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JWAVES

                                                   November 11, 2018

The on-and-off again obsession with things Japanese.
Let me count the waves...


(1) When I was a kid, some of the better cartoons
were actually Japanese re-treads, though few of us
were conscious of this:  Astroboy, Speed Racer...

And I was a big fan of the more obscure "Eighth Man"
(which I *think* was actually Japanese).

Then there were the Godzilla movies-- those quickly
became favorites with me because they didn't do the
same tease-the-audience "suspense" schtick American
monster movies did-- Why put up with only catching
glimpses of the monster?

    The Godzilla movies, particularly the later
    ones, were all monster, all the time.
    They would have them all wrestling around
    in bright daylight, none of that "glimpse
    of a claw in the dark" stuff.

(2) Mid-80s, early 90s-- with the rise of Toyota and
Honda came an invasion of sushi, an interest in a
handful of Japanese bands (notably Shoenen Knife), and
some miscellanious anime shows and movies-- some mecha
shows were repackaged as Robotech (which perhaps
oddly, I had no familiarity with, and can't remember
what it was based on... Macross?  Gundam?).  I heard
much of "Neon Genesis Evangelion", "Sailor Moon".
Though nothing really grabbed me until I saw
"Ghost in the Shell".

       In the early 80s, the twisted
       erotica of "In the Realm of the
       Senses" had some art-house cachet.

       In the early 90s, there was some
       interest in the college radio world
       with Japanese noise acts (C.C.C.C.
       had some impressively extreme releases
       of near total static), and novelty
       acts like Gerogigigegege, who performed
       naked with midi-triggers on his penis.

(3) I put aside the world of anime and manga
for some time, until, I think Cowboy Beebop
invaded my consciousness.

And thus, I'm currently in my "third wave".

(Though, maybe that's peaking... I'm getting
the feeling that Japanese culture has gotten
stuck in the trap of an aging populace without
anything like an immigrant scene to provide
cross-pollination.)


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