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Nele Noppe

Face fault - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/Face_fault

non-academic visual_language

shared by Nele Noppe on 06 Dec 07 - Cached
  • face fault
  • meanings may differ depending on the usage by the artist or studio responsible for a work.
  • Facefault (spelled as one word): A character falling over (usually flat on their face or back, sometimes with their legs sticking up in the air as the only part of them visible on-screen) with a loud thud or crash from another character saying something anticlimactic or stupid.
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • super deformed face, which normally includes the disappearance of the nose, the oversimplification of the eyes, and a mouth bearing a simple triangular shape showing either no teeth (red) or all teeth (white).
  • Giant sweat drop: May indicate a response to a stupid or insane action or spoken line. Less frequently indicated nervousness, especially when a character is asked a question (s)he doesn't want to answer.
  • Multiple smaller sweatdrops: May indicate nervousness or fear.
  • Nosebleeds: Indicates lust (based on a Japanese wives' tale that a boy would get a nosebleed if he stared at a pretty girl).
  • Blushing of the cheeks or a red, blue, or purple bar across the nose: Indicates embarrassment, love or sometimes even a sense of fear. Blushing is also commonly used to depict drunkenness. Pulsating crossed forehead veins: Indicates anger, rage or irritation. If viewed from behind, veins can be viewed through hair, no matter how thick. Large, shining eyes: Indicates "cute" excitement.
  • U-shaped closed eyes: When rightside-up, can often indicate calm, exasperation, shame, or irritation. When upside-down, it indicates joy, nervousness, or pride, but sometimes also indicates irritation. For some characters, especially in Pokemon, a character's pupil may form this shape instead of their whole eye, basically because they are normally incapable of blinking. The shape can also be overexaggerated depending on the level of their emotion.
  • Flames in eyes: Indicates immense passion, usually accompanied by scared characters in background Normal eyes replaced with circular white eyes (usually with a black outline): Indicates surprise, shock, vacancy, a lack of intelligence or an instance where the character is "struck dumb". It can also mean extreme pain (often featured in One Piece and Naruto). Little twinkling stars appear around the character's face. Usually indicates idealism, often about a girl. (Sometimes featured in Trigun.) Rivers of tears underneath the eyes indicate comedic anguish or discontent. Balls of tears have also been used for the same purpose, either with large balls hanging on a string below the eyes, or as small balls just below the tear ducts. Lumps of flesh growing humorously on a character's head if he/she has been hit in the head. Occasionally, when a character is hit in the head more than once, however many extra times the character was hit will appear as small lumps on top of the large one. Eyes shaped like half-moons with very tiny pupils: Indicates a devilish intent, usually accompanied by a toothy grin, a flash on the corner of one of the eyes and sometimes the flat side of the eyes will form a V. Indicates anger, usually the flat side of the eyes will form a V parallel to the eyebrows (if any). The character is totally uninterested in the situation, usually accompanied by a flat small line as their mouth or simply having no mouth at all.
  • The sudden appearance of vertical lines on the face, indicates embarrassment or speechlessness in response to some absurdity. Character does a The Scream pose, indicating fear or great anguish. Character turns into a cracked stone statue or a sand pillar (having part of the body being blown away), indicating great emotional shock. Character is frozen by ice can either indicate: Someone just said something out of extreme stupidity. One of the characters told a joke (usually an old pun) that is not funny anymore. Occasionally, it will mean that another character is singing badly. General area around a character starts to snow, sometimes building up on and around them. Someone has said something that is not funny. The character has been shunned or ignored (the joke here being that they have been treated coldly). Character turns much smaller and cartoonish, looking like a doll; this is called "super deformed". A body scaled as 4~5 times the height of the head indicates the situation is still similar to normal. A body scaled as about 3 times the height of the head indicates the situation is greatly comical. A body scaled as about 2 times the height of the head (the main body is equal to or smaller than the head), indicates the situation is only for comical effects. The character's upper face (from the eyes up) is blacked out. This shadow usually indicates serious sadness or shyness. It is sometimes used for character's in the background or for grunts, thugs and soilders to indicate a genaric extra.
  • Hair can be used for the same purpose and may be accompanied with the shadow. However, without the shadow, hair slightly covers the face but no eyes are visible behind it, where they should be. (Nodoka Miyazaki from Negima is commonly seen this way and is considered a hairstyle: On side views, only one eye is made out before the hair cover-up begins.) Hats or other head wear can be used for the same purpose and may be accompanied with the shadow. On rare occasuns, the eyes will be shown with the shadow, indicating a grim resolve. This is also seen in Pokemon with the team rocket grunts. Character becomes monochrome during states of extreme stress or shock. Character becomes a wavy paper doll and undulates, indicating shock or playful bliss. Character shakes their arms with their hands closed in fists, and they are shown as multiple flesh-colored balls with motion lines and no arms: Indicates irritation, impatience, confusion or loss of control, or occasionally, running away from something or someone. Many times this one is shown full-body, with the same effect happening for his or her legs. When the character hears something very interesting or shocking behind their back, their ear instantly becomes much bigger and moves. A variation of this one appears in Slam Dunk, in which lead character Hanamichi Sakuragi sometimes folds his ears closed when he does not want to hear what others are saying. Short vertical red lines appear or flash above the character's head before disappearing, indicating that something has caught the characters attention or understanding.
  • Thin vertical blue lines appear over the character's forehead or back of head, often accompanied with a dark blue "aura": Indicates that the character is ashamed, guilty, afraid or depressed. (Commonly occurring in Ouran High School Host Club) When a white cloud-like puff flies out of a character's mouth and disappears: Indicates a sigh of exasperation, grudging acceptance, relief, boredom, or disappointment. Character's head becomes giant as it screams their anger at somebody else. Two character's heads may take turns in alternating between a "giant head" and a normal head as they are having an argument, each taking turns yelling at each other. Jaw drops all the way down to the floor. Another version of this is when the jaw is detached from the head and falls downs as a separate object after dangling. This is usually accompanied by buggy eyes or occasionally, eyes falling out. Pupils disappear, indicating shock, anger, or a bad pun. They may also disappear in times of extreme pain. When eating some spicy food, a character's face turns entirely red. The character's lips might turn swollen and red and the character occasionally breathes fire.
  • Characters sometimes fly off into the distance and finally disappear as a star in the sky when defeated in a duel. This is a common running gag in the Pokémon series with Team Rocket, appearing also sometimes in Love Hina, and characters can be KO'd in this way in the Super Smash Bros. video game series. In-game, this is known as a "Star Finish" ("Star KO" in Melee). The character will knock another character into the air when something stupid is said. (Frequently seen in Ranma ½) Two rivals may glare at each other, and have lightning bolts cross the gap between their eyes. Spirals replacing the eyes indicate that the character is under hypnosis, using hypnosis, or subconsciously attracted towards something as though they were hypnotized. Alternatively, spiraled eyes could indicate that the character is unconscious, but usually after a more trivial or comedic fight rather than a major battle. These are also used if the character is dizzy. Spiraled eyes are often accompanied by a completely white, banana-shaped mouth with equally white drool dripping down one corner. (Frequently seen in Rurouni Kenshin) Hearts replacing the eyes while the character clasps their hands is a sign that the character is attracted to someone. The screen colors being inverted generally represents moments of unexpected pain, such when someone is shot or hit with a knife. This effect can also be used to express extreme shock. When mocking or imitating another character, a character's face can actually morph into the face of the indivdual that they are mocking/imitating. A large spherical bump of skin with black dots shows up on the head (through the hair, in this case) or another part of the body if it gets hit (the black dots representing skin pores). Sometimes a crossed patch may appear on top of it.
  • A large bubble coming out of the nose of the character indicates sleep (from boredom or exaustion for example). Female characters are almost never shown with nose bubbles Eyes in which the pupils and irises disappear could either indicate shock or depict a charicter who is blinded (usually the latter).
  • The background may change to suit the mood of the scene, usually disregarding the physical setting of the scene. For instance: Action scenes (more prominently those that focus in a single character) have for background a dynamic set of parallel lines, all of the same color hue and drawn in the direction the character is going to (if they are facing forward though, these lines are vertical). The background of a romantic scene or the introduction of a beautiful and attractive character may be a motif of flowers or a translucent scene with twinkling lights (sometimes also containing bubbles). A scene where one character is in a rage may have a distorted, jagged background showing flames. A sudden gust of wind (and/or a loud crow flying in the background in a very straight line; the sound of the crow is a pun on its sounding like a-ho which means stupid) accompanying a bad joke or embarrassment. (this is a running gag in Episode 101 of Naruto) An expression of disbelief is commonly accompanied by a single-color background with prominent vertical black lines at the top of the frame. A lone spotlight shining on a character comically dramatizes despair. (see Menchi from Excel Saga) A kyokujitsuki war flag appears behind the character when they feel extremely and unreasonably proud or determined, complete with them standing on a heroic pose. It usually has a trumpet sounding in triumph as background music. Alternatively, they might be standing near a sea with giant powerful waves. Hitodama appear floating near the character when they feel depressed or scares other characters with their dark attitude. Very anguished character falls down in a very dark void with other objects circling them.
Nele Noppe

About the word manga - 15 views

Sorry for the late reply! Yes, I don't think it's very useful to try and draw conclusions about manga based on some aspect of Hokusai's work. Hokusai may have made the word "manga" famous, but his ...

manga meaning

started by Claudia Márquez on 28 Aug 09 5 follow-ups, last by Nele Noppe on 07 Sep 09
Nele Noppe

