Volume IV, Issue 3, 1995
Index:

Dirty Pair Flash & Flight 005 Conspiract

In Dirty Pair FLASH Episode #1, "Runaway Angel," Kei and Yuri are introduced as young 17 year-olds. Ironically named the 'Lovely Angels' after a famous 3WA team, Molly and Iris, the two are poster children for 3WA recruiting ac cidents. Yur is famous for ditching school to meet with her newest man, and Kei's suspension record gets longer by the second. While sneaking out, Yuri acquires a mysterious card. Soon they are inconveniently getting chased by the cops and some dastard ly business men...and the Lovely Angels hate to be late for a date. Look for a transformation scene using Yuri's sailor suit reminiscent of Sailor Moon.

"Darkside Angel" (DPF #2) has the Lovely Angels coming to the 'rescue' of an informant in the middle of a civil war between the Takushaka Highlands and the Mugaru. Unfortunately, the informant is the custody of famous assassin, Lady Flaya (AKA Miss Irene ). The Mugaru have obtained military aid from GNC and are preparing to obliterate their opponents. Unfortunately, Kei takes up a personal vendetta against Lady Flaya and inconveniently becomes involved in the war.

Flight 005 Conspiracy is classic Dirty Pair. Kei and Yuri reign magnificently in skintight 70's battle armor while solving the newest case that the 3Wa computer has deemed worthy of investigation. A shuttle flight between the planets of Dubahl, D olz, and Zahl has exploded. Suspiciously, none of the survivors among the 300 passengers have filed insurance claims. At the same time, an important scientist, Dornenschtern, is missing along with his family, and Dornenschtern's father-in-law has reques ted an investigation. Flirting, fighting, and philosophy rage in comic Dirty Pair Style.



Cast of Characters:

Kei -
the red haired, more violent member of the Lovely Angels. Obsessed with big guns and gifted with a talent for down-and-dirty shoot-em-ups.
Yuri -
The other beloved human of the Lovely Angels (AKA Dirty Pair). More overtly feminin, squealing, and boy-crazy than Kei, she is just as destructive, though with a different panache.
Mughi -
The third member of the Lovely Angels. Sometimes looks like a cat, sometimes looks like a nightmare monster.
Supervisor -
Kei and Yuri's superior. A man perpetually on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Lucifer -
A highly intelligent criminal netwrok. Think big, corporate-type criminals.

FeedBACK

By Randall M! Gee

A Response to German Militarism, see Issue 2

In the last AnimESSENCE, the question was raised: why do Japanese anime and manga use Germanic trappings to invoke militaristic imagery? The facile answer is: why should they not? the smybols and regalia of Nazi Germany are c ertainly what we Americans would use to represent militarism run amok. To paraphrase Indiana Jones, we hate these guys.

Besides, the symbols the Nazis used are unique in German history, and deliberately so. The Swaztika was not used in Germany before. But the rise of Japanese militarism co-opted symbols of an older Japan, notably the sammurai's Bushido Code. Thus, the u se of Japanese regalia of World War II, and this loss exposed the madness of militarism. There is little desire to revisit it. Indeed, the post-war Japanese Constitution (framed with much input from the United States) prohibits military action abroad. For many people, World War II is more than mere history. We may recall the recent scuttling of the planned Enola Gay exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute as ample proof that emotions still run high for both Americans and Japanese. (Local angle: the curat er of the Smithsonian is former Berkeley Chancellor I. Michael Heyman.)

In fact, military stories do appear in anime and manga. The stories of this genre do not glorify militarism; wars and militarism are depicted as the folly they are. These stories often examine the nature of being a soldier. They depict identifiable hum an beings , not storm troopers, serving in very nasty, ugly, immoral wars. They may occasionally be heroic, or anti-heroic; it is their superiosrs who are often stupid, foolish, greedy, or cowardly. Analogous stories for Americans could include M*A*S *H, Dispatches, The Forever War, China Beach, and All Quiet On The Western Front. One notable example is The Bridge Over The River Kwai, a story about British POWs in a Japanese labor camp, which was popular both in the U.S.A. and Japan .

