The OQ Weekly (23 April 2021) - The 'Legends Never Die' Edition
The best curated newsletter in the Japanese pop-culture world.
What’s up, OTAQUESTers!
What? You were expecting this newsletter yesterday? Ahm… well… There was an emergency… and I was… VEEEEERY busy… doing… chores… and… I was watching anime, ok? And I forgot to write this introduction and then send this newsletter and I got scolded for it so everything’s ok. I guess.
To my defense, I was watching an anime that is very near and dear to my music-loving heart: BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. I just can’t believe that Osamu Kobayashi is not with us anymore (more on that below), and this binge-watching was kind of a tribute to the legend.
If you want to talk about missing our newsletter date and how that will (probably) not happen again, don’t forget to join our Discord! We talk about more than just anime, manga, and games, too.
I am Ura, your late but cool guide in this amazing journey into Japanese pop, geek, and sub culture.
Thank you for joining us.
1
The eternal 23-year-old.
Anime director Osamu Kobayashi passed away after a two-year battle with kidney cancer last Saturday, and we’re undoubtedly worse off without him.
Few directors who work within the realm of TV anime ever get a chance to direct an original series, but it feels like a particular shame that Osamu Kobayashi never did. Throughout his myriad adaptations, he cultivated a playful realism that brought many iconic series to life: chief among them probably being Harold Sakuishi’s BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, as well as Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss.
When Kobayashi did get a chance to work on an original anime as an episode director, he produced some unforgettable results. That fourth episode of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann rendered in a weird, muted animation style? That was him. That part of Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt with the vomit ghost? Yep, him again. His final tweet signs off ‘Adios’ in katakana, hinting at his playful and lighthearted style.
‘An additional miasma of sadness lingers, knowing he wasn’t given the ability to create more anime when he should have been. His personal narrative taste and artistic stylings didn’t portend to the kind of anime that sells millions in figures, but his penchant for portraying the harshness and wonders of life, in both little flourishes and giant sentiments that teemed throughout his animation, did culminate in a handful of cult-classic endeavors still adored to this day.’ (Chris Cimi)
RIP legend.
2
No Molcar? No problem!
There may be no more episodes of Pui Pui Molcar, but that hasn’t stopped fans from creating their own.
For many, every Tuesday was known as ‘Molcar Day.’ The series would regularly become the number one trend on Twitter due to the sheer amount of conversation on this day, which is what catapulted this otherwise innocuous production to nationwide fame in the first place. In any case, since the series came to an end after only twelve episodes last month, fans have been desperate to see more - going so far as to create their own storylines.
In what can only be described as a grand social experiment, people claim to have ‘seen’ the latest episode of the stop-motion series and share their thoughts on it, including ‘recreating’ scenes from it in either illustrations or using their own Molcar models. As a result, the terms ‘Molcar episode 13,’ ‘Molcar episode 14,’ and ‘Molcar episode 15’ have all ended up trending on Twitter, despite the fact that they don’t actually exist.
‘Whether we’ll ever get more Molcar remains to be seen. It would seem inevitable, but with director Tomoki Misato now running his own stop-motion team at WIT Studio, it may not share the same creative team even if it does happen. At least we have the memories and the togetherness the series has evidently conjured up between people. All because of guinea pig cars.’ (Alicia Haddick)
3
Fullmetal meets Titan.
A bumper Attack on Titan livestream revealed a slew of exciting projects over the weekend, including a collaboration between series creator Hajime Isayama and Hiromu Arakawa.
Arakawa is, of course, known for such series as Silver Spoon and Fullmetal Alchemist, the latter of which arguably shaped the 2000s in much the same way that Titan did the 2010s. The collaboration between the two creators will consist of a sit-down interview published in the July issue of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, on sale 9 June. What on earth they talked about is anyone’s guess!
