Comedy and Language December 6, 2008
Posted by headgrenade in Analysis, Anime, Comedy, Manga.Tags: Translation
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I’m supposed to be working on a paper for Jewish American Lit right now, or one of my other papers due next week, but I’m really not up for it at the moment. However, the topic, examining three stand-up comedian’s views on Hanukkah and how their comedic styles do, or do not, draw from their Jewish Heritage, will be a lot of fun. Once I start. But not yet. Later.
It got me thinking, though, about the old idea that comedy doesn’t translate well. It doesn’t make sense, when I actually sit down and think about it. I don’t have the book on hand, but the explanation I got about how comedy works is that it can be broken down, eventually, into two types: superiority jokes and incongruous jokes. All humor either makes us feel superior to someone or something, or makes a logical/illogical jump from one point to another. That doesn’t seem to be something dependent on language, so, translating comedy should work.
Okay, yeah, I’ll admit, I don’t think it would necessarily be easy to translate complex word humor and jokes based on specific cultural things, which means yes, in some ways comedy doesn’t translate. But in terms of cultural jokes, that’s a flaw on the part of the reader, not the translator. Okay, not really “fault” but that sort of thing, I guess.
Here’s the thing, though; to use Japanese Anime as a reference, how many various comedy animes and mangas are out, and have done well? How many involve humor in one part or another, that Americans still get? Suzumiya Haruhi, Excel Saga, Azumanga Daioh, Yotsuba, Crayon Shin Chan (sorta), Lucky Start (mostly), Ranma 1/2, Nerima Daikon Brothers, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, or the jokes that come up in dramas and action shows like Evangelion, Full-Metal Alchemist, One Piece, Inu-Yasha, etc. etc.?
Gundam 00 Update September 4, 2008
Posted by headgrenade in Anime, Mistakes, Plot.Tags: Gundam 00
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This is just a short little post I’m going to do now on Gundam 00; I’ve gotten about halfway through the first season since I last wrote on it, but I don’t want to spend a lot on it at this point until I’ve finished it. To be honest, my opinion has only gotten worse.
However, there’s one thing I noticed from the recap episode that I wanted to bring up. There’s one time in the series where a bus, for reasons of spoiling the story I won’t mention now, explodes, killing a number of people. When I was watching it happen the second time, I noticed the bus stops in front of a line of people, and for a good two or three seconds it sits there, with none of the people moving, and then the explosion, which cuts away before you can see too much damage, before switching back to show the finished carnage.
What bothers me is those people standing there. Maybe it was okay the first time, but when it comes back, everyone knows the bus is going to blow. Yet the people don’t move, or do anything, even though that’s where every single person watching the scene will look. Imagine if they had made the people move; it would make the scene pop and be amazing and suspenseful, because you know what is going to happen but now you’re watching people walk around normally just waiting to die.
Anyone who really gets into writing knows these little details and mistakes and graphic/plot goofs come back to bite you; Gundam 00 has thousands of them. I could probably make a whole series going through each episode pointing out each individual moment where things change or don’t change for no explainable reason. And don’t tell me that people don’t do deep background details; go pick up any copy of the Vagabond manga in your local book store and count how many leaves you can see on a bush, or how many individual blades of grass you can see. You’ll be shocked. And don’t say that would cost too much; I only noticed it that time because it was the second time around and all my focus was on the bus. They knew it would come back, they ought to have put the money there. And they’re Mobile Suit Gundam, the huge behemoth series that basically created an entire genre, or at least stands in the spotlight in it.
Things like that bother me, like a lot of people, because it breaks any sense of realism from the medium you’re watching. It happens in written word and visual media just as much. Plot holes are bad. Don’t worry about filling them. Worry about keeping them from ever existing.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00: First Thoughts September 1, 2008
Posted by headgrenade in Analysis, Anime, Beginnings, Science-Fiction.Tags: Gundam 00, Mobile Suit Gundam
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I’ve begun watching a new anime that’s been recommended to me by my girlfriend, and the most current Gundam series. For those who don’t know, Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the biggest anime series in Japan based around giant battle mechs. It’s been popular for a long time, has spawned numerous series, and sort of defined the entire mecha genre in Japan and abroad. And I think it’s a bunch of crap, but due to my girlfriend prodding me pretty much since I met her to watch something about Gundam, I’ve started to sit down and watch it today.
