Backlash tennis and the flipside of popularity
My first thought on the notorious Endless Eight portion of the new series of Haruhi Suzumiya was “thank God I’m not watching this too!” and proceeded to skim-read the blog posts, which is probably more fun than actually watching the episodes themselves. It reminded me how something that’s popular can divide the fans so strongly and produce the old shitstorm of hype, bitching and RAEG that springs up every time. In some ways it’s as predictable as the “The new season sucks!” posts that ironically crop up every season but the observations are interesting.
What do you mean “the first season was better…”?!
Haruhi Suzumiya is a texbook example of how these things happen although I’m a bit spoilt for choice of other examples. Naruto is an obvious one although it’s the stereotypical Narutard that upsets most people, probably even more so than the filler episodes. To a lesser degree you get a mirror image of this carry-on with notoriously bad shows but the general pattern is the same: a wave of opinion for A New Thing creates a reflex reaction in the opposite direction, forming another retort of the initial enthusiasm and so on. Like the old fave “Toilet Tennis: look left” and “Toilet Tennis: look right” scrawled on the opposite walls of a toilet cubicle, this is Backlash Tennis.
In the same way that The New Season Sucks and similar nonsense pans out, the Backlash Tennis thing is pretty darned obvious when you watch it from a distance. It’s old, too: ever since a monkey pooped into its hand and threw the stuff at another monkey, I reckon chucking crap at each other has always held plenty of entertainment value. The nature of the anime fandumb is familiar enough for me to assume the causes go without saying: the cosy and interactive nature of blogs, Twitter and the like means the shit flies faster and all that. Suffice to say Backlash Tennis is particularly obvious to me because the anime fan community is one I spend a lot of free time in and yes, the nature of the community provides the ideal conditions for breeding this sort of thing.
Fans are passionate and have very strong opinions so in the anime fan community the exchange of this passion and opinion is as rapid as those discussing the latest Harry Potter movie or whatever. I’m currently really enjoying K-On! for instance, until the WS releases shuddered to a halt and left me behind the times. Considering how the series doesn’t really draw attention to itself – a relatively quiet-spoken individual in a room full of louder voices - it took a lot of flak. The show itself has its lovers and haters as they all do; the KyoAni connection however amplified the gulf between the two camps, which resulted in the Newton’s Third Law-style opposing reaction which was just as vehement as its fans.
This is to be expected, not least because the Moe Issue was also drawn into the fray. KyoAni, again, got fans riled over Haruhi Suzumiya: many loved it, some hated it but you can’t deny its overall popularity. In the three or so years that I’ve been blogging I’ve seen the tide as favourable, with a few dissenting voices in the meantime, but I’m seeing the Endless Eight test the enthusiasm of even the most loyal fans.
Even bigger, more enduring and more controversial than even Haruhi is of course Evangelion, which has been the subject of a Backlash Tennis for nearly a decade and a half. Although it’s always enjoyed a high profile the Rebuild movies have rekindled some old passions and opened old wounds; the funny thing is, you could look back in blog and forum archives from five or even ten years ago and still find the same arguments dragged out as if people have forgotten they, or fans who came before them, split the same hairs before. Look left, look right. Look left, look right…
My affection for the show has settled down into a quiet respect for what it achieved and what it aspired to but I hope I can at least see its flaws as well as its strengths. I did however see red when I read a review of the second instalment of the Rebuild series, You May (not) Advance on Colony Drop, which is a prime example of how the ridiculous Backlash Tennis game continues to rage on.
For certain people getting what they wish for is not necessarily a good thing
I’m not going to form an opinion on a movie that I haven’t yet seen, of course. Nor am I going to speak at length at the MO of CD in general, which is rarely as clever as it thinks it is; quite frankly even linking to the post in question is giving it more attention than it deserves. This attention-seeking is often the cause of the bitching but the other significant factor is the extra stuff that accompanies something that’s popular. The term ‘franchise’ rears its head again here and so does the ominous ‘phenomenon’; you aren’t merely going into a film or TV show as dive into something much bigger.
