Emru Townsend died from leukemia yesterday.

I'm sure most people reading this wouldn't have known Emru, which is a real shame.

From his own capsule bio:I never met him in person, but spent lots of hours chatting with him after meeting him through the Miyazaki Mailing List back in the early and mid 90's. He was starting up a magazine called FPS which unlike other magazines out at the time, embraced a very holistic, unified view of animation appreciation for works from home (Emru was Canadian, home of the amazing Canadian National Film Board, underwriter of countless works of amazing, beautiful independently animated works unlike any standard commercial productions) and abroad which was similar to my own at the time.

Back then, I was a starry-eyed would-be animator going to film/animation school who regularly attended international animation festival screenings, loved works from the Disney, Warner Brothers, Fleischer, and other domestic studios, and was a big anime junkie nuts overv Miyazaki and working on a collaborative fan translation of one of Studio Ghibli's latest works, Omohide Poro Poro (aka Only Yesterday). In those days (and while less so, still some today), anime was largely looked down on by the US animation old guard and at the same time, anime fans largely looked down on most other animation, a diametric opposition that I did my best to fight against from both sides. Neither side seemed to be willing to look much at the merits of what the other one offered, or were even aware at times that such merits existed, or of what each had in common.

When Emru invited me to write for his new 'zine, I jumped at the chance (I'd already done some guest articles before for the old Animag and V-Max mags of questionable quality), and did a column on the unified animation appreciation theme titled "Cel Compositions" for the initial couple of issues, along with one or two reviews (I believe the Streamline dub of Megazone 23 part 1 was one of them).   Emru's view of animation, its history, and its potential was largely similar to my own, and it was refreshing to talk to him about the works that excited us. 

After a couple of issues, a number of things occured that shook my worldview of anime and of how I felt it was neccessary to analyze it, and I lost contact with Emru while I was working it all out.  On top of this, my 2D animation-related career path hit a dead end and my enthusiasm for US-produced commercial animation largely dried up with it (a lot of it frustration with the idea that animated feature works had to all be musicals to be sucessful). I remember when I was in film animation school, I had seen the direction 3D CG animation and cel-shading were taking things, and could see the writing on the wall for the traditional commercial animation industry even back then (but wasn't able to do much myself to anticipate it skill-wise), even if most of my colleagues and teachers then were unable to see CG with no more potential than as a clunky-looking, mechanically moving novelty, and bemoaning this to Emru on at least one occassion.  

I switched mostly to full-on appreciation of anime and manga and increased my intake of shows fresh from Japan in raw Japanese, widening my taste for various genres within the medium so as to fill part of a craving for variety and perspective (lately a new season can have over 30 new anime programs which widely range in material aimed at a variety of discreet demographics), and became less focused on the works of Studio Ghibli and artsier productions. I lost touch with Emru as I stopped being involved in the Miyazaki list and had nothing I really felt like contributing to the magazine.  I kept collecting FPS for a while, but it disappeared from the newsstands and I feared it had met the end of its run. Searches on the web didn't yield much, it was almost like the magazine never existed.

Years later, in 2005, I was looking FPS up again and discovered it had in fact come back as a web-zine and had been running again for a while, still under Emru, of course. I had changed emails twice since I last talked with him, and had lost his contact info, so the site allowed me to find his new contact info and I sent him a message to try to catch up (it turned out he had in fact tried to contact me when the magazine resumed, but couldn't find my current email info). We had a brief exchange and he asked me if I'd like to write for FPS again, even as just a blogger for the site. I told him I'd think about it but that I wasn't as much an animation generalist as I used to be.

Here's part of his kind reply, the second to last time I heard from him:


We exchanged a few mails but his last reply in December of 2005 got lost in the holiday message shuffle and I never really thought of anything to contribute, so I never got back in touch again, sadly. For a while FPS's site was pretty inactive, then it switched more to group blogging effort and started to move again. Still, I just wasn't as into independent animation and non-anime animation as I used to be, so I didn't keep close tabs on it.

Anime News Network had apparently reported on Emru's condition twice previously, but I missed it as the headlines were vague and didn't refer to him by name. It was only this latest ANN post there that alerted me to the matter, after the fact. :(   He apparently even had a blog in which he documented his fight with the cancer, the effort to get the needed marrow transplant, the successful finding of a matching donor, and the loss of when the transplant failed to do any good.     

