Slashdot Mirror
'AD Police' Makes A Comeback
randomErr writes "FantasiCon.com recently got a preview of the upcoming Japanese TV series AD Police. Just as the OVA version of AD Police is the prequel to the OVA of Bubblegum Crisis, so is this series the prequel to BGC's TV series. This series takes place approximately one year before BGC 2040(TV). The major difference with this series is that the plot follows the exploits of squadron leader Sasaki Kenji instead of rookie Leon McNichol. You can view the full article and a Quicktime of the upcoming series here. "
Okay, in Japan, it seems to be a semi-common thing for series to be reinvented every now and then. "Bubblegum Crash," the original "Bubblegum Crisis," and "BGC 2040" are all seperate universes based on the same theme -- of the Knight Sabers crusading against the rogue Boomers of the Genom corporation. While they share the same characters, the plot lines are different, and the looks, attitudes, and motivations of the characters are different.
You can also see this in the original "Tenchi Muyo" OVA, the two TV series, and the 3 movies. All of these can be argued to happen in seperate universes, due to changes from slight inconsistencies to radical reinventions. Similarly, the first El-Hazard OAV series, the second El-Hazard OAV series, and the 2nd TV series can be considered the same universe, while the 1st TV series was a seperate universe in its own right.
This kind of thing happens all the time. Sometimes it's a result of pople going back to make a series more in line with the original manga, like Kia Asamiya's Silent Möbius. Other times it's just a tinkering with the formula like the gorgeous new Sol Bianca OVA. So don't got twisting your brain in a knot trying to figure out how the series all interrelate -- they don't. <grin>
BTW, the original series happened in 2035-2036, I think. However, that doesn't mean the "BGC 2040" is in the same timeline. After all, the characters all look different, they haven't all met each other before the start of the series, and Brian J. Mason is still alive and working for Genom.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Anime is good. Its fun to watch and it can be very interesting if the quality is good.
/. lately has DEFINATELY fit into this "otaku" classification.
/. readers are interested in Anime at all anyway! There are several Anime news sites out there which are able to provide all the western "otaku" with news about whats happening in the anime world anyway..
/. have been unable to determine which is which yet. The majority of the rest of the /. reader population doesnt want to hear about it either.
./. Thanks.
Lets take a look at a Japanese word that turns up frequently when Anime is discussed: "otaku". From what I have been able to gather from most Japanese people i know, "otaku" means someone who is "addicted" to something. You could be a computer "otaku".. a game "otaku".. i jokingly even refer to my girlfreind as being a fashion "otaku". I would definately classify myself as being an "otaku" of the computer variety.. Computers: I know a fair amount about them, i enjoy goofing around on them, and Im the guy my freinds call when their theirs just refuses to boot up. When the term is used this way, it appears to be harmless... i could be wrong, im not a sociologist. There is another term I have asked many of my Japanese freinds about: "Anime otaku". Everyone Japanese I know all seemed to make the same odd face and say "kimochi warui~~!" or in English, "ewwwwww.. gross!" when i enquired. Hmmmm..
Im sure i, or anyone else could write volumes about these Japanese "misfits" (Ive seen Jon Katz write: please Jon, go to Japan and witness them for yourself.. good luck!). I have been aquainted with about half a dozen. All seemed to match the Japanese equivalent of a western "nerd". There was one striking distinction though: The japanese anime "otaku"'s lives' REVOLVED around anime. I witnessed one anime "otaku" copying down on a peice of paper the lyrics to every anime intro song he could find. I told him he could probably find lyrics to all the songs he was looking for on the internet, but he replied (almost furious that i could be SO unaware of his goal), "I want to do it MYSELF!!!!" Hours and hours sitting in fromt of his television copying down lyrics... and why? I was still clueless. I asked my freinds about this. They all chuckled, nodded, and told me, "Yup, Thats an Otaku alright! Dont try to understand them. Just avoid them.. theyre too weird and gross." "Anime Otaku" apparently arent not normal, and arent accepted into the mainstream of society. I dont care why.
From what i can gather, otaku anime usually starts out as manga (japanese comic book), becomes popular, then gets turned into a TV series and/or movie(s). The majority of "otaku" anime, IMO (and a large part of my Japanese freinds' aswell), is garbage. The characters are almost always the same.. The plot lines hardly differ, and all are equally boring. The only upside would appear to be that they quality of the animation itself is good.. but so what.. non-otaku anime has incredible anime aswell. Most of the Anime I've seen posted on
Im not a big anime freak. I like a lot of Anime out there, but Tank Police just doesnt do it for me. Neither does crap like Ranma 1/2, Fushigi yuugi, Macross II, etc etc.. It was all produced either for young kids, or for "okatu". Taco, Hemos et al. please stop posting updates about this horrid Anime. Works like Miyazaki's mononoke hime DO NOT fit in with Tank Police. They are intended for the people other than just "otaku". They are clearly not the same genre. I doubt many
The only Anime I want to hear about is stuff that isnt your run of the mill, "otaku" shit. Its obvious that the people running
Just do us a favor and find a way in which we dont have to hear about Anime through
I'm probably going to come off as insulting to a lot of people here, but a related idea has been sitting in the back of my mind for the past few years and the less-than-warm reception of the Anime topic here is a convenient trigger for me to let it out. And I'm in a less-than-nice mood right now, so...
