日本語で

This morning, the Tokyo Assembly passed the Healthy Youth Development Ordinance, a set of laws that requires the regulation of drawn materials that show explicit or “unhealthful” (quotes are mine) behaviors. This ordinance includes sex scenes with minors, incest and, while it is not specifically stated, I believe that materials with homosexual content will be targeted as well. Unsurprisingly, the Japanese mangaka are up in arms about it and a few of us in the industry also are not too pleased.

With the caveat that I am not a lawyer or politician, I know nothing about Japanese law and I’m basically making this up as a I go along, here are some thoughts I, speaking as as President of Yuricon and ALC Publishing – and as a writer – have on the topic.  These thoughts are unordered and unfocused, as I struggle to understand the motivations behind this law, the repercussions of it passing and what, if anything, we can do about it.

I don’t think this ordinance is the end of the world, but I do think it will hasten the end of the printed manga industry. Readers all over the world have been waiting for the push that will provide them with online versions of their favorite comics. I believe that this law will be that push. It will force publishing companies to move more explicit work underground – the online world is eminently suited for that. Less questionable materials will follow, because printing on paper costs more than not printing on paper and distribution costs less for digital material.

There is a provision for the industry to self-regulate and, like most obscenity laws, this one may be hard to enforce, except for when someone is running for office and picks some scapegoat to make an example of. (As happened with Christopher Handley, who was sacrificed to a campaign strategy.)

I worry a bit about group shows like Comiket. Like Tokyo Anime Fair, it is held in Tokyo, where the ordinance has been passed. If you were a creator of materials that are regulatable, would you bring them to a public show right now? Consider that the law goes into effect on July 1, but in the half million people at Winter Comiket, there may be people who will be tasked with rounding up the creators next summer. Sure, it could go underground, become “a hydra,” but what does that do for an already tenuous industry? It pushes extreme fetishists under the table to continue doing what they are doing, and leaves all the other creators sort of out there to be harassed. Probable? No. Possible? Yes.

What bothers me most about this is that it is exactly the kind of stunt that people who have stashes of child porn pull instead of actually trying to do anything to make actual children safer. Real child porn is not covered under this act – only drawn stuff. And, based on bill sponsor and Governor of Tokyo Ishihara Shintarou’s recent statements about LGBT people being genetically deficient and pathetic,  I can see that an easy target can be made of LGBT-themed content.  Ishihara has recently made some very controversial comments about women, the LGBT community, foreign influence and “protecting” children. Stepping back from the issue of manga at all, it seems apparent to me that he has begun to wage a war against gays, women and children. This cannot be a good trend.

Ultimately, I believe children need to be protected from *actual* neglect, abuse and violence….not ideas.What this law does do is require me to speak up in support for materials that I personally find offensive, because I believe in freedom of expression. (I wonder how many of the lolicon out there would do the same for me, because I bet not a whole lot would, if LGBT content, especially Boy’s Love – for which the audience is mostly women – were to be targeted. I’d like to be wrong about that.)

Now, if you’re reading about this law, frothing at the mouth, I’d like you to think – when was the last time you wrote your own governing representatives and asked them to support freedoms for everyone? (For instance US folks, the US Senate was discussing repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell – did you call your Senator and let them know that you support repeal?)  Because right now there are a lot of people running your own governments that are pulling stuff like this every day, and if you’re not policing your own back yard, you don’t have the right to comment on your neighbor’s. Freedom of expression and civil rights are issues we all must fight for, not just in regards to manga from Japan.

I am not a proponent of  outrage. It accomplishes nothing. What we need to do is figure out how to protect our (and our children’s) rights to thinking and expressing our/themselves freely. Then do it.

I don’t know what we can do to support the Japanese manga industry other than to buy books. Money goes a long way to helping fix things and it shows your support in a concrete way. If the Japanese manga industry publishes a statement detailing any way we can support them other than that, I will be sure to pass it along.

