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From: 6600koga@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Jeffrey Koga)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: The _Rafu Shimpo_ Second Article Complete
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Date: 16 Mar 91 19:51:58 GMT
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[Reprinted without permission from _Rafu Shimpo_]
[From the Monday, February 4, 1911 issue of _Rafu Shimpo_]


The second article:

"Tech Drawings

Aside from the sex/erotic angle of anime, there are many
distinct reasons which come up again and again to explain
the collector's passion for Japanese animation.

'I first saw anime when I visited a friend at U.C. Santa
Cruz.  Even without knowing Japanese, the high quality of
the animation kept my attention.  I thought to myself, 'This
is cool, maybe I should go to college,'' recalled Summer
Side member Greg Johnston, tongue in cheek.  'But the other
thing is the maturity of the stories, compared to the stuff
Americans see on Saturday morning.'

Added Summer Side founder Alec Orrock, 'Anime treats viewers
like they can think.  It's not a simplistic 'good vs. bad'
mentality.  Both sides of a conflict have good and bad
characters.  And characters can die--no one is held sacred,
even though a main hero sometimes dies in combat.'

'I remember watching one series when a hero died, and an
American kid asked, 'So how will they bring him back to
life?''

Another powerful feature of anime is called 'mecha'
--referring to the mechanically creative aspects of anime.
Mecha is the art of designing futuristic vehicles, weapons,
cityscapes, etc., in detail worthy of an aerospace engineer.

The famous 'Transformer' toys are an offshoot of animation
mecha.  And in fact, within the Japanese market, mecha
designers are famous in their own right, separate from other
animators.

Says Disney's Russ Mooney, 'Japanese special effects are
great--the explosions, the lasers.  It requires clever
draftsmen, and lots of hard work.'

'Outside of novels, Japanese anime is the best source of
science fiction around,' says Jeff Roady, the entry guard at
a local comic convention, and a man who claims he can
translate anime--in spite of never having studied Japanese.

'I know one engineer,' Roady continued, 'who took a toy
model of a 'Valkyrie' jet from the 'Macross' series, and
showed it to some engineers at a well-known defense/
aerospace company.'

'They wouldn't let go of it.  They analyzed the design, and
then someone entered it into their simulation computer to
see if it would fly.  It did, and they still have the toy.'

It's impossible to know how true these stories are--at
conventions and club meetings, you expect to hear
sensational tales passed between people on the inside of the
anime world.  But for all the sophistication of mecha and
the mature story lines, there are likewise areas where anime
is weak and Western animation has the upper hand.

According to Mooney, whose Disney/Buena Vista Studios do
have animation studios in Japan, many poses originate from
manga, but they seem stiff and unnatural when translated to
anime.  Especially noticeable are the sharp motions of
running and fighting.

This is exacerbated by deadline pressures in the fiercely
competitive animation market of Japan.  Whereas good
American animators--such as Disney or Warner Bros--create
two or three drawings for every 3 frames of film, Japanese
animators generally save time and money by providing only
one drawing per three frames.

'Also in my opinion, Japanese animation doesn't show as much
emotion,' said Mooney.  'But emotion is the whole point of
American animation--sometimes to the extent of being
overdone.'

'With Anime a lot is implied.  Often they will pan in on a
character's eye, and the eye will quiver.  An emotion is
implied, but it's almost imcomprehensible if you're not
familiar with Japan and manga.'

Through their appreciation of anime, a lot of collectors
will also become fans of the Japanese concern for quality in
general.  You can hear despair when they talk about Saturday
morning cartoons in the U.S., and the vein continues to
topics