I've been upset, sad, and angry all day today. To honor him, I watched the three shorts today that were most recently linked to on the FPS site.

The first (from Australia)  The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello is a dark, gothic work done in silohuettes similar to the works of Lotte Reiniger (The Adventures of Prince Achmed) mashed up with Edward Gorey.



The other two are two Canadian National Film Board works linked to here :

http://www3.nfb.ca/webextension/get-animated/index.php?fid=1#player

Flutter by Howie Shia is a nice, atmospheric piece while At Home with Mrs. Hen is more a domestic comedy or moral lesson, perhaps?  

I'll probably go out of my way to find some other diverse animated works from around the world or dig out some I haven't watched in a while from my own collection again.   Emru may have been a casual net acquaintance, but this loss has affected me profoundly.   I wish I had tried to get back in touch again. 

(Edit: I mistakenly thought the first one was Canadian, too--thanks to Tamu Townsend for the correction.)

The new season's been pretty overwhelming.  There's a huge number of shows as usual for fall and spring seasons, and while the ratio of good ones is quite high, the range of genres is somewhat narrow in scope this time.  I'm also lagging behind evaluating a couple of shows as keepers or not, such as Kurogane no Linebarrel, which toes the line between good 80's mecha homage and bad cliche.  

I'm holding off from blogging about the season for now.   I may just skip it as my enthusiasm for anime-blogging took a big dip recently for various reasons.   If anyone actually wants to know my opinion of any given series in progress or completed, let me know, though.

In the meantime, let me refer you to my roommate's post about the fall season.  I agree pretty much with everything he says on the shows (although I'd rate ToraDora! above Hyakko and my ordering might differ a little) except for Box of Goblins, which looks like it has potential (haven't watched it yet though).  

I've linked to this blog a few places including on my new facebook profile, so it's possible there's some new blood wondering what this thing's all about, and of course I haven't updated in a good while.   So I'll take this one in a couple of parts: a quick intro, then a minor update on what's been up.

I've got a couple of blogs, this one is where I generally shoot the breeze about what shows (mostly anime airing in Japan or recently aired there) I'm following or catching up on and anything else media-wise that's caught my interest.  Usually it's all pretty geeky stuff.   I experimented a bit earlier with posting sketches here in an effort to get myself drawing and modeling again more, but that fizzled a while back.  But I haven't abandoned the possibility and have a new wacom Bamboo tablet to play with and some modeling projects I've been meaning to get back to, so that sort of stuff *might* pop up here again later or on my Flickr page.   Mostly I'm interested in developing some new toy ideas, being both somewhat eccentric toy collector as well as having worked on designing a few myself for former toy company Palisades Toys.  As such, I tend to more actively post on my toy collecting blog, rockettubes which you might enjoy for a dose of 70's and 80's toy geek nostalgia if that's your thing.   As for the anime, I've tried to list all the stuff I've watched and am watching on MyAnimeList but with well over a thousand anime series and movies under my belt and usually a couple dozen in progress at any given time, it's hard to keep track, let alone when I hit something obscure that the list doesn't seem to recognize as existant, or when I've forgotten one or two along the way, heh.

I don't tend to get into philosophical, religious, or political discussions here too much, as that's more what I like to keep to a more private blog which I've admittedly avoided updating for about a year or something now (I won't link it here, but I'll consider one-on-one requests, usually after a "are you really sure?" reply...).   I figure a lot of folks that read this don't really want to hear rantings from an annoyed far-left atheist transhumanist, on a review-type blog anyway. :P  But that doesn't mean it won't creep in from time to time, such as when I finished reading Richard Dawkins' The Ancestor's Tale.   

Let's see, so yeah, I've bounced around doing art stuff and testing stuff, and haven't quite "found my true calling" yet.  I do have some plans to get into independent toy design in the next couple of years, but that's something I'll take at my own pace.  Currently I work as a software test engineer for Excell Data on assignment to a lab at Microsoft.  I like it, definitely a lot less crazy than my usual testing jobs in the game industry in the past.  I'm expecting to start taking new classes this or next quarter, though I haven't decided yet to focus on computer skills or art skills.   We'll see.  That's what I get for having genes from a programmer mixed with an artist/musician/doll collector.  It's confusing, I tell you!  ;D

So returning to the subject of this journal at hand, anime-wise the Summer season is just wrapping up.  I've mostly been following Macross Frontier (just finished and still digesting it!) and Code Geass R2, and catching up on a few things here and there.  Like Nodame Cantibile, which is really fun for anyone who's ever played in an orchestra before, as it's about a young would-be conductor and pianist, but far, far funnier as comedy than it has any right to be... :D 

Oh, I am a little curious about a US television series called The Mentalist.  I should try and track that down.