Here in the US, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was created to support, protect and fight for the rights of comics creators and vendors. If you haven’t yet joined them, now is a good time. And the ACLU – who does indeed fight for the rights of people you may not agree with or care about, to say things that may upset you, was created exactly for that very reason – to defend freedom of expression.

I’m not a really good political leader, I rarely have good rallying cries. But I remember my own childhood – the kinds of things I read, drew and wrote and I can only think that I’m terribly glad my parents did not “protect” me from anything. Censorship does not solve any real problems, it just masks them.

Comments are open, but please avoid teeth-gnashing, froth-spewing tirades against “Them.” I’d love to see creative thoughts on expressions of support for the Japanese manga and anime industry.

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アメリカ時間の今朝、性的あるいは「不健全な」(括弧は筆者による)行為を含むマンガなどの規制を課する一連の法案の、東京都青少年健全育成条例改正案が、都議会総務委員会で可決されました。この条例による規制には未成年者との性行為、近親相姦が含まれていて、また明確には規定されていないものの、同性愛を描く作品についても同じように対象にされていると、私は考えています。驚くべきことではありませんが、日本のマンガ家さん達はこれについて憤慨しており、業界にいる私達の幾人かも、決して喜ばしいものではないと思っています。

私は弁護士でも政治家でもありませんし、日本の法律についての知識も持ち合わせてはおらず、単に思いついたことを述べていくだけであることを、まず申し上げておきますけれど、YuriconとALC Publishingの代表(そして一人の作家)として、この話題に関していくつか発言しておきたいことがあります。うまく整理も、まとめられてもいませんが、この条例の背後にある意図や、可決されてしまったことへの反響を理解しようと努力し、もし可能なら、私達に何が出来るかを考えてみました。

この条例によって全てが終わってしまうわけではないでしょうけれど、印刷マンガ業界の終わりを早めていくだろうとは思っています。世界中の読者達が、お気に入りの作品がオンライン版で供給されるための後押しをずっと待ち望んでいます。おそらくはこの条例がそのきっかけになるでしょう。出版社達はより性的な作品をアンダーグラウンドへ移行させることを強いられていくでしょうし、ネット世界はそのためにふさわしい場所です。それほど問題視されないだろう作品もそれに続くでしょう。というのも、印刷しない方が当然コストはかかりませんし、デジタル配信の方がその費用も安く済むからです。 業界の自主規制についての条項もありますが、ほとんどの猥褻物に対する法律と同様に、うまく施行されるのは難しいかもしれません。政権の座にある誰かが、見せしめのためのスケープゴートを選び出そうとする時以外は、ですけど(選挙対策の犠牲となった、クリストファー・ハンドレーの身に起きたように)。

コミケのようなグループ展についても不安が少しあります。東京アニメフェアと同じく、条例が可決される東京で開催されるからです。もしあなたが規制されてしまうような内容の作品の作者だったら、いまその作品を、一般に公開されているイベントに持ち込みますか？　新しい条例が施行されるのは来年の7月1日からですけれど、コミケに集まる50万人もの人々の中には、次の夏のコミケに向けてクリエイター達を集めている人達もいるでしょう。確かにそういった作品はアンダーグラウンドに潜り、「決して解決出来ない問題」になっていくかもしれません。けれど、既に傾きつつある業界に対する影響はどうでしょうか。過激なフェティシスト達は影に潜み、同じような作品を作り続ける一方で、他の全てのクリエイター達が苦しまされ続けていくようなことになるのでしょうか。現実にはありえなさそうでも、理屈ではそう考えられます。

