies like Speakeasy still die and retailers do hard battle economically. This is just about having hope. Fans of Western-Style comics FEEL in trouble, whether they really are or not. I do know that things can only get better by choosing new things any enjoying them… and talking about them. It’s that Comics Awareness thing I was talking about last time. Tell the librarians you like certain graphic novels, even though they probably know. Tell people on your site what you like. Tell the employees at the chains. Tell your comic shop retailer. Tell your friends. Tell DC and Marvel and indie companies what you like. Tell everyone.

And if you don’t, well, reading helps, too. But it helps more if you’re vocal about it.

Again, not everything is good. If all comics out there right now were just solid gold, fans wouldn’t have to work so hard. There are lots of poor comics out there right now… playing it safe, copying the formulae of the past. But things can be improved. Good should stay, bad should go. I’M saying, I’m seeing things that I interpret as new signs of life. Comics are valuable, whether they're always literature or not. Barb feels that even crossover events can help indie comics – people are more likely to come into the store… but then, they hate to feel like they drove all the way to the store for ONE THING… so they get something else. And if they are trying to avoid getting just that one big glitzy event, then they’ve already tired of a lot of what they know, so they’ll probably try something they haven’t tried before.

Everything that brings comics awareness brings them more strongly into the popular culture where they belong. It's not like all this is UNpopular culture. That would be, like, things that everyone knows about but aren't cool. This stuff, on the other hand, is cool.

Which leads to a segue… TCM recently finished showing old Superman serials on TV -- no, the ones with Kirk Alyn as Superman -- but, yes, with Noel Neill as Lois… Lois talks and delivers her lines (facial expressions, too) exactly like Candace Bergen as Murphy Brown, so much so that I can’t help but think that it was purposeful on Bergen’s part. You know that little breath that Murphy would take right before she said a line, that “Here goes the next line…” breath? Noel Neill does it, too. I think Bergen probably read the script and said, “Oh, this is like an update of Mary Tyler Moore, only this woman’s even more sure of herself, like a real Lois Lane in a world without superpowers… I’ll do her like Noel Neill.” Which makes Jimmy Olsen both Miles and Frank, and makes Jim Clark Kent… But enough Murphy Brown nostalgia.

The real mind-blower about the Superman serials is that instead of CGI, they just use what’s surely Fleisher animation. Kirk Alyn grinningly poses and leaps around, but when it’s time for him to fly, he jumps up and suddenly becomes an animated cartoon of himself, flying dynamically around the real-world filmed background. Instead of saying “What the heck--!?!?” You just sort of gasp. It’s beautiful and it works. The suspension of disbelief just sort of takes your breath away. It’s better than any other option they could have done back then. It worked for us, anyway… instead of saying, “Aw, what a gyp,” you look forward to when he’ll do it again – it’s like the WAY that Kirk Alyn flies is that he sort of has to turn himself into Animated Superman. It’s astounding.

This got Barbara and I into a conversation, yesterday, about the hardest working cartoons on TV.

You know what often DOESN’T work? Cartoons. On TV.

I don’t wanna name names, but lately there’s been some bad cartoons on TV. Let me let you do the work for yourselves. I’ve been seeing cartoons that are:

--Formulaic.

--Unoriginal, ripping off other, previously-used ideas, often just tossing them all into a sort of cartoon food processor.

--Cartoons that have no coherence, no sufficiently-worked-out series bible… something that just feels like it was a rilly cool pitch that looked and sounded flashy, and we’ll work out the details later once we start production… no Joss. In which “Joss” is a unifying person who makes sure that there’s a coordination of efforts amongst writers of the individual episodes. Now, sometimes this sort of thing self-regulates—with Batman, for example – there’s so many decades of continuity strengthening the whole affair of making a cartoon out of it, there’s a good bit of coherence built in whether you have a Joss or not. But… Without a complicated, well-planned series bible, a Joss, or decades of back-history… you’re going to have writers who are assigned to write an episode, who glance at the sketchy series bible and at the few other episodes that have been written, and ask, “can I toss so-and-so or such-and-such in here?” If things have been allowed to get to that point, then the answer will surely be, “Sure. You think we care? Just make it happen. Don’t waste time with ‘is this okay’ questions anymore, huh?”

