Re: anime SWAT Kats

From: Kevin L. Knoles <klknole_at_rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu>
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 08:38:11 -0600 (CST)

> Yeah, but what will we address ourself? should we address ourself as anime fan
s when there is a Katcon (If there is ever gonna be a Katcon)? or should we gone
 switching from anime fans to Kats to anime fans to Kats to anime fans, etc.

    I'm having trouble seeing as how there could be confusion. Just because
you're a fan of more than one thing that doesn't mean you have to pick a single
name and adhere to it steadfastly in all instances. Here I'm more readily
recognized as a Kats Fan, in r.a.animation, an animation fan, in r.a.anime, an
anime fan, and other times a comic book fan, and still *other* times a Jackie
Chan fan. If an when there is a Katcon (I Hope, I Hope), it only seems
reasonable to say you're a Kats Fan before any others, unless you mean
something ultra specific like Callie Fan, T-Bone Fan, Feral Fan, etc.

> >an anime fan. Who ever said the two couldn't be synonymous?
>
> Yeah, but will SWAT Kats goes in the anime catagory?

    Nah, SWAT Kats isn't anime. I've discussed just exactly what
anime means extensively with a few people before. In Japan it just means
animation. Elsewhere the term is nowhere near so general. Here's a rough
definition that I've come up with:

    Anime: Animation of any type made primarily for Japanese consumership, with
Japanese dialog (If any), usually animated in Japan, and always with Japanese
writing and directing.

    It's not really enough to just say Japanese animation becuase there's so
much of it made for American TV. The consumership part is to make exception
for Macross ][ and Ghost in the Shell, the fact that the dialog (if any) is
originally Japanese is something that all anime have in common, the animation
is sometimes non-Japanese (Gatchaman and Tenchi Muyo are Korean animated, I
think.), the Japanese writing and directing are, like the dialog,
consistent with all anime, and so are similarly included.

    Whew! That's about as exact as I could make it. Heck, my defintion is
more exact than the ones given by either Trish Ledoux or Helen MacArthy.
The only thing Japanese about SWAT Kats is Mook's animation. Though certain
styles in character design, animation, and theme are frequent among anime
(Hence my use of the term "anime like"), those are not absolutes, so even if a
production is the spitting image of anime, it isn't truly anime unless it meets
the above criteria.

    Answer your question? I sure hope so.

> > And besides, SWAT Kats is very much anime like to begin with.
> >Where do you think those streaking backgrounds, for instance, come from?
>
> anime?

    I can't think of any other source.

> >I would argue that if it weren't for anime and its influence, then SWAT Kats
> >would be, ahem, radically different than what we see now.
>
> Yeah, in animation wise, but in the story departement it will still remain the
 same.

    Most likely. I'm not really seeing too much in the way of anime
inspiration in the stories or writing other than the basic fact that SWAT Kats
isn't dumbed down like so many other American shows, something which rarely
occurs in similar Japanese productions.

> >SWAT Kats is just
> >what I'd expect from a synthesis of anime and H-B. Say, by any chance were t
he
> >Tremblays influenced by anime or manga? I wouldn't be surprised if they were

Received on Fri Mar 22 1996 - 09:52:16 PST