There's some other stuff I want to write about and update on, not to mention have my post-series Macross thoughts, but I'll get back to it later.   More to come then, I guess...

http://www.seekthesix.com/ 

(Nice viral marketing for the new Prisoner series...)

 I'm probably not going to do my usual comprehensive rundown of shows for the Summer season.   The new crop has  a couple of noteworthy titles, although really only one that I'm gung-ho enthusiastic about (Hidamari Sketch 365), and the rest so far seem to be more "B-list" shows.  The new Slayers Revolution series and Birdy the Mighty series might be okay, though it's hard to think of them as "new" shows right now (Hey, 90's!).   To be fair, Spring and Fall are usually the two big seasons, and this coming Fall looks pretty exciting, especially with the second Hayate no Gotoku in the works and other good stuff. 

Mostly though, I'm kinda "meh" about new shows since we have two A-list shows continuing from Spring, one of which I'd rate pretty much 10/10, the other 9.5/10--Macross Frontier and Code Geass R2 respectively.  That and so MANY good shows ended at the end of spring or went into hiatus if you include Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who on top of the anime. I still need to finish a couple of good shows from then, but I'm in no rush.  

Macross Frontier is amazing.  It's about time we finally got not only a good Macross sequel, but one that exceeds every expectation and then goes even further.  This show is why I got into anime in the first place, really, and it also finally follows up on the parts left dangling by the original Macross that were never really truly well exploited until now.   The production quality is top-notch too, it's really hard to believe that it's being maintained (for the most part) throughout a 25 episode serial.   I really hope that its success will help push anime in some new and exciting directions again.  

Code Geass is wonderful theater.  I am enjoying each and every surprise twist and turn it's made along the way. Can they really wrap up the story in this season?   We'll see...

The big thing now for me instead of the new shows is catching up a little on the visual/sound novel translation scene, which I've been curious about for some time now.  I'm playing through Higurashi No Naku Koroni - Onikakushi Hen right now and have Umineko No Naku Koroni, Fate/Stay Night, and Clannad waiting in the wings.  What I've sampled of each has left me pretty impressed with the translations overall, especially Fate's, although Umineko's handling of dialect is annoying (typical lame rendering of an Osaka-ben as a Southern drawl...bleah).   

I have to say that while I like the writing much more, I have to give some credit to Studio Deen for once that their handling of the anime of version of  Higurashi's Onikakushi chapter felt a little better balanced somehow (though of their work on the series, it was the strongest).  The manga is probably the best visual interpretation, and you can hardly fault the source material as it was both the original and the first effort, and the art is not the focus.  I have little doubt from what I've sampled that the later chapters are best read in the original sound novel format.   

The manga starts getting released in English in November and I can hardly wait.  Who'da thought that my favorite storyline adapted to anime yet would be a supernatural horror/mystery series?   But there it is.  The structure of Higurashi and its layered secrets are just too compelling for me to ignore, and what it rewards you with is just so inspiring.  

The other thing that's holding me up going more into the new season's shows (other than still needing to sample many of them) is that I have some serious updating to do on my toy blog...lots of new additions to document.  :)   And I have a few projects I really ought to get back onto (Microman manga translation, 3D modeling, etc)...  Oh yeah, and housecleaning so I have room to do this stuff.  @_@ 

I got a new lab job through Excell working at Microsoft again, starts Thursday.  Looks like a probable good fit and if all goes well a chance to learn new stuff, too.  I'm also switching to Excell's health coverage so I don't have to pay hundreds each month anymore to keep getting my insulin, coverage, and other meds.  This comes as something of a relief.  :)

Last week or so was a flurry of interviews, which was draining, and when I wasn't dealing with that, I was catching some more of the amazing new season and finishing some bits of the old one.   I'll try to have my usual seasonal assessment for that with the OP links again sometime soon when I feel up for throwing it together and satisfied I've seen most of the new offerings.   This time, I may also provide links to other bloggers who have in-depth reviews that I can agree with.  