/*begin rant*/
Why is there such vocal opposition to anime articles here on Slashdot, even when there is an opt-out function? One reason, IMNSHO, is because many geeks are overly sensitive to appearing wussy or less-than-manly. Heck, one complaint even described Slashdot as being "officially gay" upon the introduction of the anime topic.
(A shame, because many anime and manga creators take a very hackish, geek-like approach towards the creation of their work, using the same general sense of elegant efficiency that good programmers use, as opposed to the bloated corporate committee approach so prevalent in American cartoons and comics.)
Anyway, back to my original point, look at well-accepted geek hobbies such as Star Trek, fantasy rpgs, computer games, comic books, etc. Most of them just _bleed_ machismo, if not through physical depictions (ie: swords and dark necromancy, gunfights in dank dungeon-style arenas, overmuscled superheros) then through the mental equivalent of penis-waving (ie: important-sounding sci-fi technobabble). For insecure geeks, anime is an easy target (given its cute, animated nature), a chance for them to reciprocate the social abuse they suffered for not being football team material, as well a chance to feel "macho" and superior by beating down on something (this also applies to trolls in general).
Now, I'm _not_ saying "if you don't like anime, you're insecure of your masculinity." Neither am I saying that anime is free of such stupid machismo (it's got plenty of its own kind), nor am I dissing macho entertainment (I probably enjoy booting skulls more than the next guy does). What I _am_ saying is "if you INSIST on trashing anime, even going out of your way to post complaints to a topic you could easily opt-out of, then maybe you're trying to compensate for something."
And people wonder why there are so few female geeks... maybe 'cause most females in general don't enjoy senseless macho posturing? Heck, the one-upsmanship and egotism I've seen around programmers rivals that of jocks (Ion Storm ring a bell?).
/*end rant*/
My apologies to geeks that don't mimic dumb jock mentality. I haven't eaten well in days, and I'm in a bit of a nasty mood right now.
so posting as "Valdrax" removes your anonymity? if you want to stand up for you comments, what is your real name and where do you live?
Point. At least I have some history and some karmic responsibility for my posts, though. I'll take any negative karma that comes my way, but I seriously doubt any will, except as a result of continued off-topic replies like this.
However, I have no desire to open my e-mail account, or my life as a whole, to the pranks of trolls, script-kiddies, and general jerks. This anonymous screenname provides me with all the liability I need to have within the Slashdot community without exposing me to attacks beyond it, and I'll stick by my right to do so. ACs aren't even willing to take that much responsibility for their actions, and I have no sympathy for them.
I stand up for my comments in the context that they are made in. I attach my screenname, but I will give people like you no further option of recourse. The only reason someone would need to contact me beyond these message boards is for personal retribution against imagined offenses. Forget that. God forbid what would happen to someone like "Signal 11" if he gave out personal info.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Edit your slashboxes
PS: Now please all of you quit bitching about anime stories.
A lot of nerds really like anime, so this is "News for Nerds." Personally, I don't give a rat's ass about crypto, Jon Katz's views, or the latest super-sized hard drive, but you don't see me bitching to get those pulled from the site.
Get over it.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
One of the trends in Anime today seems to be the ressurection of older shows from previous decades, recycling plots, and retooling character designs and storylines. BGC TV and AD POLICE are some of the last in this current trend.
Ever since the colapse of the OVA Market, some claim that this is a "disturbing" trend. Especially since they usually take established characters etched into fandom(at least the ones who were around to watch it the first time around ^_^) and possibly mangle them into something else.
BGC TV, fortunately, did a good job. The character designs change but the core feeling is better and more convincing. For instance, the original Nene was supposed to be a Hacker but she didn't really act like one in the OVA. She acted more like a "consultant" than a hacker. On the other hand, Nene in the revamped TV series has an appartment full of computers(which is rather messy it seems), eats bad junk food while using the computer, and has a hacking ego the size of Genom Tower. I will miss the red hair though. ^_^;
These days, I approach revamped shows like these carefully. They must remain true to "form" and yet have modern sensibilities(if that makes sense in Anime ^_^). If they do that, then I have no problem watching it. If they don't, I'll ignore them faster than DIRTY PAIR FLASH. ^_^
The problem with both sides of the anime-on-Slashdot argument (a sub-genre of the films-on-Slashdot argument) is that this is not a black and white issue against which an easy value judgement can be made.
It's part of a continuum: films in which technology figures highly, and real life in which the explosive growth of technology is changing all the rules daily. These are not totally separate areas, whatever some hardcore "realists" may think. Today's reality is yesterday's dream, and the day before yesterday it was magic.
The answer as always is to not make any arbitrary decisions, but to give each reader total control over what he or she sees. Well, that shouldn't be a problem -- it's merely technology, not magic, after all.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Excuse me, but I'm well entitled to my opinion, and those are some of my favorite series. I agree that not all anime is of the same quality, but you're insulting some of my favorite series. Series like "Tenchi Muyou" and "Ah! Megami-sama" are by far a cut above American direct-to-video stuff such as Disney's Aladdin sequels.
