Anime Fanfiction & Superhero Sausages

I check the referral links for this blog from time to time. Usually, I don't see anything worth noting. Hey, I'm still pretty obscure, so that's no surprise. But every once in awhile, I come across something fascinating.

Perhaps my MOST fascinating discovery was when I stumbled across this post on an anime message board. Press the "Show" button in that message and you will see a piece of fanfiction that uses this entry of mine as a springboard. And it's actually pretty interesting, though I have no knowledge of the series in question.

I spoke to the author briefly in IM the night I found this story to compliment his work and tell him that I planned on linking to it here. I do get the idea he might have been less familiar with the Ultra genre, as the references geared to that type of series seem to be the most puzzling to his characters. Except for the bit about sausages, which leaves them dumbfounded.

I suppose I should explain that one. The sausage thing dates back to when I was watching a lot of Toei series on VHS tapes that were recorded from TV airings with the commercials still intact. Among the outrageous ads I saw were commercials for superhero sausages like this one included in a set of METALDER commercials. It was the sort of thing that screamed to be parodied.

Amazingly, Marudai is still marketing superhero sausages, as you'll learn if you watch this video. Now, I don't know about you, but at about the four minute mark of that video, I was chanting "EAT THE SAUSAGE, EAT THE SAUSAGE!"

I am sure this is an entry filled with knowledge that none of you needed. You are welcome. And don't forget to read the story!

The Fear

If you have been following the OWARI blog from the beginning (not applicable to my FB and LJ feeds, sorry), you may have noticed that I have only exceeded 20 entries for a month once. That was 22 in March 2009, the third month of the blog's existence. Since then, I've never even hit 20. Until today.

This has not been an accident. Part of this is because I have a perhaps irrational fear that I will burn through a bunch of good material quickly, and then be stuck trying to figure out content for the blog. That was part of the problem for the next 3 months after that 22 post flurry. But only part of it.

I also have a definitely irrational fear that going over 20 is indicative that something is wrong with my personal life and I'm compensating. I even expressed this to a friend a few months ago, saying, "If I go over 20 in a month, you might want to get worried." This has its roots in what was happening in my life away from the creative side of things in 2009, because things WERE wrong and I WAS compensating. Since then, I've had a quiet dread that if hit the 20 entry mark, I was jinxing myself.

Well, today I am casting aside this notion by posting this entry - the 20th for July 2010. I may even manage another for the month. I'd rather not let my efforts here be manipulated by something that clearly has no bearing on reality, especially as OWARI will be getting more attention than ever now that the ROJ story is finished.

What I don't want is to be one of those blogs that starts out with a flourish of activity and a huge volume of posts and then tails off as it gradually dies. You've seen that blog. I've seen that blog. And while I don't know how long this forum will last in the long run, I don't want it to be that blog. I'd prefer to be consistent and build an audience (such as it is) gradually instead of going for the gusto and then losing interest.

So, hello. This is the 20th entry of the month. How are you?

Done!

If you follow my Twitter account, you might have seen me making an unexplained countdown over the last few months. Well, early this morning, I declared that I was done. Again, I didn't say with what. So what's this all been about?

It's been about Return of Jetman, actually. I was counting down the number of sequences I had left to complete the final story in this ongoing saga. And if you can put two and two together, you realize that at approximately 1:45 this morning, I finished what I have been referring to as "principal writing" in my notes for this project.

Yes, it's done. It's been proofread. I just printed out a hard copy, and I'll be checking over that too. There's still the chance that things will need to be changed somewhere along the way. That's normal. But the heavy lifting - the actual writing of the story and making sure it has a beginning, middle, and end - well, it's finished.

I've written a lot about ROJ, in addition to writing a lot of it, and obviously, that's not going to change. It does beg the question of how I feel at this moment. What's it like to finally reach the point where the hardest part of a project is done?

I'm ready. Ready for it to reach this seriously belated conclusion. Make no mistake, I'm pretty proud of what I have in my hands. The file for this piece of work is the single largest text file for any story I've written in this cycle. But I've expended a huge amount of time and brainpower to get here. I'm ready for it all to be out there for the people to see. Whether they like it or not is another matter entirely. Sure hope so.

Alas, I must leave you tantalized for awhile. The site's schedule is set up and I am loathe to try to jump the gun. We're currently at Episode 9 of the first ROJ series, and reaching a rather critical juncture in the narrative. The new series won't be returning to the site until September.

