Anime Day #7: Is Anime Cosplay by "Westerners" Racist?

~Nauri @DeviantArt

If a white man put on black face and started dancing around singing "Mr. Bones," it would be racist. We can all agree that Minstrel shows are racist. Some Japanese Cosplayers are now arguing that Westerners who don Cosplay costumes are being racist in the same way. The internet isn't buying it.


This Youtube account makes that claim: "Cosplay Are Not for Fun."

"We Asians create Cosplay which now have become as one of the world's trends are with the purpose of to impersonate or to be the characters the person which known as cosplayers want to Cosplay, that is why cosplayers not only trying to wear the same dress, costumes, accessories, etc as the characters..."

Now, the first claim here is completely false. Cosplay actually goes back to the 1st World Science Fiction convention in 1939. Forrest J. Ackerman wore a futuristic costume made by Myrtle R. Douglas and inspired a trend that spread throughout the world.

As for the Cosplay of specifically Anime, activists like this Youtube user and similar Facebook campaigns make the assumption that all characters in Anime are Japanese. Some of the characters portrayed aren't even human. Is Final Fantasy set in Japan? (Psst, the answer is No.)

By that logic, then, this totally awesome Black Butler cosplay is racist for trying to portray Victorian-Era English demons.

Photo from DeviantArt ~BeBelial

Asians against Western Cosplay go on to cite that "Crazy Westerners" even go so far as to making their hair look like the character's. This is where they poke a giant hole in their own argument. How many Japanese girls have you met with HUGE blue eyes and blue hair?







But Most Cosplay IS Trying to Impersonate Japanese Characters


Okay. That's true. Here is the difference. I'm not going to tell a black man that he cannot Cosplay the very pasty Harry Potter. Though I believe that you should Cosplay your body type, I don't believe in limiting people to characters that look just like them because it's about Fantasy! It's not about reality. I am a tiny American girl named Amy who likes computers, so I like dressing up as a tiny Japanese girl named Ami who has an awesome Mercury computer.

The biggest difference in Cosplayers playing Asians and the horrid minstrel shows of the past is this: intent. When vaudeville stars put black makeup on with big lips and danced around, they were making fun of African Americans. When we don costumes of Asian characters, we are praising our favorite entertainment.

For closing remarks I would also like to point out that every channel or blog I have seen about "Crazy Westerners" and their "Racist Cosplay" goes on to generalize that we're rapists who treat people of Asian descent like property and nuke them. This one in particular deletes any comments contrary to her opinion and only posts the support. While I agree, the Japanese have the right to be mad at the American Government for Hiroshima and Nagasaki until the end of time, making generalizations about individual Westerners (clustering many diverse countries into one identity) is absolutely racist. Pot. Kettle . Thanks.

So Cosplayers, keep it up. If someone really chews you out at a Con for Cosplaying, then they have some seriously misplaced anger. We should appreciate that interest in other cultures can bring us together. Let's rejoice about what we share instead of lashing out over superficial differences.

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Ellipses...

I used to have a major problem with ellipses in my prose fiction. The following infographic is an illustration of my own internal battle every time I type, "..."

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My Favorite Things: Yellow

Once- a week for the past few weeks, I've posted a list of my favorite things, sorted by color theme. This week it's my FAVORITE color, yellow. Check it out below the jump or click the color blocks to see previous weeks.

Key:

A. Black-Eyed Susans

B. "I'm a Hufflepuff" (Honeybadger just takes what it wants).

C. CHEESE!

D. Coraline

E. Savannah College of Art and Design

F. Neil Gaiman's The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish

G. The color yellow

H. Duke's Mayonaisse

I. Yellow sports cars

J. Wolverine! (Bub)

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Around the Web

Web Sites Currently Linking Olympia Heights


Stuck in Books: The Cover Reveal

Bookish Brunette: In My Mailbox (Video)

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Book 2 Information Revealed!

Most teenagers just think they’re immortal. Six months ago fourteen students at Olympia Heights Senior High found out that they really are. Now summer vacation has begun and everyone has far too much free time on their hands.

Hormones, tempers, and the temptation of godly power get stirred up by a suspicious new gossip blog about their little slice of the Miami Dade County. Soon this blog, called Discordia, has the members of The Pantheon pitted against each other. Impulsive teenagers with ancient abilities make for a lot of collateral damage.

Look for it this Winter from Matter Deep Publishing. 

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Anime Day #6: Speed Grapher

As we approach AWA, my work gets more urgent and my costumes come together. Watching Anime at night has also become more urgent. I have to watch as much as I can so I can understand as much of the con as possible. Every year that I absorb anime, the experience becomes much more fun.