In short, Japanese military sybols carry a far more complex and subtle meaning for Japanese audiences than do German and Nazi military symbols. You will see an example of this in our February 27 showing of The Cockpit.


AnimESSENCE

By Bobby Batara

Sexism in Destruction...We want equality


KonshuuFOCUS

By Raymond Lew

Using Anonymous FTP

Sooner or later you'll find yourself wondering how to get some cool pictures for your computer screen or those "FAQs" (Frequently Asked Questions) that everyone keeps telling you to consult. The way to get these and many other bits of useful data is anon ymous FTP. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and is a program used to move data between computer systems connected on the Internet. Most space on such systems are of course restricted, but there are often public "FTP sites" that can be accessed by anyone.

To start with you will need a computer account such as UCLink or OCF. To use FTP, all you have to do is type "FTP [address]", where [address] is much like the domain names of E-mail addresses; for example, "venice.tcp.com". Once connected to the remote computer, you will be prompted for a login. since you want to access the FTP site, type "anonymous" as your login. After this you will be asked for your e-mail address. Type it in, but be careful, since you won't be able to see what you're typing.

If you've been granted access (some sites have restrictions based on the time of day and number of users already logged on), you need just two UNIX commands to navigate the site's files: "cd [directory]", which changes directories, and "dir", which lists the contents of the current directory. To transfer a file to your account, use "get [filename]" (remember that UNIX considers upper- and lower-case letters to be different.) To end your connection, type "bye".

A few things to keep in mind: Watch your quota. every computer account has a disk space quota which you may only exceed temporarily before penalties are applied. Type "quota" to check your maximum limit and your current usage. Move or delete any FTP'd files as soon as possible if you run afoul of the quota. FTP site addresses can be found on USENET (for anime, rec.arts.anime.ifo) or printed in publications such as this. For anime fans, good sites to visit are venice.tcp.com (with files in pub/anime- manga/sorted_, ftp.std.com (fan-fiction, in /archives/anime-fan-works), and server.berkeley.edu. If you're looking for something specific, the program "archie" can help find sites; just type "archie [name]" and this program will locate suitable FTP sites , if any.


Kobe Quake--Information Sources

WWW:
http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/earthquake/index.html
http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp/jishin.html
http://150.26.230.162/Kobe/quake2.html
http://www.kobe-cufs.ac.jp/

General info about Earthquakes in Japan: http://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

U.S. government hot line number for American inquiring about friends or relatives in Japan: (202) 647-0900. To find out about U.S. military personnel in Japan: (703) 697-5737

Net News
fj.misc; fj.misc.earthquake (mainly in Japanese); fj.misc.earthquake.people;
fj.sci.geo; kansai.misc; tnn.disasters.earthquake; soc.culture.japan;
sci.geo.earthquakes


NewsDISPATCH

More Anime Coming to the US
It turns out Sailor Moon was just the beginning...According to Broadcasting and Cable magazine, two more anime series are going to be showin in the US: Dragonball, the hit martial-arts adventure series. and Rayearth, based on the CLAMP manga. These show s will be syndicated, with one episode per week. Just how much these shows will be changed for American audiences is yet to be seen. Those concerned about "chop" jobs may find it interesting that USA Today reported that Usagi (of Sailor Moon) will have her name changed to Victoria.

Anime Expo's Guest of Honor
The Guest of Honor at Anime Expo this year will be Satoshi Urushibara. He has worked as character designer/production supervisor on Plastic Little and Bubblegum Crisis episode 7, and was key animator for Five Star Stories. He has also worked on Record o f Lodoss War and Crying Freeman.