Quel surprise, you say? Yeah, but sometimes cartoons work. Animaniacs. Batman Adventures. MIB. Superman Adventures. Kim Possible. See where I’m going? I’m not talking about Finding Nemo. I’m not talking about King of the Hill. I’m talking about traditionally-animated… kids’… television… cartoons… of the contemporary era… THAT WORK. Remember Darkwing Duck? And you’d HOPE that the industry would learn from these role models…

Wait, I think Daria still counts on that list. Hmm… Well the truth is… Daria was a little special. Everything else has a sense of excitement. Of broad-range demographic appeal. Of…

You know what? I’m gonna say it.

No, man, don’t say it.

No. I’m gonna. I’m gonna say it.

A certain level of Action. So I’m not sure I’m really even talking about Animaniacs. X-Men: Evolution started off reallllly interesting for some time, there…

So I’m talking about all this with Barb, and how rare and special this kind of show is, and we realize that while in previous columns I’ve talked about manga and I’ve talked about the Old Master, but there’s something else that I haven’t really dealt with on its own level.

Japanese TV animation.

That’s right. No Miyazaki. No Akira. Let’s give credit where credit is due: It’s hard to make an exciting kids’ action cartoon. And these people do it well. No, sometimes they, too, blow it. Just as we do. But man… when they get it right… And they put this stuff on TELEVISION. It sometimes compares well with their MOVIES.

And so we started making a list.

BARB’S TOP 10 JAPANESE ANIME TV SHOWS.

10. Boogiepop Phantom.

Okay, not for kids. But animated. Actiony. But not action. But here’s the thing. Where do we see sci-fi horror animation being made anywhere in the Anglophone world?

Barb: “Ooooh, the soundtrack…”

9. Rurouni Kenshin.

Barb: “Kenshin’s ambitious, it doesn’t have Yu Yu’s fights that go on forever…”

Me: “Yeah, there are no LONG fights with Kenshin. Just a WHOLE LOT of them.”

Barb: “You can’t live a happy life as an anime fan without saying ‘He has BEYOND God-Like Speed!’”

8. Trigun.

Okay, not exactly for kids. The standards are different.

7. Azumanga Daioh.

Okay, not exactly action. But… oh man. It’s REAL. When do you have cartoons on TV for young people, especially for girls, where people don’t have superpowers or spaceships?

6.Witch Hunter Robin.

Okay, not really for kids. But… Are you starting to see why I talked about Anglophone cartoons on TV that were exciting for a few minutes, and then suddenly dropped that topic for Japanese imports?

Barb: “I got the soundtracks to Princess Nine and Boogiepop as a reviewer… but we actually BOUGHT the soundtrack to Witch Hunter Robin.”

5. Naruto.

--Only at number 5 because it’s the new kid. Could move up if it continues to stand the test of time. Also notable because it’s only the second thing on this list that actually fits all the characteristics listed above – it was the first, until we re-ordered the list to account for Kenshin.

4. Excel Saga.

Not for kids. But funny. So funny.

3. Cowboy Bebop.

Oh man. This was good.

2. Master Keaton.

Okay, not exactly for kids. Not because it’s really just insanely violent, and even less sexy – it’s just for adults. That’s right. In Japan, sometimes, animation on TV is for adults. Not geeks. Adults.

Barb: “If anybody tells you that it’s all big eyes and small mouth and it’s always about teenagers and you like stuff that’s more for adults… then pick up the first volume of this. I knew it was special just from the cover.”

1. Fruits Basket.

Not exACTLY action. Not 100% NOT action. But oh, man. As I’ve said before, Miyazaki is the Old Master, but this was directed by the Old Man. The Old Man… is very, very good. He was more of a Shonen-type director, but they asked him to come and direct Fruits Basket. “Why?” asked the Old Man. “Because you’re the right one for it,” they said. “Why?” he asked. They couldn’t explain it to him, but after he worked on it a while, he understood why, although he couldn’t explain it either. When you watch it, you’ll understand in the same ineffable way.

THINGS THAT BUBBLE JUST UNDER THE SURFACE OF BARB’S TOP TEN:

--Yu Yu Hakusho.

Here’s the thing. It’s hard to say that this is for kids. Because the standards are different over there. But it’s not 100% NOT for kids. This is the country that gave us Gatchaman, where a major character died (and didn’t come back). The standards are different.

