[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ9YtJC-Kd8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
So I somehow found myself on Drastic My Anime Blog today and spotted this post that I missed before that talks about a pair of music videos by self-taught animator Kousuke Sugimoto, one of which you’ll see above. It’s a truly cool video, and it’s style reminded me of a certain Australian artist/animator that I know of named Paul Robertson. Here’s a sample of Paul’s work.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYKe3lg8KfM[/youtube]
Between the collective works of the two animators, you’ll notice a theme of having a relatively short video that is as ‘epic’ (in terms of the scale of events) as humanly imaginable. Both very immediately elevate from normal conflicts into something planet-consuming and world-destroying. In the other video featured by The Big N over on Drastic, as well as in the Robertson video above, the entire damn galaxy gets effected within a matter of minutes.
Videos like this are ostensibly quite cool to look at and behold, but they don’t leave a whole lot of an impression once you are done with them. However, I want to discuss with you a certain crowd of people I know of as ‘casual nerds.’ I’ve known many of them – where I live, there is no real ‘nerd’ class of people – true ‘nerds’ might be the less socially-active kids, but in general, the kinds of things thought of as ‘nerdy’ are nearly ubiquitous here. Perfectly normal and social people are fans of things like anime and video games on at least a very shallow level, and so I would call them ‘casual nerds.’ What is it that makes them so casual, and why is it that they never take the step into becoming full-on gamers/anime fans/etc.?
Art by Paul Robertson, linked below
The reason is, these people tend to be in it for quick thrills. These aren’t really people who grow emotionally attached to a work. I’ve known some casual fans who were really into the Robertson videos, and probably saw them as no different than, say, watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (which my brother and I actually got to be pretty spread-around at our school in the particularly nerdy factions.) These people are into TTGL for one reason, and it’s not because they appreciate anime as an art, or because they connect to the characters emotionally, or because of the deep currents of anime history running through – it’s because it’s a big, flashy show about gigantic robots beating the ever-loving shit out of each-other while huge tits bounce across the screen.
I’ve shown a lot of anime to casual fans, and I find that their priorities are truly and utterly different from mine. While my friends have appreciated most of the anime I’ve shown them for at least some reason, it is usually a thin reason that they will feel towards anything which features it (I admit, I was the same in my early days towards action) and they will most appreciate whatever has the most of it (precisely why I once loved Kenshin and Samurai Deeper Kyo more than any of the shows that had many more reasons I could have enjoyed them). For instance, I’ve known people whose favorite show was FLCL just because it was so hyperactive, or to take on the girls, those who love shows like Ouran High School Host Club just because it has cute guys – in both cases, elements I would appreciate, but that would by no means dictate my enjoyment.
There’s nothing wrong with casual fans, but the point is that they don’t see things the way I or other big fans will. To a casual fan, a game of Tekken (or better yet, the alltime casual nerd holy grail, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2) is just as good as an afternoon of Samurai Champloo or a really funny episode of Family Guy. To a casual fan, one whose focus is on things being particularly ‘awesome’ or ‘epic’, it would be no surprise to imagine that 14 minutes of Paul Robertson’s work is even greater than Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, because it beats it out in sheer scale epic. To an anime fan, Gurren Lagann’s epic would just be a piece of the whole, and one of Robertson’s videos, while fun to watch, wouldn’t have the substance to be important to them like GL. It’s all in the priorities.
I wonder how much we could call this a product of modern culture. Roger Ebert says that the youth these days are ‘all about climax’ and don’t enjoy the little pleasures like making out, in favor of getting on with the sex. I’m inclined to agree. I wonder if we super-fanboy bloggers dissecting anime are taking our time to make out with the shows, while casual fans just fuck and forget. A thought.
(This post was modeled in the style of 2-D Teleidoscope‘s blogging, which is also why it’s 1000 words shorter than it could have been, lol.)
External Links:
Paul Robertson’s blog, livejournal, and gelbooru page are EXTREMELY NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR HOME. Also, you may just want to not look at them. He’s a big fan of acid trip guro and all kinds of mind-destroying porn. Incidentally, if you’re like me, that’s how you know about him in the first place, ehehe.
Whenever I encounter people who are not anime fans but are into ‘epic,’ ‘awesome’ things, I feel like I should tell them to check out some anime. But then I realize that many epic, awesome anime often take time, dedication, and a degree of familiarity with the culture and fandom to truly appreciate their awesomeness, which are things that some people don’t have.
The “all about the climax” point is interesting. I think that’s one of the reasons many American fans don’t like anime with anticlimactic or reset endings. Endings that simply return to the status quo, or plot-less slice-of-life shows that don’t lead up to a climax, also prove to be unpopular with casual fans. I agree that the youth nowadays care more about the epic, awesome climax than the pieces that lead up to it.
And that sex metaphor is actually pretty applicable.