私が最も気に入らないは、これが、チャイルドポルノを隠し持っている人達が、現実に存在する子供達をより安全にするための、実際の様々な努力の代わりに行おうとしている、まさに注目を引くためだけの行為に過ぎないことです。現実の子供達によるチャイルドポルノは、この条例では対象にはされておらず、描かれたものだけです。さらに、条例の支持者や、LGBT(レズビアン・ゲイ・バイセクシュアル・トランスジェンダー)の人達は遺伝的に足りなくて可哀相であるという、石原慎太郎東京都知事による最近の発言からすれば、LGBTをテーマにした作品がたやすい標的になってしまうことを想像してしまいます。石原都知事は近年、女性やLGBTコミュニティ、外国からの影響、そして子供達の「保護」についての、かなり議論を呼ぶ発言をしています。マンガについての問題を全く別にしても、彼はゲイや女性、子供達に対する戦いを始めようとしているのが明白なように、私には思えます。これは決して、よい傾向ではありません。

ともあれ私自身、子供達は、「現実の」無関心や虐待・暴力から守られるべきだと信じていますが、頭の中の「考え」からではないと思います。この条例が行おうとしていることによって、私は、私自身が過激だと思うような作品を守るために発言することを求められています。なぜなら、私は表現の自由を信じているからです(世にいるロリコンの方々のどれだけが私のために発言してくれるでしょうか。LGBT作品、特に読者のほとんどが女性であるボーイズラブ作品が標的にされるのなら、そんなに多くではないのだろうと思います。これについては間違っていて欲しいですけど)

口から泡をふいて、この条例についての文章を読んでいるなら、ちょっと考えてみて欲しいのです。あなたが最後に、政府の代表に手紙を書いて、全ての人への自由の支持を訴えたのはいつのことですか？(例えばアメリカの方々、アメリカ上院は”Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”政策の撤回について議論していましたけれど、あなたの州の議員に手紙を出して、撤回を支持していることを伝えたりしましたか？) いまはあなたの政府にいる多くの人達がこのような施策を行おうと常にしています、まずあなたが自分自身の裏庭についてきちんと主張を示していない限り、他人の家の庭について意見する権利はないのです。表現の自由と人権は、日本からやってくるマンガについてだけではなく、私達全てが戦っていかなくてはならない問題なのです。

私は激しく怒ることを支持している者ではありません。それではなにも成し遂げられないからです。私達がすべきことは、自分達自身について自由に思い、表現する私達(そして私達の子供達)の権利を、どうやって守るのか、考えていくことです。そしてそれを実行しましょう。実際にマンガを購入すること以外に、日本のマンガ業界をどう助けられるのか、私にはわかりません。利益があれば色々な物事の助けになりますし、あなた自身の支持を、はっきりとした形で示すことが出来ます。もし日本のマンガ業界が、それ以外にサポート出来る方法について表明してくれるなら、必ずそれを広めていきます。

ここアメリカでは、Comic Book Legal Defense Fundという団体が、コミックの作者や業者達の権利をサポートし、守り、そして戦っていくために設立されました。もしまだ参加していないのなら、良い機会です。それからACLU(アメリカ自由人権協会)－賛成出来ないかもしれないし関心もないかもしれない人々の権利や、あなたを怒らせるかもしれない意見を表明する権利のために戦っています－も、まさに同じ理由、表現の自由を守るために設立されています。

私は優れた政治的リーダーというわけではありませんし、うまいスローガンを思いつけたこともほとんどありません。でも、私は子供の頃を思い出すのです－読んだものや、描き、書いたものなどを。そして私の両親がどんなことからも私を「保護」しなかったことを本当に嬉しいと、ただ思うのです。検閲は現実に存在する問題を解決することは決して出来ません。ただ、隠すだけなのです。

(小松さんによる翻訳)

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Update: For much more coherent thoughts on the topic, please read Dan Kanemitsu’s blog post.

2nd Update: Brian Ruh on Twitter has pointed out that this Ordinance focuses on companies and their access to distribution, not creators, so at least for the moment, Comiket and other markets are not targeted. Creators of doujinshi already are required to label anything explicit with 18+ warnings, so there is unlikely to be an immediate backlash there. He does note – and I agree – that this law may disproportionately affect shoujo and josei (and I would also add BL) manga. 

