Why I’m watching Ninomiya-kun: No reason is reason enough, or An introduction to anime apologetics
Posted by: Owen S in Anime, tags: Commentary, Community, Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun, Theory & StructureI picked up Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun. Yes, that Ninomiya-kun with the succubus, not the tragic yet hilarious metafiction in Minami-ke. Now, while I’m certainly not short of shows to blog about or watch this season since I’m keeping up with a grand total of 16, I’m tired of anime blogging. Not in the commonly understood “woe is me, this is a meta post about why I’m burnt out” sense, but in a “this is a post to let you know I’ve not lost it” sense.
I’m sorry CCYoshi, as much as I wanted this to be a counter-culture essay extolling the virtues of fanservice in Ninomiya-kun, there simply wasn’t anything to write about. Which is precisely why I like Ninomiya-kun, in any case:
one distinguishing characteristic of dango society is that they have no distinguishing characteristics
There simply isn’t anything to write about.
Before you point out the irony in that I’m writing about how there isn’t anything to write about in Ninomiya-kun, that wasn’t what I meant. Originally, I was watching Night Wizard — then I realised that unlike everyone else watching it in a pretentious manner akin to a cat toying around with a mouse before eating it, I couldn’t care less about how “cleverly” it subverted existing tropes and clichés, because it just seemed like bad writing and utterly boring tripe to me.
Night Wizard was my mindless self-indulgence, which, aside from being the name of a band I used to listen to, is also what I would call an anime that I don’t feel obliged or motivated to blog about, which also has to be fun. Wait, you say, doesn’t the guy write editorials, not episodes? That’s true. Consider this premise, however: you know how you plan your blogging around the anime you watch? I plan the anime I watch around my blogging.
This is my daily blogging routine:
- Backlog increases daily
- I decide to watch an episode
- I inevitably see BRILLIANCE and decide to blog about it
- The blogging process takes the better part of a day
- The day ends
- Repeat from #1
With that in mind, and if my recent blogging schedule is anything to go by given the shows I might be potentially writing about, I shudder every single time there’s a new fansub release. In fact, I’m not all that keen about watching episode 07 of ef right now even if I have it, for I’ve heard reports about its brilliance so much so that I shudder at the thought of writing about it. If you haven’t guessed already, taking over a hundred screenshots of an anime over a 24-hour period has the effect of making you sick of it, even if it’s a great anime. But I digress.
Here’s where you roll your eyes at the obligatory reference as I quote “With great power comes great responsibility.” That is true to a great extent about why I blog, and also the crux of why I now consider apologetics as the school of thought in which I subscribe to, not elitism. It’s a convenient way of saying that I see brilliance in every anime I see. Apologetics differ from elitism in the sense that while the focus of elitism is really self-effacing narcissism, apologetics push the focus away from the blogger to the anime itself.
I hear the cry of “but blogs are all about narcissism!”, which is also true. In fact, you could say that apologetics employ passive-aggressive narcissism in that by pointing out how great the anime is by being able to write about its strengths eloquently, they’re also self-effacing narcissism since they’re showing off their superior taste (with justifications), and I’m obviously aware of that. It’s besides the point, in any case.
Look around, pick a blog, any blog. The writer of an epic one once told me that it takes less brainpower to bash an anime than it is to say why you like it. This is true for the majority of anime blogging — bashing is subjective in that it involves your personal opinion. It’s a me-centric position which can’t really be argued because the focus is, in this case, myself, and how dare you question my taste? It’s my blog, for crying out loud!