Interesting point. I unfortunately can’t gauge Japanese fan reactions against Western ones, but I do know that a LOT of Westerners hate most anime endings for generally being anti-climactic, but that’s really between casuals and hardcore fans alike. Hmmm…
As for breaking people into anime, well, no one can do it all at once. Chances are, you’re going to have to show someone a lot of shows that they don’t understand until they start figuring things out, and then they’ll have to go back. I pretty much have found myself having to rewatch everything I watched in 2007 and 2008 because my knowledge is so much greater now.
Perhaps some of this exists in more intense fans who sample shows outside their specific interests. Sports would be the easiest example to make. I am a hardcore NBA and tennis fan, who can occasionally enjoy watching a particularly well played match of billiards or football (soccer and the NFL) but never really getting myself into the league, the tour, the teams, etc.
For anime, I can enjoy gag or comedy shows without being intense about it, or without even finishing it (i.e. Cromartie, Sexy Commando, etc.)… or a random episode of The Simpsons or South Park (I don’t follow these shows anymore).
This is a very good point! It’s true that I, for one, can say that I enjoy and have seen a lot of very many TV shows but I don’t get into any of them beyond a passing interest. I could almost say this about movies, but I think I look a bit more deeply into those. But yes, I’d say you won this point~ I like it~
You know, on one hand I’m flattered that you’d emulate me, but on the other hand I’m a little embarrassed that you have my ways so precisely nailed down…
To me, what you’ve said suggests that we’re less a culture of climax and more one of distance. Yes, the Internet has made us into very impatient people, but more importantly (to call back to the Ebert article you linked) we’ve become a culture that interacts largely by proxy. In short, it’s so easy to dabble, and so foreign now to become really, truly attached to something. Or maybe that’s what you meant to begin with?
I am very careful not to use the word “epic” if I can help it. I associate it with a lack of thought about what’s being said. But that’s terribly prejudiced on my part, I know.
hehehe, I’m glad you think it’s precise! I was actually worried that someone would say ‘it’s not like 2dt at all!’
A culture of distance, yes. A culture afraid of emotional attachment, that tries to consume everything but truly appreciate nothing. We could certainly make this case.
As for the word ‘epic’, I can’t avoid it. In my everyday life, I probably hear this word 6 times a day, it’s just ingrained into our vocabulary, lol.
Well, for what it’s worth, I think you at least are careful when the word comes up. I appreciate that.
“Casual fans” seems to be a really big topic these days. (I mean, the OEG is all about it…)
I’m not sure what kind of “casual” fan you’re talking about here – a fan of anime in general, or a fan of a specific series. By your definition, I’d be a “casual” fan of stuff like Code Geass, but I watch so much anime that I can’t be considered a “casual” fan of the medium.
P.S.: I’m actually a fan of Paul Robertson (Kings of Power 4 Billion Percent is pretty cool), but his art output is so infrequent (one gif/picture per month, tops?) that I can’t be un-”casual.”
I saw that video (Kousuke Sumigoto) a while ago, it’s completely awesome. Music from the second video is Sakura from DDR in the beginning.
A casual fan is perfectly capable of appreciating an anime for the same reasons as an anime fan. Example, a friend of mine hate anime, but loved Samurai Champloo, DragonballZ, and Gundam Wing (which we both watched for plot and character growth, if I were to label), for the same reasons that I did. Of course, as I said, he isn’t really a fan of anime, and those are the only titles he has ever cared to watch. Would that make me, someone who thoroughly enjoys his anime more than any other medium of entertainment, a casual fan? Comparatively, I am on a completely different level than said friend, because I am much more involved in anime than said friend, who I wouldn’t even say is up to a level of a casual fan (the dude’s seen three shows and for some reason actually hates anime, despite liking all of the shows he’s seen).
Let me bring back the same friend I just talked about literally in the last line. We both loved Dragonball Z. We became immersed within Dragonball Z for a time, and I mean completely immersed. We’d watch it we’d draw it we even thought about making a movie about it. Would this be typical behavior of a casual fan?
I don’t know, I really don’t see a difference in casual fan vs hardcore anime fan. One might understand the culture a bit more than the other, but the general story and artwork can be appreciated by both on the same levels. Appreciation of a story depends on the person. Maybe I just didn’t understand this post.
Not all casual fans are the same, here, and also your friend may not be a casual fan at all. Maybe he’s a regular fan who hasn’t spread his wings, or just not a fan at all since he claims to hate anime. My roommate, Zerodyme, has seen about 6 shows that he LOVED. Howver, he always claims that he doesn’t watch anime and never wants to see anything new. Is he a casual fan? No, becasue he isn’t a fan at all. But the shows he loves, he loves well.
I’d seen the Sugimoto video, but hadn’t heard of Robertson at all, thanks! Good stuff right there.
And that’s an interesting point on how entertainment is all about the “climax.” I get pissed off when I get dragged to the movies most of the time because most movies seem to focus on the on shoving out the explosions (literal or metaphorical) and unsubstantial happy endings. It’s pandering on a different level, I guess.
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