Comic Market: How the World's Biggest Amateur Comic Fair Shaped Japanese Dōji... - 0 views

muse.jhu.edu/...5.lam.html

academic manga dojinshi fans manga_industry

shared by Nele Noppe on 26 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • the world's largest regular gathering of comic fans today is Tokyo's biannual Comic Market
  • dōjinshi phenomenon did not start with Comic Market, Comike and dōjinshi are inextricably linked, having shaped each other's history for three decades.
  • Comike convention has shaped the most important trends defining the development of dōjinshi in Japan today
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  • In 1975, a woman who had made critical remarks about the Manga Taikai was excluded from that convention, and [End Page 234] subsequently a firestorm of anger among fans produced a movement against the Manga Taikai led by the famous circle Meikyū (Labyrinth), which resulted in the conception of a new alternative convention. On December 21, 1975, the first Comic Market—"a fan event from fans for fans"—was held in Tokyo.6
  • [End Page 232]
  • [End Page 233]
  • Comike's underlying vision was of an open and unrestricted dōjinshi fair, offering a marketplace without limitations on content or access.
  • With the advent of these fan-consumers (as opposed to fan-creators), dōjinshi became demand-driven publications. Greater competition gradually fostered rising standards of quality, which in turn attracted more circles and buyers. Higher sales shrank production costs and boosted profits, which could then be reinvested in the dōjinshi themselves. Small printing companies, many of which had begun in the minikomi (microcommunication) boom of the early 1970s, were able to use the profits derived from greater demand for their services to modernize their equipment, lowering production costs further and enabling them to construct their production schedules around each Comike.8 Additionally, lower printing costs freed smaller groups from the dependence on bigger groups, which often had strict rules on content and style to avoid conflict among their many members. Having lost their raison d'être, these big clubs and circles gradually faded away, leaving dōjinshi creators to produce stories they liked, in the manner they liked.9
  • [End Page 235]
  • aniparo parodied popular anime series, and in doing so, attracted a new type of fan to Comike, beyond its core group of 2000 or so attendees. These were female fans, mostly middle and high school students strongly influenced by the 1970s florescence of shōjo manga. They began to create and consume dōjinshi in which the (bishōnen or "pretty boy") male protagonists of popular anime and manga were transposed into a very particular sort of erotic story typified by the phrase: "without tension" (yama nashi), "without punchline" (ochi nashi), and "without meaning" (imi nashi)—and hence the contemporary genre title, yaoi.10
  • The eleventh Comic Market in spring 1979 saw the popularity of the cute and pure bishōjo or "pretty girl" (strongly influenced by 1970s shōjo manga) skyrocket among men's dōjinshi circles, attracting many new male participants.
  • The Comic Market was dominated by women from the beginning (90 percent of its first participants were female), but in 1981, thanks to lolicon, male participants numbered the same as female participants for the first time in Comike's history.13
  • [End Page 236]
  • Internal conflicts on the Comike planning committee underlay some of these developments: they marked the ascendancy of the faction led by Yonezawa Yoshihiro, who favored Comike's unlimited expansion.15 Though he was criticized for purportedly selling dōjinshi out to commercialism, Yonezawa couched his plans for Comike in terms of a collective organization of the convention by all participants, including staff, circles, and visitors.16 Whatever the underlying reality, these public principles remain little changed today.17
  • Faced with this loss of identity, talent, and space, every other large fan convention except Comike dissolved. Yaoi Boom But in the middle of the decade, one manga and its anime not only saved dōjinshi fandom from near extinction but was responsible for its biggest boom yet. Takahashi Yōichi's Captain Tsubasa (1981–88, Kyaputen tsubasa),
  • [End Page 237]
  • New dōjinshi conventions appeared, and manga shops began selling dōjinshi on commission. Comparatively lush, custom-made, oversized dōjinshi with more than one hundred pages became common, and popular circles could now live on their fanworks' profits
  • professional creators like Toriyama Akira of Dragonball fame participating,
  • [End Page 238]
  • Despite the self-censorship brought on by the mass media's criticism, Comike nevertheless continued to thrive. Young men tired of new, tighter restrictions on professional manga turned to Comike, and attendance once again swelled to 230,000 in the summer of 1990.23 Hardcore lolicon was now passé, and erotic dōjinshi for men had greatly changed. New genres were introduced with such aspects as fetishism and a new style of softcore eroticism enjoyed by men and women alike; in particular, yuri (lily), or lesbian stories, emerged.24Dōjinshi also became smaller and shorter due to professional publishers recruiting talented dōjinshi creators en masse: the bulk of dōjinshi were the works of the less talented creators left behind.25
  • Other factors contributing to the increased interest in dōjinshi and in fanworks were the development of fixed otaku landmarks and the spread of computers. Almost everyone could now afford to make digital dōjinshi as well as audiovisual or even interactive dōjinshi (i.e. dōjin music and dōjin games).
  • The personal technology revolution meant [End Page 239] simplification of fanworks' production processes as well as completely new possibilities for communication and new digital genres. With the growth of dōjinshi in other media, the term "dōjin products" (dōjin seihin) has gradually come into use to describe fanworks of all genres.
  • Further, the conversion of Tokyo's Akihabara "Electric Town" into a district full of shops selling otaku-related goods, as well as the nationwide expansion of otaku-goods retailers and the establishment of Internet communities and message boards in the late 1990s, enabled otaku to live out their interests and to communicate nonstop with like-minded people everywhere. Their interests and culture were easily shared, and consequently information on Comic Market and dōjin culture spread around the world.
  • The rise of the Internet also meant that Comike lost its monopoly as the center of otaku and dōjinshi culture. Nevertheless, Comike remained the most important event for Japanese fans, especially after companies with otaku-related products started to exploit it.28 Firms had been interested in Comic Market for decades as a never-ending pool of promising new talent and as a place to exploit them commercially, and they were willing to pay much money for direct access to these masses of otaku.29 Starting with NEC in the summer of 1995, companies were granted exhibition space to market or to sell their newest products. This was the birth of the dealer booth at Comike, and, as with dōjinshi circles, the number of applicant companies was much higher than that of available spaces: a self-sustaining event with such high attendance was too important for any related company to ignore.30 Companies accepted the existence of unlicensed parody dōjinshi using copyrighted material (albeit in a transformative and thus arguably fair-use manner) since they could now sell exclusive goods at Comike (Figure 3) or use it as a marketing place, attracting to the convention people who were not interested in dōjinshi.
  • In the summer of 2004, 5 percent of all circles participating in Comike were headed by a professional mangaka or illustrator, while another 10 percent had some professional experience.
  • Despite its relative newness, Higurashi became one of Japan's biggest media phenomena, and at the seventy-sixth Comic Market in summer 2009, Tōhō Project became the first dōjin title ever to receive the honor of being considered its own genre.
  • [End Page 243]
  • It seems that dōjinshi circles are not switching entirely to the Internet but rather are using it as an informational and marketing platform for themselves and their creations, spreading the knowledge of and fascination with Comic Market to new spheres.
  • With high attendance, positive media attention, and industry support, Comike's position seems invulnerable. Even the deaths of important figures such as Iwata Tsuguo in 2004 and Yonezawa Yoshihiro—who was the face of Comike for decades—in 2006 did not harm its position. But unresolved problems, such as the use of copyrighted material in parody dōjinshi and the child pornography questions inherent in lolicon and shotakon, remain.
  • Comike was neither the first nor the biggest dōjinshi fair when it was established; its main purpose was to provide the freest market possible, and that freedom has come at a price. The dream of a Comic Market open to every one and everything was never realized, as there were too many physical, financial, and legal restrictions. Even today, the Comic Market suffers from a lack of space, a lack of money, and a lack of legal security. Only two-thirds of applicant circles can participate due to constraints, since, as a small independent operator Comike's financial resources are limited and most of the work is done by volunteers.
  • s the center of attention, with its size and its links to the industry, it is undeniable that Comike possesses the power and the means to influence social, market, and even political developments. In [End Page 244]
  • recent years it has not been reluctant to use this power. Whether through conferences on copyright issues or on the establishment of a "National dōjinshi fair liaison group" (Zenkoku dōjinshi sokubaikai renrakukai) in 2000, it has taken on the responsibility of representing and of regulating Japanese dōjinshi culture.
Nele Noppe

