Editorial: Housecleaning

Some of these thoughts have been rumbling around in my head for some time, and when it came time to write this editorial, they just sort of broke free and took control of my typing. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the semi-stream-of-consciousness ramblings of the EX Editor in Chief.

Where's the Plot?

This has been bugging me for some time. Okay, GUNDAM MS08 has had some problems (like the director dying 2 episodes into the production), but I would think he left some notes or something about the direction of the series, and more importantly, about the Jion's new secret weapon. Recent episodes showcase a different relationship between characters in the MS08, and is punctuated by the top secret special enemy mobile armor flying around and looking dangerous, kind of like a robotic bowling ball on steroids. (In other words, "filler.") You would think they would have had time to figure where this all was going by now. But instead, the writers seem to be saying to the animators, "Just draw something — we'll figure this out sooner or later."

Great Shades of Elvis!

One of the things that anime has always been known for is far-out hairstyles that defy the laws of gravity, physics, and color separation. Who can forget Kei's (from the good DIRTY PAIR, not that FLASH stuff) wolf cut, or Big Mam's hair in BAKURETSU HUNTER, or Mylene's lovely pink tresses? The hairstyles to astound and amaze has gone on for ages, and continues to do so. But "sideburns" on female characters has got to stop! It started with NADESICO and has crept into GALL FORCE: THE REVOLUTION. Hair that curls around in front of the character's face. It's bizarre and just plain disturbing.

If Bill Gates Ran NERV

Production problems seem to abound in anime projects these days — and just like the computer industry, release dates keep being pushed back. However, in what may be a first, GAINAX took a page from Microsoft's release handbook and released an incomplete feature film: EVANGELION: DEATH AND REBIRTH. Even though the movie contained only approximately 50% new footage, and even though it was in production since last summer, when the deadline rolled around they didn't have the entire film done. The result? Release of an incomplete movie (to meet contractual obligations) coupled with the promise of REBIRTH 2 by the end of the summer. A creative solution in the anime industry, but it sounds suspciously like what happened to Windows 95 and now Windows 97. I can't help but wonder if GAINAX, with its seeming inability to meet deadlines, is a subsidary of the Microsoft Corporation.

But what does all this mean? It means, quite simply, that as much as we might like anime (and for some of us that's quite a bit), we shouldn't take it as the be-all and end-all of our lives.

Ex animo,

Charles McCarter
Publisher/Editor in Chief

Charles McCarter

Keith Rhee

Chad Kime

Peter Cahill
Roderick Lee
Charles McCarter

Peter Cahill
Eugene Cheng
Ken Cho
Eri Izawa
Mark Johnson
Roderick Lee
Egan Loo
Charles McCarter
Maria Muñoz
Taku Otsuka
Keith Rhee

Pat Conley
Geir Friestad
Chris Kohler
Tom Larsen
Eugene Moon
Keith Rhee

David Van Cleef
Scott Frazier
Geir Friestad
David Ho
Jeremy Johnson
Dickinson Lo
Eric "Scanner" Luce
Mark Simmons
Christian Wagner

Eric "Scanner" Luce

The SPJA (Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation) and OBJECTIVE CONSULTING INC. for donating server space and making this magazine possible.

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