One Anime I just finished Tuesday night was a suggestion from a friend's wife. It's fairly new, but it's a great show with only a few minor flaws.

Speed Grapher is a contemporary anime about decadence and purpose. Tatsumi Saiga is a war photographer struggling to find his place during peace times. He works for a newspaper and feels like he has no muse. One night he goes to investigate a rumor about an elite club for the upper-crust, a club where debauchery is king, and finds himself in the middle of a mad-man's plan.

From the ceiling descends the Goddess, a tranced-out 14-year-old girl in a costume who kisses Saiga and unlocks hidden potential. Saiga is a euphoric and his deepest desire, to kill through his lens, comes true. Everything Saiga shoots in focus with film in his camera explodes. Saiga rescues the girl, daughter of the richest woman in Japan, and the adventure begins.

The cast includes a terribly designed crazy cop (Saiga's almost-girlfriend, whose design vastly improves with the addition of a coat towards the very end), super-gay Bob, and a host of excellent villians. The mastermind behind it all, Mr. Suitengu, is smooth and calculating. He is one of the greatest anime villians in that he is utterly despicable, but at the half-way mark suddenly becomes someone you root for.

I said a few things about Speed Grapher while I was watching it. First was that the show was like watching someone waterboard a bunny. The girl, Kagura, is so innocent and sweet and watching her be rescued and dragged back in to her terrible life over and over is a bit emotionally draining. The second is that Speed Grapher is a show that says, "Nobody is good, everyone has a price-- except this one guy." Really there are a few guys who can't be bought, but that is still a good idea to remember as you watch the series.

The animation is beautiful and the story manages to tell a story of a relationship that cannot be defined. Everyone accuses Saiga of being a pedophile, but his love for Kagura is never romantic. The only other big problem that I saw with the show was that while the show said, "Look at this disgusting vice", the up-beat theme music said "Yay! Vice!" Thankfully the theme is dropped for the final episode, which has a meaningful end and plenty of explanation and closure for every question raised during the series.

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Music Spotlight: Indrid Cold

A couple months back a friend, Randy Webb, referred me to a local band for their music video. Webb is a talented artist and musician who does sound at Gip's Place blues shack (it's literally a BYOB tin shack in the woods where amazing musicians come to play) and makes his own guitars. I knew that the band, being linked to Randy, had to be good. And so I met Indrid Cold...

Alan, their drummer, sent me an unmastered preview of the track, Somniphobic. I shot the video with director Christian Strevvy in a four-hour shoot on a friday night. A month later the video was up, and here is the product. 

Today the band has released its EP (available at Amazon and iTunes). The four-track EP spans just over 16 minutes of music. It's a great rock sound with a clear, talented singer. Check it out. These guys deserve a chance.

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My Favorite Things: Orange

Last week we started the rainbow of favorite things with the color red. You can click on the red swatch below to see that post, or continue below the jump to see ORANGE!

Key:

A. Sunsets

B. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

C. Orange Juice!

D. Monarch Butterflies (also the Monarch on Venture Bros)

E. Nos Energy Drink (also good in Orange Juice!)

F. Autumn

G. Weasleys!

H. Fanta

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Anime Day #5: Gurren Lagann

"Yours is the drill that will pierce the heavens!"

My sister-in-law, Carly Strickland, pitched the show to my husband and I, like this: There are robot shows like Gundam that rely on some common perception of laws like science. It may not be perfect. Someone who knows anything about computers or biology might say "now wait a minute", but the basis is a twist on the laws of nature that we know. That is a robot show. Then we have Gurren Lagann, which knows no such laws and relies on willpower and speeches. There are no limits to how far your powers can go (it's over 9,000!) because that doesn't matter. This is a SUPER robot show.


Tengen Toppa (Heaven-Piercing) Gurren Lagann takes place on a future earth where humans are forced to live underground. Simon, an orphan whose job is to dig tunnels, is the best there is at what he does. Tremors and earth quakes are the biggest fear for these cave dwellers. Then there's Kamina. No idea what his job is, aside from causing problems, but he's loud and never wears a shirt. Kamina is a character not limited by silly things like limitations, and so he breaks Simon free from the earth and from any moral weaknesses and physical boundaries.

Now it turns out that the earth has been run by Beastmen who are keeping filthy humans under ground. They drive giant robots called Gunmen. Simon and Kamina break out of the tunnels with a Gunman found by Simon. It looks like a giant head and Simon uses a drill-like-key to power it. Once on the surface, however, Kamina and Simon meet up with tough-riflewoman, Yoko, who has great sexual tension with Kamina and wears practically nothing.

