GBS: It’s interesting how women’s roles in some anime are in advance of the general culture, as Japan today, while less overbearingly chauvinist than it once was, would hardly be considered at the leading edge of gender equality.
Another early example, perhaps a few years earlier, is Princess Knight, though it should be noted that the protagonist, Princess Sapphire, had to crossdress, as did Oscar.
BT: They may have been in advance of women’s roles as central protagonists, but those characters were (and are) still tied up in sexual imagery and situational writing that was meant to appeal to male audiences. Especially those created by male creators.
GBS: An excellent point. While these female characters could be seen as groundbreaking, they are still straight-jacketed by male expectations. It happened with female authors in earlier eras too, as Rose of Versailles was created by a woman (Riyoko Ikeda).
Who would you say is the modern descendent of the original Action Girls?
BT: Hey, I like Mari from Samurai Flamenco, in various odd ways (a show calling back to several generations of superhero and sentai titles). But maybe she’s not for everyone. (Except Moe.)
JM: I mentioned Black Lagoon earlier in our discussion and in thinking about it the show does seem to harken back to action movies like Bullitt but with a gunslinging lead in Revy. Like others before her like Fujiko, Rally Vincent (Gunsmith Cats) and even the Dirty Pair, she’s not shy about using her weapons when needed. Come to think of it, she’s not shy–period.
GBS: There seems to be quite the lineage for these characters, looking back. I wonder if that has any impact on how we perceive the newer versions?
BT: Seems to me that contemporary reference to these old, defining, ideas makes their original concept something more than old: it makes them old school.
GBS: Old School is certainly the term for it. Though it’s probably the sincerity of the recalling of past shows and old concepts that makes them truly old school.
BT: Just parodying the good old stuff doesn’t make you old school. You have to also mean it, eh?
GBS: Without doubt. Though one might wonder why anime, which tries for “shiny and new” a lot with its visual design would feel the need to be “old” in its concepts. What factor would push the producers of anime to look to the past so often?
JM: I think it’s familiarity with the concepts by the audience and especially with those that have had good appeal over the years. “Old wine in new bottles,” so to speak.
GBS: A very good answer, though I can match your cliche with another as “familiarity breeds contempt.” In addition to that, could the current demand for material, as there is a far greater number of shows produced today than in past decades, also press producers to go to the same old wells more often and more frequently, simply because they have show slots to fill?
BT: Yeah, that’s part of it. Increased distribution, boom and after, has affected this, even to the extent that anime producers now take into account foreign viewers at an increasing rate. From the fans’ perspective, at least, the explosion of legal streaming has suddenly made a show from four years ago…a show from 16 seasons ago.
GBS: So…greater availability and greater quantity have had the side/unintended effect of making many shows age more quickly?
BT: I think so. An earlier era of fan in North America, say from the 90s, would not have thought a show from only four years earlier to be very old at all. They may only have experienced a dozen other shows in the intervening time.
GBS: Today, you can see more in just a single season, sometimes even on just one streaming platform, depending on the whims of licensing.
Well, this has been a very stimulating discussion about anime old and new. I guess all anime producers have to do in order to have evergreen hits on their hands is to create works based in timeless settings with universal themes that won’t be weighed down with dated visual designs and music. And it doesn’t hurt either constantly to spit out spinoffs or continually reboot the franchise. Good luck with that.
I would like to thank our guests, Jimmie Mobley and Dale Abersold, for coming. Next month, what do you have planned for us, Brian?
BT: Something political? Or not.
GBS: I’ll look forward to that. So, now that our caffeine buzz is starting to wear off, it’s time to browse the shelves and see what Chris has gotten rid of this month. Until next time, I’m Greg Smith and thanks for reading.