My original problems with Gundam, as a whole concept and not just a series, is the fact that the Gundams, these extremely rare but supreme mechs, are just way too over the top powerful. I’m a big fan of science fiction and Japanese stories and manga, and I, like many people interested in these sorts of stories, would just love to see two giant machines of death battle it out surrounded by explosions. But these Gundams are just too powerful; agile in ways people can’t come close to despite being giant machines that weigh thousands of tons, loaded down with weaponry that defies logic in terms of damage inflicted, near infinite ammunition, impregnable armor that seems to be invincible except against other equivalently overpowered mechs, and an all-together lack of weakness to be exploited leaves these completely insane. I find many other series, which I won’t go into, such as Armored Core, Mechwarrior, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Code Geass, and even a fantasy series like Escaflowne, do a much better job at making these mechs seem realistic. For one example, in Neon Genesis Evangelion, they have an extremely limited amount of power (approximately five minutes after a full charge, and only a minute if using all their systems), they have to fight things supremely more powerful than them, a lot of the weapons are conventional and remnants from our technology, and their armor protects them only from the weakest of attacks. Maybe the whole idea of giant mechanical bipedal tanks are quite a bit unrealistic, but like all of science fiction, you can hold things to some degree of realism.
Compounding the original problems I have with Gundam, their stories are, for the most part, pretty dumb. The characters are uninspired, the amount of pointless carnage as these huge mechs blast through thousands of weaker ones, and the over-dramatic tone throughout most of the series undercuts any real suspense and excitement about what’s going on. Now, there are times where one of the series is engrossing, compared with most, but there’s a point that they don’t ever reach, some invisible line that separates good dime-store novels from the real well written stories.
Now, it’s also not all crap, these series; they do a fairly decent job all around making a convincing prime time television show with some thought provoking ideas. They bring up a lot about war, killing, humanity and it’s future, energy, morality, and while there’s a general black and white view pervading, there is almost always some gray areas. One of the older ones, Gundam Wing, was quite entertaining for a long time (I only got through a quarter of it; I didn’t have time for more and couldn’t get a hold of the second half anyway).And besides, everyone, from time to time, enjoys a good campy action flick or a cheesy romantic comedy or something. Sometimes we just need something that only just barely challenges us, if at all, to relax and just enjoy things without having to think much afterwards. It’s a good group of series for that, at least.
Then again, having watched the first two episodes of this series, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, I’m really depressed. It started on a high note for me, with a fantastic opening segment with child soldiers and gritty war. It seems to have a good overall theme, where a group of paramilitary soldiers swear to end all war by destroying all military and all offensives, as well as the defending military at the same time, and turn all hatred and warmongering towards themselves for an as of yet unknown reason. I’d like to see how that plays out, and how they figure that would work, because it is certainly an interesting topic.
However, the characters are almost impossible to tell apart by what they do, their voices and tones (I’m listening to the Japanese version with subtitles) are almost exactly the same “cool cucumber” type, and I feel like there are a lot of lines that were thrown in and used because they “sound” cool, even if they destroy the entire reality of the situation to make it a happy-go-lucky mess. Maybe I don’t know something yet, because it seems there’s more yet to be seen, but I’m not holding my breath to be surprised.
I want something more realistic. Is that really so much to ask? I’m glad at least one of them expressed remorse at being a mass murderer by bombing a military base for a moment, then turned to his ideals to keep himself focused, but I don’t know if a lot will come of it. I doubt they’ll let one of their four pilots go down nearly permanently because he’s shell-shocked. I would gladly watch the rest of the show if they do, though. War is one of the worst things ever to happen on our planet, and to human beings. They really ought to show it that way, if you ask me, at least sometimes.