The natural progression of this stance is, of course, elitism. Elitism means that you have a superficial understanding of an anime based on initial perceptions since you definitely aren’t going to follow that trash all the way to its obviously inevitable trainwreck status — or so you think. While elitism works in theory, the chances are in reality that you’re probably jaded with anime more than you care to admit, and think that your taste is something special. Newsflash: it isn’t.
assuming an elitist stance also means this picture isn’t funny
DarkMirage once pointed out the hypocrisy in taking a position of high ground in matters of taste — there is no one with perfect, ultimate standards, the be all and end all, the epitome of taste. For every anime that you denounce as rubbish, there’s a chance you’ve been watching something I consider to be the lowest of lows, or something I wouldn’t be caught seeing unless it involved heavy financial remuneration. You might have “perfect taste” if you’re one of those miserable people who watch like 1 out of 40 shows per season before proceeding to dig around in the old pile of shows for established gems and raving about what everyone knows about, but you are also a sad person.
Why do people do this if their motivations are obvious? If I had to justify it with my apologist lens, I’d say that they’re insecure about watching certain anime or reading certain manga that don’t really measure up to even their own standards, and the bashing of anime that they’re never going to watch serves as a foil, a distraction, a red herring by which they can deflect the public eye onto. If I weren’t to justify it, though, I’d just say that it increases their e-penis by having people agree with them.
How apologetics differs and attains the high ground by default is that with apologetics, the focus lies on the anime, not the blogger. Instead of telling the world about my inflated sense of superior taste and reinforcing my brittle self-worth, I’m telling the world, in objective points, why Anime X is good, why Anime Y has solid characterisation, and why Anime Z has themes and symbolism that make it better than anything else out there. My audience doesn’t come to stroke my ego and tell me how right I am for sharing their opinion, my audience comes to find out why an anime I’m writing about is worth their time, and even money in some cases.
Heaven forbid the reason I write for be otherwise. Elitism is tragic for it’s more likely to claim long-time bloggers (yes, it’s an illness like the Hiatus Disease is) than it does new ones. Why should I care if Blogger A, this unknown random is going to go on and on about an anime sucking? I’d rather read Blogger B’s opinion about why it’s awful, for I’m quite informed on his or her taste, as opposed to Blogger A whom I know nothing about who just came out of nowhere and started bashing things.
I’ll further elaborating on this tomorrow in our joint blogging topic about the Autumn season mid-review, but that’s the gist of the argument with regards to apologetics, and also a teaser as to why I’m watching not 1, not 2, but 16 shows right now. More importantly, what I meant by a virtue of Ninomiya-kun was that it’s inherently impossible to blog about unless you like all your posts about said series resembling that of a victim of cat proximity syndrome.
I mentioned earlier that I was tired. What I’m referring to here isn’t the battle-weary jaded air of a blogger burnt out on anime, but a tired that’s more of like “damn, I need something to unwind with or I’m going nuts”. I would rather be subject to unspeakable acts of public, internet, or national humiliation rather than recommend Ninomiya-kun to anyone I know online or in real life, but for now I’m just contented with watching it without the knowledge that I’m going to see things in it that make me want to fire up Wordpress and bang out 1000+ words on it. Yes, I know I just did so. Give anime a chance.
Oh, and in order to appease the haters who are going to be reading this and connect it back to a real example given the abstract nature of this post: for every post or comment you make deriding Shana II and Dragonaut, the chance that you’re watching a show or shows that are ten times worse increase even further. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake.
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Real life’s a bitch, ain’t it?
UNLESS IT’S LUCKY STAR WUT
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Ninomiya-kun pretty much exemplifies my stance on watching anime, nowadays. So sue me for being “mindless, stupid and simple”. I watch anime to be amused/entertained, and if possible, educated/informed. I can take in a few shows that are filled with drama or filled with political ideas… but I don’t need those to be forced to my face every single minute of viewing.
Fortunately, I can just watch Ninomiya-kun with reckless abandon, since it’s not that heavy on seriousness, nor is it riddled with angst, though on the last few episodes, I’ve been seeing plot movement, and THAT is good. For me, it’s one of those shows where I can just kick back and watch the events unfold, along with the usual fanservice and love-love moments.
