What Defines Anime?

As I was perusing the internet yesterday, I ran a cross an article by Chris O'Brien that examined the question of whether or not Nickelodeon's The Legend of Korra is anime. He debates back and forth on whether or not anime must be exclusively produced in Japan or if it is more of a blanket term for a general artistic style.  While the author makes no final conclusion, the whole thing did force me to do some thinking.  My knee-jerk reaction to the question of, "Is Korra anime?" is, "Of course not, I like Korra."


I will elaborate on the status of Korra later, but first allow me to explain before I have hordes of anime fans ripping me apart in the comments.  I do not hate anime by any stretch of the imagination (I'm partial to Death Note and Afro Samurai especially), but I have two major complaints about it as a genre.  


First of all, I don't feel that there is enough variation in the art itself.  Granted, there are differences between various series (the works of Miyazaki, Cowboy Bebop, and Sailor Moon all look very different for example), but the fact is that it doesn't take much more than a fleeting glance to look at anime and recognize it as such.  We're over 50 years from Astro Boy and Gigantor and yet the influences of those early anime pioneers is still painfully obvious.  Is there a secret anime rule book somewhere that requires a certain number of tropes and graphical cliches that must be present?

(Video by Derek Lieu)

My next biggest concern is anime fans, at least in the United States.  Don't believe me that they can be problematic?  Post "ANIME SUCKS!" somewhere online and see if your house isn't on fire when you get home.  Many, indeed I'd venture to say most, anime fans are not theses waifu-obsessed weeaboos, and are in fact perfectly normal people. I'm friends with several in fact.  I wish I knew what it would take to get people that fired up about American animation; lord knows it could use the support.  More to the point, their blind obsession drowns out legitimate criticism of the industry, which is hurtful especially now with anime already dying on the vine due to harsh working conditions and loss of revenues from piracy.


Now, having said all of that, is Korra anime?  I would argue that no, it is not.  I would instead say that it is heavily inspired by anime, as are Ben 10, Teen Titans, and several other shows on TV in recent years.  What makes anime anime?  At this point, I think it is largely an argument of semantics.  If it's a style, then those shows are simply American-produced anime.  If you choose the Japanese argument, then no.  The important thing is not to try and define art, but letting artists create works drawn from various influences and enjoying the results of all of their hard work and dedication.  Korra is a fantastic series regardless of what you call it.

Help the Creator of "Ren & Stimpy" Make A Cartoon!

While I work on my next post, I thought I'd do a quick shameless plug for one of my favorite animators, John Kricfalusi.  You may not recognize his name, but anyone who was alive in the 90's will remember his Nickelodeon series Ren & Stimpy.  It pushed the boundaries both in artistic quality and taste, and left a mark on virtually everyone who watched it.

Since then John has stayed busy (most recently doing a few bumps for [adult swim] and a couch gag for The Simpsons), but his new project seeks to bring cartoons to the people like never before.  He has started a campaign through kickstarter.com to finance an independently produced cartoon titled "Cans Without Labels" starring his character George Liquor.

Here's the full rundown at the campaign's site:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1056985656/john-ks-cans-without-labels

The story is drawn from John's own experience growing up, and is full of authenticity and hilarity.  If you love great cartoons that make you laugh, then follow the link to the "Cans Without Labels" campaign and donate whatever you can.  You can get neat prizes for donating, plus a cartoon, so what are you waiting for?!

Comic Con 2012 Cartoon Roundup

Comic Con 2012 has come and gone, and once again I find myself wishing I had been able to go.  While I love comics and am quite the nerd in some circles, there is also a veritable treasure trove of animation goodies for the hungry cartoon fan.  Here are some of my favorite interesting bits picked off the grapevine:


There's no denying that Hollywood has pretty much co-opted Comic Con as a place to provide scintillating new details about upcoming movies and TV shows.  Disney was promoting its upcoming film Wreck-It Ralph and handed out Oswald the Lucky Rabbit ears for Epic Mickey 2 (due out this November).  The Ralph trailers look great, and as long as they improve the game mechanics for the first Epic Mickey, I can get excited about that too.


Nickelodeon announced that The Legend of Korra is being renewed for a second season, entitled "Spirit".  While not surprising, as the show's creators had always intended for it to be a two-season series, it was also announced that the show is now being planned for four "books" that will span 52 episodes in total.  This puts it at the same length as its predecessor, and while I don't doubt the talent behind the show, I hope they can keep the same magic in the subsequent books.


Fans of Fox's "Animation Domination" programming will be pleased that all shows were represented and hints were given about their upcoming seasons.  The Simpsons still aren't quitting any time soon, and with the success of The Longest Daycare playing before Ice Age: Continental Drift, I'm curious as to whether or not we'll see more Simpsons at the movies.  Seth MacFarlane also gave teasers about the upcoming seasons of Family Guy and American Dad!, so the reign of Emperor Seth I doesn't seem to be lightening up any time soon.


There was plenty more worth mentioning, but I could take up a whole shelf of books recounting everything that goes on at Comic Con.  Hopefully I'll actually be able to make my way one year, then I can bid on some of the rare cartoon collectibles they auction off every year.  Was there anything that got you really excited about Comic Con this year?  Let me know in the comments.

Thoughts on "Legend of Korra" Finale

This past weekend was the finale to season one of The Legend of Korra the sequel to the successful Avatar: The Last Airbender on Nickelodeon, and holy cow was it great!


Caution: Some mild spoilers may follow.


Like most fans of the original series, I was a bit skeptical of a sequel series, largely because the original was such a wonderfully self-contained story.  I always have respect for TV writers whose series have a definite beginning, middle, and end, and Avatar pulled it off fantastically with the tale of Aang.  I was worried that Korra was just going to be an attempt to capture lightning in a bottle twice.


Luckily, my worries were put to rest almost immediately.  The new series is a perfect example of what a proper sequel should be:  it builds upon what was laid down previously but is not afraid to write its own story within that world.  I think a lot of people wanted a direct continuation of the characters with whom they fell in love the first time around, but I'm glad they did not do that.  "The Last Airbender: Part 2" would have been fun at first, but I think it would have quickly gone stale without more newness to offer.  Instead, we got new characters, many with connections to the old series, some without.  My personal favorite was Tenzin.  As Aang and Katara's son, he is an important bridge between series, and I absolutely love how they constructed his uptight personality that at least partially yearned to balance work with play the way his father did.  Plus his three children had me in stitches every time they had screen time.


Also included in that group of new characters is Korra.  It took me a while to warm up to the new Avatar.  I found her difficult to like at first because of her brash personality and tendency to not think things through.  I was also bothered by her lack of progress in training to become a fully-realized Avatar, and early on it felt like there were to many distractions for her to properly focus on her training.  After  few episodes however, I finally saw that that was the point.  Korra is not Aang, nor is she supposed to be.  She is thrust into this new rapidly modernizing world at the same time we are, and her discoveries are the audience's as well.  In addition, she is perhaps the strongest female lead in a series (animated or otherwise) that I have seen in a long time.  While there is an obligatory love story sub-plot, it is not front and center for much of the season and is thankfully resolved when all is said and done.


The final moments of the finale gave me exactly what I wanted to see and it felt like a massive release after a dozen episodes of building conflict and tension.  I was a little disappointed by the revelations about Amon, the story's main antagonist, but the way his arc was resolved (hopefully), while initially appearing like a cliche, "I will have my revenge!" moment was shocking and inspired in its execution.  My hat is off to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko on a brilliant finish to a fantastic season and keep it up in the forthcoming season 2.