The arguments and divisions of opinion seem to spill over from discussing the product itself and pick up the myriad of associated factors that come with it as ammunition to pan it: merchandise, unecessary sequels/prequels and spin-offs or over-zealous marketing can all harm the enjoyment and reputation of something that, in of itself, isn’t all that bad. The reasoning behind CD’s assessment of YM(n)A is quite frankly idiotic to my mind because it isn’t so much their view of the film itself – which may or may not deserve the mauling it’s given – as a show of their displeasure of the marketing machine that runs off it. As a review of the film rather than the franchise it makes no sense whatsoever.
Needless to say the Rebuild movies are hardly the reinvention of the automatic bread slicer in the first place but it’s important to avoid jumping on any bandwagon: you might think you’re being clever and avoiding falling in with the sheeple by blurting out the opposite of the popular views but ultimately you aren’t. Merely reacting to a reaction is part of the problem rather than part of a solution of enlightened understanding, which might actually get us somewhere for a change.
Sorry, no related posts yet.
Well, in terms of Endless Eight and the anime community, if nothing else I have to say that it’s been good for “business” – Ridiculous levels of comments, some of them quite unintentionally hilarious. Yes, I truly dislike what KyoAni have opted to do with this story arc and I have to hand on heart admit that I can’t understand what drove them to think it might be a good idea (to the extreme of repetition they’ve chosen anyway), but from reading the comments you would envisage that some of the posters have been physically “wronged” by the series. Someone really should start charging Internet users on a per exclamation mark basis, it might provoke people to think more rationally. ;)
K-ON! is an interesting case – I really enjoyed it for what it was, but although I didn’t discuss it in my ‘blog entries I have found myself internally mulling over the show, and specifically whether the fact that it is a merchandising man’s dream actually reduces the value of the work in its own right. Personally, I’m not sure it does, but I think it’s an interesting discussion to have – I’d probably say the same of that linked Colony Drop article; it’s difficult not to be aware of a given show or franchise in terms of its wider goals outside of the medium of film/television. Sure, critical analysis of a movie or anime series should focus itself solely on that alone (which is where Colony Drop falls flat perhaps), but I don’t think there’s any harm in acknowledging the wider picture and how it might have affected the creative process.
Anyhow, personally I wouldn’t have the anime community act any other way – In a perverse kind of way the reactions you talk about here have been by far the most enjoyable part of the Endless Eight debacle, and I’ve loved every second of dishing out my take on it complete with large dollops of cynical humour.
LOL at being physically wronged by a series.
It’s as if there was a covenant between select viewers of a show and the creators and the production company.
If users were charged for exclamation marks, K-On! would have gone by undiscussed. That’d be a bad thing, right? Right!
@Hanners: I think the writers took the repetition concept too far with Endless Eight…it’s a fine line to walk on, but it can be done (I’m thinking Groundhog Day here). It’s understandable that they’re keen to shake things up a bit, but I think the gamble backfired in this case.
@ghostlighning: well, Haruhi-ism has become a quasi-religion…
@coburn: I’d like to discuss K-on!, but there isn’t much to say about it. I find it to be fun in a light kind of way, aaand…that’s it.
Just when I tell myself that the only way to enjoy Endless Eight was through meta reasons, such meta reasons colored my experience of the latest episode enough to see how well done it is. The seventh episode of the season is rather well-done, and stands out from the other recursion episodes.
I was talking to CCY yesterday (VN protagonist and Haruhi apologist, even if only for Nagato) and shared that while I’m not the kind of fan of the series that I am of Macross, I cannot feel like I’m being betrayed by anyone. The very concept seems off.
As for the kind of negative review you mentioned and the kind of blog that spews them, they aren’t so much reviews as are sermons and polemics in the service of an ideology of self-hatred; not really interested in the subjects themselves relative to distinguishing those who like the subjects as inferior and contemptible people. Since they do not write for people who like the shows in their present form, they mostly review for themselves. It’s like a public display of masturbation.
First off: Thanks for the link, man.
Second: Gotta love how having any sort of contrary thought in the animeblogosphere is automatically equated to being a “troll” or “attention seeking.” God forbid we don’t buy into the same bullshit most of fandom does. As for the complaints about the review itself, I don’t know what to tell you, because I’m pretty sure I did talk about the film. Next time I’ll be sure to include lots plot summary and screen caps so you won’t have to rely on actual reading ability to figure out that I’m actually talking about the movie.