Still, I feel compelled to mention first quick impressions: so far Macross Frontier (stunning) and Code Geass R2 (audacious and awesome) are the big hitters, with some promising starts for Nabari no Ou (contemporary ninja yarn), Kure-Nai (in spite of a very bad opening animation that has nothing to do with the style or genre, looks like a good, unique dramatic work from the same studio as Baccano), Kyouran Kazoku Nikki (a gag anime on the same crack as Fairy Princess Raine and Dokkoida...I was intrigued as soon as I saw the jellyfish character...), Kamen no Maid Guy (just on crack, period), Soul Eater (hyper-stylish action series), Wagaya no Oinari-sama (well-presented Shintoist magic and a fox god, looks good), Kanokon (fan-service vehicle but with good actors and dialogue saving it somehow so far), and maybe Vampire Knight (less convinced, but somewhat stylish vampire school yarn). 

I had high hopes for Zettai Karen Children (basically the Hayate no Gotoku team--hence my optimism--doing a Powerpuff Girls rip-off based on a manga by the same person that did Ghost Sweeper Mikami something like almost 20 years ago), but episode 1 felt really flat to me, and it may be the first time I've not liked one of Aya Hirano's voices (as the scratchy-voiced Buttercup-like leader of the trio).  I kind of hate to say it, but I think the cheesy, mildly funny, and less offensive Ground Defense Force Mao-chan did the same thing years ago, but better (if not with as flashy powers) and not as forced, somehow.   Still, given the staff, I'll give it a little more time to see if it's just a shaky start. 

Doctor Who and Galactica's first two new episodes were great, too.   It's a good time to be a fan!  :)

I forgot to mention finishing Spice and Wolf, as well.   It was a good series, and accomplished what it set out to--telling an engaging fantasy story where the battles are ones of commerce, not of swords.   It left things hanging a little, but the conclusion was satisfying and it was a good spot to leave off.  I hope the novels provide enough source material for a follow-up series someday.  The characters certainly left a strong impression, which I really appreciated.

I'm starting to catch up on the just-finished third Aria series, The Origination.   The production quality is much improved and you can tell the team's last research trip to Venice paid off, both in terms of background art as well as in more realistic touches to the way the gondolas are paddled and controlled and the accompanying sounds.   Another thing that surprised me pleasantly this season was the relevation (to me at least) that Neo-Venezia is not simply a recreation of Venice on terraformed Mars, but actually is largely built from the relocated buildings of the original Venice, which has long since sunk on ManHome (Earth), and that the reconstruction and relocation of the original buildings is ongoing.   I always assumed all the buildings and plazas and such were replicas, not actual full transplants of the real deal.   I'm not sure it really matters that much, but it does seem to add some repsect for the place as being as old as it looks after all, more or less.   It's also interesting viewing Aria from the perspective of comparing it with other Junichi Sato-directed  anime series, particularly Sailor Moon...even though both are independently based on manga, it's hard not to draw some parallels between the trio of character archetypes (not to say that Akari, Aika, and Alice are exact mappings of Usagi, Rei, and Ami by any means, but the similarity of their interactions at times certainly evokes a pleasantly mild sense of deja vu) along with some similarities in narrative structure (albeit without the monster-of-the-week) and such.  For one thing, he sure likes the device of having characters in his shows stalk each other at times, doesn't he?   Heh.   I do feel still, even now in the thrid series that he could have done without the constructed character of the litte girl Ai-chan.    The original manga involves letters sent to ManHome by Akari to an unrevealed recipient.   The anime introduced Ai-chan in its first episode (the character she replaced in the original manga was a one-shot  cranky old man character, which actually I thought was more effective for that story in particular than a precocious child) so as to have someone for Akari's letters to be addressed to, and for some summing-up commentary at the end of each episode that to me feels a bit too twee and tacked-on ("oohhhh, that was nice, I wish I could have done that too!"), though I suppose it gives the show more of a storybook fairy tale feel, of sorts.   And at least Ai-chan was created for the show by the original mangaka, Amano Kozue (who also later wrote her into some side-stories for the manga), so it's not TOO forced at least.

The first free episode of Tower of Druaga went up today.  It was a fun (and unexpected) spoof of the RPG genre, and I'll probably shell out for the purchasable download.  However, it didn't really do much to reveal what the show proper is going to be like, so I'm a little hesitant until I see more.   I also rewatched the last episode of season 3 of Battlestar in anticipation of the final season's premiere, which I'll check out tomorrow.   Good stuff...