Manga Entertainment Releases
Some of Manga Entertainment's planned upcoming releases: Febrary 28, Macross Plus Volume 1 and Appleseed; March 21, Orgus 02 Volume 1 and Black Magic M-66; April 18, Dominion II Volume 1 and Giant Robo Volume 1; May 23, Macross Plus Volume 2 and Devilman Volumes 1 and 2.

Cal-Animage Adds to Tape Library
Beginning this week (although in limited supply) Cal-Animage will add the following titles to the library: Bastard 1-4, Bastard 5-6, City Hunter--Bay City Wars, I Can Hear the Sea (aka Sound of the Ocean), LoGH 1-4 (more to come), Villigust 1-2, Yotod en.


SignOFF

By Trulee Lee

Trends

Playing off our weekly showing, let's examine a new trend in anime. Of course it might seem paranoid, but have you noticed that the women in anime are getting more and more unrealistically proportioned? They've always been a little, er, huskier than the average female, but now anime seems to be following our society's (and the media's) crazy and unhealthy ideal of women!

Let's look at the Dirty Pair. Now, in Dirty Pair Flash, Kei and Yuri actually look passably seventeen (as opposed to traditional Dirty Pair, where by no strech of the imagination could they possibly be nineteen) but they are humongously developed. In th e tranformation scene, Kei's already formidable chest gains a few more inches in girth, while Yur's strategically torn sailor suit abandons her for glorified underwear. (Of course we are used to seeing the Lovely Angels in underwear.)

But the trend I'm talking about is the grotesque reformation of anime women. Unless I'm mistaken, Kei and Yuri went on a crash diet. now, while they were buxom in the original Dirty Pair, at least they looked like REAL WOMEN. Generously hipped, with th ighs and REAL waists, one could regard the classic Dirty Pair with the comforting thought that if they were most chesty than most, at least they were equally healthy looking all around. Now they have thighs like a prepubescent, but they do not have propo rtionally thinner chests.

This phenomenon is not limited to the Dirty Pair. Akane used to be quite a bit heavier - she's obviously lost a lot of weight too. Sure, anime women have always looked older than their age (Ayukawa Madoka from K.O.R. never looked like an eighth grader), but at least they were realistically thin. The new anime that's out (Maross Plus, DP Flash, Ah! My Goddess!) features women who, while they may be a little buffer, are also a good ten pounds lighter. Meanwhile, the average real woman hasn't gott en any lighter; to the contrary, she's gotten heavier.

Has Twiggy taken over the world? Will anime join in the media onslaught that turns normal girls into bulimics and anorexics? The first step towards recovery from this dangerous trend is to be aware of it. Protest! Demand the return of the archetypal w oman.


Next Up:

Valentine's Day Special
Kimagure Orange Road
Episodes 40-46

October 24th, 7:00 PM
155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley

You haven't witnessed anime until you've seen KOR! Come watch the adventures of Kasuga, Ayukawa (the otaku dream girl!), and Hikaru, as a poor high school boy tries to sort out his wild life as an ESPer. The romantic-comedy (48 total eps + OVAs + movie) series is perhaps one of the most known anime ever drawn. It's a perfect Valentine treat!


Cal-Animage Konshuu

Volume IV, Issue 3

Please direct all correspondence and submissions to Cal-Animage Alpha, P.O. Box 4263, Berkeley, CA 94704; animage@ocf.berkeley.edu; or (510) 664-1970.
(c) 1994 Cal-Animage Alpha Chapter. Legalese: All artwork, copyrights, and trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. See the Sather Gate signboard for updates.

Editor:
Bryan Lee Lewis
Copy Editor:
Keith Casner
Konshuu Coordinator:
Clark Lin
Konshuu Staff
David Bautista
Bobby Batara
Brendan Bolles
Raymond Lew
Leon Lin
Rodney Romasanta
Weldon Chen
On-Line Editor:
Ankan K. Bhaumik

Last Modified: Thursday, October 19, 1995

Cal Animage (animage@server.berkeley.edu)