Third: Ghost Lightning, you’re easily the most masturbatory anime blogger there is.
“Next time I’ll be sure to include lots plot summary and screen caps so you won’t have to rely on actual reading ability to figure out that I’m actually talking about the movie.”
Exactly. A troll.
@Sean: thanks for replying, at least. Did I call you attention-seeking? Yes. Troll? No. You won’t find the word ‘troll’ in the post itself at all. You could take constructive criticism on board, or you can continue to acknowledge other people’s views and never see your writing improve. Your call.
@Peter S: we all know thinking about things and individuality is sooo out of date. That WAS sarcasm BTW. ;P
Oh! I have a post on Onani Master Kurosawa I discuss this blogging as masturbation thing. It’s not about Sean though.
I really can’t figure out where you were going with your criticism of Sean’s review, GL. Perhaps you can clarify your thesis for me: are you trying to argue that it’s inappropriate to review a work in context? This doesn’t seem too sensible — no artistic work is created in a vacuum, especially not in the frequently insular and intertextual world of Japanese animation, and it’s intellectually dishonest to ignore Evangelion’s commercial and artistic ties. Especially when we’re discussing a remake of probably the single most influential Japanese animated series in the past two decades. Like most TV animation, the original Evangelion was financed largely by sponsors interested in potential licensing and merchandising revenues, regardless of the series’s many other merits. To deny the effect of that on the resulting product is folly — do you really think Hideaki Anno is producing new theatrical versions of his most acclaimed work fifteen years later as a solely artistic gesture?
Perhaps instead you are arguing that we’re being contrary purely for its own sake? For the record, just about everyone at Colony Drop genuinely likes Eva, the TV series, and I think this point has been lost on you. We’re not being contrary to beg for attention, we’re being contrary because we care.
I would argue that Rebuild of Evangelion exhibits many of the same problems of other Neon Genesis Evangelion-derived works. It lacks subtlety — Shinji’s moment of snark with Kaji turns into a “almost kissed by a dude” joke, Asuka is reduced to fulfilling the “tsundere” fetish archetype she inspired rather than being a complicated and troubled young woman, and Shiji transforms into an actual super robot hero. The adult characters are shoved to the side in favour of a Rei-Asuka-Shinji love triangle, Kaworu descends from the moon, and a new girl with big tits and glasses who got lost on the way to Diebuster literally lands tits-first into Shinji, among other fanfic-esque developments. That scenes in this film and You Are (Not) Alone imply that Eva has turned into a time-loop series do little to dissuade my concerns. When I see Shinji triumphantly tear his way into an Angel to retrieve Ayanami while crying her name and having the flesh ripped from his body, I’m not watching a deconstruction of the super robot show anymore; I’m watching a super robot show, and Gurren Lagann was much better at that.
So in the interest of intelligent discourse, please enlighten me: what is the point of your post?
@ Jeff
No, it’s not inappropriate to review a show in context.
Your comment here makes the important points that the review itself buries in angry rhetoric. Your caring doesn’t come across as such, and for caring itself — I support it, it just means we all remember love. For the record, I don’t have a unilateral disapproval of CD’s reviews. I’ve endorsed two of them, one by Sean himself.
Just don’t be surprised if people read your posts as hating, and telling them that they’re just doing it wrong (often your immodest operandi) doesn’t really communicate the care you said you have for the subject, or perhaps for your would-be readers.
For the record I’m not demanding anything (change your style, retractions, errata, or what not), just sharing this for your consideration.
@Jeff: the way you word it there makes more sense to me. Yes, it’s a clarity issue in that some valid points are lost in the noise. Emotion and attitude are fine – they make a piece more entertaining and readable – but there’s a point where it starts to harm the piece’s ability to judge the subject matter fairly and intelligently. Sean’s post crossed that line for me unfortunately. I’m also aware of the problem with multi-author blogs in one contributor’s view not necessarily being that of the blog as a whole.
edit: lol, I’m an idiot, it’s not your post I’m replying to. My bad!
But I will ask this: what’s wrong with putting emotion or attitude into your articles? If something makes me angry, shouldn’t that come across in my post?
Emotion and attitude is fine, until it actually masks the content of the post and distorts the content of the points being made.
