The Deviant Art Otaku Spot Issue 19
_{Fan Arts and Doujinshi: What are they, and why are they so big in the anime community.}

Most of us have heard of these, but what are they? What makes them so big in the anime communtiy? In this issue of the DAOS we will be going over these very topics.

Reviews of the issue
Gunslinger Girl
3 volumes available and a complete box set from Funimation


Plot Summary
"Henrietta" was an innocent little girl when her entire family was massacred and she was left for dead. She was rescued by a privately-owned social welfare organization and given cybernetic components over her battered body. Brainwashed by the organization, she and four other girls now work as cold-blooded assassins, doing the dirty work for the Italian government.

Pros of the anime
I think that the biggest pro to this anime is the cyborgs. Their characters are portrayed so well and you can really get attached to them. The overall lighting of the whole anime makes the mood perfect for a series like this and of course the color palette that they used fit very well too. Like I said before about getting attached to their characters, I don't think I've felt so upset about a fictional character being neglected (in some cases) as I did with this one. And, of course, I got very PO'd at the characters that were doing the neglecting. All of the characters were developed so well! The animation we very smooth as well which made it all the more enjoyable to watch. Normally, I would have been really angry with an ending like the one that Gunslinger Girl had, but for some reason, I wasn't. Sure, it didn't wrap up everything I wanted wrapped up, but was it necessary to wrap these things up? No.

Cons of the anime
There are not many. I think one of my chief complaints was the way it seemed like the anime jumped around a lot. I mean, I liked learning all the back story for the characters and everything, but if you're going to do this, you need more than 12 episodes. From what I understand there is another season that just finished in Japan so I guess I'll get what I want there.

Damaged Thoughts
It took me a long time to get around to watching this (for various reasons). Then when I finally bought the Viridian Collection I STILL took a long time to watch this. I think cause it was so short I didn't wanna ruin it by... watching it (yeah, ok, my logic is flawed). Anyways, I am so glad I did! This is one of the best series that I have seen! No over convoluted plot twists or love-comedy going on here. Its just straight to the point and executes its point very well! When it was over I immediately wanted to watch Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-. The series is great and it is definitely worth a watch. And at on $35.99 for the Viridian Collection its a total steal! On the topic of the Viridan Collection, its a great design for a DVD series. Its slim, it has the DVDs and doesn't waste space. The DVD menu is easy to use and the chapter lengths in each episode are just right!

Galaxy Angel
Complete collection available from Bandai


Plot Summary
The Angel Brigade, an elite branch of the Transbaal Empire military, are assigned to search for The Lost Technology, mysterious items from the past that hold unknown powers. Led by the soon-to-retire Colonel Volcott O' Huey, the Angel Brigade travel to different planets using their specially designed Emblem Frame ships to search for Lost Technology. Unfortunately, they often mess up somehow and end up getting into all kinds of awkward and troublesome situations.

Pros of the anime
If inane humor is your thing then this anime is for you! The characters are a lot of fun to watch and the colors are vibrant. The animation itself is very well done and I can say I laughed quite a few times at the pure unadulterated randomness of this show. I'm not generally a huge fan of this genre, but this anime definitely amused me. I think the best part was how each character had a very distinctive personality and you could get to know them very well (like Milfeulle loves to cook and is super ultra mega lucky).

Cons of the anime
I suppose the biggest draw back in my opinion was the shortness of the episodes. They were 12 minutes long. I didn't know this going into the show (so shame on me) and I was very confused at first when I watched it. Inane humor is fun at times, but even in the presence of the most random there should still be a plot. I mean, Galaxy Angel DID have a plot, but it wasn't as in focus as I would have liked it to be. Look at Excel Saga, the epitome of random, and you could still tell there was a plot and you could follow it. Galaxy Angel focused too much on being random and it really kind of killed it a little for me.

Damaged Thoughts
Ok, I bought this on a whim. I read the name, saw a cute picture of Mint and bought it from Best Buy. So, I really can't be too critical about it because, honestly, I didn't have any idea what it was about. Also, I had a reward zone coupon so I ended up getting this series for a whopping $7 so I shouldn't complain. Like I said in the cons it almost seemed like "forced" randomness at times. The characters were a lot of fun and the silly humor was enough to get me to purchase Galaxy Angel Z, but over all, not the best anime that I have seen. Though, if you are not looking for any real thinking and wanna watch an anime over a case of beer with out the worries of missing huge plot points, then this anime is for you!

Reviewed By: ^Damaged927

Issue Nineteen - Fan Arts and Doujinshi
In many of our travels through out the wide world of deviant art we have all come across Fan Arts and Doujinshi's, but have you ever really took a step back and actually thought about what they were and their effects on the anime community?