That being said… Hojo Reika is love.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Hmm, I think that should be rephrased to ‘it takes more time to say why you like it in an interesting way‘. I agree with the idea of acknowledging what’s good about something, but it can be completely tedious to read if not done well. It takes skill to explain positive things in an interesting way, I agree, but equally the same goes for bashing things. Asinine bitching is just as boring as “der I leik it cus its funny”, so I think it takes equal amounts of skill to communicate either position with any flare.
Also, it’s easy to finger-point about elitism and get it mixed up with a thorough understand of your own tastes. Superficially (as in, people who can’t read my mind) I am elitist about the anime I watch, but the distinct difference is that i don’t actively criticise those who watch what I don’t like. I might make catty comments but they’re always done in jest and I never think any less of those who watch stuff I dislike. This difference means what seems elitist is really me knowing what I like and having a keen eye for tropes/cliches/whatever that often puts me off in some way. Of course you can get it all wrong, and the anime blogging sphere is pretty useful in helping me reassess initial impressions, but I still trust my intuition on a lot of shows.
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:41 pm
The fact that I’m still watching Ninomiya-kun 7 episodes in says something that I think agrees with your point too. That, and I’m hoping for something to blow me out of the water, as low a chance as that may seem. :P
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:39 am
I still think that Ninomiya-kun in Minami-ke would make a more entertaining series than the actual Ninomiya-kun. Anyways, there really isn’t anything to say about that show, it’s pretty much generic anime characters doing generic anime things. Then again I might have missed some details since I fast forward past all the annoying vapid pink-haired Mayu parts and go straight for blue-haired tsundere Reika for about 5 episodes before getting utterly bored.
Then again, what do I know? I watch Dragonaut for the hilarious constant failures of the Suzaku clone and maybe the busty teen.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:53 am
Damn you Owen, you’re trying to take away my harem crown. XD
I think that, as Hige said, it’s just as hard to criticize an anime as it is to praise it, if you’re trying to form a valid argument either way. I’m not so sure if being an apologetic is that much more on the morally high ground though; it sounds better, but you still get the readers who go “yay someone else likes it” instead of “yay someone else hates it”.
Still, you do have the bonus point of introducing people to new things, which is why I still would take apologetics over elitism; but maybe it’s just that well-written criticism is hard to come by in a sea of “OMG sux”.
(Fighting an urge to write a horrible meta-thing about you being elitist about not being elitist. XD)
Back to Ninomiya-kun itself… I haven’t actually watched it yet, but personally I prefer slice-of-lives for ‘relaxing’ anime since they’re equally as useless to write about yet without the paranoia of looking over your shoulder every 5 minutes (maybe less of a problem for you). Either way though ‘watching anime you don’t have to blog about’ is a good idea, but for people with structured schedules like me every episode unblogged means one less thing to write about come post day.
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:52 am
This brings me to that almost-finished Love Hina review that I was going to post tomorrow…what? The joint blogging deadline’s tomorrow? WTF?! Oh crap…ok, LH will have to wait then.
The reasons for the apologist stance probably vary from blogger to blogger and it’s only recently that I’ve realised that I’ve been doing it unconsciously for months! As to why…that’s not so easy to answer, funnily enough. Perhaps it really is a personal reaction to the mindset people have these days of bashing something because it involves less effort than being positive about it. Writing about the symbolism in ef and how it enhances the viewing experience for instance…dunno about you but my post on that took several hours - the negatives would have been quicker to write I guess but it wouldn’t have felt like I’d actually achieved much. Wisecracking mockery and dismissing stuff as being not worth bothering with are quicker and easier to do, but to me seem less constructive.
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:26 pm
0rion: Yes, and no.
meganeshounen: Oh, you’re going to love the post I’ve got planned for later, then. Stay tuned. There’s a distinct difference between good storytelling and shows that shove ideas in your face, surely, and I’m not a great fan of those either.
Hige: Yeah, that was what I meant. The thing is, constructive criticism isn’t really common. Even I fall prey to that sometimes, but then I remind myself of all the bloggers out there so full of vitriol it isn’t funny.