iPad Publishing No Savior for Small Press, LGBT Comics Creators - 3 views

prismcomics.org/display.php

comics censorship digital_manga manga non-academic technology

shared by Nele Noppe on 28 May 10 - Cached
Ariane Beldi liked it
  • Anticipated as a potential savior of the comics industry, distribution of digital comics through Apple's iPhone and iPad is proving not to be the magic bullet many had hoped for. Format issues, pricing concerns, and censorship of content are hindering many creators, particularly those making lesbian and gay comics, from taking full advantage of this new outlet for their work.
  • But Apple chose ePub as the format for books sold through iBooks; the format is not designed to support fully illustrated projects like art books and comic books, and presents them with large white margins on each page. There are only a handful of graphic novels available in the iBooks store; most have been modified to show a few panels per page to avoid shrinking the content excessively.
  • Even if a creator happened to have the technical proficiency to write her own comics app, going from iBooks to a boutique comics app is hardly ideal for a small publisher or self-published creator. You have no opportunity to reach readers unless they specifically look for comic books; you don't benefit from the browsing and search traffic on the larger store and your books won't appear in searches. But even if a creator or small publisher persevered and created and successfully promoted his own comics app, there is the last, and possibly most significant, hurdle to overcome: Apple censorship.
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • Digital magazine store Zinio, like all content suppliers for iPhone and iPad, agreed to Apple's "Regional Content Review" for all items sold through their app. This means that all "in-app purchasable" content must be approved by Apple to be acceptable to the broad U.S. population (the United States is one "region") or it will block it. The more obvious targets for censorship in the Zinio store included Playboy and Penthouse magazines, but Vogue France was also rejected because it features artistic and occasional use of nudity. Vogue France is also not stocked at Wal-Mart stores for the same reason.
  • Stories have surfaced about comic books being blocked as well. In February, Stephen Lindsay, the creator of Jesus Hates Zombies, discovered that a link to buy his book through the ComiXology app had stopped working. A ComiXology rep explained in a tweet that Apple "deemed it inappropriate according to their SDK guidelines" and they were forced to remove it.
  • "Here's the thing," said Lindsay. "Jesus Hates Zombies doesn't involve any sex whatsoever. None. It has violence and swearing, but that's because it's a mature readers horror comedy. But the violence isn't even intense. And being a black and white comic, there's zero red blood, which means any gore is dramatically cut down."
  • When asked if it would be fair to say that any comics with content that would fit in an R-rated movie (violence, brief nudity without explicit sex) would fit into Apple's guidelines, Murphey agreed.
  • "People seem to think that Apple is slamming our hands down every day saying 'No — we shall oppress this material— you are not permitted to do anything that we do not deem to be family friendly'… and that's not what's happening at all," Murphey continued. "Apple has not censored what we publish in a way that we feel has been terribly oppressive. When things first started in 2008, before they had the parental controls in effect, they were much more strict about what could and couldn't be allowed in the store. Now things are much better."
  • "My problem with Apple banning [Jesus Hates Zombies] is simply this," says Lindsay. "They allow the Marvel book Kick-Ass. How in God's name is my book worse than Kick-Ass when it comes to content? The simple answer, it's not. But because Kick-Ass is a Marvel book, it gets a pass."
  • The experience of smaller publishers producing books with LGBT characters and situations also seems hard to reconcile with Murphey's assessment of Apple's guidelines. Tom Bouden's adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest was rejected as an iPad app for the App Store, again due to "materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory." A handful of sexually suggestive images depicting men, some extremely mild, were specifically flagged as problematic in the 80-page graphic novel.
  • perhaps to avoid calling attention to its restrictions, Apple did not allow black censor bars to appear in content.
  • Yaoi Press packaged their graphic novel Zesty for submission to the App Store with the assistance of digital provider Fika Publishing
  • The book was rejected without explanation.
  • "I'm not as hopeful about the iPad as I was this morning," said Abraham in an article about Manga on the iPad for About.com. "The iTunes store just rejected Zesty, our tamest graphic novel, without citing a reason. We thought this could be a bright spot for us, akin to our sales on Amazon Kindle, but we're very discouraged right now."
  • We have snuck onto Apple platforms through the Kindle app." A search on Amazon's Kindle Store for Yaoi Press titles yields a wide range of prose and graphic novels, all of which can be purchased and synced to an iPad or iPhone. Kindle purchases do not happen "in-app", and are not required to be reviewed and approved by Apple. Amazon appears to have no content restrictions with regard to sexual content; even explicit sexual material appears to be fair game for Kindle books.
  • "Amazon doesn't seem to have a problem with the story," Bonte said. "They accepted it for digital distribution. The problem with Amazon is that they take 70% and Apple only 30%, plus the platform is absolutely not usable for comics.
  • "If Dylan was 20 today," Tate wrote, "how would he feel about your company? Would he think the iPad had the faintest thing to do with 'revolution'? Revolutions are about freedom." "Yep, freedom from programs that steal your private data," Jobs responded. "Freedom from programs that trash your battery. Freedom from porn. Yep, freedom. The times they are a changin', and some traditional PC folks feel like their world is slipping away. It is."
  • Ariane Beldi on 28 May 10
     
    It looks like I'm not about to get an iPad! I have already decided not to get an iPhone (short-lived batteries, locked software, cost of mobile internet subscription) but it looks like Apple is heading in a direction with which I can't agree, meaning that my next computer certainly won't be from this brand. There were things I didn't like with Microsoft either, but it seems that Apple is doing even worse. And Google isn't walking that much of a more satisfying path. After I'm done with my dissertation, I'm definitely planning on learning better how to use linux and other open-source materials.
  • ...2 more comments...
  • Nele Noppe on 28 May 10
     
    I did get an iPhone last year. The very high cost is somewhat balanced out by the great ease of use, but after all the random app-banning and the launch of this new reactionary device, I have to agree with you and quit buying Apple products. This kind of content censorship is incredibly harmful.
  • Ariane Beldi on 28 May 10
     
    Ah! So, you were also a victim of the iPhone craze! ;-) I must say that it does look very enticing and seducing, but I feel that Apple is going too far with all these automatisms, to the point that you don't even know where the stuff you download or even write is stored on your device. There was a time when Apple products were more transparent than Microsoft's. But now, ergonony for the sake of ergonony and design have taken over completely to the point that Apple products are becoming complete "black boxes". My next cell-phone will certainly look a lot more like a smart phone than mine does now, but it won't be an Apple product, nor probably an Android one. I don't like all these geolocalization softwares. I'm not sure what it will be, because my present cellphone is doing ok and have no idea how long it will last, so it will depend on what's available and within the reach of my wallet.
  • Nele Noppe on 28 May 10
     
    Yes yes, it was a bad call, thank you for rubbing it in ;) In my defense, they hadn't started with the app-bannings and absurd censorship policies back then. Listening to Jobs defining "freedom" now, it's like hearing Agent Smith explain the purpose of the Matrix. I'm not sure what my next phone will be, either. Android looks better, but Google owns quite enough of me as it is.
  • Ariane Beldi on 28 May 10
     
    Well, I don't blame you! My father got one as soon as he was able to. His excuse was that he needed to receive emails on his cellphone, but there were other brands and models who could do the same. They just weren't as sexy and let's face it, not as frequently displayed in public spaces. As for me, since I didn't want to get a mobile internet subscription, as they are quite expensive in Switzerland (around 60 Euros/month and for a limited amount of downloaded data), an iPhone would have been pretty much useless and would have costed me a fortune (without phone subscription, they were sold between 700 and 800 Euros a piece). So, what saved me, in reality, was simply lack of money and other priorities than mobile telephony. Moreover, I have an iPod mini on which I can download music, radio recording and video shows, so I don't need anything else to entertain me during my train travels. So, really, I have absolutely no merit whatsoever for not following fashion...if I had had the money, who knows...I might have fallen to the craze too! ^_^
Nele Noppe

Manga iconography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Manga_iconography

non-academic visual_language

shared by Nele Noppe on 06 Dec 07 - Cached
  • Expressive dialogue bubbles: The borders of the speech/thought bubbles changes in pattern/style to reflect the tone and mood of the dialogue. For example, an explosion-shaped bubble for an angry exclamation. Also, manga does not usually follow the normal Western comic conventions for speech (solid arc extending from the character's head) and thought bubble (several small circles used in place of the arc). The latter bubble style is often used for whispered dialogue in manga, which can confuse Western readers.
  • Speed lines:
  • Mini flashbacks:
    • Nele Noppe
      Nele Noppe on 06 Dec 07
       
      also in text form
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • Abstract background effects:
  • Symbols:
  • Sweat drops, usually drawn largely on the head region, commonly indicate bewilderment, nervousness, social discomfort, or mental weariness. On a sidenote, actual physical perspiration in manga is signified by even distribution of sweat drops over the body. A round swelling, sometimes drawn to the size of baseballs, is a visual exaggeration of swelling from injury. A nosebleed indicates sexual excitation following exposure to stimulating imagery or situation. It is based on a Japanese old wives' tale[1] Throbbing veins, usually depicted as a cruciform in the upper head region, indicate anger or irritation. Hatchings on the cheek represent blushing, usually used when embarrassed by romantic feelings, while oval "blush dots" on the cheeks represent rosy cheeks.
  • line over form
  • Impressionistic backgrounds
  • sequences in which the panel shows details of the setting rather than the characters.
  • right to left,
  • small noses, tiny mouths, and flat faces.
  • the transparent feeling of pupils and the glares, or small reflections in the corners of the eyes are often exaggerated,
  • eyes of characters who have died are the colour of the iris, but darker.
  • hair partially covering the face, the eyes that would otherwise be covered are often outlined to make them visible,
  • The following is a non-exhaustive and incomplete list of artistic conventions used in mainstream manga and their place of origin. A white cross-shaped bandage symbol denotes pain. A large sweat drop on the side of the face denotes a broad spectrum of emotions, usually embarrassment or exasperation. A scribble on the cheek can show injury; it is also used in black-and-white media to denote red cheeks, i.e. blushing. A red cheek denotes embarrassment or blushing. A throbbing vein, sometimes comically simplified to a "+" shaped outline on the head (or occasionally other body parts, especially fists), represents anger or irritation. A balloon dangling from one nostril (a "snot bubble") indicates sleep. Electricity shoots out on the eyes of two characters when they are fighting. Nosebleeds, usually caused by shocking sights - especially those with a sexual undertone. There are many eye symbols such as love-hearts, crosses, flames, stars, and spirals. A character suddenly falling onto the floor, usually with one or more extremities twisted above him or herself, is a typically humorous reaction to something ironic happening. The pupils disappearing from the eyes, and the iris gaining a glass-like glare smoothness denotes loss of conscious control because of possession (ghost, demon, zombie, magic, etc). The eyes becoming huge and perfectly round with tiny pupils and no iris and going beyond the reach of the face, plus the mouth becoming like a stretched semicircle, the point of which extends past the chin, symbolises extreme excitement. All facial features shrinking, the nose disappearing, the character lifting off the floor and the limbs being multiplied as if moving very fast symbolizes panic; if the same but with larger facial features it symbolises comic rage. Tear drops everywhere indicate intense joy or sadness. An ellipsis appearing over a character's head indicates a silence, implying that something is going unsaid. Eye shapes and sizes are often symbolically used to represent the character. For instance, bigger eyes will usually symbolize beauty, innocence, or purity, while smaller, more narrow eyes typically represent coldness and/or evil. More often than not, character colorizations tend to represent the character in some way. A more subdued character will be colored with lighter tones, while a flamboyant character will be done in bright tones. Similarly, villains are often colored in darker tones, while colder character will be given neutral tones (black, white, grey, etc.). An odd white shape (more often than not, something close to a mushroom) that appears during an exhale represents a sigh of awkward relief or depression. Completely blackened eyes (shadowed) indicates a vengeful or deep anger. It could also indicate that someone's being sort of a wise-guy, grinning. Characters push their index fingers together when admitting a secret or telling the truth to another. A character's eyes are shadowed regardless of the lighting in the room when they become angry, upset, something is wrong with them, or they are emotionally hurt. The anime character's eyes turn into two thick half-circles, conveying a cute, delighted look. Face expressions change depending on their mood, and can look from apple shaped to a more subtle carrot shape. Parallel vertical lines with dark shading over the head or under the eye may represent mortification or horror. If the lines are wavy, it may represent disgust. A wavy ghost coming out of the mouth is often a comical representation of depression or mortification. Cherry blossoms indicate a sweet or beautiful moment. This is a reference to Mono no Aware. A flower blossom falling off its stem may indicate death or, more commonly, sex. A fang peeking from the corner of the mouth indicates mischief or feistiness. (Unless, of course, the character has fangs normally). A cat mouth (like a number "3" rotated 90° clockwise) replacing the character's normal mouth, and usually accompanied by larger eyes may also represent mischief or feistiness. Unbound hair may represent freedom, while hair that is tied back may represent some form of either literal, figurative or emotional enslavement of some kind.
Nele Noppe

