Presentation PA #51

Are only Anime & Manga bad? As we keep hearing about the rumors and delays of the North American release of Mononoke Princess, and the boycott of Disney materials by parents in the Texas area, a lot of questions also keep coming up lately. Enjoying any work of entertainment (such as horror films, action movies, psycho-mystery novels, wrestling, anime and manga, etc.) should be far different than acting in real life, but today we seem to live in a different world. All those cases of children who kill other children with shotguns at schools in the USA, or this murder case in Kobe (Japan), really made lots of people feel uneasy and try to blame it on the media, but do only books and TV screens have such power? That's the question. Parents keep saying the otaku generation can't figure out the difference between reality and fiction, but are they right? Thanks to the stable American economy of the 1990s, the crime rate is down. It seems that the people who commit horrible acts already have brain disorders like schizophrenia. Simple event, like reading the Bible, can trigger a crisis and bring them to commit murders. Who knows? However, why do only anime, manga and video games get to be blamed? Why not Agatha Christie's novels or Sherlock Holmes murder cases? Also, the anime and manga publishers only supply the materials the people want! To look at what is selling is like looking at the true figure of the public in a mirror. Why do we blame the publishers who only supplies the materials that people demand?

In Newtype magazine, Director Hideaki Anno urged otaku fans to look at the truth and get back to reality. Actually, older adults and critics don't understand the psychology of otaku who waited all night to get theater tickets for the Evangelion movies. Outsiders didn't care much about the work of Evangelion. What interested them (the non-otaku) was to see those over-enthusiastic Evangelion fans as a social phenomenon. But what's special about that? Don't young people get deeply involved with something they love in each generation (like Woodstock concert in the 60s, rockstar mania, etc.)? Evidently, Evangelion was not for small children like it's the case for the Doraemon robot cat or even Pocket Monsters. So, what arm could it do? Personally, I really doubt that fiction (books, movies, etc.) can have such a strong influence, but certainly, when or if creators use the right situations, they can be extremely educational and be enjoyed at the same time.

Miyako Graham

This issue is late, more than usual, for several reasons: our production schedule has been shifted due to the lateness of previous issues, production delays were longer than expected for this issue (it is a BIG special issue, with lots of pages, 68, and more color than a regular issue: 16 pages!), our printer was closed for a couple of weeks in July, we had to attend several conventions this summer, and, again, I was quite sick (this time it was not the flu, but a more serious ailment, a kidney stone, that painfully kept me from the keyboard!), etc. Bla, bla, bla.

Protoculture Addicts #51 is a special thematic issue dedicated to mecha in the pure tradition of MECHA PRESS! It was originally announced as an Extra Special issue (PAX#2), but we finally decided to make it as a "regular" special issue. Its main spotlights are on GUNDAM (updating Mecha Press #8 article on GUNDAM 0083: STARDUST MEMORY and continuing the features started in PA #41 with synopses for GUNDAM 8th MS TEAM and GUNDAM WING), but it also features TEKKAMAN BLADE (finishing the TEKNOMAN feature started in PA #38 and adding a review of the second TEKKAMAN series released by Urban Vision), GODZILLA (reviews various video releases of the "real" GODZILLA, with a quick look on the role of mecha in GODZILLA) and ALEXANDER (including an interview with character designer Peter Chung (Aeon Flux)). It also offers Anime World articles ("Anime Under Fire" Part 8, reports on the Canadian National Comics & Anime Expo, and on Anime Expo), several Reviews (the latest Anime videos, some J-pop CDs, Manga, and lots of Model Kits -- hey! it's a mecha special remember?), and the latest News. We hope you will enjoy it!

Claude J. Pelletier

Next Issue: Rurouni Kenshin, Borgman, Fant-Asia Festival, Summer Conventions reports and more!