Mystic

If you’re reading this post, chances are you probably were around back in the late-90s and early-2000s; however, some of you probably don’t remember anime before BitTorrent came into prominent use. Back in the day, the only two available sources of anime in the internet were IRC or the good, ol’ HTTP direct download. Not a whole lot of people figured out how to utilize IRC, (Since it’s not exactly “user-friendly”) so the best way to get distributed was through direct downloads.

But, what’s the problem with direct downloads? You’ve probably already guessed it: bandwidth. When I say bandwidth in regards to anime on the internet, I mean the measured amount of web traffic going out of a person’s website. Web hosts have the ability to set the amount of bandwidth a person is allowed to have and charge for excessive bandwidth use. Naturally, video files like anime are huge and eat up a site’s bandwidth extremely fast, making it hard for fansubbers to place files on a website for easy distribution.

Solution? There was none yet, but there was a way for them to ease the blow: reduce the filesize of each episode; this is done through various methods employed by fansubbers. Groups would often cut out the opening and ending theme, shrink the framesize, and drop the quality. To give you a good idea, here are some screens of early fansubs. The result is something like this:

The screens here are from early fansubs of both Love Hina and The Vision of Escaflowne, respectively. Note that these have not been scaled to fit into the page, but the actual framesize. Today, some of us otaku complain when a 1280×720 version of an episode is not released; try eight years ago when it wasn’t a surprise for a file to be no more than 320×240. (As shown by the screens above) Larger-screened anime files did exist back then, but these small files facilitate direct downloads and don’t kill bandwidth as much. (In fact, the Love Hina file in the picture was only 32mb; shocking, right?)

Another good example of early anime distribution (… and the reason I came up with this post) is Ranma 1/2. Back in the day, AsukaAnime.net provided direct download Ranma episodes, going chronologically and giving 4 episodes a week. The files were available in .rm format, which all of you probably still remember but don’t care about. (Nobody uses RealPlayer anymore)

Today, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and re-watch Ranma 1/2 from the beginning. (But now in better quality) Like most things nostalgic, the memory is much better than the event itself; after all, our minds are programmed to put us in the limelight, along with blurring and exaggerating emotions experienced during an event.

I remembered Ranma 1/2 as an incredibly quirky and fun romantic-comedy that I would look forward to watching each and every day. I remember feeling directly immersed in the lives of the Saotome and Tendo families, along with being involved in the complicated love connections. But… looking back at it today as a jaded anime fan, I’ve found the English voice-actors to be so terribly cheesy and the events to be rather slow-moving. Comparing it to other shows I’ve seen, the studio behind Ranma felt like they tried really hard to stretch and reach the 20 minute time-frame of an episode; employing judicious use of panning stills, (un)dramatic pauses, and some repeated frames, Ranma 1/2 feels only three steps above post-18 Evangelion.

Looking back at it now, what do I think about Ranma? Honestly, the characters are still as endearing as I remembered them; Akane is still the lovable tomboy I remembered, and Ranma is still the sarcastic martial artist I’ve grown to love over seven seasons. The fighting scenes are quite satisfactory; battles are animated and complete with motion blurs and body movement. (Which is more than I can say for atrocities like Star Ocean EX)

If you’re a fan of more recent anime, I implore you to go back and give Ranma 1/2 a shot. This series, created in early-1989 (Which makes it like slightly older than I am, believe it or not) existed in a time before every single series had synthesized j-pop songs littering it to the very core. While Ranma did show early symptoms of implementing those big anime-saucer-eyes prevalent in all anime today, it was not as bad as it is now. It may be a breath of fresh air for you to go back into the past and revisit old classics such as Ranma 1/2.

When P2P became all the rage, it hit us hard in the face. (… and hit the music industry even harder. Like, we’re talking level 70 Undead Rogue ganking a level 40 gnome mage here; that hard.) Suddenly, bandwidth wasn’t exactly the top concern amongst those looking to distribute anime anymore. Media began to be distributed in its intended filesize via applications like BitTorrent and Limewire, and the fansubbing movement really took off. Instead of just promoting the genre, now anime fansubs (… along with other media) really had the potential to harm the industry; file quality started to rival its DVD and VHS counterparts and anime became much easier to distribute. (I won’t even get into YouTube)

Today, we’ve got a jumbled mess of a situation; news of dying companies come to no surprise. Recently, Geneon USA has closed its doors and Hirameki International ceases to exist. (Though in the case of Hirameki, it’s more of its product un-marketability than anything) Today, various industries fight hard to find a middle-ground between what the fans want and what the companies want; ADV Films is trying to find new and innovative ways to encourage product purchases.