Hope you didn’t feel targeted, btw, since it was rather easy to think that way after our snarky conversations on IRC. :P I’ll keep that in mind, although like what you said I was thinking of those who go “if you like this there is something wrong with you and you SUCK I AM THE GOD/DESS OF ANIME TASTE MUAHAHA” etc.
TheBigN: I don’t really expect anything out of it 7 episodes in (just caught up yesterday night), and it’ll be a bonus if it happens. There have been a few good moments, but nothing much to write home about.
Eh: I watch Dragonaut because it’s genuinely entertaining for me, although the Suzaku-clone really makes me giggle every time he gets all emo about his lost dragon. That and the HOMO HOMO INNUENDO flying around.
CCY: You can have it! :P
I say it assumes the high ground by virtue of helping people get to know more anime. What’s the use of people watching less, pray tell? It does nothing for the community, or discussion, or even sales later on. There is more gained through the apologist stance than the elitist one, and while some might get their kicks from people telling them “I’m glad you told me not to watch this”, I get all warm and tingly when people say “I’ll check this out because you made it sound interesting”.
Oh, and you have a schedule? :O I personally can’t trust slice of life post-Lucky Star, but that’s just me, and yes, let’s create an elitist movement against elitism FTW!
Martin: I totally agree. One of the reasons I made this post was also to get the word out there, whether to those guilty of doing what I denounce as terrible or to those who have this huge bleak picture painted of the Autumn season, is that things aren’t as terrible as bloggers paint.
While I wouldn’t say we’re terribly influential, all it takes is a post or two from a medium-to-large popularity blogger to get people to turn away in droves. I hate that due to the chilling effect, and I want people to know that sometimes, it’s the person writing about it that sucks, and not the anime. That’s basically it.
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:04 pm
[...] is another ABC (Apologists on Behalf of Crap Anime Blogging Collective) post. Other posters include Mike, Karura, CCYoshi, Martin, Hige, J. [...]
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:01 pm
[...] its name since most, if not all of a fan’s initial impressions of an anime are usually wrong. Higevs mentioned this perspective in the comments on my previous post, Also, it’s easy to finger-point about elitism and get it [...]
November 24th, 2007 at 5:08 am
I’ll add one final thought that solidified into a cohesive idea today, before moving onto the joint blogging thing. Say you take an apologist attitude and try to see good in everything you watch. Now, anime is supposed to be funny, thought-provoking or otherwise entertaining; therefore, isn’t the whole point of watching it the enjoyment? Take the opposite scenario: sitting down with the intention of picking holes in it and generally giving it a good panning. As a critic, I guess it’s an acceptable (if a little harsh) stance, but as a fan blogger? You’d come across as being embittered, miserable and anti-lulz. Why bother watching something when the only enjoyment value comes from hating it? Given the choice between the two, I’d rather take the apologist view - I may still be misguided but at least I’d have fun along the way. My conclusion really is that I’d rather be motivated to blog through love rather than hate - there’s enough smart-ass insults and negativity around already, especially on the internet. I say be an apologist and spread a little love! :)
November 27th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Yes. I agree. Unless… That’s the magical word. If there’s exception, it’s because there’s quality. And point to the quality of the show is not elitism, is critical sense. Time is not money, but is finite…
Did you remember Planetes?
Cowboy Bebop?
More recently, Mushishi (or, my, that’s a great anime!!)
Furi Kuri !?!?
And, of course, Suzumiya Haruhi?
Indulgence is not critic. Just a form of ask for excuses…or comprehension…
So, narcisist? Perhaps… I think is more about need.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:08 am
[...] stated this before, but frankly, I’d have crashed at some point in Autumn had I not obtained a palliative in the form of Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun. There’s a comforting weight that comes with anime designed for pure, sometimes mindless [...]
January 4th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
[...] This Angel’s Thesis was involved in the writing of the above. While I’m sure it’s possible to watch Ninomiya-kun just to relax, I’m also sure that there are things to write about in it. [...]