The OQ Weekly (29 April 2021) - The 'More COVID Delays' Edition
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What’s up, OTAQUESTers!
You know something? I’ve been counting the days until Golden Week, so I could finally drag myself to a cinema and watch this beautiful man below be all amazing and stuff. I don’t know about you, but there is something about deuteragonists with a piercing gaze that makes my heart go toki doki.
But I won’t.
Because COVID.
And that makes me really, really, REALLY sad. Many titles are getting delayed because of another State of Emergency in Japan, but more about that below.
For now, wear your masks, keep your distance, and get vaccinated. I really want us all to enjoy movies in the cinema again. We can do it.
If you want to talk about all our most anticipated titles getting delayed, don’t forget to join our Discord! We talk about more than just anime, manga, and games, too.
I am Ura, your COVID-tired guide in this amazing journey into Japanese pop, geek, and sub culture.
Thank you for joining us.
1
Delays, delays, delays.
With COVID cases on the rise once again in Japan, the government took the decision to enact another State of Emergency. That has resulted in a series of film delays.
What makes this State of Emergency particularly important is that it was declared just days before Golden Week, which is traditionally a huge box office period for Japanese cinemas. As a result, big titles such as Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway, Kakegurui Part 2, and the theatrical cut of Earwig and the Witch have all decided to face delays rather than lose out on ticket sales. Cinemas are closed for at least two weeks in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyogo prefectures.
‘Some films have chosen to stay with their planned release schedule for now, especially if their release date was scheduled for after the currently planned 11 May lifting of current orders in these four prefectures, but there is the possibility of an extension if cases do not fall. At which point, more releases large and small planned for mid-May or later, may be impacted.’ (Alicia Haddick)
2
Stretching out.
French-born, Tokyo-developed trackmaker and creative Moe Shop is finding new and exciting angles on their latest single ‘Wonder Pop.’
Clocking in at just over six minutes, it’s the longest original song that Moe Shop has ever shared. Usually, dance music from this genre tends to work best in spurts: if you extend it too long, it runs the risk of falling flat. Yet, the artist deliberately chooses to push out the boat here, successfully avoiding the risk of losing momentum along the way.
‘What’s impressive about WONDER POP is how Moe Shop creates something so constantly engaging without ever pivoting away from the central chopped-vocal whirlwind and swift beats underneath. This isn’t several song ideas stitched together into one ‘interesting’ piece, but rather an artist finding a great melody and seeing how much variation they can twist from those synth squiggles.’ (Patrick St. Michel)
Turns out letting something play out can reveal whole new details a short blast can’t.
3
Virtual cold ones.
It seems like everyone and their dog is getting in on the VTuber trend as of late, but now we have a new challenger: Yuguri from Zombieland Saga.
Putting her past life as a Meiji-era courtesan to good use, the undead idol appeared in a livestream on the official CyGames channel as a virtual hostess. That setting in and of itself is taken from the sequel series Zombieland Saga Revenge, where the members of Franchouchou have to take up side jobs to pay off their debts after a disastrous live concert. For Yuuguri, it’s working in a hostess bar.
Coming in at just over an hour, Yuuguri asked questions of the viewer, played shiritori, sang a song, and generally listened to the woes of the live chat. Usually, hostess bars are the haven of depressed salarymen, so now you too can replicate that experience thanks to the magic of VTubers!
‘In general, virtual YouTubers can be seen as the pinnacle of both idol and otaku culture as they transcend the barriers of traditional media, creating an entirely “real” virtual character and making for a much more engaging experience. Yuguri’s debut as a VTuber is no exception to that: it really does feel like you’re there in the bar with her!’ (Jacob Parker-Dalton)
4
More Madoka.
Don’t lose your head, get the tissues ready, because a Madoka Magica anime movie sequel is on the way.
Announced during a live stage event meant to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the original anime series (how time flies!), it is indeed a sequel to 2013’s Rebellion. Not much is known about the plot at the moment, but judging from the key visual featuring a shattered image of the pink-haired protagonist, it probably won’t be all that happy.
Plus, you know, it’s Madoka.
But is this continuation really necessary? Callum May makes the point in our latest OTAQUEST in Japan video that the original series has been extended far beyond its original 12-episode run, now spilling over countless anime, manga, and games. Does that not run the risk of tarnishing its legacy? Perhaps, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in seeing more.
5
Party on, online.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Nintendo have announced an update for Super Mario Party that finally provides online multiplayer.
The Nintendo Switch title received a lot of criticism upon launch for, among other things, the lack of online functionality. All players could do in the year of our Lord 2018 was play a select number of minigames online, with the main board games being entirely excluded!
Version 1.1.0, however, finally corrects this: Mario Party, Partner Party, and Free Play are now available to play online with friends. You can’t play with random strangers, mind, but it does provide what fans have been asking for since day one. What’s more, that Free Play mode has been expanded to include all 70 minigames available in the game.
‘It’s a surprising move from Nintendo to suddenly implement the feature, considering how long the game has been out, but is certainly a welcome move nonetheless. One thing that held this writer back from purchasing Super Mario Party at the time was a lack of this online multiplayer, and with a bit more time being needed before friends and family can meet up again in person, this could be a fun way to do something a bit different when you’re on your next Zoom call.’ (Alicia)
6
Rotascoped perfection.