Together Kamina, Yoko, and Simon start acquiring Gunmen, followers, and start a revolution for human freedom. A MAJOR game-changer is thrown in during episode 8.


THIS EPISODE, THE LAST I CHECKED, HAS BEEN MISSING FROM NETFLIX INSTANT-WATCH FOR MONTHS. IF YOU ARE WATCHING ON NETFLIX, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU WATCH EPISODE 8 SOME OTHER WAY. YOU WILL MISS THE BIGGEST PLOT EVENT POSSIBLE IF YOU SKIP IT!


The only other thing I should say about this series is that 50% through it we skip ahead 7 years and it feels like a very different show for a while. We finally understand why humans were kept below the earth and then all hell breaks loose. It's awesome and heart-wrenching and makes you feel pretty great about the power of the human spirit.

So give Gurren Lagann a watch today and understand why that shirtless guy at the con in the cape keeps shouting "Don't believe in me-- believe in the me who believes in you!"

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Book Review: Vs. Reality

by Blake Northcott
★★★★★

Available for 99¢ on Amazon Kindle

Vs. Reality is a quick and engaging read that will keep you pressing that [Next Page] button until there's nothing left to read. The first volume is short, but creates an entertaining introduction to a series that promises longer future volumes. It's an amazing debut from a first-time author, blogger Blake Northcott.

I bought Vs. Reality on the reputation that Northcott had already built up as one of my favorite bloggers and tweeters. The thing that impresses me most about her reviews is that Northcott seems to be one of the few people out there who understands that Entertainment Value is value.

So often we see fun movies, novels, and TV shows discarded because they aren't artistic or deep enough or because they *gasp* have some kind of mass appeal. Rarely do we see anything involving super powers getting any kind of praise by the serious critics because they forget that not every movie has the same purpose as Black Swan. Northcott has never been one to shy away from praising the commercial action movies, so I knew that no matter what, Vs. Reality was going to be fun.

Vs. Reality tells the story of Donovan Cole, a fighter who is used to concussions and beat-downs. When a chance encounter with a mysterious girl drags Donovan into her serious drama, Cole takes a hit that triggers a glitch in reality and allows him to manifest super-human abilities based on his own self image.

Vs. Reality blends the aesthetic of a comic book movie with the mind-f#@& of a Chuck Palahniuk novel. There's the suped-up action balanced well with gritty imagery. If there is one thing that I noticed straight from the start of Vs. Reality, it's that Blake Northcott is amazing at writing uncomfortable imagery. At her best moments, her imagery gives you a shiver reminiscent of that nails on the chalkboard sound. At the very least it makes me think of some of the more cringe-worthy impressions from the Aeon Flux cartoons.

In the end, Vs. Reality is a lot of things. It's an adrenaline rush. It's a commentary on addiction. It's the source material for a future summer Blockbuster.

Spend that 99¢ and get yourself a Kindle copy of Vs. Reality. Don't have a Kindle? Read it on your iPhone, Mac, PC, Blackberry, etc... (see how).

The 2nd Volume comes out in October, 2011

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My Favorite Things: Red

I've decided, after seeing how a certain children's book coordinated with my purse at work the other day, that I want to do a whole series of my favorite things going through the colors (like a crayon box!)

Let's start in RAINBOW order with Red. See the key below the image.

KEY

A. Gryffindor house, Harry Potter. (Ravenclaw takes a close second)

B. Spider-Man and Marvel Comics

C. Netflix!

D. Lobstah (Lobster)

E. Apples

F. Target and my Target Debit card that saves me 5% on everything.

G. Coca Cola Classic. Not diet Coke.

H. 1) Terry Strickland Art and all of her awesome reds. 2) My husband wearing red (or painted on a red background, as is the case, here.)

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Anime Day #4: Planetes

Anime has a reputation for being about pointy-haired action heros cutting people in half, flashing underaged panties, ranting in shrill harpy-thing voices, transforming into robots, and narrating their special power-up moves in long monologues. Planetes is a different kind of anime.

Planetes takes place in space, but unlike Gurren Lagan or Galaxy Express, things like physics and science not only matter, they inspire the plot. Planetes is about a future earth, much like our own, where space travel is common place. Here's the problem: In the early days of space exploration, leaving debris in space didn't seem like much of a problem. Now mankind has learned that a penny floating in space can kill an entire commercial space shuttle full of innocent passengers. The fallout from a discarded rocket or debris from a crash can be devastating.

Tanabe, an idealistic young woman, joins the debris collection division of a major company. Her team is not so lovingly dubbed "Half Section" and they have little resources and less respect for doing their job. It's unprofitable and so their division only exists for the corporate tax write off. Her mentor, a nihilistic young Japanese man called Hachi Maki, has to teach Tanabe the ropes and the very real dangers of working out in space.

