Jonathan Clements Joins Nakama Britannica to Discuss Anime

V

VivisQueen

Adventurer
Hey everyone,

The Nakama Britannica team is very pleased to announce that Jonathan Clements, prolific author of Schoolgirl Milky Crisis, translator, and regular contributor to Neo Magazine, will be joining us on our show to discuss the influence of Japanese culture on anime.

We'd love the community to get involved, so we're taking fan questions to put to Mr. Clements. Any questions pertinent to the theme are very welcome. Of course, we can't guarantee that we'll include all questions posted here since there are time constraints, but will try to get the most interesting included in our discussion.

With that said, ask away!
 
Awesome news recently broke when VivisQueen <a href="http://forums.animeuknews.net/viewtopic.php?t=16277">announced</a> that one of the UK&rsquo;s most knowledgeable minds on anime and Asian culture will be joining the <a href="http://nakama-britannica.animeuknews.net/">Nakama Britannica</a> team for a discussion on Japanese culture and anime. In a statement sent out to the forum VivisQueen said:

<em>Hey everyone,

The Nakama Britannica team is very pleased to announce that Jonathan Clements, prolific author of Schoolgirl Milky Crisis, translator, and regular contributor to Neo Magazine, will be joining us on our show to discuss the influence of Japanese culture on anime.

We'd love the community to get involved, so we're taking fan questions to put to Mr. Clements. Any questions pertinent to the theme are very welcome. Of course, we can't guarantee that we'll include all questions posted here since there are time constraints, but will try to get the most interesting included in our discussion.

With that said, ask away!</em>

The Nakama Britannica team podast has quickly established itself as a popular and informed source of anime discussion and has covered a diverse range of topics from the sci-fi seinen series <a href="http://nakama-britannica.animeuknews.net/2012/05/05/podcast-the-6th-urasawa-x-tezuka-pluto/">Pluto</a> to the works of <a href="http://nakama-britannica.animeuknews.net/2011/11/02/nakama-britannica-episode-2/">Satoshi Kon</a> to the magical world of <a href="http://nakama-britannica.animeuknews.net/2011/11/02/nakama-britannica-episode-3-the-vision-of-escaflowne/">Esaflowne</a>. Most recently they have embarked on a retrospective of <a href="http://nakama-britannica.animeuknews.net/2012/08/11/podcast-fantasy-vii-yoshiaki-kawajiri-pt1/">Yoshiaki Kawajiri&rsquo;s works </a>Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku and Cyber City Oedo 808. This is not the first time that they have had a high profile guest from the world of UK anime and manga since they have had a discussion with <a href="http://nakama-britannica.animeuknews.net/2011/12/07/podcast-goes-fourth-interview-special/">Helen McCarthy</a>.

To submit any questions you may have to Jonathan Clements head on over to the news forum and reply in the thread.
 
Hype news! After reading SMC I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of Mr. Clements, but it should make for a really interesting episode all the same.
 
regular contributor to Neo Magazine
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Hmm. I don't know who this man is, but this piece of information does not whet my appetite...

Could be an interesting subject of conversation though. I think it's hard to avoid the topic of how anime reflects and has been influenced by the repression that seems to be inherent in Japanese culture. I'm constantly reminded of this when I watch anime, and in different ways. Sometimes it's quite obvious, and at other times it feels like the Japanese do the opposite and just go completely apeshit berserk (in often genuinely disturbing ways)with anime, because repression, conformity and strict formality is so strong and pervasive in real society over there. It kind of manifests itself in these bizarre outbursts often seen in anime (and other mediums).

Another major theme that is particularly prominent theme in anime and which is consistent in Japanese culture in general, is something of an obsession with youth. Japan does seem to put youth on a much higher pedestal than many cultures, and it's nowhere more evident than in anime. Of course, there are both positive and negative arguments that can be made for this extreme appreciation of youth. On the positive, it seems to me that generally speaking the Japanese as a people are quite fond of young children. On the negative, an idealized version of youth (most of all is the very sexualized secondary school girl) is so often worshiped, that I think it could make growing older (even for relatively still young people!) in that culture, quite an frightening prospect.

These are probably the two biggest cultural things that strike me about Japan from watching anime. Though I think I've already wrote a whole conversations worth all by myself :p but feel free to bring these points up with the guest.
 
vashdaman said:
regular contributor to Neo Magazine
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Hmm. I don't know who this man is, but this piece of information does not whet my appetite...
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Jonathan Clements is one of the most knowledgeable anime critics in the UK. He should be familiar to anybody who watched anime on the Sci-Fi channel because he would introduce anime films and give context/info on the title/staff/cast/history/culture. I have old VHS tapes with him on.
 
Dig out the old Appleseed OVA disc from Manga, the Vexille release from Momentum, or Golgo 13 The Professional and whack the commentary on.

The Clementary is the anime equivalent of a Bey Logan commentary on a Martial Arts DVD.
 
vashdaman said:
regular contributor to Neo Magazine
Click to expand...