Cartoon physics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Cartoon_physics

non-academic visual_language

shared by Nele Noppe on 06 Dec 07 - Cached
  • Anime physics can be considered a subset of cartoon physics.
  • important distinction to make is that while the rules of Western cartoon physics are used as a source of comedy, several of the following are used in perfectly serious situations with the intent of conveying genuine drama or action.
  • many of these laws only apply to the shōnen genre.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Dramatic moments tend to distort time, either by slowing it down (usually long enough to call out the name of an attacker or the name of the "special move" used in the attack, or for bystanders to comment on the situation), or by looping three times. Similarly, transformations (especially those animated with stock footage) also seem to stop time until completed, allowing them to be used to counter attacks, or not allowing the person to be attacked while performing them. Death is not instantaneous to significant characters. Permanent death is also a rare occurrence. Humans are capable of instantaneously freezing into solid ice or transforming into stone when surprised and/or embarrassed. In lesser cases, a person's forehead will instantly turn blue. When a character is in an extremely pensive mood, the entire area around him/her will disappear into a featureless black void, while he/she remains illuminated by a misty light coming from an unknown but vertically located source. Intense emotion can be manifest in audible artifacts as well as physical/visual ones. For example, intense grief or concern imparts a slow repeat echo to the human voice in dramatic situations, even when appropriately placed reflective surfaces are not present. However, the amount of echo thus imparted is inversely proportional to the number of words, with anguished cries of another person's name usually receiving the most echo.
  • In a series where characters change size, the opponents must be of the same size to battle. The hero(es) cannot use their mech or their larger form to squish the monster, nor can the monster grow and squish the hero(es). This is also found in Tokusatsu series, especially Super Sentai, but not in Kaiju films, where monsters such as Godzilla often stomp humans at will. Sorrowful crying with much feeling can force tears to gush out like waterfalls. Usually used only during humorous situations, while in dramatic situations, the tear flow is more realistic. Angry scolding to another character causes the scolder to enlarge and grow sharp fangs while the person being scolded will shrink. Attacks strong enough to shred entire planets will not destroy anyone's clothes or hair. Conversely, certain explosions can destroy a female character's clothing without significantly harming her body—in some cases, without her initially noticing this. Any fire-based attack on a character will not completely burn his/her clothes but will leave black stains instead.
  • A single cut can be made swiftly, cleanly. This is possible with any object, particularly with hands, paper, swords, and even air. A sword, especially a katana, can cleanly cut through anything, even including large objects (such as ships) and hair, but not through other swords. There is a slight loophole in this law - if an expert fighter (even if using hand-to-hand techniques) wishes to end a duel with an obviously lesser opponent in an appropriately dramatic way, he can execute an appropriately dramatic attack that destroys his opponent's weapon-often without their knowledge; after completing a seemingly successful attack, they will notice the expert is unharmed and look at their weapon quizzically, at which point it will either fall into two cleanly cut pieces (in a dramatic battle) or shatter like glass (in a comedic battle). Wooden katanas (bokken) can cut just as well as the real thing (and are almost never destroyed by the aforementioned loophole), if not better. Faster than light travel is possible with many characters, particularly those engaged in martial art battles; and so a vehicle is not required. Trains and other unlikely forms of transportation can fly, through either technology or magic. And the bigger it is, the faster it moves. Any female can, if angered by someone, pull out a wooden rice mallet, of any proportions, from hammerspace and hit the offender with it to let go of some aggressions. It should be noted that, no matter how large the mallet is, or how flat the offender gets after the pounding, he/she will always revert to original shape without having to experience any lasting health deterioration from the whole ordeal. A good example of this is in the anime Pokémon: when Misty explained her hatred of bugs, she whacked Caterpie with a rice mallet.
  • Death can be suspended until it is appropriate, suspenseful, or ironic. During the end part of some battles, characters may opt to charge at one another with their sword, meaning to chop the other in half. At the point of contact, all that will be seen is a bright white slash going across the screen, but it will remain unclear who is hurt. The two characters will then stay, kneeling on the floor, facing away from each other, until the evil character falls into pieces, having been killed minutes earlier. For added dramatic effect, the good character will clutch the area that they were hit or cough up blood, after the two have performed their attacks and are facing away from each other, making it appear as though they lost. A few moments later, the evil character will fall to the ground, defeated. Also note, death is never, under ANY circumstance, certain, a character can be impaled, literally from navel to nose and come back later, unscathed. Every human body contains 16 gallons of blood under high pressure-a familiar term used is 'to make it rain blood'. This will not occur if whatever inflicts the wound is left in it, which allows the attacker to withdraw it, turn, wipe it clean and put it away-blood may begin spraying from the wound like a firehose after any one of these actions. Alternatively, the mortally wounded character may pull it out himself and use it to execute a final attack. Non-impaling wounds, such as being crushed or falling from a great height, usually do not cause these geysers of blood, but nosebleeds will often fountain impressively immediately upon a character's recognition of appropriate portions of an attractive female body. This is apparently true conversely, as sexual innuendo in the form of a guitar causes significant nosebleeds in the female cast of FLCL. Loud noises, such as screams of anguish and explosions, can be heard from space. All sounds can be transmitted in space, e.g. transmitted differently then with air-compression waves. Band-aids heal anything and everything, especially when applied with care. Any pain inflicted in a humorous fashion will almost never cause any lasting damage.
  • Whenever a female character falls down while running in any non-humorous scene, she will almost certainly sprain her ankle in such a way that movement becomes impossible. Furthermore, if the character is the leading female character, she will be found or be in the company of the male lead and he will carry her on his back, sparking a deeper romantic interest. Should two characters of the opposite sex fall within proximity of each other, the male's face will end up planted in the female's crotch or chest. Skirts will helpfully flip up to provide maximum humiliation to both parties, and shirts will open to reveal maximum cleavage. Towels will fly off both parties for this same reason. In the rare occasion that the female is wearing pants, the male will instead be on top of the female while groping the female's breast(s). In a similar sexual vein, a pre-adolescent girl will blossom out with full breasts and hips, sometimes growing instantly out of her clothing (common in erotic manga.) Characters, mostly men, can run perfectly and quickly, with their arms trailing behind them or sticking straight out from their sides. This is often done in a comical fashion, and possibly fleeing from an angered female character.
  • The hero always wins with two exceptions a. the other guy cheated b. the other guy is a master at fighting or something b1. Amendment: no matter how strong the other guy is, the hero will be able to beat him or her with an intense compacted training session, usually in the span of one day(unless handwaving time compression technology is available, enabling the hero to accomplish weeks or months of training in that same period of time). b2. Amendment: the other guy can win, but the hero will then proceed to train while dead in a variety of ultimate techniques, and will then return from the dead. All but the last technique trained in will cause damage, but will not defeat the other guy. The hero will then use the final technique. This technique often is said to result in death for the user, but almost always fails to do so. b3. Amendment: the other guy will eventually like the hero and instantly switch sides, often including a tear jerking, episode long flashback that involves crying, childhood memories, and random other events involving the other guy, often in the middle of a battle with time standing still (Often in tandem with first example). In most manga series the main characters (most times a boy) will always be secretly coveted by a girl, which later blooms into a relationship. In some occasions, some characters' injuries heal much quicker. (i.e. One Piece) No matter the relative strengths or abilities, a male character always takes a maximum amount of damage when punched by an angry female character in a comedic manner (often with the male being knocked bodily to the ground or across a room)
  • Nele Noppe on 06 Dec 07
     
    Animephysics can be considered a subset of cartoon physics.
Nele Noppe

Call for papers: The Blackwell Companion to the Historical Film - 0 views

www.diigo.com/...dad44005c234fd9177a09ca3378b37

academic call_for_papers film anime

shared by Nele Noppe on 29 Mar 10 - Cached
  •   Call for Contributions         The Blackwell Companion to the Historical Film   Editors: Robert A Rosenstone, California Institute of Technology      Constantin Parvulescu, Washington University in St Louis The editors invite contributions to The Blackwell Companion to Historical Film, a volume of 25 to 30 essays devoted to the latest scholarship on the origins, contributions, history, range, codes, strategies, poetics, politics, tropes, production, packaging, and cultural impact of this important genre, the dramatic historical feature film. The Companion will be a major work which will survey the field as it exists today and also be suitable as a textbook for history-on-film and film-studies classes. The collection focuses only on feature films, and will include essays by both leading and emerging scholars in the fields of history, cinema studies, cultural studies, and other fields that have something to offer this inherently interdisciplinary topic.  Scholars such as Robert Burgoyne, Marcia Landy, and Catherine Portugues, Paula Rabinowitz, Alison Landsberg, Denise Youngblood, and Guy Westwell have already committed themselves to essays for the volume. We are currently seeking essays on particular topics, but scholars interested in contributing to the collection need not limit themselves to these themes but should feel free to suggest anything related to the genre of the historical film: •       American history (especially 18 and 19th centuries) on film •       African-American and American-Indian history on film •       Exile and diaspora historical films •       Cinematic adaptations of historical novels •       Minor histories and minor heroes on film •       The historical film and the national mythology (outside Europe) •       History on film and history on other media, including animation •       Production and marketing of historical films Those who wish to contribute should send a working title, a brief description of the proposed essay and a short bio to both editors: rr@hss.caltech.edu and ctparvulescu@gmail.com. Essays are to be between 8,000 and 10,000 words long; they will be due on March 1, 2011. Abstracts submission deadline: May 1, 2010. 
Ariane Beldi