--Rune Soldier Louie.

If you’d call Yu Yu number eleven, I guess you’d call this number twelve. This series is exciting and extremely funny.

--Princess Nine

A sports TV show. For girls. And boys. No mutants. No superheroes. No magical powers. It’s good anyway.

--Full Metal Panic/Full Metal Panic FUMOFFU

The first is about a young kid who spent the early years of his life as a child soldier from a vaguely Middle Eastern part of the world, and then spent the rest of his life so far in a secret sector of the military – he’s a sort of hardened, disciplined, emotionless, 21-Jump-Street soldier. He has to go to high school to protect this girl, Miss Chidori, for whom he OBVIOUSLY develops a serious love, but that really goes against his natural personality, so it takes about as long to develop as Ruroni Kenshin’s romance. For the second series, they felt sorry for all the hard times they put the young Sergeant through, and all the times Miss Chidori got constantly kidnapped, so they let the big spy threats be over, and just focused on their relationship, trying to teach this poor soldier-kid who pretty much saved the world in the first series to exist in a real life high school without setting off any landmines or shooting anyone. It’s funny, and it works.

--Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (First Gig).

Second Gig, we haven’t watched all of yet, so we’re not judging it yet. But this first season had some very, very nice moments.

--Case Closed.

A teen detective is turned, by a new experimental poison, into a little-boy version of himself. He solves crimes without blowing his cover. Usually, what he solves is MURDERS. Where, you know, people die. We have NOTHING like this in America.

--Nadia (The Secret of Blue Water).

A long series, but fascinating, with fun characters. One comes to realize that the ending of the series isn’t the point – the ride there is the point.

--Pet Shop of Horrors

Short, and a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s scary, animated horror. It’s Barb’s cup of tea.

Barb: “Two words: SCARY BUNNIES.”

--Saiyuki

Started out very well. What can I say – it was worth mentioning. Even I think Priest Sanzo was cool.

Me: “What about Dai-Guard? And Kare Kano? And GTO? And Supergals? You like those…”

Barb: “Yes…”

Me: “What about Najica?”

Barb: “NAJICA? …Maybe you better make your own list.”

PARK’S LIST OF THINGS THAT WEREN’T ON BARB’S LIST

--Dai-Guard

The real test of a television show is, having watched this animated show… would you watch it again? The answer is yes.

--Kare Kano (His and Hers Circumstances)

This is just a series about a girl and a guy who fall in love. But the WAY it’s told is really creative, thought-provoking, and draws you in. The writing? Sure. But the direction, too.

--GTO

Heck no it’s not for kids. Not the concept of American kids as it stands, not those pale, fragile things-we-must-protect-from-gaucheness-at-all-costs. But it’s entertaining. And, sometimes, touching. You don’t really get that from a lot of comedic series.

Barb: “Oh God, I lurves me that GTO…!”

--Gatekeepers/Gatekeepers 21

Today in the rental store, I thought about watching the first series, but I decided that it was a bit much of a mixed bag for me to watch it this soon. And it was way too soon to watch the second series, which was a bit more consistent – I’d still seen it a bit too recently. But I will watch these again some day.

--Supergals

A show about a girl and her friends. Her family are all cops, but she just wants to be, well, the Tokyo version of a sort of Valley Girl. And yet – she can’t help but just naturally solve people’s problems – it’s kind of in the blood apparently. The English adaptation of the manga, Gals, is put out by Marvel’s CMX.

--Najica

Japanese anime often seems to have a thing about certain shots for some reason. The makers of Najica clearly said to themselves – “Let’s show the world that you can have a really great sci-fi/action show that shows MORE shots of girls’ underwear than ANY OTHER SHOW, PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE.” And they succeeded. That’s dedication, man. Talk about committing to the concept. …It’s also why this is at the bottom of the list.

I’m sitting here writing this, and just for the sound (you know, us kids of the Cold War get nervous if there isn’t a TV or music or something on), the TV is on – Inu-Yasha. And the characters are walking around being nostalgic, and there’s this piano playing. And then the emotional part of the plot increases, and a symphony comes in. This is the sort of stuff that sets Fruits Basket, Kare Kano, and Princess Nine apart from the crap. Music counts, too.

The latest volume of the manga Fruits Basket comes out today. We’ll be getting it.

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