What are they?
We should first get started on what these are. So, lets define them:

Fan Art
Well, the name in itself tells you what it is. Fan Art is artwork made by a fan of something. Usually it is characters that come from big name movies, TV shows and games though it can come from a multitude of places. For instance, you could make a fan art of your friends character because the character is theirs and you are a fan. Henceforth, Fan Art. Usually, Fan art is done by amateur artists to portray their favorite characters and usually this work is unpaid. Of course, this is not always the case, but it is the most common case.

Deviant Art's definition of Fan Art is: artwork based on copyrighted material such as books, movies, TV shows, comics, cartoons and games.

Doujinshi
If you have read this word in the past then you probably already have an idea in mind about what this word means. Most likely, the first thing that came to mind was porn/hentai. Though it is true that most doujinshi are indeed of the pornographic variety it is not the only thing that a doujinshi is. A doujinshi refers to a doujinshi manga and it is manga that is a non-professionally published.

Doujinshi's can be either a fan doujinshi or an original doujinshi. A fan doujinshi is self publsihed manga that contains already established characters. So, if you made a manga using Inuyasha characters and published it through your own means, then you would have created a fan doujinshi. An original doujinshi is similar to the fan doujinshi in the fact that it is self published but the major difference is the fact that it contains original characters and they are in their own world and have their own stories.

A great place to publish your works for a reasonable price is LuLu

Why are these important though?

So, now that we know what these integral parts of the anime communtiy art, why are the so important? This is really a subjective question (just like any question of this nature is), but I believe that it is important because it is free advertising for a series.

For me I find a lot of series to watch because of things like Fan Art. If I see a character being drawn all over the place (i.e. Konota from Lucky Star) I will start to wonder about this series and maybe check it out. When I see them everywhere I have to stop and think "Why are they every where? Why does everyone know them?" Usually this can be broken down to The series is worth watching.

But that doesn't make it important per say, it just makes it into a way that people can become familiar with the characters. I have spoken to a lot of people that are familiar with characters (i.e. the Rozen Maidens) but have never seen the series. Or, I have seen people that draw the characters because they see them every where. So then, why is it important.

When someone creates a fan art of a character (i.e. Shana from Shakugan no Shana) and posts it on the internet or sells it at a convention, people are going to see it at NO COST to the company. The person that made the Shana may make a buck or 2 at a convention, but what happens now is people at the convention have seen her and become intrigued. They then turn around and purchase the DVDs or mangas. Then they like it or don't, but either way they have made a sale of their product all because a fan artist has drawn their character and made it visible in a place that the company may not have thought to advertise. Boom! Free advertising.

Same holds true for the internet (actually on a much larger scale). Let's use Deviant Art for example. You're browsing around and you stumble on to someone's page and they have Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion on their page. You look at it and you like it. So you then read the comments and, wow, everyone seems to like it. There you go, now you have the seed planted about this show and now you may be interested in seeing the show. And it turns out there is a cheap box set available from Amazon, so you buy it. BOOM! The company got a sale because some person drew Rei.

A fan doujinshi has almost a similar effect as fan art, but appeals to a specific audience. People that read fan doujinshi already love the characters and want to have more of them and get another outlook on the characters. Or maybe they want to read a different spin on a relationship that was formed in the manga or anime. Or maybe they want that pornographic version cause they want to see their favorite characters doing something totally out of character.

What ever the reason is, some people prefer fan doujinshi's over the real deal. Wouldn't you say that this would hurt the companies? Maybe a little, but as with fan art, it is another form of advertising. I have spoken to a few people that have read fan doujinshi's and have never seen the series that they came from. You know what I usually hear after that? "But after reading the doujinshi, I want to see the series now". So, once again, people have heard about the series through a fan created works and now are showing interest in the real deal.

But what about original doujinshi's? Why are they important? What benefit do they have to the anime community?

This is a tricky one. You could say that it is another form of advertising for the anime companies. People may get into someone's personally manga because they know them. They may not have been a fan of the style of manga before, but because you were making it they read it. Turns out they like the style and get into the professional stuff. Then they make purchases of series and the companies win again.

But, that is just one idea. I think on a more realistic level it gives the companies some fresh ideas and artists to draw the works that they could then take on and publish if they like it. Places like Tokyopop are great places for these companies to find works to publish. Also, Tokyopop has their rising stars which has given birth to many a manga.

Lets wrap this up
Well, thats about all I got to say on the this topic. I hope you found it both amusing and informative. This was a tricky topic to go over due to its heavy subjectivity, but hey, what news article like this isn't subjective?

See you next issue!


Anime in Focus: Shugo Chara!

Plot Summary: Every child has an egg in their heart, unseen at first, an egg with the would-be self of their dreams. Hinamori Amu, part of a group called the Guardians, protect those eggs from becoming x-eggs, eggs filled with resentment and resignation that gives children troubles. Amu's job is to capture and restore x-eggs to their orginal form. She does this with the help of her three Shugo Chara (guardian characters or her would be selves), Ran, Miki and Su. Thanks to them she can change her character and abilities, and so fight against the mysterious organization Easter which aim is to find a special egg called Embryo using the x-eggs.