Ask John: Is Pandering Killing Anime?
Question:
It seems some other anime news site believes that Queen’s Blade is ruining the anime industry. Do you feel Queen’s Blade is destroying anime?
Answer:
Part of the reason why my personal perspective on anime is as widely acknowledged and respected as it is (I said “widely,” not “universally”) is because of my rather unique adoration of the art form. Much more so than average people and even countless hardcore anime fans, I’m personally respectful of, and receptive to all types of anime. There are viewers who enjoy watching and re-watching their favorite shows or concentrating their viewing on certain genres or types of anime. On the other hand, I get the most enjoyment out of watching as many different anime as I can manage. I comprehend the objection to exploitive and unoriginal anime, but I don’t subscribe to it. I respect the anxiety that an excess of anime that prioritizes immediate profitability over artistic respectability may drain the creativity and integrity from anime; however, I don’t see convincing evidence of that situation. Furthermore I think that careful observation of prior trends in the anime industry may shed revealing light on the present.
Queen’s Blade, along with recent shows like Akikan!, Fight Ippatsu! Juden-chan!!, Kanokon, To Love-Ru, Koihime Musou, and Strike Witches have been accused of being derivative, superficial, exploitive productions that deliver nothing of value beyond their suggested sexual gratification. The argument goes that the proliferance and prominence of these offensively worthless shows is reducing viewer interest in anime and driving out creativity. I have three responses. Accusations that these shows are compromising the creative integrity of anime is unfair. Excess attention on these shows causes more harm than good. And finally, examination of the history of anime development reveals other similar trends that have come and gone without extinguishing anime.
The purpose of anime is to entertain. So I find it usually irrational to criticize select anime that have little greater goal than providing crude entertainment. The Queen’s Blade television series, in fact, actually does have a bit more character and story development than is superficial observers may realize, but that’s beside the point. I think that it’s excusable when a half dozen of the hundred new anime in a given year choose to be tacky or inelegant. In fact, I think that the very fact that risqué and tactless anime like Queen’s Blade occasionally surface should be acknowledged, if not even praised. The existence of mainstream anime that push the envelope is one of the primary traits that makes anime unique. If fan outrage prevented anime from being provocative, anime wouldn’t be nearly as interesting or fun as it is.
Outspoken criticism of shows like Queen’s Blade reinforces the stereotype that anime is little more than cartoon sex & violence while marginalizing the large number of contemporary anime that are highly creative, unique, and artistic. The same year that has brought us the exploitive Queen’s Blade & Juden-chan anime has also given us the outstanding and praiseworthy Cross Game, Higashi no Eden, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Ristorante Paradiso, Aoi Hana, Canaan, Okami to Koushinryo II, Kimi ni Todoke, and Kuchu Buranko TV anime and theatrical releases including Summer Wars and Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Maho. Rather than concentrate on how “bad” contemporary anime is, fans that want to encourage and support anime should cite how “good” contemporary anime is.
I’ve heard predictions of doom for the anime industry many times over the span of my otaku lifetime. Anime has managed to survive each predicted demise. I particularly reflect on the output of the anime industry and realize that delinquent anime were once very plentiful. The genre characterized by titles like Shonan Bakusozoku, Oira Sukeban, Chameleon, Rokudenashi Blues, Kyo Kara Ore Wa, Angel Densetsu, and Batsu & Teri is now virtually extinct. The mid 1980s are fondly remembered as the Sunrise mecha era, yet mecha anime has now become something of a rarity. The prevelance of heavily ecchi anime these days may be a similar temporary trend. But the appearance of ecchi anime is not new, and it hasn’t extinguished anime. Japan’s anime industry has survived exploitive titles including Body Jack, Let’s Nupu Nupu, Tanin no Kankei, Kyokasho ni Nai!, Sakura Tsuushin, Lemon Angel, Dream Hunter Rem, Fandora, Legend of Lemnear, Plastic Little, Colorful, Idol Project, Aika, Eiken, UFO Princess Valkyrie, Mouse, Girls Bravo, and DearS.
Harping on controversy is the unspoken foundation of news reporting. Furthermore, I’ve always thought that a vast percentage anime anime fans, myself included, are a bit skeptical and intrinsically negativistic. So it’s instinctive to react dramatically to a perceived threat to something that we love dearly. Appropriate perspective is called for in this situation. It’s just anime. Serious academic criticism is one thing, but taking anime too seriously is another thing entirely. Someone that doesn’t like Queen’s Blade has countless other options. Yes, Queen’s Blade is gratuitous and tactless. It’s also good-natured fun. Is it the pallbearer of anime? I seriously doubt it.
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It seems that a lot of anime fans are ignorant of the cycles that the industry has gone through in just the last 20 years, with each cycle representing the tastes of that generation of viewers.
Anime will not die because of Queens Blade. Anime will become more interesting because of it. In fact, I submit Daughters of Mnemosyne as a better example of an anime that is interesting because of its overt adult themes.
If more people in the English speaking fandom stopped trying to be tastemakers and focused on actually enjoying anime for what it is rather than idealizing it for what it isn’t, then more people outside the fandom would find it interesting because a broad spectrum of anime would be covered and appreciated, not just those titles that fans flock to and end up alienating everyone else.
I have to echo what HSaabedra said above. The anime community has a peculiar habit of always trying to make this small niche even smaller by alienating current and potential fans just because they have “incompatible tastes”. That, it seems to me, is more damaging to the industry than any fanservice-laden show will ever be.
I generally find the concern over Queen’s Blade to be overblown. As you said, it’s one show and there are still plenty of non-ecchi shows produced. However…
“I think that the very fact that risqué and tactless anime like Queen’s Blade occasionally surface should be acknowledged, if not even praised. The existence of mainstream anime that push the envelope is one of the primary traits that makes anime unique. If fan outrage prevented anime from being provocative, anime wouldn’t be nearly as interesting or fun as it is.”
You’re giving it vastly too much credit. It is absolutely not provocative. Show like Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell and Princess Mononoke are provocative. Shows like these push boundaries of what animation is normally used for and make anime interesting. Queens Blade just threw some tits on screen. There’s nothing remarkable about this.
Ecchi anime isn’t doing the anime industry any harm. What’s doing harm are all of the self-righteous “fans” who watch fan subs exclusively and turn an apathetic glance away from legitamate product. How are the folks who are blasting Queen’s Blade actually watching the show? Via fan sub! Oh, the irony!
ikillchicken, you may not find Queen’s Blade intellectually stimulating, but that isn’t the only definition of “provocative”. The fact that so many people object to it so vocally is proof that the series is capable of provoking its audience and others. One could also easily argue that the show also makes efforts to stimulate it’s audience.
Provocative: adj, serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate
Kampfer, I appreciate the defense, and while correct, Ikillchicken’s point is also a valid one. I do have to agree that there are certainly many other anime that make more intellectually stimulating or socially relevant points than Queen’s Blade. But while there may be some international animated works that have sexuality and nudity, shows like Queen’s Blade that are so mainstream and broadcast on public TV are still unlike any other conventional TV anime made anywhere else in the world. So I’m going to stand by my assertion that the existance of risqué shows like Queen’s Blade and Kanokon is one of the characteristics that makes anime unique.
HSaabedra’s comment on idealizing content based on what it isn’t is an excellent one, but is incredibly difficult to put into practice, I think. To this point, western viewers inherently put anime creators and their product at a disadvantage, viewing the final product well out of it’s original cultural context.