So, mark your calendars now, friends! New Return of Jetman Episode 7 - "Just Imagine!" will be making its premiere on October 26, 2010. I know that's three months away, but the journey there is going to be very interesting indeed.

July 25, 1981

July 25, 1981

I look at this picture, and it is hard for me to understand that this was almost 30 years ago. Many of the people I count as friends today didn't even exist at this moment in time. I still remember what it was like to be this 9 year old - both the good and the bad. In some ways, I envy him. But in others, I am glad I never have to go back.

The toy is a Kraken from CLASH OF THE TITANS. The Kraken made his home in our attic for many years, but along the way, I promised him to my friend Eric if I ever decided to part with him. That day came a couple of years later, but I had a little bit of trouble catching up with Eric to pass it along to him. This led to the comedic sight of the Kraken tagging along in the trunk of my car! When I finally gave Eric the Kraken, his eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. He told me that he still occupies a place of honor on his shelf. I think Eric has gotten even more joy out of the Kraken than I ever did.

Have a good day, folks. No, seriously. It's my day. I command it.

Why I Loved Sheena Easton

For the record, this entry is about a subject I hadn't thought about in a long, long time until my memory was jogged by a discussion over at Witless Prattle. If you're thinking that's an endorsement of the Prattle, it totally is.

Sheena Easton's A Private Heaven just happened to be released when I was 12 years old. That little bit of serendipity meant that as soon as I laid eyes on that album cover, Sheena shot up to number one on my mental list of hottest female celebrities. She stayed there for awhile, too. I didn't know much of anything about Sheena Easton prior to 1984, but I knew that in addition to being in love with her picture on A Private Heaven, I was crazy about the song "Strut".

You should listen to (and watch) "Strut" if you never have. The video isn't much, Sheena's moves aren't much, but I really didn't care. She was gorgeous, her voice was killer, and the song was assertive and yet sexually-charged. It's not deep, but I was 12 and didn't know that. To me, at that time, "Strut" was really daring. And then, the next single was "Sugar Walls".

Yes, "Sugar Walls", the Prince-penned ode to subtlety. Well, that one did it. I had to buy the cassette of A Private Heaven for myself. And I really liked it! It wasn't brilliant or life-changing, but it was fun pop music.

After "Sugar Walls" ran its course, "Swear" was the next single from this pivotal album in my life. You will notice that the video quality is noticeably poorer than the previous two linked videos. That is because the first two singles are available on the official EMI Music channel, but "Swear" is not. That is because "Swear" stalled big time on the charts, and vanished after some minor radio airplay.

I guess that is what happened with my infatuation with Sheena Easton, too. It burned brightly, and then it quietly went away. I still liked her, and even picked up some of her later material. But somehow, it just wasn't quite the same. Maybe it was the ridiculous (and old) TV special starring her that I remember anticipating so much and finding so disappointing. But for whatever reason, Sheena went from being number one to one of numbers.

Still, old habits die hard sometimes. What was one of the very first CDs I bought for myself? This one. And I did it without a shred of irony.

I still get the urge to listen to it sometimes, too.

"Lemon Cowgirl" by Kabuki Katze (2005)

This particular picture has been absent from the Internet for a little while, as Kabuki Katze removed it from her deviantArt account some time ago as no longer representative of her capabilities. If I know her, I am sure she is wincing a little to see this older piece of hers. That said, "Lemon Cowgirl" is a vital moment in the evolution of the Captain Satellite cast. It was only the second time one of those characters was handled by hands other than mine, and it was the first such piece that directly influenced my handling of that world.

It all started on Aug. 12, 2005, when I was one of several recipients of a private message from Kabuki. It seemed she wanted to thank us for our individual contributions to her account by doing giftart for each of us. Well, that was deeply flattering for me, and I pondered a good subject for this little gift.

Ordinarily at that time, I probably would have immediately asked for something pertaining to Return of Jetman. However, it just so happened that Kabuki had recently finished off a rather large and challenging commission project for ROJ. So tossing more such stuff her way so soon didn't sound especially like something she would have wanted. And honestly, I felt like I should use this opportunity for something a little more creative. That is when I thought of Shelly Ericson.