Hmm. I don't know who this man is, but this piece of information does not whet my appetite...
Click to expand...
He used to have a column in Newtype USA if that is any better. Most of his short neo columns (but not his monthly Manga Snapshot feature) get re-posted on his blog so you can sample them there, e.g.:
http://schoolgirlmilkycrisis.com/blog/2 ... -of-cards/

Just Passing Through said:
Dig out the old Appleseed OVA disc from Manga, the Vexille release from Momentum, or Golgo 13 The Professional and whack the commentary on.

The Clementary is the anime equivalent of a Bey Logan commentary on a Martial Arts DVD.
Click to expand...
Full list of Clementaries: http://schoolgirlmilkycrisis.com/blog/2 ... mentaries/
 
Thanks, I quite like that blog of his, especially as it covers stuff other than anime. I also sort of skimmed through his "wrong things about anime" presentation. He's pretty good, and I agree with his position that the Japanese anime industry is currently being too closed minded and clinging on to "moe" sales, to the detriment of everyone. Though I think the latest anime season was slightly less moe centric, wasn't it?
 
Hum...would this be ok?

Do you think Japanese culture has become less of a focus in anime? I mean even looking at pokemon, you had episodes and events focused on Japanese holidays (The Ghastly Episode had an end of summer festival, there was episodes for Kids Day and such).
 
^
That could be an interesting point, but I'm not sure that it really has becomes less of a focus. It seems to me, that the Japanese still love to put an interesting (or stupid, in some cases) slant on parts of their traditional culture and present it in animated form. For me, some of these are the best examples of anime.


Something that I've noticed a lot in anime, and in Japanese literature as well, is that endings are often quite open. They seem to put a lot more emphasis on the journey than the final destination. And another thing I've noticed that seems to run through Japanese literature, movies and anime, is that the Japanese like to meditate on the transience of life in their stories.

Those aren't really questions though lol. Maybe ask him how he feels the very old ceremonies or art forms such as Noh might have influenced how animated stories are made. Like, do makers of of anime still apply traditional concepts like Jo-ha-kyu? Or are they not payed much mind?
 
vashdaman said:
Thanks, I quite like that blog of his, especially as it covers stuff other than anime. I also sort of skimmed through his "wrong things about anime" presentation. He's pretty good, and I agree with his position that the Japanese anime industry is currently being too closed minded and clinging on to "moe" sales, to the detriment of everyone.
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And there I was thinking I was the only one who felt this way, being made to feel like a grumpy old git by the worshippers of "moe" telling me I should be "greatful". :lol:
 
Hey guys, a quick add-on. We're still looking for your questions to go alongside ours, so please fire as many as you can our way. We're aiming to get all the questions you have in for the 12th this month so we can go through them, etc so please get them in by then! Cheers.
 
Is there a stigma in Japanese society towards illness and death?

I have noticed that when anime/manga creators become ill or pass away the details are often very vague about what happened. Sometimes a Manga will go on hiatus because the creator has been 'hospitalized' and may stay on hiatus for several years due to ill health.

On a number of occasions it has been reported that somebody has passed away, but it has been several days until it is officially announced.

I have never been able to work out if they were more private about health matters, saw ill health as something shameful that shouldn't be talked about or if it just takes time for a story to break in English.
 
Re: Jonathan Clements Joins Nakama Britannica to Discuss Ani

Here are some of my questions (forgive me if they are silly and I look foolish and apologies to the people who have to read them out):

Japan has more of a consensus based culture than other countries and it has long had a assembly line approach to ideas which sees them published as manga/light novels and then, depending on popularity/size of fanbase, taken into other mediums such as live-action film, drama CD's, video games etc. Does this mix of cultural factors and business approaches increase the prevention of original ideas from flourishing since production companies/committees play it safe?

How esteemed are anime directors/creatives in mainstream culture?

The film critic David Thomson describes Japanese film as 'feminine' because of its female stars and strong female characters. How would you describe anime?

Tentacles. Slathering tentacles. Slathering tentacles and nubile women. This is merely a way of getting around strict censorship laws but I am curious as to whether there is, in some cases, the influence of H.R. Geiger - Xenomorph and bio-industrial sexuality / Hokusai's Dream of a Fisherman's Wife? / Lovecraft?
 
Re: Jonathan Clements Joins Nakama Britannica to Discuss Ani

Are you still taking questions? If so I have one.

A little while ago I have started work as a manga critic for a new magazine, MyM. Some people say it is pointless getting reviews from magazines because they are often out-of-date by the time they come out, and online reviews are much better. How can magazines improve so that our reviews, and indeed my reviews, can be made as appealing and as relevant to people so used to getting their news and views online?
 
Re: Jonathan Clements Joins Nakama Britannica to Discuss Ani

Apologies, but we've already put forward the questions that we're going to use. Time will be quite restricted for the interview, so we've had to be very selective about the questions. We've also edited a few of the submissions to make them as succinct and open as possible, so if anyone notices their suggestion appearing in a slightly altered format, please don't be offended.
 
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