Now having said that, I don’t think that Sean’s editorial on 2.0 jumps that particular shark entirely by any stretch, it just about remains tethered to its subject matter now matter how impassioned its train of thought may be. However, in jest or otherwise, “Hideaki Anno is trying to kill anime” *does* jump that shark – It reads too much like “KyoAni ate my hamster!” for my liking.
That aside, as a huge Evangelion fan Sean (and yourself) and have nailed some of my concerns about 2.0 (which I haven’t seen yet) from what I’ve read around the web, which is perhaps why I’m a bit more sympathetic to the article in question.
Nothing wrong Jeff, I write very emotionally too, even to merit an impression of being masturbatory. Note that I didn’t contradict Sean’s response outright. I may just be a pot calling the kettle sooty.
It’s just the case that your valid points may be unnecessarily obscured by your stylistic method (presentation of attitude, edginess, etc.), and your outraged emotion (which is, however a very easy way to attract attention on the net).
Sure it could be a failure on my part to get to the gold in your posts, but note that in the CD reviews I endorsed (FLAG, Macross 2) the points were clear, there wasn’t much of intense agitprop.
Please don’t take this as me telling you how to run your own blog. I’m not trying to impress my own tastes on you as some kind of benchmark (after all, this is why I don’t do reviews strictly speaking).
I’m first going to cut and paste the reply I was preparing earlier, before stuff hit the fan:
“Interesting to notice that some fandoms inspire more rage than others. Can you imagine the Dr. Who fan community getting so shrill over who the best doctor is? Even the Star Trek community isn’t this bad. Star Wars, well, maybe. I think it’s partly because the anime fandom is relatively young, something that often drives me insane when I read the subsequent, insulting, incoherent blog posts. I’m afraid I’m not as tolerant as Hanners is. As a Haruhi fan my reaction to Endless 8 is, basically, “What the hell were they thinking?” I’m not going to have a hissy fit and declare “Haruhi is RUINED for me! RUINED!” It’s merely a hiccup.
“As for Evangelion, the CD review had a couple legitimate points to make (I assume, not having seen the film yet), but buried them under such hyperbole and chest-beating it’s easy to miss them. My favorite line; “As you might have guessed, unlike every other reviewer on the Internet, I did not like this movie.” i.e., “I’m not a slave to fandom like the rest of you!” This isn’t an opinion, it’s a pose.
“But I don’t think you can avoid comparing a new piece of a franchise to the older pieces; there wouldn’t be the new piece without the previous ones. And comparing them is not unhealthy.
“What’s really sad and pathetic is what happened at the San Diego Comic Con, where thousands of fangirls showed up to meet the Twilight cast. The superhero fanboys accused them of ruining the convention.”
Now I’ll add that Jeff’s long reply brought up points about the movie that DO seem worrisome. Why he didn’t use more of those in the original review I don’t know. I guess it’s my reading comprehension. Sigh.
Peter:
Well, for one, I didn’t write the Colony Drop Eva 2.0 review, Sean did. Sean made the decision to attack the film on more general terms rather than get into the specifics about what was wrong with the plotting, but most of what I complained about is alluded to in his review anyway. It’s a stylistic difference.
I think you have misinterpreted Sean’s comment about “every other reviewer on the Internet.” This was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, poking fun at people like our buddy wildarmsheero who we’ve been arguing with about the film since it came out, and our perception that they are approaching the film a bit too uncritically. Not to single you out, but I’m frequently surprised by how unfamiliar Japanese cartoon bloggers and readers seem to be with common rhetorical tactics like “exaggeration for effect” and “sarcasm.” I think, perhaps, some of you are a little too interested in getting mad at what you think we’re saying (and how we say it), and miss the point.
Not that we’re going to change.
Quite right, you didn’t write the review. My mistake. I kind of wish you had, since you brought up examples in the film that Sean did not and probably should have.
You can’t expect me, as someone who doesn’t read your reviews, to understand that you were making a tongue-in-cheek comment about certain other reviewers I’ve never read. And using that as an excuse to lecture me on sarcasm, well, that’s just sad, and confirms the suspicions I had about CD after reading the review.
Gotta love that you slag off on us in the post and then admit that you don’t actually READ any of our posts.