Le débat sur la fanfiction relancé ? - Elbakin.net - 5 views

www.elbakin.net/...ebat-sur-la-fanfiction-relance

blog français html textual image professional artist writer fantasy literature genre

shared by Ariane Beldi on 08 May 10 - Cached
  • Ariane Beldi on 08 May 10
     
    Diana Gabaldon (ci-contre) et George R.R. Martin, tous les deux opposés à laisser ce genre de liberté aux apprentis écrivains, viennent en effet de relancer les discussions autour du sujet.
  • ...8 more comments...
  • Ariane Beldi on 08 May 10
     
    This is in French, but it is about a debate on fanfiction, in which authors hold varying views on this phemonemon.
  • Nele Noppe on 10 May 10
     
    In my opinion, they haven't launched a debate so much as joined other commercially published authors such as Anne Rice and Lee Goldberg in endlessly repeating the same extremely wobbly arguments against amateur writing. They misunderstand intellectual property and the creative process in a variety of ways -e.g. by assuming that somebody using a character they created is the same as somebody stealing a physical object, and by labeling their creations 'original' while dismissing fanfic writers as people unable to come up with good ideas of their own. Not impressive at all, but unfortunately, big-name authors decrying the defilement of their creations by supposed thieving amateur pornographers make good media copy :P This post does a rather good rebuttal of the arguments usually raised against fanfic by enumerating commercial works that are just as "derivative" as fic: http://bookshop.dreamwidth.org/999259.html
  • Ariane Beldi on 10 May 10
     
    To tell the truth, I'm not very knowledgeable in this field of copyrights issues. I'm just starting and need to read more. So, when I was tipped about these blog posts by people on Facebook, I thought it might be interesting for you and others. But apparently, from what you're saying, they are just going over and over the same old arguments. I'll check your link and we'll keep it for later thinking. ;-)
  • Ariane Beldi on 10 May 10
     
    It is an excellent post! I love the section about Virgile being a fanboy from Homer! I had to translate and learn Chant 6 of the Aeneid for my final high school exam! She could have added that Dante Alighieri is a huge fanboy of Virgile (he actually considers him as his spiritual master, despite the fact that more than 1000 years separates them both).
  • Nele Noppe on 10 May 10
     
    Oh, it's a very interesting topic -my favourite ;) I'm doing a lot of research on the position of fanworks in cultural production at the moment. IMHO, published authors who rail against fanfic seem to be rather hung-up on an author-as-God idea that is terribly outdated today, has never had much basis in reality in the first place, and does nothing at all to promote creativity. Also, the arguments about the supposed harm fanfic inflicts are just plain silly. There certainly isn't any economic harm (ficcers are your biggest fans and very likely to buy your products and attract new readers), and somebody using your character is not the same as stealing your car because your character remains intact and available to you no matter how many fics are written (or how sexually explicit these fics are). Er, I'm going to stop before I go on a five-page rant. Have some more links: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/007464.html is good and short, as is http://www.kristinabusse.com/cv/research/ip09.html (and many other articles on that site). http://www.tushnet.com/legalfictions.pdf talks about fanfic and copyright in more detail.
  • Ariane Beldi on 10 May 10
     
    Thank you for all these links. I'm keeping them as well!
  • Nele Noppe on 10 May 10
     
    No prob! I'll send more if you're interested (Gabaldon generated a huge amount of intelligent rebuttal posts in the last couple of days), but let me know, I don't want to bury you in readings just because it's my personal favourite ranting topic ;)
  • Ariane Beldi on 10 May 10
     
    Well, that would be with pleasure. I might not be able to read everything through and through immediately, but I'll keep the urls in my Diigo and return to it later. But I'm definitely interested in those issues. I also have a colleague who's into this as well, so I'll forward these resources to her. And she is supposed to write a dissertation about Shakespeare, but she doesn't know what! She feels that everything that could be written about him has been written. Maybe, there would be something for her to dig in these.
  • Nele Noppe on 10 May 10
     
    Maybe your friend would be interested in Elisabeth Woledge? She works for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/428/439/) and has done a lot of work on fanfic, too. She gave a very interesting keynote speech for a fanfic conference last February (abstract here: http://www.mos.umu.se/forskning/cyberekon/symposiumabstracts.htm) in which she discussed Shakespeare as well. I believe the keynote is archived on http://stream.humlab.umu.se/, -search for Woledge and it should come up. As for the Gabaldon issue, you can find a lot of links to discussions about her statements in this post on the Metafandom community: http://www.journalfen.net/community/metafandom/142097.html
  • Ariane Beldi on 10 May 10
     
    Woaw! I'm printing all these references and will bring it to her later this afternoon! We might be able to take a coffee together. I will also of course keep all these links! This is really great! Thank you so much!
Nele Noppe

Moe and the Potential of Fantasy in Post-Millenial Japan - 2 views

www.japanesestudies.org.uk/...Bryce.html

academic manga anime moe fans characters romance sexuality games kawaii zoomorphism affect emotion visual_language boys_love dojinshi

shared by Nele Noppe on 11 Mar 10 - Cached
  • If kawaii, or the aesthetic of cute, is the longing for the freedom and innocence of youth, manifesting in the junior and high school girl in uniform (Kinsella 1995), then moe is the longing for the purity of characters pre-person, manifesting in androgynous semi and demi human forms. This is called 'jingai,' or outside human, and examples include robots, aliens, dolls and anthropomorphized animals, all stock characters in the moe pantheon. A specific example would be nekomimi, or cat-eared characters. More generally, in order to achieve the desired affect, moe characters are reduced to tiny deformed 'little girl' images with emotive, pupil-less animal eyes
  • I argue fantasy characters offer virtual possibilities and affect
  • Moe is also used by fujoshi, zealous female fans of yaoi, a genre of manga featuring male homosexual romance. However, the word moe indicates a response to fantasy characters, not a specific style, character type or relational pattern. While some things are more likely than others to inspire moe, this paper will focus mainly on the response itself rather than the forms that inspire it.
  • ...43 more annotations...
  • Both otaku and fujoshi
  • The moe character is a 'body without organs' (Deleuze and Guattari 1987), and the response to its virtual potentials is affect.
  • Massumi argues affect is a moment of unformed and unstructured potential (Massumi 2002). The experience, what he calls an 'intensity,' is outside of logical language and conscious control. Moe provides a word to express affect, or to identify a form that resonates and can trigger an intensity.
  • It is for this reason that moe is consistently misunderstood as first and foremost images of young girls instead of a response to virtual potentials
  • In the field interacting with otaku and fujoshi, I was constantly confronted by the concept of moe, and found it necessary to engage it.
  • These are both men and their discourse centers on male otaku, but I will argue from them a more general theory, applied later in the paper to fujoshi structures of desire.
  • Honda, a youth-oriented novelist and self-styled moe critic, defines moe as 'imaginary love'
  • the salient point is his judgment that a relationship with a mediated character or material representations of it is preferable to an interpersonal relationship.
  • the moe man is feminized
  • While recognizing the conservative nature of otaku sexuality, Azuma attempts to account for the schizophrenic presence of perversion in the moe image. For Azuma, otaku are postmodern subjects with multiple personalities engendered by their environment and enthusiastic media consumption
  • To feel moe for all characters in all situations, the narrative connecting characters or moments in time is de-emphasized.
  • cat ears,
  • response is unconnected with 'reality' and thus offers new potentials to construct and express affects.
  • Separating their desire from reality allowed for a new form of affect called moe.
  • Simply stated, moe is about unbounded potential.
  • Moe is affect in response to fantasy forms that emerged from information-consumer culture in Japan in the late stages of capitalism.
  • conditioning of young girls into 'pure consumers'
  • Such a space is disconnected from social and political concerns, and exists for the preservation of the individual.
  • the media and consumption feeding into moe is a specific sort centered on affect.
  • Manga scholar Itou Gou argues that since the end of the 1980s characters in anime, manga and videogames became so appealing that fans desired them even without stories (Itou 2005). Ito dubs such character types 'kyara,' distinct from characters (kyarakutaa) embedded in narratives.
  • Proof of this can be found in the rise of 'parody' doujinshi,
  • The doll-like and semi-human Ayanami became the single most popular and influential character in the history of otaku anime; fans still isolate parts of the character to amplify and rearticulate in fan-produced works to inspire moe.
  • In works featuring these characters, the original work functions as a starting point, and the extended process of producing and consuming moe takes place among fans in online discussions and videos, fan-produced comics (doujinshi), costume roleplay (cosplay) and figures.
  • virtual potentiality
  • That the moe form, the body without organs, is outside personal and social frames is precisely why it triggers affect.
  • 'moe otaku' a superficial fixation on surfaces and accelerated consumption of disposable moe kyara, impetus for him to declare this younger generation culturally 'dead'
  • One man I spoke with said, 'Moe is a wish for compassionate human interaction. Moe is a reaction to characters that are more sincere and pure than human beings are today.' Similarly, another man described moe as 'the ultimate expression of male platonic love.' This, he said, was far more stable and rewarding than 'real' love could ever be. Manga artist Akamatsu Ken stresses that moe is the 'maternal love' (boseiai) latent in men,[xxi] and a 'pure love' (junsui na ai) unrelated to sex, the desire to be calmed when looking at a female infant (biyoujo wo mite nagomitai) (Akamatsu 2005). 'The moe target is dependent on us for security (a child, etc.) or won't betray us (a maid, etc.). Or we are raising it (like a pet)' (Akamatsu 2005). This desire to 'nurture' (ikusei) characters is extremely common among fans. Further, moe is about the moment of affect and resists changes ('betrayal') in the future, or what Akamatsu refers to as a 'moratorium' (moratoriamu). Moe media is approached as something of a sanctuary from society (Okada 2008), and as such is couched in a discourse of purity.
  • I will now demonstrate how it is further possible to reduce people to characters, or to reduce reality to fantasy in pursuit of moe.
  • Association with the two-dimensional world, and lack of depth or access in the three-dimensional world, makes a maid moe.[
  • The appeal of the maid cannot purely be sexual: As many as 35 per cent of customers are women
  • this arose in Japan in the late stages of capitalism as a result of shifts in consumer-information society
  • bias towards male fans of anim
  • aoi erases the female presence because fans say female-male or even female-female couples[xxxvi] are too 'raw' (namanamashii). Put another way, the reality of relationships is removed from yaoi to make the moe response possible.
  • the ambiguous yaoi 'male' is quite literally a body without organs
  • Many other fujoshi I spoke with dated men even as they imagined possibilities of coupling them as characters with other men.[xl] As Saitou points out, the reality of heterosexual relationships and virtual possibilities of homosexual couplings are separate and coexistent (Saitou 2007). Journalist Sugiura Yumiko explains this as the crucial difference between fujoshi and otaku, who approach fantasy as an alternative for things that they actually want but cannot realize in this world (Sugiura 2006).[xli] A fujoshi, for example, would not 'marry' a two-dimensional character the way some otaku advocate;
  • Sugiura is importantly highlighting that fantasy and reality are separate and coexistent, but this is widespread in moe culture and not solely a female quality.[xlii] As much as male otaku boast of their two-dimensional wives, they often do so with levity as a self-conscious performance
  • While it is true that men tend to feel moe for single characters that they can possess while women feel moe for relationships or character couplings, this broad difference is fast disappearing. In truth, the media popular among so-called 'moe otaku' in recent years has come to resemble yaoi aesthetics: multiple girls in a nostalgic or fantastic world with minimal male presence and heightened emphasis on relationships and emotions
  • In all cases, the database (Azuma 2009) is present. The elements that constitute and indicate a certain type of top or bottom, for example glasses or hairstyle or height, are predetermined; any given top or bottom is a construct of defined character traits and behavior.
  • One of the most recognizable features of the moe phenomenon is the anthropomorphization of objects into objects of desire. Otaku turn cats, war machines, household appliances and even men of historical significance into beautiful little girls to trigger moe. Reality is flattened, and from it emerge polymorphous forms of stimulation. Similarly, fujoshi can rearticulate anything into beautiful boys and sexualized yaoi relations. Moe characters can be based on a written description or drawn image, a physical person or even anthropomorphized animals, plants and objects.
  • The erotic fantasy effectively re-mystified their world, adding a layer of potential to the mundane (the very ground under their feet!) and making the familiar queer and exciting. Latent potential so unlocked, the three friends replayed the moe relationship across other potential players such as shampoo and conditioner, knife and spoon, salt and pepper.
  • More startling and subversive is 'moe politics' (seiji moe), where national histories, international relations and imposing world leaders are reduced to moe characters across which yaoi romance can be read.
  • It should be noted that Hetaria was written by a man, and these sorts of stories are becoming increasingly popular among young men known as 'fudanshi' (rotten boys).
  • it precisely because it is pure that it can give birth to such perverse and polymorphous possibilities.
Nele Noppe