The show starts off with 3 or 4 episodes of Tanabe ranting about war, idealism, environmentalism, and compassion. If you wanted to punch Katie Holmes in Batman Begins, then you will want to throttle Tanabe. They do that on purpose. Tanabe does calm down and become a bit more realistic, though, and then things get interesting.

The plot takes a lot of interesting turns, ultimately leading down a road to a Jupiter expedition that explores a strained father-son relationship and brings in a well-organized group of terrorists. It's an amazing series with a fulfilling ending and some really beautiful writing.

http://www.amazon.com/Planetes-Complete-Collection-Nao-Nagasawa/dp/B000HT3876/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1312855105&sr=1-1

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Music Review- The Wombats Proudly Present: This Modern Glitch

Fans of the Wombats may remember their first album- Tales of Girls, Boys, & Marsupials. It was raw and the lyrics seemed to tell the story of a train-wreck man falling in love with the wrong women (his doctor, a stripper, the bride at a wedding). It was one of those albums that goes on loop in your car without a single track that you dislike enough to press "skip."

This Modern Glitch repeats that success. Sure, I have favorites, but the album, in its entirety, loops in my blue Focus as I drive to work, the the store, and to roller derby. It has been there since my birthday in early June with very little break.

The songs that stand out? "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)", "Techno Fan", "Perfect Disease", and "Last Night I Dreamt..." The lyrics are witty, the music is energetic, and the Wombats have evolved. They continue to maintain that clever honesty, but their raw, sometimes chaotic British rock has mated with electronic music to create an amazing new sound. It was not what I expected, but electronic music is the way of the future and it is welcome.

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AWA DOs and DON'Ts

Over the past few years I've joined the con scene. I've done AWA (Anime Weekend Atlanta) 3 years now and did Dragon*Con last year. I've journeyed with some more seasoned con-goers and, if I was financially able, would love to attend more.

Left to right- My husband (Kyle Strickland as Tuxedo Mask), Anna Heim (as Sailor Moon), Myself (as Sailor Mercury), Awesome T-Shirt Vendor (as Sailor Jupiter) and Ryan Brown (as Melvin)

Unfortunately, I'm now a Grad student. Money is not flowing.

Someone on the Anime Weekend Atlanta Facebook Group asked for DO's and DON'Ts. My list got too long for a Facebook reply, so here is my advice in long form. DON'Ts come first, so we can end on a positive note.

DON'T be rude. That girl who asks condescending questions, that guy who points out canonical flaws in costumes, and the attention-whore who spreads herself across the front of photos are NOT cool, even among nerds.

DON'T refuse photos, unless you're late for judging or a panel you're part of. If that's the case, explain. If you came in costume, you've asked to be photographed.

DON'T forget to hydrate. Heavy Cosplay + walking = heat stroke. I'd much rather have to unbuckle half my friend's costume for her so that she can pee than have to leave the con because she blacked out.

DON'T be a creeper. Shouting "SAILOR MERCURY IS HOT!" is fine, but overly-long hugs and groping are NOT Okay. Teen girls: don't spend the con stalking that cute Tuxedo Mask, especially when he's six years older and with fiance.

DON'T be late, you'll miss out on the fun!

DON'T tread on capes and trains.

DON'T host a panel and open it up to fan comments. That was hell.

DO pack cereal bars and water to save money on snacks. Experts- fill your hotel with cereal and microwave meals. Eating meals out quickly dwarfs a costume and admission budget. Save money for Manga and Pocky!

DO HYDRATE!

DO plan photo time into travel time if you Cosplay. I've spent the majority of my time at AWA in years past taking photos because my seamstress, Anna, is awesome.

DO get to costume judging early in case you need to pose or repair.

DO pack safety pins, superglue, and duct tape.

DO remember your spare camera batteries.

DO plan some plainclothes time so you can see the con.

DO make business cards with your blog, photobucket, flickr, or DeviantArt so people can see pics you took of them later.

DO double check all con rules before beginning costume construction. At AWA you cannot walk around hand-cuffed together, carrying realistic guns or metal weapons.

DO cosplay to your body-type/look. I'd make a poor Sailor Jupiter (short and skinny) and my husband would be a terrible Aang. Know your type. You'll get more love if you look like your character.

DO work a purse or pocket into your costume... unless you have an entourage.

DO practice poses beforehand so you can snap into them easily and so you know beforehand what is going to hurt in the long run.

DO shower Artists and Cosplayers with compliments.