We've discussed the genesis of Shelly in the past, but in 2005, she had yet to be so much as mentioned online. That was mostly because I didn't have the confidence yet to write stories with those characters, and my attempts to draw her were wanting. But I had ideas for her - in fact, her present incarnation was already starting to take shape. I decided, after much uncertainty over the years, that a good outfit for her would be something similar to that worn by Naomi Morinaga as "Annie" on UCHU KEIJI SHAIDER. That led to the concept of twisting Shaider's relationships around to create the Cap/Shelly dynamic, and establishing Shelly as the better action hero no matter who had the super suit.

In explaining Shelly to Kabuki, I kept it brief : 1) attractive (dur!), 2) brown hair, and 3) an outfit similar to "Annie", with a link. Kabuki chose to use Annie's movie outfit (seen here) as her inspiration, rather than the more familiar TV colors (seen here). That is how yellow became one of the prominent colors in many of Shelly's subsequent outfits.

Kabuki used Imani Coppola's "Legend of a Cowgirl" as another inspiration when doing this picture, due to the neo-Western theme I'd sort of given her. This inadvertently played right into my (still secret) plans for Shelly when Kabuki added the line "Good as any man" to flesh out the piece. Seriously, she couldn't have read my mind any better if she were psychic.

I don't know why Kabuki chose to illustrate Shelly in the style of a Nagel girl, other than perhaps she wanted to give that a go. It's sexy, isn't it? I can't see the current version of Shelly being in such a pose, but nobody knew enough about her when this prototype was created for it to make a difference. That includes me, by the way.

I seem to recall one or two commenters not understanding the Nagel influence when this was originally posted September 3, 2005, but it was mostly well-received. I know I was tickled by it. I promised Kabuki that I would find a place for it on my site one day. Well, it took almost five years, but this is the day.

"Lemon Cowgirl" disappeared for awhile, but its influence was deep. At last, I had seen Shelly through someone else's eyes, and that opened me up to more possibilities with the character. When I drew Shelly in 2007, and when Sara wanted to draw Shelly that same year, I pointed to "Lemon Cowgirl" as the starting point. Shelly has since grown as a character through the work done by Kabuki, Sara, and I, and this piece really doesn't quite fit that identity. BUT, that identity wouldn't be possible without "Lemon Cowgirl".

Besides, I can totally see this as a glamour painting hanging over Captain Satellite's mantle. Can't you?

The Age of Assassins

Trailer for 殺人狂時代 ("The Age of Assassins")

THE AGE OF ASSASSINS (殺人狂時代 - "Satsujin Kyo Jidai" in Japan) is one of the best movies I've ever watched that I also freely confess to not quite understanding. I picked it up on VHS long ago because of its tangential relationship to Japanese sci-fi, and usually, watching unsubtitled Japanese SF movies is not really an issue. Well, as I viewed this film, it dawned on me that it wasn't really an SF movie at all, but more a black comedy mixed with liberal doses of artistry, psychology, and action. I suspect it's difficult if you HAVE a translation handy, or even if you're fluent in the language. A cursory Google search seems to reveal that there are fan subtitles floating around out there, and if I ever purchase the film on DVD (it's on the short list!), I may need to to look into them.

THE AGE OF ASSASSINS is a directorial effort of Kihachi Okamoto, one of the great Japanese film directors. Seriously, you should look into his body of work that's available in this country. The star is Tatsuya Nakadai, who really shows off his range and versatility in his role. Also on hand are Eisei Amamoto, Reiko Dan, and Hideo Sunazuka. Amamoto is properly sinister, and yet at the same time affable - the kind of thing he did so well. Dan, not as revered by Western fanboys as Kumi Mizuno and Mie Hama due to her not being in monster movies, makes a wonderful heroine- if you can call anyone in this movie any derivative of "hero". And Sunazuka? I only knew of him from GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER, and his character in THE AGE OF ASSASSINS has a lot in common with "Nita". There are plenty of other familiar faces from tokusatsu lurking through the movie, too.

If you've watched the trailer, you've seen the amazing camerawork and photography. You've noticed the stylish art direction, and heard the memorable Masaru Sato score. So I'll just take a moment to mention the darkly hilarious animated opening titles which are not hinted at in the preview. They are perverse and cute at the same time. I mean, at one point, the kanji for "hachi" in Kihachi Okamoto's name is represented by an 8 ball!

THE AGE OF ASSASSINS seems like a prime candidate for a belated subtitled release on one of the prestige or arthouse labels out there. It's obscure, it's fantastic, and it's a movie more people need to see. Hopefully, that will happen someday.