My opinion of religious references in Evangelion is that, while the creators admitted to having used them for the cool factor, there is still literary value to their references. I was once very fanatical about Evangelion, and having read considerable amount of written materials on it, my conclusion is very similar to what Oshii said about religious symbolisms in Evangelion: although it makes no religious statements, it is useful as a literary plot device. This is not to say one needs to know the references to understand what is going on. But those who do, might get the grasp of the plot and so on better because of the literary allusions. I personally don’t see much pretentions in Evangelion because most of the babblefish is spouted by fans, and nothing of the sort is stated in the anime.
Anyway, I’m on the RAEG wagon when it comes to endless eight >=0. Maybe I should’ve just ignored the existence of second season like I did with Gunslinger Girls 2 (what season2? there’s no gunslinger girls season 2 >_>).
As for Rahxephon, I don’t have a good memories of it but maybe I wasn’t in a mood to appreciate it properly. Hmm maybe a rewatch is in the order…
Eh, ok. The nested comments thing is getting a bit messy and I don’t think I made myself as clear as I’d hoped. This isn’t a post dedicated to bashing Colony Drop, although just for the record I find sometimes the tone too smug and deliberately inflammatory to read religiously. Some of their posts are great (I enjoyed the Totoro review for instance) while others miss the mark. I just happen to detect a sentiment of “we’re the voice of reason and you’re all stupid!” which is going to rub people up the wrong way before anything else.
My main point is a more general observation of how the fandom reacts to the things they’re passionate about, and how they react to each other affects that. In the case of well-known and popular titles, the strengths and shortcomings are often lost in a fog of misunderstandings and trivial arguments among fans, resulting in an overall opinion that no longer reflects what it fundamentally was to begin with. A game of throwing arguments back and forth is more well-remembered than whether the series/movie is good or bad.
The fanboys and fangirls are just as guilty of this as the haters too I should add.
I think you guys need to consider your use of exaggeration because it seems a lot of people don’t think you are exaggerating? Maybe distinguish truism from mere rhetoric or something. Or maybe deploy enough context to show that your exaggeration actually makes a point?
I think a debate on the merits of Eva 2.0 would be much more insightful, for example. I read the post Sean wrote, having seen the film myself, and it echoes some of my own criticisms on the film. However that post doesn’t leave any room to do so. Instead the reader would have to react only on the irrelevant portions of the review about milking or merchandising or whatever. If it’s a preview kind of a piece for people who haven’t seen the film, it doesn’t really do much good for them because the focus of the review drifts away from the film itself. Perhaps this is a conscious thing because of spoilers or whatever, but i dunno.
I’ve never believed in this idea that Hideaki Anno is a mad cynical businessman hell-bent on milking Evangelion. This is the guy that had the last episode of Gunbuster coloured in black and white, packs his anime with unique perspectives and camera angles, and went with the original, metaphorical finale of Evangelion TV. I’ve also watched him in live action films like The Taste of Tea and Funky Forest, and through all of this, he’s never struck me as someone that’s driven by money, not even in the slightest. He’s an artist, and that’s why these new Evangelion films will be worth watching, because I know that with someone like Anno at the helm, they will have a raison d’être. Hence I’m pretty dubious of the review on CD, since its central conceit, that Anno is an evil, money-grubbing suit, seems so far off the mark.
Hey, Sean, you want to know what we think of the author? The author’s dead. Has been for 42 years now.
What this means–should your intellect aspire to the same lows that your posts are known to explore–is this: Whatever it is that you think you’re trying to say in that post of yours? It doesn’t matter. Regardless of what your intent is, sonny jim, it’s totally and utterly irrelevant in the face of what we, the audience reading your blog, get from it, and what we’re getting isn’t much.
This is your false dichotomy of “Us v.s. Them” that you have invented, a great yarn of high fantasy made entirely of your own volition that has since led you to the merry delusion that you have now thoroughly embraced; that just because we do not agree whole-heartedly with what you are saying most of the time, and take offence at how you say it, we are against you. Newsflash: Just as you reserve the right to your own opinion, so do we have the very same right to ours regarding yours.