3rd Update: Thanks very much to Komatsu-san for the translation into Japanese!

4th Update: The Bill has passed the full assembly. Please read the following commentary for a better understanding of why I believe this Bill will be used to wage war on shoujo, BL and GL materials:

http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/tokyo-assembly-passes-bill-156-anti-anime-and-manga-bill-is-now-law/  – Dan Kanemitsu

http://www.tcj.com/history/26720/  – Roland Kelts

These two gentlemen  are far, far more versed in the Japanese industry than I am.

Welcome to a world in which leaders are stripping you of your right to think freely. Books are being pulled from public and school library shelves and are being kept out of bookstores or off book-reading hardware because of “inappropriate” content.

Governments, school administrations, misguided politicians and community and corporate leaders, seeking to “protect” people from ideas that make them uncomfortable are banning books. Yes, still. Now. Today.

This week is Banned Books Week. The people on the front line fighting war to maintain your freedom to read whatever you want are Librarians.

The American Library Association has a list of Graphic Novels that are banned and/or challenged repeatedly. You’ll see that most are GNs for adults that are misguidedly assumed to be for children, but in many cases are objected to simply because they portray sex or death at all – heaven help us all if it’s gay sex.

Librarians are fighting in many ways to make sure you can make your own decisions and maintain your privacy.

In Honor of Banned Books Week and even more so, in honor of Librarians, here are some manga and anime “Armed Librarians.”

Library Wars is a story about a young woman who joins the Librarian military force to fight government censorship. The version of this story published in English is as much romance as it is military escapades, but the story could be real. And if Librarians ever started a military force to protect freedom to read, as old and out of shape as I am, I’d jump to serve in any capacity. A seinen version of this story (which is not substantially different in any way) ran in Dengeki Daioh magazine. Two volumes of the shoujo version are out in English.

The Library of Bantorra stores the world’s history in the form of stone books that contain people’s memories within them. Protecting people’s access to those stories are extraordinary people with amazing powers, the “Armed Librarians.” The Book of Bantorra anime is still available for free, legally on Crunchyroll. The 10-book Light Novel series begins here Tatakau Shisho: Koi Suru Bakudan. (Japanese.)

But far more important than fictitious fighting librarians, there’s your local library and the Librarians that, without you knowing (or caring,) are doing their absolute best with just about nothing. Stop by your local library – thank them for their efforts, donate some money to their “Friends of” foundations, donate books, donate manga, donate time…all of it will be appreciated. They need all the help they can get in this fight. That means putting aside the typical fan negativity. “Oh, *my* library sucks.” Really? Can you take out 1984, or get Well of Loneliness on loan from another library? Is there a Graphics Novel section – no matter how small? Are there books you can take out? Then, no, your library doesn’t suck. Don’t whine about what they don’t have, because what they don’t have is time, staff and above all, they don’t have enough money. HELP them. They are fighting for you. Take a second and help fight for them.

Once more I want to sing the praise of my local library, The Morris County Library and the entire MAIN library system, for being shining examples of doing amazing things with less than nothing. (For those of you who are unaware, the governor of my state has basically cut the budgets of schools and libraries to, in most cases, all but zero and in some cases, zero. He is a man who does not value reading, math, science or, clearly, thinking.) I have been donating manga to the library and am planning on taking pictures of the GN shelves at all the libraries in the system that have them for a future article here. I got the volumes of Afterschool Nightmare I reviewed for the MMF through the system from the library I spent much of my childhood hours at. It was very nostalgic walking in there to pick them up.

Read a Banned Book. Think for Yourself. Support Your Library.

We all have to work together on this now or, one day soon, we won’t have the choice at all.

Here is me, trying to answer you and flailing pretty badly, in the newest round of “Utter Nonsense.”

Q:What is that little red creature in the Utena movie, anyways?