DO remember that cosplayers come with different levels of skill, wealth, commitment, and talented friends. Cut the criticism from your conversations. "I love your boots" or "Speed Grapher is my favorite" are just fine, but if you really can't think of anything nice, zip it.

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Anime Day #3: FLCL

I'm still not quite sure what Furi Kuri (Fooly Kooly, for those Americans trying to say it) is, but whatever FLCL is-- is amazing. I was really luke-warm about the series at first. The first few episodes left me more confused than entertained. I have now come to see it as a brilliant piece of absurdist art.

FLCL is by the genius responsible for Neon Genesis: Evangelion. That said, it is a lot like Neon Genesis and at the same time not at all like Neon Genesis. Both shows are about a motherless boy who ends up dragged into a fight with robots from outer-space. Both shows have a spunky, loud-mouthed, fan-servicey girl, and both shows have lots of collateral damage. The similarities stop there.

FLCL is bizarre. The main character gets whacked on the head and then robots start sprouting out of his skull. His father is absolutely insane and the alien who threw his life into chaos fights with a guitar.

Like I said, it's bizarre. It's very weird. If you can stand to be confused for a few episodes, it starts to make enough sense to be able to be organized in your brain and then it's really, incredibly fun. I will say that not everything ever makes complete sense, but that is the point of absurdity. 

Even if you hate it, it's only 6 episodes. All-in-all it's shorter than one Lord of the Rings movie, so give it a chance. You might find that this splash of weird is exactly what you needed.

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Torching the Network

Amanda Hocking

A recent blog post by Beth Elisa Harris has me pretty upset. In this post, which you should read, she outlines a shameful incident on Smashwords that lowers the trust of an otherwise supportive Indie writing community. Though my publishing company does not utilize Smashwords, I still network with people who do and the incident still effects Indie publishers because it will have a ripple effect.

To sum it up for people who are allergic to links, a few people on Smashwords used a free demo download as reference to post abysmal reviews on other author's work so that they could move their own Indie works up the ranks. It's evil and it's potential damaging for every Indie book out there.


Regularly Indie Authors are supportive of each other. Amanda Hocking, the queen of Indie writing (who made 2 million dollars between 4/10 and 4/11 by publishing her own books) is an incredibly social person online. I'm friends with her on Goodreads and I watch as she adds more and more friends-- both fans and other writers. She tweets back and forth with her followers and seems genuine and ready to chat. Most of the Indie Writers I have had the pleasure to connect with on social networks are very nice people and we try not to discourage each other. Like good artists, we give constructive criticism without breaking anyone's spirit.

If we start spitting on each other's work and feuding online, we're all doomed. Indie books rely on reviews and word of mouth to spread. We don't have big advertising budgets or shelf space at Target. We can't use a connection in the New York Times to get a review. Buyers on Amazon aren't going to risk their dollar on an author who isn't famous, on a book they haven't passed by on shelves fifty times already, if it has a 2-star rating and a bunch of bickering on its wall.

This kind of  bickering spreads. It's drama and it doesn't just happen and settle like a grenade with a few shrapnel casualties. It's a dirty bomb. It explodes and infects with disease and toxins. It causes a ripple of ill-will. In retaliation more bad reviews are thrown back.

But Amy, you say, what if the books are really bad? Is it fair to buy a book and review it with the intention to hate it already? I say no.

Amy, I don't think you understand how business works. No. I do. Business in America is sick. We've set up a system where CEOs fail, tank their companies, and make off with a BONUS for failure. That doesn't mean that we can't correct it. The Indie Publishing scene, the main concentrate of it, was doing it right. If Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who built a multi-million dollar company, sold it, and created a multi-billion dollar company, believes we can do it with cooperation and kindess, then we can! Business can be mutually beneficial. Nobody reads just one book in their whole life. Indie books can open doors for other Indie writers. We can network and cooperate and form relationships with our customers rather than beat each other up for their dollar.

Independent Publishing has GROWN immensely in the last few years. Major publishing houses are afraid of what this will do to their bottom line. Clearly there is a mighty large pie that is only growing and we can all, with hard work, carve out a slice. If we make enemies, this will only make it that much harder for us.

Well, don't worry. Those people who did that were banned. I am very relieved that Smashwords took a stand and banned the users who did this, but the fact that it happened is still unsettling. If someone tried it, they might try it elsewhere (somewhere, perhaps, that non-writer customers will see like Goodreads or Amazon). There is also the likelihood that it already did damage to those writers they trashed by shaking their ratings, their trust, and their confidence.

So, if it happened to you, I am sorry. To everyone else I say play nice. Burning bridges is not the way to build an empire.

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