Masanao Kawajiri is making his directorial debut next year with Cherry and Virgin, a film with unique musical and visual stylings.
Checking out the first trailer, we can see that the character animation is rotoscoped, meaning copied directly from real-life footage. What’s more, the film uses a mixture of black and white and color for its designs and locales, meant to symbolize the divide that exists between the two characters Ryo and Emi. A crowdfunding campaign is running right now for the promotion.
The director won several awards last year for his short film A Japanese Boy Who Draws, which used a similar mix of black and white, color, and even live-action footage. So it’s worth getting excited about!
‘If their short film gives us any indication beyond the character designs and rotoscoped examples we’ve seen so far, the film may be playing for a similar aesthetic and may have the talent behind the scenes needed to pull off this unique and exciting medium-bending concept.’ (Alicia)
7
A truly lovely ghost.
YUKI is reembracing her roots as a noisy punk in Judy and Mary with ‘My Lovely Ghost,’ her newest single with an MV that’s darker than first meets the eye.
The MV for ‘My Lovely Ghost’ starts off cheerily enough: the artist sings her way through lavishly decorated sets and symmetrical camera shots, almost looking like a Wes Anderson movie. But then, shots of withering flowers and creepy old paintings start to dot the scenery, and before we know it Yuki forces herself to drink tea poured by a possessed curtain sheet surrounded by floating carpets. Spooky.
Taken from her forthcoming album Terminal, it is said to be musically representative of both sides of Yuki’s musical personality: the first half will consist of techno-tinged J-pop, while the latter will be more focused on pop with live instrumentation. There’s even tracks like ‘Sunday Service,’ delivering holy gospel vibes with organs and piano.
‘For J-pop music fans looking for an album with two different sets of personality to it, Terminal could provide the fix you seek.’ (Jeremy Tauber)
8
Let’s get Macrossing.
The international expansion of the Macross franchise has begun in earnest mere weeks after the initial settlement between creator Harmony Gold and rights holder Bigwest.
Already, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 is streaming for a limited time via a new YouTube channel, alongside a collection of music videos compiled from the original series and Do You Remember Love?. What’s more, Bigwest has confirmed its plan to internationally release not only all Macross anime series and films since 1987, but also toys, games, live performances and other content as well.
To mark the occasion, series creator Shoji Kawamori had some heartfelt words to share: ‘For creators like me, our work only comes to life for when it is viewed by people. It seems that the time has just started to move, after years and years of stillness.’
‘While the specifics of what the future holds for Macross is uncertain, we’re confident that this isn’t just lip service. Whatever happens, as Azonia would say, ‘It will be glorious.’’ (Carley Garcia)
9
We don’t like this village.
Beloved Japanese enka singer Ikuzo Yoshi has found himself at the center of a viral sensation thanks to a song he recently performed to promote Resident Evil: Village.
Titled ‘We Don’t Like This Kind of Village Lv. 100,’ it’s actually a parody of one of the singer’s most popular hits, ‘We’re Heading to Tokyo.’ This original 1984 ballad was sung in a rural Togusa dialect and talked about the lack of amenities in the countryside, but this new song goes to town on the village in which the latest Resident Evil is set. Needless to say, he’s not a fan.
Already, the video has managed to rack up over 4 million views, doing wonders to promote what is shaping up to be one of the biggest games this spring. The unusual nature of the collaboration appears to be one of the main things grabbing attention, although the lyrics are also quite funny.
Yoshi also asks at one point ‘who on earth that blood-sucking older woman is (her name is Lady Dimitrescu, and isn’t that last one a very, very good reason to stay in this town forever? I would stay in town forever for her).’ (Alicia)
10
A dumb mobile game.
At first glance, Yurutto Jump Plus Allstars looks like a pretty dumb mobile game, but it actually plays quite an important role for Jump Plus.
Released on 23 April, the gameplay is quite basic. It allows you to autoplay turn-based battles between pixelated versions of various manga characters, organized into different ‘decks’ and earned through the dreaded gacha. It doesn’t help that it opened pre-registrations on 31 March, the day before April Fool’s Day: it all seems like a big joke!
Nevertheless, Jacob argues that it has two important functions. ‘The first is to make money: that much is obvious given the gacha. Second, it aims to solidify Jump Plus’ status as a service, separate from Weekly Shonen Jump and with its own distinct brand image.’ There are also a plethora of Jump-themed mobile games out there, so why not Jump Plus too?
‘At least one thing’s for sure: Jump Plus isn’t going anywhere, and this dumb mobile game hints at the service’s true intentions.’ (Jacob Parker-Dalton)
Video Corner
After 8 years, Madoka Magica is returning with a brand new film following on from the end of Madoka Magica: Rebellion. The film brings back the main staff at Studio Shaft to revisit this dark twist on formative magical girl stories. With a wait this long, normally this would be a surprise, but Madoka has been kept alive all this time in other media, waiting for its chance to return to the big screen.
See you next week!
Ura and the OTAQUEST team.
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