Correct me if I’m wrong, guys, but I do think that your plaintive remonstrations are, for the most part, laughable–despite what you claim to be saying, it is with great sorrow that I’ve got to break the news to you, that playing the Intent card isn’t cool anymore. Trying to be the rebel, the misunderstood teen, the tragic genius, and the tortured critic in a room full of Philistines all at once doesn’t work when the image that you’re allegedly striving for and the laughable dross you write played shock jock style fails to sync.
Here comes the punchline: Funny how someone like you who claims superiority over the inferior majority continues seeking the approval of the very people he’s turned his back on. If you want to be the tough kid in the playground, why do you crawl up in a corner and cry when we don’t want to play ball with you? Why not live up to that oh-so-scintillating renegade character you project all the time? Try sleeping in the bed you make for once.
We’ve had ample room to demonstrate how willing we would be to listen to what you have to say if you could quit with the autofellatio and get that phallus of yours out of your mouth long enough to… say something? Welcome to the internet, enjoy your stay.
“If you want to be the tough kid in the playground, why do you crawl up in a corner and cry when we don’t want to play ball with you?”
Because we like telling people how wrong they are.
Also: HITS
Right, I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt so far but now I have to admit I think you’re an absolute moron. I might not always see eye-to-eye with your co-writer Jeff but at least he’s shown he’s able to explain his stance and put his views across in an intelligent and articulate way. How can you even begin to prove your point and expect it to be taken seriously when it’s lost in a shitstorm of unfunny wisecracks and “I’m cooler than you!” posturing which fools nobody?
Re my original post title: your stupidity, Sean, has provided almost as much entertainment value as the Wimbledon finals…without the threat of rain putting a stop to the fun. Now I have to wonder if there’s any point arguing further with someone who is medically inapable of listening to anything apart from his own misguided horseshit.
Man, what kind of lame blog software shows embeds in the real-time preview and not the actual post?
http://www.youtube.com/v/TY41o-iZStI
Man, arguing about video games is so much easier. I remember when Super Smash Bros Brawl came out, I’d debate with anyone who’d listen that Melee was still superior gameplay-wise. It’d inevitably turn into a challenge, where I’d summarily whip my opponents and face the sky laughing hysterically. Not that it settled anything, but I definitely felt better afterwards!
Videogames, eh? I recall an argument we had at school over whether Zool was faster than Sonic the Hedgehog! Ultimately it didn’t matter; both were fast enough for me!
And yeah, Melee is fine for just button-mashing and kicking the living daylights out of people. There’s something therapeutic about an overweight Italian plumber beating the crap out of Pikachu!
Well, this took an odd turn. :P
It’s the people that feel to the point of personal insult with how Endless Eight has gone that make me chuckle a bit at how emphatic the reaction is. Mostly because these people often were the ones that ragged on KyoAni to high heaven for not producing more Haruhi, only to quickly come rushing back when new episodes debuts. It’s a very extreme love-hate relationship, and it’s fun to see.
Endless Eight is, for me, proof that people should be careful about what they wish for! As for the general theme of my original post, I was merely outlining how fans can get carried away. In that sense I think MY WORK HERE IS DONE. ^_^
Fans are crazy period. Just take a look at some of the speculation floating around…
http://heminga13.livejournal.com/1200.html
It’s an interesting read but really, it’s a bit much. I’ll just live by my creed and I’ll do just fine, “Watch for myself, think for myself.”
[...] a totally unrelated note, there’s a very interesting debate (more interesting than my post OBV) going on around the other side of the ’sphere, and while [...]
I must admit, this post highlights what I feel to be the biggest problem with my blog as of late. I’m too reactionary. I like Endless Eight, K-ON!, and the current season of anime. So when I read post after post trashing all three (the third one at the start of the season, but seemingly not anymore), it gets to me.
It’s not the criticism that gets me. It’s the unfounded criticism; the raging hate that makes no sense; the predisposition to deny a show a fair chance; and finally, the unwillingness to leave well enough alone and continue to bash said show week after week. Devoid of these faults, criticism is excellent. More often than not, however, I see hate absent reason.
But I really shouldn’t let it get to me. I should just shrug it off and let it go. I shouldn’t let it affect my writing. I need to just stick to my opinion in a post, without the need to start off expelling the opposing (and often predominant) viewpoint.
And so, that’s one of my major “points for improvement” that I want to work on. Easier said than done, especially since I’m a blogger that focuses primarily on opinion and emotion…