Youth Brigade: Clearing up the Tokyo Youth Ordinance Bill - 0 views

www.animenewsnetwork.com/...2010-12-21

non-academic manga law censorship sexual_content children

shared by Nele Noppe on 21 Dec 10 - No Cached
  • This bill is not good for the Japanese anime and manga industry as a whole; it is not good for publishers, and it is not good for the creators. As anime and manga fans, we are constantly fighting against the preconceived notion that such entertainment is just for kids. Unfortunately, if this law remains on the books and creators cannot make the daring works they wish, anime and manga may indeed turn into unquestioning, lobotomized entertainment for little kiddies from here on out.
  • Bill 156 is not an across the board muzzling of creativity and critical art in Japan. However, it is potentially a hollowing out of two of Japan's most noteworthy art forms.
  • novels and films are not affected by this law
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • At the very least, for the time being there is going to be a chilling effect on anime and manga creators. They will constantly have to stop and assess their works against the law, or what the lawyers in the company interpret the law to be. Publishers will be forced to become more conservative with their stories, potentially sidestepping any criticism or commentary on major social issues.
  • As Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing pointed out in a blog post in June celebrating the defeat of the “Nonexistent Youth Bill” (possibly NSFW content), the anime and manga industries are “predominantly female” and any legislation restricting creativity in these industries would have a disproportionate effect on the female workforce. I think this is even more of a concern with Bill 156. I don't think the majority of shounen series will experience much fallout from the bill. However, an emphasis on sex and relationships is more frequently seen in shoujo, josei, and yaoi manga, where both the creators and consumers are largely female. Although it seems gender-neutral on the surface, it could be women who feel the brunt of the enforcement of Bill 156.
  • Many Japanese publishers are against this bill for many of the same reasons they were against the first “nonexistent youths” bill – it unevenly restricts freedom of speech and is so vaguely worded that they are unsure if the manga or anime they are putting out would be in violation.
  • The bill also doesn't mention doujinshi and other works created by fans. Of course, a lot of doujinshi with sexual content are already for adults only, so it would have little effect even if the law applied to such fan creations. Also, the main punishment for breaking the law is removal of access to distribution and retail, which wouldn't really impact artists who may make more of their sales directly to fans at Comiket.
  • the bill has nothing to say about any manga or anime that's currently considered adult. All of those titles that are currently for sale only to people over the age of eighteen won't be directly impacted by this. I've seen a number of people saying that they might be in favor of this bill because it would get rid of some of the horribly violent manga that feature sex with underage characters. However, this bill has absolutely nothing to say to anime or manga like that – they would still be able to be sold to adult consumers.
  • The bill puts an emphasis on self-regulation, with the expectation that publishers will begin policing themselves. (However, this may be hard to do since the bill is still vaguely worded.) If a publisher runs afoul of the bill too many times, then they may face what is in essence a blacklist, with no distributors or retailers able to carry their products.
  • The bill goes into effect in April 2011, and it's presumed that materials that were published before this date won't be affected. However, new editions of previously published anime and manga will presumably fall under this law.
  • Since Dan Kanemitsu has been writing frequently about this bill, I'll just quote his summary of the relevant portion of it, which will restrict “any manga, anime and video games that feature any sexual acts that would violate criminal codes or Tokyo ordinances OR sexual depictions between close relatives who could not legally get married to be treated as adult material IF they are presented in [an] ‘unjustifiably glorified or exaggerated manner.’” In some ways the language of the bill clarifies things, since we no longer have to try to figure out if a character meets the qualifications of being a “youth” in order for the restrictions in the bill to apply. However, by taking out the language regarding youth, it actually means that Bill 156 could have a potentially wider reach than the one that was defeated earlier in the year. Additionally, the part about presenting such scenes in an “unjustifiably glorified or exaggerated manner” is open to a wide variety of interpretations.
Nele Noppe

Thought Police Can't Protect Real Children - 2 views

www.translativearts.com/thoughtpolice2010ej.html

non-academic manga anime sexual_content children law censorship crime games

shared by Nele Noppe on 08 Apr 10 - Cached
  • would have established the catagory of "nonexistent youth"
  • The banning of fictional depictions of child abuse would likely be as meaningless as the banning of fictional depictions of car chasing with the aim toward reducing motor vehicle accidents in real life.
  • If content alone was the issue, war footage and horror films should be banned as well.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • Content in itself is not the issue--Child pornography has been outlawed because the methods involved in production involve real children in possibly abusive circumstances. How the material was produced is what makes it criminal, not what impression it conveys on the audience. 
  • Child pornography involving real children being sexually abused is horrid beyond words. For that very reason, I find it reprehensible to mix together such acts of human misery and suffering with illusionary fantasy that exists only in the author's imagination. Widening the definition of child pornography to include fictional material belittles the gravity of real sex abuse.
  • Many convicted criminals also cite the Bible as their inspiration of conducting astonishingly savage acts, and yet few would attribute the Bible as the root cause of such criminal behavior. Why?--Because free societies accept the principle that people are responsible for their own actions.
  • It is very dangerous to restrict the actions and rights of citizens based on the principle that some limited number of individuals may act irresponsibly. This is the equivalent of removing knives from the household kitchen because someone used a meat cleaver to commit a crime. Again, this logic is unbelievably reckless as well.
  • Furthermore, crime statistics published by the Japanese police themselves show no causality between the proliferation of erotic material and sex crimes. The crime rate has dramatically decreased since WW2 while the availability of erotica and violent fictional entertainment has risen by leaps and bounds during the same period.
  • It is easily imaginable that an endless cycle of accusations and denials will unfold regarding establishing the "true age" of fictional characters. Authors and publishers will more than likely attempt to proclaim that the characters look young, but they are actually above the age of 18. Physical attributes vary between widely depending on race and ethnicity, not to mention fictional non-human characters.
  • Publishers and authors are extremely proficient in adapting toward new regulations. If graphical depictions are banned, then abstract or comedic depictions will increase.
  • Either an ever increasing set of symbols will be deemed to be inappropriate to be linked to a core human attribute--human sexuality--or the futility of the ban will lead the law to become impotent over all.
  • Even today, numerous adult manga publications have self censorship standards that are mind-boggling. Authors have complained about how some editors have insisted on having all female characters appearing in their works be endowed with large breasts because drawing women as they appear more like in real life was deemed "too childish looking." 
  • Banning the fictional depictions of minors involved in sexual situations will make a fundamental core human attribute taboo.
  • Such a ban will stifle creativity and impoverish the cultural landscape.
  • The value attributed to works of literature and art change over time. The works of modern art and literature from the last two centuries are filled with examples where they were deemed to be vile, corruptive trash by contemporary authorities, but now these same works enjoy high status as priceless cultural treasures.
  • A culture grows richer through addition, not by subtraction.
  • A ban on fictional depictions of minor engaged in sexual situations has the very real potential to brand individuals as sex offenders even though they have had no sexual contact with real people. I believe there could be no legal justification for destroying people's lives simple because they drew doodles on paper, but the proposed ban would create such a legal precedence. 
  • I am absolutely certain that history will not look back kindly upon such a ban, and it will join a long list of colossal failures of regulatory policy, such as the prohibition of alcohol in the US between 1920 to 1933, various sodomy laws, the comic book code, and bans on socialist literature in Japan during the prewar era. It is important to note that all these failed moral crusades were led by virtuous and diligent individuals intent on making the world a better place. 
Ariane Beldi