A: It’s Chu-chu’s drinking buddy, Wani.

Q: What do you feel Erica has been the most important thing released here in the states from Japan in the last 10 years, being manga, anime, or literature?

Important? In terms of Yuri, I’d say Aoi Hana, because it is a girl-girl romance that has all of the stereoptypical elements of a “Yuri” story, without being a parody. It’s something that when people ask, “what can I watch that is Yuri?” we can offer it up without embarassment or explanation.

In terms of the rest of the world, I’d say, the movie The Ring. It spawned a load -of remakes, similar movies and other media, as well as parodies and mash-ups.

Q: What would be the “Erica Prize” for someone who cosplayed Hayate X Blade — Hayate in full duckie suit.

And could pull off the look.

Probably a Shigeru family cat mascot for their sword. It would give me an excuse to go shopping on Yahoo Japan auctions. ^_^

Q: This was prompted by reading over “Girly” this morning. Can you say which you think is the best light-hearted Yuri series? That is, good, 3D likeable characters, but no “hand-stapled-to-forehead” angst?

Despite the fact that 1) I don’t make recommendations, because my interpretation of things and yours are going to be different and 2) this is just a slightly altered version of the dreaded “what is your favorite….?”question, I’m going to answer this anyway:

In English – Hayate x Blade – this has very little Yuri as such, but it has some and the whole shinyuu thing reads as coupling, even if it’s not.

In Japanese – Love My Life.

Q: How do you think a character’s usage of personal pronouns demonstrates his/her personality? For example: in Hourou Musuko, Yoshino’s decision to keep using “atashi” and Nitori’s similar determination to continue using “boku”. This even though both of them would rather be of opposite genders.

I’m not a Japanese linguist or sociologist, I have not read the series in question, nor do I have any issues with my gender, so I’m probably not the person to ask this, but, since you did, I’ll do my very best to answer. However. If a person who is in or has completed transition wants to express their opinion, I’d be delighted to have their input.

Here’s my thoughts on the topic – personal identity is quite possibly the single most complex thing about humans. Individuals are so *individual* about how we chose to define ourselves and there are a zillion terms for genders in, around, between and outside male and female. And the concept of “I” is the single most critical thing for anyone to define. It therefore is not surprising that in cultures where there are different words for “I” for males and females, the issue would be of importance. What, specifically, that importance is for that person would be an issue you’d have to take up with the individual or, in this case, the author.

If I had read the series in question, I might be able to project a response for the characters, but as I have not, that’s all I can give you.

Q: What series (anime or manga) would you want to promote to people who don’t usually watch anime or read manga, as a classic example of what the genre and the medium can do when they try.

Well, as I said above, I don’t recommend anything to anyone, nor would I attempt to proselytize anime to an uninterested party. I’d also have to take into account that person’s taste, so there’s no one answer. I might sit my Dad down with Silent Mobius, but not my niece. (OTOH, my wife’s nieces are into things like Code Geass and Witch Hunter Robin, so you never know, do you?) So, to side-step this iteration of “what’s your favorite…?” I’ll say I believe that Yuri has a gateway anime worthy of promotion in Aoi Hana.

Q: Were you surprised by Touko’s home life? After watching season 3 I wrote in my Maria-sama notebook: “What is Touko’s story? Probably similar to Sachiko” I was pretty far off the mark and lazily grouped the two rich girls together.

I wasn’t surprised, but I already knew what was coming, as I had been a fan long enough to have heard the story. If I hadn’t known…no, I don’t think it would have surprised me, and I think it was a good underlying motivation for Touko to act as she did.

Q: I think that most manga suffer when translated to English, because the calligraphic Japanese characters are more integrated with the art than an English translation can manage. Since you read both Japanese and English – what’s your take on this?