I can’t believe I wrote a long post documenting the dynamic history of anime and the internet, all because I watched a little Ranma. Sheesh.

According to AnimeNewsNetwork, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion will be airing on Adult Swim, the premier anime television block in the US. Needless to say, I’m quite happy about this. Now I can talk all about it to the casual anime fans that litter this part of the world.

… Let’s all hope the yaoi fangirls of America can find new and interesting positions for Lelouch and Suzaku.

Chulouch is quite happy about this, as well. Yes he is.

There must be something definitely wrong with a series when in the ads, TokyoPop proudly exclaim “Fan service, novel style!” I didn’t really understand the concept of reading fanservice till I picked up Love Hina - Volume 1. For those not in the know, fanservice happens to be any action that is used to cater to the fans, such as convenient panty shots, hot springs episodes, or giant explosions. I’m usually not such a huge fan, since anything that requires you to look over your shoulder to watch can’t possibly be a good experience.

Honestly though, I did enjoy the Love Hina anime, despite it being composed entirely of fanservice; (The setting is a hot springs resort, for goodness sake.) it was the anime that introduced me to harem-types and I’m forever grateful to it. When I saw this book on the shelves, I hastily picked it up. Since I knew the characters it would be easy for me to get used to the story, making it quite an easy read.

I was treated with two new side stories instead of a retelling of the story’s events, (Which I’ve been getting used to) written not by the mangaka Ken Akamatsu, but actually by the anime scriptwriter Kurou Hazuki. This normally spells bad news for fans, since a different person couldn’t possibly create the same atmosphere as the mangaka would… or so I thought. Hazuki does an excellent job creating a story and using the characters in much the same way Ken Akamatsu would have. Though, it really does show that many actions done in anime don’t transition well into the book. Take the ever omnipotent Naru punch for example, which is probably an image captured better on screen than in words.

Now, onto the core of Love Hina, the fanservice. Kurou Hazuki tried hard to mimic the perversity found in the source material, and in a sense he succeeded; it’s just the media difference that changes the effect. Kitsune doesn’t feel as foxy in the novel, Naru doesn’t effectively send off tsundere waves of love-hate, and Shinobu isn’t as cute.

You’ll probably only enjoy this book if you’re a fan of Love Hina. Due to its status as a side story, you’ll be tossed into their world with barely any introduction as to who these people are and why they are there, assuming you already know who you are dealing with. Beginners will find themselves a bit lost in the mayhem and LH veterans will feel right at home with the atmosphere. For those who haven’t watched the Love Hina anime as of yet, I strongly recommend you to try it if you’re looking to get into harem-type anime. (Harem veterans don’t apply here, since you probably have watched this one anyway.)

I was looking through blogs the other day and I found our good friend down at Denizen to be on hiatus. Those who own their own blog or domain know, “hiatus” translates to “abandoned” much of the time. It’s always a shame to see another anime blogger go, but that really begs the question: Why do some bloggers go and some stay?

I have no doubt in my mind that some really do quit the blogging scene because life catches up to them and they have other priorities besides writing online; it’s hard to invest time into something intangible instead of something like a job or a social commitment. But what about the other portion of people who leave without notice and presumably without reason? They leave because they don’t receive feedback.

If blogging was a fire, comments would probably be the wood; people write because they want feedback from like-minded individuals. When I hear people say they “blog for the sake of writing,” I can’t help but to call them on it. If you really didn’t care about the comments, why don’t you just write in a journal instead? It would save you the trouble of setting up a wordpress account or using up a precious database. Why? Because we don’t admit it, we love it when people care about our posts.

So to all prospective anime bloggers out there, give yourself some exposure. You may have the most interesting post in the world, but no one will see it if your blog is in the shadows. Apply to be put in post antennas like AnimeNano and AnimeBlogger.net Antenna, comment on other blogs, (I need to work on this a bit more) and chat with other bloggers.