An Amazing Summary of Otaku Vernacular

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=29911

Ever since I started watching anime and learning about the world of otakus, I've run into a plethora of terms that resemble complete gibberish to both Japanese and English ears alike. I've been able to understand a few of them over time, but still a lot escapes me. I mean, this is slang that has been in development since the early 80's.

Fortunately I've been directed to this amazing link. On the animesuki.com forum, someone has taken the time to define, annotate and provide examples for some of the most notorious terms around. And the scope of knowledge and history provided is almost breathtaking. How he goes into the story behind Kyoto Animation, or the development of the ero-game as opposed to the (dirty) hentai games already available. Etymology, history, geek culture combine to be utterly fascinating.

Some amazing points:

Moe~ is an unexplainable property that is devoid of sexuality or even gender, but is easily induced.

The otaku industry is a multi-million dollar industry based on evoking the feelings of moe~.

Did moe~ exist before otaku culture? Or did otaku culture serve to create moe~ within a harmless anime watching community?

Covered are also the tsundere template, sekai-kei ("you, me, and the rest of the world" anime genre), kyun kyun (Robotech?!??!), and Yashigani.

Oh man this is so great, time for sleep.

Movie Wrap Up

Brick

Saw it in the theaters, and it was worth every non-matinee penny. Brick is a very stylish movie, high school kids acting aloof and above the (vice-principal's) law, spouting lines that would sound natural coming out of Bogart's pursed lips. But even though it is a readily apparent noir circle-jerk, the story is riveting and the characters are charming, especially Joseph Gordon-Levitt's main proto-gumshoe. Don't try to think about it as a highschool life kind of movie. It's just a convenient way to avoid all the issues with it being set in an adult world. This movie's gonna be big on DVD, to the tune of say Donnie Darko and such. There are so many great lines in this movie.

Dead Man

Kind of like a western Straw Dogs. Johnny Depp goes from Cleveland Tweeds to Frontier Fur Coat, kills bald marshalls and cross dressing punk icons along the way. Also a fat Indian fucks in the forest. Like other Jarmusch movies, all the characters in Dead Man are aloof and cryptic in their speech and motives. But William Blake's transformation and subsequent journey is a fascinating thing to watch. And like most Jarmusch films, right when you're asking "How the fuck is this movie gonna end," he knocks you on your ass with a scene that couldn't end it any better. Spielberg should take notes on how to end a movie.

El Topo

A Western, but not (but it is). I wish I could play the trailer that was on the DVD, because it made it seem like the greatest movie ever made. In fact, that's a direct quote from the trailer. And you know what? It is. Just not in this dimension. El Topo (Jodorowsky himself) is a gunslinger in leather who does things with thin motives. Then some crazy things happen, and he becomes a golden god. Then some other things happen, and the movie ends. Here's some of the images that appear in this movie (in no particular order):

- Pile of dead rabbits on fire
- Legless midget riding armless midget
- Midget/non-Midget sex for entertainment
- Child shot in face
- Woman eating Prickly Pear in the most unnatural way
- Sandy Sex

Just go watch it.

Alice

Jan Svankmajer reimagines Alice in Wonderland as a hodgepodge of the classic phobias that haunt children's dreams. Yes the images are amazing and the ideas are fantastic, but the pacing is all wrong. Like its really shocking when all the woodland animals are really animal skeleton chimeras, but not so interesting when they extend that scene for a good 15 minutes. Jan really wants you to stare at the ugly White Rabbit, more so than you're comfortable with, and it really kills the film. 2 out of 3 of us fell asleep when we were watching it.

If it were a picture book, you could skip every two pages and still have the complete story.

Super Mario Bros. Super Show / Legend of Zelda

To this day, when I think of what Mario and Luigi should look like in real life, I think of Lou Albano and Danny Wells. My sincerest apologies to Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. The cartoon is dismal, but the live action segments are great. See!:

- the Marios deal with goth music
- the Marios learn to dance from Shabba-Doo
- the Marios get threatened by Magic Johnson
- the Marios get punked by Winnie from the Wonder Years
- Lou Albano in Drag

Pretty much fantastic, especially the shabba-doo episode.

Legend of Zelda is so great in every way. Sexual tension, convoluted plot devices, wit, its all there. And remember that catch phrase, "Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess!"? Yeah I'm gonna say that more. Sprite is the pixie hotty that Winona Ryder based an entire career emulating.