It’s been a long time since I last blogged about anime or post up pictures from my DSLR. My apologies: I started working in the middle of last month, so it takes time to adjust to the timing and tempo.
That said, I’m happy to note that I’ve been updating myself on the latest trends in the anime spring season of 2009, but that’s not the point of this post.
Much of my topic now is about how Hollywood decided to milk the cash cow that is the Japanophilia trend: the rise of the anime/manga/gaming subculture (otherwise known as the ACG subculture). For sometime after the release of Dragonball Evolution, many critics have panned against the movie: the neutrals simply call it "a disaster" while those who followed the anime trends call it "a bad adaptation of the most loved anime series." I wouldn’t agree more with them: Hollywood failed to capture the hearts and minds of the fans, as far as I am concerned, as part of the ACG subculture. But my worry – and my greatest fear – is that should Hollywood perfected the milking process of milking the cash cow out of the ACG community, it becomes a "junp the shark" situation, where the relevance of the fan community surrounding a hobby whittles down to become nothing more than consumers. It’s like how Nintendo Wii totally changed the way the electronic games industry operates: no longer was the "hardcore gamer" the primary target audience, but the other, more "casual" gamers that really bought those expensive but otherwise useless accessories that Nintendo always bolted out every year or so. The "elite" status that goes along with being part of a subculture that requires an in-depth knowledge of various kinds of stuff: voice actresses, variety of mecha names and their respective pilots, the insane number of girls you can go out with (from eroge, of course), and the directors and producers that make your favourite anime series. Oh, let’s not forget the mangaka that made those pretty manga that you bothered to buy/read. For how long this "allure" of the ACG subculture will continue to charm me remains to be seen. I still hold onto my hobby, and knowing the trap that goes along with the "buy more expensive gear to improve your photography" meant that I will still be taking my own sweet time to delve deeper into the photography subject. But anime is losing its charm on me. Let’s face it: the fan community is fractured now, a particular saga has left me in tatters about supporting an industry that literally bites the hands of their consumers, Hollywood is intent on making more adaptations from anime/manga, threatening to make the hobby "more mainstream", and of course, hitting the quarter-life crisis, which has led me to question my relevance in spending too much time about myself, and more time seeking a significant other. It will be either that, or further my studies. It’s been particularly painful for me: all the Newtype and Animage magazines I acquired in the last year needs to go now. I will have to sell off whatever remains that is related to anime, and sadly figurines are absent in my collection. I will go to one corner now and cry. T_T
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