Pokemon and Lilo and Stitch

There are several similarities between the TV shows Pokémon and Lilo & Stitch concerning the nature of the characters, the nature of the enemies, and plot. The main character, a human, seeks as many made-up creatures, which can be identified by name or number, and which live in balls, as possible. However, in Pokémon, the main character, a 10-year-old boy named Ash, captures and uses the Pokémon for battle, and the main character in Lilo & Stitch, a young girl named Lilo captures and finds jobs for Dr. Hämsterviel’s evil “experiments” that would benefit society. Both shows feature enemies who are bent on stealing the main character’s fictional creatures. In Pokémon, Team Rocket (consisting of Jessie, James, and a Pokémon called Meowth) is intent on stealing Ash’s Pokémon, and in Lilo & Stitch, Gantu and his sidekick, and “experiment” called Reuben, plan to steal Lilo’s “experiments” and return them to Dr. Hämsterviel. Both shows also have characters whose purpose is to ostracize the main characters: in Pokémon, Gary Oak brags to Ash that he is better than him. In Lilo & Stitch, Mertle Edmonds and her friends constantly mock Lilo by saying she is weird.

Lilo & Stitch is very similar to Pokémon. In both shows, the main character strives to get as many

creatures as possible while warding off someone who attempts to steal his or her creatures.

Although Lilo & Stitch was based on a book, it is quite possible that Disney allowed Pokémon to

influence its plot.

Big Herm

What I want to see from the anime industry

Hey everyone,

I keep hearing that the anime industry is doing poorly because of fan subbers. I sometimes hear what they plan on doing about it but I never see anything implemented and if it is implemented its not very innovative. I mean they have way more resources at their hands than fansubbers do, but they are held up over licensing all the time. I mean look anime comes to the US much later than it comes out in Japan. If its popular it’ll come out faster, if not…it could be a long wait.

People online like watching things as they come out in Japan and are often not looking for high quality. I problem I have with the anime industry is that they expect you to want to add to a collection and no just watch it once and get over it. Also, they think you want to hear the dub, which is usually not true. Granted dubbing (if its good) has allowed some anime like Pokemon and Dragonball Z to become mainstream, but most anime is not going to become mainstream. I’m sure the industry is smart enough to be able to tell which ones have a chance of going mainstream or being watching by people who are not “otaku.” I think dubbing may increase the cost of the DVDs (although I’m not completely sure) because the actors have to be paid too. The cost of those DVDs are ridiculous sometimes. I mean $35 for four episodes. They could continue to dub, but sell one without a dub maybe for a limited time to see if its viable at first.

Although the Anime Network for TV failed it doesn’t mean that something like that for the internet wouldn’t work. If they did that with subs that were notablely good and the quality of art showed through I think a considerable amount of people would watch them even if they came out later than the fansubbers. I wonder how many people watch the anime on Cartoon Network’s Jetstream and adultswim.com in comparison to on the TV. It’s a good idea that is limited by the amound of anime that CN has access to.

I know I’m dreaming now, but if the different companies got together they could form a really nice website.

If the industry is really doing as poorly as I hear then innovation and revamping is necessary. Whether or not they revamp I think their will be a shift in the type of jobs available there, so some people are bound to lose their jobs. And at this time in the US considering we’re at the beginnning of a recession its not going to be easy for anyone to buy things or get new jobs.

Kagehime

PS. I just learned that some companies are becoming smarter. Gonzo for example is now beginning to work with Crunchyroll.com, which is a website that allows people to watch fansubbed anime and dramas.

Manga to put on your reading list

Hey everyone,

There’s a lot of manga out there that deserve to be noticed. I’m not saying they should get a naruto or bleach fan base or anything, but I think more people should know about them and read them.

I have to say I started reading Superior, because it looked so stupid. Basically it was a joke, but then I got addicted to it. But isn’t that usually the case? That’s how I started watching Pokemon. (Of course I don’t anymore, but that first season was pretty good). Anyways this manga is about a hero who was sent out to kill the demon lord, but somehow or other she ends of joining his group and falling in love with him. And the whole time she has to hide her true identity. Sounds implausible I know, but it is funny and the art is really beautiful.

I like The Hour of the Mice of a completely different reason. It’s a seinen manga about a supposed private academy for gifted students that’s actually a research lab. Once these test subjects realize that their school is also a research lab and they’re just guinea pigs (or mice in reference to the title) they want to escape. The truth is brought to the school by a mysterious student that only one boys seems to faintly remember. Is there something else going on here? Read and find out.

I hope you enjoy

Kagehime

Death Note in America

Hi everyone,

Okay so now you know how Death Note affects China and Korea, but what about America (beyond Madonna)?

Well a high school student in Virginia was caught with a Death Note. Okay not a real one, but basically it was a hitlist with other students names. Here’s a link to the situation on nbc12.com. Unfortunately someone didn’t know how to spell Japan. They wrote Japen instead. I thought someone was supposed to edit what was typed for the news networks. Apparently not. Click here.  It’s a lot of publicity for anime and manga but not in the way that anyone wants. Its probably going to end up as another ban in schools. Remember when Pokemon cards were banned?

There’s also a website for death note where you can type in how you want someone to die.  Here. Sounds scary? If you don’t want to write in it, you can read what others have written and I have to say people are mean when they can hide their identity. But then doesn’t the manga Death Note teach us that?

Kagehime

Music in American Cartoons versus Japanese Anime

Hey everyone,

I know not everyone has watched anime or heard of J-pop before. I’m fairly certain you have seen various American cartoons ranging from Garfield, The Simpsons, Xmen, The Fantastic Four, or something newer like the Fairly Odd parents or Danny Phantom. The songs in the opening usually are the same through the show and so are the scenes that are shown with the opening credits.

Anime is different the opening songs and images change. Also, the songs are made with kaoraoke so that the viewer can sing along. Often the songs are made by popular Japanese singers like Tamaki Nami who sings Realize and Believe for the Gundam Seed franchise. The singers often make the song for the anime as with Snow for Jigoku Shojo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGaHuEF0ono&feature= related SNoW – sakasama no cho [jigoku shojo version].

Some anime has awesome music that sounds oddly similar to a western band. The music in the anime Trigun, for example, sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgGb817mPlQ trigun opening

American tried to have a popular pop band do a cartoon song once and guess what it was for? Anime. And guess who was the band? ‘Nsync. Unfortunately, the only song they decided to do for a cartoon was the Poke rap for Pokemon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G71enrqDI_o I’m not sure whether or not to think that’s sad. I mean at least pokemon was successful, but then so was ‘Nsync. Where are they now?

Apparently Americans aren’t for singing along with their cartoons. Maybe we just want something catchy enough to catch our attention instead of something to listen to in the car and sing along with. I for one have been known to watch anime just for the opening and ending songs which I have never done for an American cartoon. For cartoons I was definately watching them for the content, not the fluff.

And don’t worry if the quality of the songs for anime is better, because American’s popular songs go into movies so the quality is better there. Besides the music’s targeted to different audiences in America and Japan. Anime targets a wider range of age groups than Cartoons and therefore the music listening age groups demand good music. While in America the Cartoons are targeted to children who have not learned to care yet. Of course you can always dispute me.

Kagehime

Tamaki Nami