Thank you, thank you, thank you Az

[Eagle]

For years I've been trying to make clear the underlying differences between Japanese society and our own. With a marked lack of success.

The only common element I could use was anime/manga that makes it to the American market. Doesn't take in depth analysis to see the Japanese have a fascination with very young, and surprisingly large busted women in them. As well as something of a fixation on girls panties, although thats often edited out of the broadcast versions. The "Don't stand out, be like everyone else" also makes itself known when watching them. Very rarely do things like Dragonball Z, Outlaw Star, Sorcerer Hunters, etc. show anyone emerge as a clear leader. Rather the entire group, regardless of power or ability, is viewed as a gestalt with all parts being equal or nearly so.

When my son first became involved with Pokemon several years ago, I audited and thought this was fairly innocuous. Until I began to see a deeper message, beyond the obvious incredible marketing being done. Looked at from the outside, the premise is to hunt down free and semi-intelligent beings, trap them, force them to fight for our amusement, and hope they don't die. Scared the crap out of me, and launched me on a quest to find the REAL differences between the U.S. and Japan.

After reading all your editorials, I was dumbfounded. Someone "gets" it...and even more...has experienced it. I've e-mailed the URL to your articles to about 40 people, and discussed them on a forum I moderate.

Excellent work. And thank you for giving us a look inside a world most of us can't imagine even exists.

[Vengro]

I can't tell if the poster is being serious or sarcastic, but I hope it's the later and not the former.

[Roxie]

Pokemon don't die. They faint.

[akitaka]

I've e-mailed the URL to your articles to about 40 people, and discussed them on a forum I moderate.
Not to be anal, but...



...good grief.

[Mastiker]

When my son first became involved with Pokemon several years ago, I audited and thought this was fairly innocuous. Until I began to see a deeper message, beyond the obvious incredible marketing being done. Looked at from the outside, the premise is to hunt down free and semi-intelligent beings, trap them, force them to fight for our amusement, and hope they don't die.

The real underlying message from Pokemon:



gotta catch 'em all.

[co_delphi]

My friends and I have discussed the fact in depth that strangely many of the pokemon names sound like really nasty VD's. We think it is a subliminal message to make the children of america diseased and infertile. I mean with phrases like "Bulbasaur I choose you" and "gotta catch em' all" you have to wonder.

[tekkan]

The real underlying message from Pokemon:



gotta catch 'em all.

I've caught them all.

And by all I mean Pikachu only.

[Eagle]

My friends and I have discussed the fact in depth that strangely many of the pokemon names sound like really nasty VD's. We think it is a subliminal message to make the children of america diseased and infertile. I mean with phrases like "Bulbasaur I choose you" and "gotta catch em' all" you have to wonder.

Greeeeat. THATS one I hadn't considered.

I am a bit curious about the proliferation of androgynous men and stronger, more capable women in the entertainment of a culture that seems a little misogynistic. I noticed early on that it was hard to tell if a character was male or female sometimes.

[Joe]

This is my first post here, and after viewing a few threads I thought, 'hell yes, this is where I'll start off'.
In short, I agree with you 100% Eagle.

In long, I have thought for a very long time that Japanese culture was very group oriented (way before a friend showed me Az's site). Strangely enough, have you noticed their cartoons that have been picked up here? Notice something interesting about many of the main characters? Their loud, outspoken, and brash as all hell. Now, from what I've heard, and read (I won't say experienced, I haven't been there) the Japanese people on the whole, are not. They are quiet, reserved, and very non-confrontational. I think this is related to the conformism.

Anyone who has watched an episode of the following can attest to the brashness of the main character:
-Dragon Ball Z
-Full Metal Alchemist
-Pokemon
-Digimon
-Fooly Cooly (Foory Coory to you fanatics)
-Gundam Wing (Duo, and even Heero (Hiro to you sub freaks) at times)
-Naruto (Oh god, Naruto is loud)
-One Piece
-Zatch Bell
-Inuyasha
-Vandread

* Not all anime is like that, these are just some of many examples

The list goes on. Why the hell is this? Why is it in Japanese culture there is such emphasis on the individual, as shown in the examples, but people have the individuality of gerbils? You got me. I think it has something to do with the obsession on individuality itself has caused everyone to be like their favorite individual they've seen, and oh look, suprise, they all have the same damned archetype.

But, that's all based off from what I've learned, and one day I hope to find out for myself what the people are really like.

It's suprisingly difficult to find someone who (at least when they're a fan of Japanese culture) thinks the same way I do.

Edit: I forgot to note that I was speaking more about the teenagers, and young adults more then the older generation.

[tsiki]

True dat. From what I've read from Japanese organization cultures, it's emphasized that Japanese usually strive to make a solution which everyone agrees with, unlike, say, Americans. That's not to say Japanese don't put any weight on the quality of the solution, but that they merely put more weight on agreeing with each other than other nationalities. I guess it derives itself from the strong group-culture and hierarchical system that the Japanese had for a long time.

When it comes to the brashness of the main character in several animes, it's pretty interesting. Some truly are very individualistic characters, but when looking more closely eg. Naruto, he is brash, but he's also very strongly part of the Konoha village, and pretty much every time he speaks he says that he will protect something/someone, putting the benefit of the group above that of his own.

[Maian]

Can't forget Great Teacher Onizuka too. And that one's in a school setting.

[orson]

Until I began to see a deeper message, beyond the obvious incredible marketing being done. Looked at from the outside, the premise is to hunt down free and semi-intelligent beings, trap them, force them to fight for our amusement, and hope they don't die.

come on! stop reading between the lines!

remember Snow-white! it's a story about a mother trying to kill her daughter, a story about a young prince marrying a girl just because she was beautiful, about not eating apples because they are bad for your health, about seven people that have to work in the mines because society doesn't accept them (they are really short)... and I could go on like this for ever.

cartoons are cartoons! I laugh so hard when I watch Dexter and DeeDee but wait a minute... isn't she making fun of him for being a geek (kids don't learn too much because you became like Dexter!) and isn't DeeDee a stereotype (blonde and no brain)?

Pokemon is about competing with the other boys, about a boy being friend with an animal (ok... an almost animal)... and about other things that are not so important.

...me, the kid with only five senses, that doesn’t sees dead people everywhere :p ...

[Joe]

Which Snow White are you talking about? The brothers Grimm Snow White, or the bastardized Disney version of prissy prissy girlie time.

I'm still waiting for an anime that isn't formulaic and doesn't have characters derived from the same damn archtypes. It gets sort of redundant when I can switch Goku from Dragon Ball Z, with naruto, and expect them both to do the same thing in the same situation, broadly speaking of course.

There is a definite lack of originality when it comes to designing characters in an anime.

Edit(3): Typo, of a typo, of a typo *pulls hair*

[Eagle]

Which Snow White are you talking about? The brothers Grimm Snow White, or the bastardized Disney version of prissy prissy girlie time.



Excellent point. Read the unexpurgated Brothers Grimm...and the stories bear little resemblance to the ones we all "know". Most of them are bloody, violent, have kids being tortured and dismembered, and deal more with revenge than happy endings.

[Whothefuckispink]

How is that an excellent point? It doesn't matter how bloody the grimm-snow white is, i thought the whole point was that even snow white (the disney one) sends out a cruel and immoral message if read to deeply, which is what you do to pokemon. Try sticking to the point instead of pretending that your the only one that knows of the grimm-brothers.
(Remember: you're discussing pokemon...)