SGMS 2011 Call for Papers! - 0 views

schoolgirlsandmobilesuits.com/?p=435

japanese audiovisual entertainment industry cultural studies online archives website english html textual image academic conference scholar article manga anime globalization anthropology sociology theory method fieldwork

shared by Ariane Beldi on 03 May 11 - No Cached
  • Ariane Beldi on 03 May 11
     
    "Ten years ago, the first SGMS had to be delayed because of the tragic event of 9/11, but two months later, seven academics from a variety of disciplines spoke on manga and anime to a crowd of 150 eager fans, academics, and students from junior high to college-aged. Since then, on the last weekend of every September, the expanding community of SGMS artists, actors, teachers, and students have gotten together to celebrate manga, anime and Japanese popular culture. Join us for the SGMS Masquerade Bash on Friday night with the Full Fashion Panic Fashion Show, music, food and costumed frivolities will prevail! Even the guests will be in costume! On Saturday and Sunday, there will be talks by guests Marc Hairston, Crispin Freeman, Thomas LaMarre, Christopher Bolton, Gilles Poitras and Frenchy Lunning. Classes in manga creation by Robert Ten Pas and Dennis Lo, Lolita Fashion creation by Samantha Rei, and more will be held. Watch for the announcement of our VERY SPECIAL GUEST soon!"
Nele Noppe

Of Otakus and Fansubs - 0 views

www.law.ed.ac.uk/...hatcher.asp

academic anime copyright fans fansubbing internet

shared by Nele Noppe on 06 Dec 07 - Cached
  • hindrances in a digital world that copyright laws pose for creative works that, while technically infringing, should perhaps be valued and allowed.6 Certain features of digital technologies and the internet,7 according to Lessig, can permit greater restrictions on remix than were allowed in the past.8
  • hindrances in a digital world that copyright laws pose for creative works that, while technically infringing, should perhaps be valued and allowed.6 Certain features of digital technologies and the internet,7 according to Lessig, can permit greater restrictions on remix than were allowed in the past.8
  • Lessig and other legal scholars such as Mehra have pointed to dojinshi in Japan as an example of how permitting more “remix” can contribute to a vibrant cultural industry.
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • some artists make a living off producing dojinshi.
  • In the west, fans of anime, the term for Japanese animation, behave much like fans of Star Wars and Star Trek: they “remix” the characters and ideas from the stories they watch.
  • Trekkies or Star Wars fans do the same activities as otaku, but one practice sets anime fans apart from other avid fans: fansubs.
  • Manga also has its own form of fansubs called scanlations
  • Fansubs and scanlations don’t quite match the “traditional” forms of remix that Lessig and others mention. They do not create a “new” work in the same sense as dojinshi, fan films, or AMVs because their aim is to remain faithful to the original work.
  • Fansubs as a cultural product sit at an interesting boundary—between the dojinshi-like fan culture that authors such as Lessig want to encourage and the massive online file trading so vilified by the recording and motion picture industries.
  • examines the anime industry’s unique relationship with fansubbers in the context of the suggestion that it represents a new policy model for online copyright.
  • Section 7 concludes by stating that it is too soon to claim the anime industry as a victory for alternative business models incorporating what most would think of as widespread copyright infringement.
  • Otaku create fansubs because they love anime—in fact, most love all things Japanese.
  • Fansubs predate BitTorrent, broadband, the dotcom boom and bust, and even the World Wide Web.
  • Fansubbers distributed or traded the finished videocassette tapes to others, but because of the time and cost involved of mailing out a physical medium, distribution was limited.
  • At one time fansubs were virtually the only way that fans could watch (and understand) anime.
  • But as with the music industry, the benefits of digital technology and the internet brought problems.46 Fansubbers started to take advantage of faster computers that allowed them to subtitle anime without the need for expensive, specialized equipment.47 This made it easier for more people to fansub because of the lower cost barriers to becoming a fansubber. The internet also meant that fans could meet from around the world, thus making it more likely that fansub groups would form. Today, groups now make digital video files instead of videocassettes.
  • Fansubbed videocassettes offered a poor quality picture and sound that encouraged fans to buy the licensed product when it came out and also limited the number of copies that could be made from a single original cassette (or from 2nd and 3rd generation cassettes).49 Digisubs offer a quality comparable to official (DVD) releases and the ability to make limitless copies.
  • Fansubbers then “release” their fansubs to fans. Distribution happens through all of the regular internet channels, including p2p services (Kazaa, eMule, etc), BitTorrent, IRC, and newsgroups.
  • Lessig essentially asks the question, “Do our laws stifle creativity and sharing to the point where it harms society?”78 Some point to fansubs and anime as part of the answer to this question—when a company allows some illegal activity it actually benefits.
  • Unfortunately for fansubbers, copyright law does not condone their activities.80 International copyright treaties such as the Berne Convention, state that its signatories (such as the United States and Japan) should grant authors the exclusive right to translation.
  • copyright law construes translations as “derivative works”.82 Derivative works are any work “based upon one or more preexisting works.
  • The Japanese legal system may also, as a practical matter, discourage litigation towards fansub groups within Japan,
  • Within Japan, fansubs could potentially be within the law because the Japanese take a more relaxed attitude towards some aspects of copyright law and include private use and non-profit exceptions into their law.
  • For infringements outside of Japan, it is no small wonder that Japanese companies do not bother with the expense of enforcing a right against a group whose infringement affects a distant market with a different legal system.
  • In his article regarding selective copyright enforcement and fansubs, Kirkpatrick argues for a fair use defense under U.S. law for fansub activities based on the cross-cultural value of translations, the non-commercial nature of fansub groups, and the potential market enhancement for the original work.
  • The fact remains that fansubs may create a preferable product for otaku—thus decreasing any market enhancement arguments.
  • One wonders what could be easier than a few clicks of the mouse and a few hours (or less) wait for a file to download, for free. Many video files deliver comparable picture quality and fandubs do exist.
  • Regardless of any potential defense, the law sufficiently tilts towards copyright holders so that they can easily use the threat of suit as enforcement.
  • The sheer cost of defending a copyright suit makes for a powerful incentive for fansubbers to settle, especially since fansubbers make no money from their activities and are unlikely to have any assets.
Nele Noppe

CFP: From an Intercultural Crossover to a TransculturalPhenomenon: Manga, Comic, Graphi... - 0 views

www.diigo.com/...5baf0923d645848efb2a5bd1f1f30a

academic call_for_papers manga comics

shared by Nele Noppe on 16 Jun 09 - Cached
  • CALL FOR PAPERS Title: From an Intercultural Crossover to a Transcultural Phenomenon: Manga, Comic, Graphic Novel International Conference at the Cultural Institute of Japan, Cologne (Japanisches Kulturinstitut Köln, The Japan Foundation), September 30 – October 2, 2010, in cooperation with CITS (Center for Inter- and Transcultural Studies, University of Cologne) Manga, comics and graphic novels are shaped by different cultural codes and shifting visual and narrative conventions. This conference focuses on the historical development and theoretical aspects of comics and manga by stressing their mutual influences. Whereas European and North American art and popular culture exert a great impact on Japanese manga, such as the Franco-Belgian tradition of “ligne claire” on Ōtomo Katsuhiro and Taniguchi Jirō, Walt Disney’s animated films on Tezuka Ōsamu and Christian and Antique ideas on Miyazaki Hayao, Japanese manga influence the concept and visual conventions of modern European and American comics as well, as can be seen in the work by Frédéric Boilet, Moebius, and Frank Miller, among others. Moreover, the intercultural exchange between the Japanese manga tradition and equivalent forms of sequential art in other Asian countries (i.e. China, India, and Korea) largely contributes to the dissemination of new hybrid art forms in the realm of comics and manga. The purpose of this conference is to bring together scholars and other experts of different countries and different fields, i.e. literary studies, picture theory, cultural studies, linguistics, narratology, film studies, and semiotics, who pursue different areas of investigation in this field. In order to adhere to a general outline for this conference, the papers might deal with one or several of the following topics: • Intermedial, intercultural and narrative perspectives for the interpretation of the graphic novel and other genres of sequential art prominent in both comics and manga • Comparative analysis of the construction of time and setting in comics and manga • The functions of color in comics and manga • Similarities and differences between Japanese and other Asian manga and European and North American comics • Impact of wordless comics and manga • Historical development of the mutual influence of comics and manga • Change of the conventional verbal signs (such as speech balloons, sound effects, typography) • Influence of films and cinematic style on the production of comics and manga • Influence of visual codes derived from art history and popular culture in order to create an individual artistic style Contributions from academics and experts interested in any of these areas and in international perspectives are particularly welcome. There are plans to publishing the proceedings of the conference afterwards in book form. The deadline for proposals is: *31 August 2009*. Please email a 300 word abstract (for a thirty minute paper, followed by 15 minutes for discussion) and a short biography as an attached word document to Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer at: bettina.kuemmerling@t-online.de and Franziska Ehmcke at: amm07@uni-koeln.de Notification of the acceptance of proposals will be made by 30 September 2009. The conference fee will be 120 Euro, including catering, technical equipment, conference folders and various arrangements. The conference venue is located in the Cultural Institute of Japan, not far from the University of Cologne. For details, go to www.jki.de (text in German and Japanese). For further inquiries contact the conference convenors: Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer Universität zu Köln Institut für deutsche Sprache und Literatur II Gronewaldstr. 2 50931 Köln Germany E-Mail: bettina.kuemmerling@t-online.de Franziska Ehmcke Universität zu Köln Ostasiatisches Seminar (Japanologie) Albertus Magnus-Platz 50923 Köln Germany E-Mail: amm07@uni-koeln.de
Ariane Beldi

Australian Anime, Manga & Slash Fans May Run Afoul of Law | Dru Pagliassotti - 1 views

drupagliassotti.com/...lash-fans-may-run-afoul-of-law

blog english textual articles scholar academic Japanese audiovisual entertainment industry manga animes fanwork fanfics series dojinshi reception fans publics

shared by Ariane Beldi on 19 Jan 10 - Cached
  • However, the Australian law is very vaguely worded, and I fear it’s going to cause as much harm as it may cause good. For example, from an academic’s perspective, it’s clear that one of the problems of this legislation is that it will have a very strong chilling effect on Australian scholars interested in studying anime, manga, slash, and yaoi, or even other forms of sex/uality, because of the sheer possibility that clicking on a link, ordering a movie or manga, or even purchasing an academic book or reading a journal article on the subject might expose one to an image that could be interpreted as “child pornography” under Australian law.
  • Ariane Beldi on 20 Jan 10
     