I’ve answered this one before. I don’t think translations suffer, I think translators have to make a choice between sense and feel. Sometimes a really good translator can capture both. They are different languages, and have evolved to communicate differently to different groups of people. It’s not possible to make one exactly reflective of the other, but that doesn’t mean a translation is inherently bad. It just takes skill to create a truly exceptional one, as you’d expect.

Q: What historical event or period do you think would make a good background or setting for a Yuri manga?

I dont know…how about Paris of the 1920s? Heaven knows there were plenty of lesbians there and some of them were crazy enough to make a good comic.

Q: Would your wife ever consider doing a guest review on Okazu?

She says, “Sure, if I read something that I thought was of note….”

Q: Here in the U.S., anime and manga is typically a very young fandom. What was it about manga and anime that caught your attention as an adult?

The lesbian couple in Sailor Moon S. That wasn’t my first anime – I had watched Starblazers in high school and recognized that “Japanimation” was a hole into which I’d throw my time and money, so I avoided it like the plague…until Ogata Megumi’s voice changed everything for me. :-)

Q:Why do you think there is so much more moe yuri than non-moe yuri and what do people see in it?

Because:

Oversimplified means people can (and have to) supply details themselves, so they make decisions that they then have to support because of cognitive dissonance. (After all, why would they care if it wasn’t worth caring about?)

Simple art is cheaper to produce than complex art.

Because the culture of cute in Japan requires women to remain childish well into their adulthood and because male otaku are both strongly socially conservative (so want their women to be innocent and young and virginal) and sometimes socially inept, some of them find real women intimidating and prefer their fantasy objects to be sweet, young, cute and unfinished. For these people, Yuri makes the most sense in the context of immature love, first crushes, experimentation. They are unlikely to be interested in stories of adult lesbian women making a life together (i.e., Fufu was received negatively by 2chan .)

Q: If a vendor was a complete and utter dick to everyone at your con, but provided valued and rare merchandise to those folks who did purchase from him, would you have him back the next year?

I love questions with an agenda. They are so meaningful. I’ll take it that you had a bad experience at one of my events then? ^_^

My answer is this: it depends.

I have had a vendor who made himself odious to both his fellow vendors and the attendees and no, he will never be allowed back to an event I run, regardless of his goods.

In recent years, I’ve invited only vendors I like and trust implicitly, so unless there was something really objectionable going on, then I’d probably have them back. Because the vendors welcome at my events now are people I know, my gut tells me than anyone who thinks they are dicks is probably someone I’d consider to be a dick. I’ve known most of these vendors a long time now, so, unless I’ve know the complainant longer, I’d probably take the vendor’s word over theirs.

Q: What is the best approach for the Yuri community to take to educated/deprogram fan boys to have a healthier relationship with Yuri?

Here’s a brick – apply that to your forehead.

Why on earth would you want to “educate” anyone? Do you want to be “educated” about anime? It’s a freaking cartoon…who cares if creeps are creepy?

My way of handling things is to do what I’m doing and not really worry about other people at all.

Q: What anime or manga do you feel best represents training? One thing I’ve seen in your reviews is that you prefer it when the viewer can see and understand that a character is training to the most that they can to accomplish some goal, over idiot savants. I find that I agree and was curious what shows or titles, yuri or not, best exemplifies this.

I think Stellvia was an excellent example of a character training until she was sick. Kaleido Star also had a protagonist who trained endlessly and got better as a result of hard work, not magic or plot complication.

Q: What genres of anime or manga that are usually “male coded” do you think could combine well with Yuri?

Yuri and giant robots?

Yuri and sports?

Yuri and martial arts fighting?

Yes.

Seen generally, Yuri is any series with lesbian characters or a lesbian storyline. There’s no reason to think that wouldn’t work with any genre. Sci-fi seems to particularly be a good genre in which there is a lot of service or implied Yuri, but very little really good Yuri. (Good by my standards, of course.)

Q: Is the Utena announcement the most awesomest announcement ev … oops, no which is better news, the Utena announcement or getting a Crunchy stream like Sora … oops.