In addition, there were a bunch of other announcements made during the livestream that prove that while the manga is over, the series as a whole isn’t dead yet. These include a new, free online exhibition, a long interview with Hajime Isayama taken from three hours of conversation, as well as the first of four full-color Attack on Titan volumes consisting of chapters previously published in Bessatsu.
‘All the announcements coming from this Attack on Titan livestream show that while the manga is over, the series as a whole isn’t yet: not only do we have the second part of Studio MAPPA’s anime to look forward to, we’re also getting a bunch of stuff in the coming months.’ (Jacob Parker-Dalton)
4
Faster than a speeding bullet.
The latest film in the Detective Conan franchise The Scarlet Bullet has already broken franchise box office records on its opening weekend, earning over 2 billion yen.
Previously, the opening box office record was held by 2019’s The Fist of Blue Sapphire, which was supposed to be followed last year by The Scarlet Bullet before COVID-19 put it on hold. What’s particularly surprising about the latest film’s record-breaking success is that there’s been two years since the last Conan movie, but this doesn’t appear to have affected popular demand one bit.
It remains to be seen, however, whether The Scarlet Bullet can beat The First of Blue Sapphire in terms of total gross given the COVID situation: 9.31 billion isn’t an easy figure to beat, especially when the pandemic limits cinema attendance and Osaka is planning to go into another lockdown. Golden Week has also been key for the franchise in the past.
Alicia, at least, is optimistic: ‘What effect this could have remains to be seen, but we may not see a Golden Week peak being replicated due to COVID restrictions. This could also have caused more people to see the film when it opens, to avoid potential Golden Week crowds due to COVID. Of course, if this doesn’t impact attendance and box office gross, we could be looking at The Scarlet Bullet becoming the highest-grossing Detective Conan movie to date, following a trend of anime movies performing best in COVID-era Japan.’
5
Backpedaling for the best.
Sony has announced that the PlayStation store for PS3 and PS Vita will remain open for the time being, following the backlash surrounding the announcement that they would shut down.
Many fans raised concerns about backwards compatibility and game preservation, given that no plan was outlined for digital-only PS3 and PS Vita titles to be made available on any other platforms. That meant that they would effectively be lost forever, unless the system was somehow jailbroken to bypass the need for the PlayStation Store.
On the official PlayStation blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment President & CEO Jim Ryan wrote: ‘Upon further reflection... it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here. So today I’m happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices.’ The PSP store will still retire in July, though.
‘Backward compatibility and keeping older systems alive has long been a concern for video game players (and for computer users in general)... The PS3 store won’t be going away and that is good news for all gamers, and good PR for Sony.’ (James Fujita)
6
Manga meets history.
A new book published by Takarajimasha explores the links between Jujutsu Kaisen and ancient Japanese history, as well as what inspired several important characters.
The idea of ‘jujutsu’ or ‘cursed techniques’ is not a new one: in fact, they’ve been around since at least the prehistoric Jomon period, during which the Japanese archipelago was dominated by predominantly hunter-gatherer societies. What’s more, they’re mentioned in some of the oldest texts to be written in the Japanese language that still survive today: the Kojiki (c. 711 CE) and Nihon Shoki (c. 720 CE).. As a result, Jujutsu Kaisen is very much rooted in the real-life history of Japan as a nation.
In particular, the book points out that Satoru Gojo was probably modeled after the Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi, and that his Limitless technique mimics that of kokuzo gumonjiho: the ritual of praying to the bodhisattva Akasagarbha to improve one’s memory. Nearly all of the main characters’ abilities have real-world equivalents, including Megumi Fushiguro: shikigami were a constant in ancient Japanese society.
Jacob puts it well when he says: ‘Art is always affected by the conditions it finds itself in, and creators are always influenced by something or other… whether they recognize it or not.’
Who says manga can’t be educational?
7
Pokéarchaelogy.
The National Museum of Nature and Science in Japan is teaming up with Pokémon to let fans see first-hand the fossils that inspired their favorites.