Dont be mistaken and think that every Tarou and Tomoko in Japan watches that crap. Its very much geared towards the large otaku population.
Don't assume that I care anymore about that than the fact that not every Tom and Jane here in America doesn't watch them. I'm no obsessed cos-play going, lyrics copying u½v, but I find a lot of enjoyment in the more light-hearted and comedic shows.
Also, don't assume that the only people who watch such shows are obsessed freaks. The manga and anime businesses are quite large. Besides, would you prefer their live-action sci-fi shows? Blech.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
If this is the series I saw last year, it is most definitely NOT similar to BubbleGum Crisis in any way. Though they share the same universe, AD Police has a very dark feeling to it. Likewise, the art is completely different.
(8-DCS)
They also have a whole different perspective. See, for instance, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijyo, which was aimed at high/junior high girls, and aired at 6pm (5:30pm through 7:30pm is the typical time for most cartoons). Their main characters had, , sex! :-) Not that there was an actual sex scene, but there wasn't any doubt about the event either.
In Japan, they make anime for all ages. They have kids stuff, teen stuff, and adult stuff (both sexual content and non-sexual content).
(8-DCS)
ova stands for original video animation.
Maybe a good percentage of slashdotters think this is a good story. More importantly, perhaps those who run the place think so.
I assume you've been submitting stories you consider to be 'good'.
BTW, nice use of your +1 bonus. I think I'll follow your lead. Remind me again why you not only bother to read these stories, but also post to them?
--
NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
You see, in Japan, "direct to video" != "sucks on toast" like in America. A lot of the best anime was made as short OVAs, like the original "Tenchi Muyo," "Oh My Goddess!" and the aforementioned "Bubblegum Crisis" series. The rental market is really big in Japan.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
OK, It's great that Anime has it's own category now, that means I can choose not to see it, right?
The problem is the edit home page, has no option to select the anime category! Every other category is there....But I'm forced to view Anime news against my wishes. I'm sure others feel the same way.
Please update that page! Anime is nice and all, but I really don't care that much about it.
Unfortunately, now that Slashdot has added the much-requested Anime category, they feel they have free-reign to post a lot more of it ("hey, if they don't like it, they can always turn it off").
Like I predicted, however, no one is turning it off. Instead, they're continuing to lower the signal-to-noise ratio of these discussions by bitching at the existance of the articles. Getting a new topic does nothing, just like getting a new topic didn't really reduce the flames on the Katz articles for a long time.
The problem with that is that CmdrTaco has gone on record as saying he tries for 15-20 stories a day. If Anime is using up some of those slots, then we are seeing fewer "normal" news for nerds stories, and personally I think Anime has enough fan sites for the hardcore fans.
<sarcasm>
Yeah, it's a shame. I could be missing something I care about like more phony Mac rumors or the latest never-ending distributed.net crypto contest. After all there aren't too many hardcore sites specializing in that. Maybe I'd be missing the latest development in the DeCSS and Napster cases. I mean, they're not covered by other sites.
</sarcasm>
Get over yourself. Just because there are other hardcore sites that cover this info doesn't mean it doesn't belong here. I like to think of Slashdot as one-stop shopping for all the news I care about, and that includes anime, as it does for other people.
After all, anime beats hoaxes like the SETI@Home Accelerator card.
I really think Anime has very limited geek appeal.
I think you don't know a damn thing about the hobby if you don't think it's got geek appeal. Go to a convention some time and try not to find a geek. The only way to do so is to stay outside the building on the opposite side from the parking lot and close your eyes, singing "la! la! la! la! no geek appeal here!" Even then, a geek might accidentally stumble onto you and ask what's wrong with you.
Anime is as much a geek hobby as RPGs and FPSs. Just because it doesn't directly relate to computers, doesn't mean it isn't "News for Nerds."
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Oh, but watching anime is part of the geek stereotype so /. must cater to it, promote it, and make as much money as they can from it. Hypocrites.
As a computer geek and an anime fan, I must say that there is a great amount of truth to the stereotype. In fact, I'd go so far as to classify 90% of the members of my college's anime club as geeks. I haven't been paying to much attention to the "Star Wars," "Lord of the Rings," and "D&D" movie discussion threads because they don't interest me enough to post, but has there been as much bitch about the existence of the topics there? I don't think there has been.
By the way, what's with this "making money" and "hypocrites" nonsense? I haven't seen a single ad banner for anime yet.
Yes, moderate me down. Get on with it.
I never will understand why people enjoy posting to articles just to annoy the people who care about the topic. If you know you're likely to be moderated down, why post? Go elsewhere and try contributing to a discussion for once.
---------
I'm not just the President of my local anime club, I'm also a client.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
The current logo reminds me of my first girlfriend. She looked just like that when having sex. My flesh crawls every time I see it. I sent CmdrTaco a proposed replacement GIF a couple of days ago but we've still got that icon. Ick.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Get a better logo for the anime category. Surely there're much better choices than what looks like a character from some magic girl show.