    In 2010 the Australian Government proposes to go ahead with a mandatory ISP-level internet filtering scheme which, if passed into law, could have a massive impact on anime, manga and slash fans. Why manga and slash fans? Because the main target of the law is to prevent the circulation of 'child abuse sexual imagery' - BUT in Australia 'child abuse sexual imagery' covers even FICTIONAL representations and includes 'under age' characters in anime, manga and slash. If the law is passed, any fan site that contains or links to this material could be added to a government 'blacklist' and access denied in Australia.
  • Ariane Beldi on 20 Jan 10
     
    This is an important news for both fans and scholars of fanfictions and dojinshi.
Ariane Beldi

Visualizing Asia Conference - Home - 0 views

www.visualizingasia.com

website english html textual academic scholar cfp event social sciences cultural studies media studies globalization asia

shared by Ariane Beldi on 23 Sep 10 - No Cached
  • Ariane Beldi on 23 Sep 10
     
    About the Conference The Visualizing Cultures project and the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University are pleased to announce an academic conference focused on the relationship between visual imagery and social change in modern Asia entitled, "Visualizing Global Asia at the Turn of the 20th Century." This will be one of the first academic conferences devoted to "image-driven scholarship" and teaching about Asia in the modern world. We have selected scholars of history, art history, history of photography, and history of technology specializing in China, Korea, Japan, United States, Europe and the Philippines to discuss how to integrate visual and textual media in research and teaching, using to the fullest the opportunities presented by the new technologies and the use of the internet as a publishing platform.
Nele Noppe

Okazu: Who Will Think of the Children? 誰が子供達のことを考えてくれるのか？ - 0 views

okazu.blogspot.com/...ho-will-think-of-children.html

non-academic manga children censorship law digital_manga homosexuality

shared by Nele Noppe on 14 Dec 10 - No Cached
  • I don't think this ordinance is the end of the world, but I do think it will hasten the end of the printed manga industry. Readers all over the world have been waiting for the push that will provide them with online versions of their favorite comics. I believe that this law will be that push. It will force publishing companies to move more explicit work underground - the online world is eminently suited for that. Less questionable materials will follow, because printing on paper costs more than not printing on paper and distribution costs less for digital material. There is a provision for the industry to self-regulate and, like most obscenity laws, this one may be hard to enforce, except for when someone is running for office and picks some scapegoat to make an example of. (As happened with Christopher Handley, who was sacrificed to a campaign strategy.)
  • I worry a bit about group shows like Comiket. Like Tokyo Anime Fair, it is held in Tokyo, where the ordinance has been passed. If you were a creator of materials that are regulatable, would you bring them to a public show right now? Consider that the law goes into effect on July 1, but in the half million people at Winter Comiket, there may be people who will be tasked with rounding up the creators next summer. Sure, it could go underground, become "a hydra," but what does that do for an already tenuous industry? It pushes extreme fetishists under the table to continue doing what they are doing, and leaves all the other creators sort of out there to be harassed. Probable? No. Possible? Yes.
  • 2nd Update: Brian Ruh on Twitter has pointed out that this Ordinance focuses on companies and their access to distribution, not creators, so at least for the moment, Comiket and other markets are not targeted.
Nele Noppe

How to use the manga research knowledge base - 31 views

Developing tools for manga research is one of the main objectives of the Let's Manga project, and the tool we're most proud of is our online bibliography. There are nearly four thousand entries in ...

howto research

started by Nele Noppe on 29 Oct 08 no follow-up yet
Nele Noppe

A nightmare of capitalist Japan: Spirited Away - 0 views

www.ejumpcut.org/...text.html

academic anime miyazaki_hayao shinto religion economy cosplay characters technology

shared by Nele Noppe on 22 Jun 09 - Cached
  • "Our old enemy 'poverty' somehow disappeared, and we can no longer find an enemy to fight against" (Miyazaki, 1988). In other words, after Japan's industrial success since the Meiji restoration in 1890s and recovery from WWII cast out poverty from the nation, people still remain possessed by an illusion of gaining a wealthy everyday life and continue living with a gap between their ideal and real life. As a result, an endless and unsatisfying cycle of production and consumption has begun destroying harmony among family and community (Harootunian, 2000).
  • Zizek (1989) points out that people of late capitalism are well aware that money is not magical. To obtain it, it has to be replaced through labor, and after you use it, it will just disappear, as will as any other material. Allison (1996) adds to this point: "They know money is no more than an image and yet engage in its economy where use-value has been increasingly replaced and displaced by images (one of the primary definitions of post-modernism) all the same” (p. xvi).
  • Related to its presentation of the loss of spiritual values, the film elaborates an extensive critique of another contemporary global issue: identity confusion. A symptom of identity loss is seen in the way that cultures today encourage people to constantly refashion their self-image, so that individuals construct their identity based on ideals presented in popular media.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Because of the gap between the real and the fantasy, people in late capitalist society become ever more unsatisfied with themselves. Perhaps, that is one of the reasons why people are more and more attracted to anime, where transformation of identity are easily visually accomplished. To illustrate, we may name a few examples from a popular daily life phenomenon among anime fans, called “cosplay.”
  • When you are cosplaying, your identity depends on what others know about the character, not on who you are. Cosplay, therefore, allows the players to change their identity.
  • Miyazaki stresses the importance of having a proper name to warn us against the possibility of losing our identity in the post-modern world. When Chihiro first gets hired by Yubaba, Yubaba alters Chihiro’s name to Sen. Later Haku explains to Chihiro that Yubaba controls people by stealing their names. The plot operates on the premise that if Chihiro forgot her original name, she would forget about her past and never be able to go back to where she was from.
  • Besides Chihiro and Haku, a key character representing identity confusion is No-Face, who has only a shadow-like body and a mask. The mask does not hide his face for he has no face; rather, the mask constructs his outside identity. Since the mask symbolizes a product that people can buy with money, here it indicates an unoriginal identity that people can construct by giving into materialism.
Nele Noppe

Call for papers: IBBY UK/NCRCL MA CONFERENCE, 14 NOVEMBER 2009 Roehampton University, L... - 0 views

preview.diigo.com/...1a8d51582c9e102e0f4914d6d5ee34

academic literature manga call_for_papers

shared by Nele Noppe on 14 Jul 09 - Cached
  • IBBY UK/NCRCL MA CONFERENCE, 14 NOVEMBER 2009 Roehampton University, London - Call for Papers The theme this year is Comics and Graphic Novels. Graphic novels are becoming increasingly popular and diverse in the UK and have been highly valued in many countries, notably France, Belgium and Japan, for many years. The 2009 IBBY UK/NCRCL MA conference will explore the developing interest in this medium from a variety of perspectives, in addition to considering developments in the range and content of comics available to children and young people. The conference will include keynote presentations by well-known writers, publishers and academics. Proposals are welcomed for workshop sessions (lasting about 20 minutes) on the following or other relevant issues: International perspectives – comics and graphic novels in a particular culture and/or across cultures Comics from a contemporary or historical perspective. Has the number and range of comics declined and, if so, why? Manga - its origins in Japan and developments and adaptations in other cultures New literacies – the changing interface between visual images and text Links between media – computer games, films, internet comics, character toys Animations and cartoons The work of individual and collective creators of comics and graphic novels. What collaborations are involved in the production of a graphic novel? Is the author a major or minor player in the design of a graphic novel? Use of artistic styles – colour/black and white artwork/photography/fonts and typography. What are the technical complexities of producing comics and graphic novels? Engagement of children and young people with/through this medium. Is there a particular appeal to the `reluctant' reader? Gendered reading. Do comics and graphic novels have more appeal to male readers? Controversial issues/taboo subjects – the notion of `appropriate' material for What is the appeal of a graphic novel as against an illustrated book? How do picture books compare in popularity with graphic novels for a younger age group? We welcome contributions from interested academics and others. of these areas. Brief accounts of the papers that are presented at the conference will be published in the Spring 2010 issue of IBBYLink, the journal of British IBBY. Also we hope that the proceedings of the conference will be published later that year in full in book form. The deadline for proposals is 20 July 2009. Please email a 200-word abstract (for a 20-minute paper) as an attached Word document to Pat Pinsent and also contact her if your require any further information on this call for papers. Please also include a short biography and affiliation. Pat Pinsent, 23 Burcott Road, Purley, CR8 4AD. Tel: (020) 8668 4093. Email: patpinsent@aol.com The IBBY has just opened the CFP for its September 2010 conference in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The theme is "The Strength of Minorities". Details here: http://www.ibbycompostela2010.org/ Topics Children's and young people's literature: a minority area within the literature arena Despite the high quality and notable presence of children's book editions and the general growth of literature, they still hold a minority status in the eyes of editors, writers and the media, generally. Why are we writing or illustrating for children in these conditions? Children's and young people's literature in minority languages: from difference to survival Literature written in minority languages invariably face a wide set of challenges. Its survival is dependent on factors such as socio-political context, the extent of the official status bestowed on them and the general public response to cultural and linguistic diversity. Children's books can contribute towards the standardization of the edition in minority languages. However, publishers targeting a reduced market undoubtedly encounter many difficulties. Readers in a minority situation Children and young people with disabilities or special needs usually encounter many obstacles with regards to access to books or the pleasure of reading. We must find solutions to help combat these difficulties. A readership bereft of childhood Books and reading matter are generally considered staples for intellectual and cultural development and the growth of the youngest members of society. However, not all children have easy access to books. How do we broach the subject of books and reading material with those readers who missed out on their childhood: exploited children and those without even enough to eat? I am a reading girl, you are a reading boy... Do we still need children's literature which takes into account the gender issue? How do we tackle questions relating to sexual orientation and the rights of sexual minorities within children's books? Globalizing diversity and tolerance through children's books The 21st century must ensure the survival of minorities on the road to a better future. Diversity and tolerance - which are vital for a fairer world - must respectively make inroads in relation to minority groups.
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