Damn, these rules are still hard.

Umm, oh! oh! I got it! Do you see any chance of working Yuri Hime into one of the ventures being established to provide legit translated digital manga, whether DMP, OpenManga, or Bitway at Crunchy? And if so, what could we do to help it along?

I can’t answer that. Licensing is a complex thing. It relies on things like personal connections and funding, which you, the reading audience, cannot affect at all. There’s nothing you can do but buy stuff and tell companies you’d buy more and hope that 10,000 other people do the same thing.

Q: Just out of curiosity. I’ve just received the first three manga of Marimite and I noticed that ALL the kanji have furigana. Now, as a rule of thumb this should mean the books are aimed mainly at a primary\junior high students. This seems strange to me, I thought the all thing was for a little older audience, at least. Am I missing something?

You are missing the concept of “selling books means appealing to the widest audience possible.” The Cobalt Shuiesha line is for teens. The best written stories contained therein will also appeal to adults. In Book 3, you’ll see that Tsutako actually discusses this very thing with Yumi.

Q: What is the real Japanese attitude towards rape? Hentai aside, several anime and manga, even the so-called light comedy stuff, treat it so flippantly, as part of the “rape is love” or the “boys will be boys” attitude.

It’s illegal there, just like it is in most industrialized countries. Manga is not real life, it’s a comic. Like other forms of entertainment, it incorporates fantasies of all kinds which, for some people, will include emotional and/or physical rape.

Q: Why do (or should I say who is making) the mangaka artists write such insipid stuff like “I love cute girls,” and “Maids outfits are the best-est” in the forewords and afterwords of their manga. Have you ever read a foreword or afterword that wasn’t mindless prattle?

Their job is to draw and make stories that people like to read. And, realistically, these are people who express themselves through art, and sometimes have decent stories, too. ^_^ Some might be coached by editorial staff, others might not want to talk about anything personal, others might just be boring. Just because a person is skilled, doesn’t mean they are exciting.

Best artist’s notes I’ve read were by Tsuda Mikiyo, who actually tells some interesting stories in her afterwords.

Q: When attacked by zombies, what would your survival strategy be?

Do whatever Donna is doing.

Q: In a month, how much do you usually spend on manga/anime?

I buy stuff in large orders, not monthly, but if you broke it down, probably between $100- $120/month.

Q: You’ve got a time machine, when/where do you go?

To the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine. I want to see the woman for myself.

Q: In a month- how much time do you usually spend on anime and manga?

Probably about 120 hours or so in an average month. on weeks I’m working on books, or some other project, it can easily be 160 hours.

Q: So many times I have seen a movie adaptation of a novel (American or otherwise) and I’ve thought to myself, “this would have been so much better if it was adapted as an anime series.”

Forgive me if it’s been asked already…

If you could have an anime adaptation of a novel, which novel would you pick and which anime production team would you like to do it? Or… which movie adaptation of a novel would you have rather seen as an anime, and not the Hollywood abomination it was made into?

The book can be any genre. I’m not necessarily looking for something that is lesbian themed.

I’ll be honest. I never think that. I know it sounds ingenuous, but I really don’t. Above and beyond all things, I love books and rarely want them to be adapted to another medium.

But, because I’m trying to give these questions my best answers, I’ll say Alice in Wonderland. It just begs for a really good animated adaptation – something true to the original Tenniel illustrations and the story itself.

I don’t know anything about production studios, so I’ll pass on that. As I’ve said in the past, I’m a seiyuu otaku, the animation is secondary to me.

Q: what was the last time you read any news :O

This morning. I read the news every day.

***

And there you go. For what it’s worth to you, to me and to anyone who cares, there’s some insight into my brain. It mostly boils down to “complex things aren’t simple, simple things aren’t complex and wishing the one was the other is delusional. And, do whatever you feel like, because other people are the least of your worries.” ^_^