Did you know that many of the adorable Pocket Monsters were based on real-life creatures from Earth’s history? Neither did I, but this collaboration encourages you to compare and contrast the differences between them and what once actually existed on the surface of this planet. It will kick off in Hokkaido and run through to next year.
Even more exciting is the fact that the imaginary skeletons of various Pokémon will be brought to life and placed alongside the real fossils, almost as if they actually existed at one point in time. The prospect of seeing scale models of actual Pokémon is a tantalizing one, so I have to agree with Corey Prasek when he says ‘this is something that any Pokémon fan should experience.’
8
Romantic tension stateside.
The sequel to the surprisingly good Kaguya-sama: Love is War live-action film recently dropped its first trailer, showing that the action is moving outside of Japan.
New York and the world will take center stage in the latest development in Kaguya and Shirogane’s battle of the minds, although the film is now following an entirely different story separate from Aka Akasaka’s original manga. That much was to be expected given the first film’s ending, but the subtitle does provide some cause for concern.
Titling your sequel Kaguya-sama: Love is War Final probably isn’t a very good indication that this live-action franchise is going to continue for many more years, despite the first film’s success. The question has to be asked: was this because of the corner they wrote themselves into after the original ending? Perhaps, but at least it isn’t at odds with the source material.
‘Beyond being a member of the student council at an exclusive school, Kaguya is absurdly wealthy in a way that is more often a gag or background noise than a story element in the manga and anime. Taking Kaguya and Shirogane’s battle worldwide actually brings another side of them into their game of romantic wits.’ (Alicia)
9
Quintessentially Kyoto.
The ‘Sisters War’ arc from the second season of The Quintessential Quintuplets is inspiring a stamp rally in Kyoto, bringing the series into real life.
In the series, the arc in question brings the sisters into conflict over protagonist Futarou Uesugi when a school trip takes them to the traditional capital. In collaboration with the Toei Kyoto Studio Park, the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, and the Rihga Royal Hotel, fans can take part in a digital stamp rally on their smartphones from 24 April that features many of the locations used in the series. As a result, it counts as an anime pilgrimage of sorts.
As James says, ‘Kyoto is worth visiting even without the stamp rally.’ Yet, for fans of the series who want to get that much closer to their favorite Nakano sibling, this is an unmissable opportunity. There are even AR photo spots that allow you to hover hand in augmented reality.
What’s not to like?
10
Mobile Suit tighty whities.
If you’ve ever wanted to wear Gundam pants and socks, then you’re in luck: Bandai Fashion is producing some based on Char’s Counterattack.
Owing to the film’s central rivalry, there are two versions of this undergarment line: one based on Char Aznable’s red MSN-04 Sazabi and one based on Amuro Ray’s white RX-93 Gundam. Both include pants, socks, and a t-shirt (presumably meant to be worn as an undershirt) designed after the iconic mecha’s designs. You could probably do a fairly decent cosplay in them, but only if you’re okay with getting arrested for indecent exposure.
Yes, we’re talking about pants here.
‘The items are sold separately, but they do seem to go together as a set. Or, you could be a fashion maniac and dress up as one-third Amuro, and two-thirds Char. They call them ‘Narikiri,’ which literally translates as ‘impersonator.’ It’s not quite cosplay.’ (James)
Video Corner
With a focus on creators, this week’s video is dedicated to Hiroyuki Imaishi.
There are few anime directors more distinctive than Hiroyuki Imaishi. In many ways, he breaks the ideas of what we normally would think of like anime, instead reaching a level of bizarre energy that can feel closer to a 90s American cartoon. And now to celebrate his achievements, Studio Trigger and Good Smile are collaborating for an exhibition dedicated to him in Tokorozawa, titled The World of Hiroyuki Imaishi, celebrating his work all the way from Dead Leaves in 2004 to 2019’s Promare.
See you next week!
Ura and the OTAQUEST team.
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