The Poetic Critic
had granted me a favor by being this week's guest. Her reward...she
gets to address a big hullabaloo that over took #FilmTwitter. This poor
taste insurrection started with some twat saying how they broke their
own rules of not watching any features released before 1975. I guess
this was to prove their belief that cinema was not worth anything prior
to the year of "Jaws" because they found "Citizen Kane" to be a poor
attempt at art.
It
was not solely the stance that films were bad before the special effect
shark. The lyrical assessor brought up a recent article that the
legendary Martin Scorsese (I think I have now finally memorized the
spelling.) about the art of Federico Fellini. In this work (per
ThePoeticCritic [TPC]), he again discusses how he feels that corporations are
more interested in delivering content to amuse instead of art to
challenge.
#FilmTwitter's
Response To the Most Under Rewarded Director (to paraphrase): What does
he know about art? All his films are about white males. The Marvel
Cinematic Universe considers all cultures and races unlike the cinema
before 1975 which was nothing but the celebration of white men.
So
this is the episode where I truly show my age as I shout at "kids" for
trying to feel better about themselves by being keyboard "activists". I thank
TPC for her patience as I compare the yearning for only woke features to
"woke" wrestling fans wanting more time and respect shown to still blossoming women's
wrestling. If you are looking for controversy, I take the stance thantcontext warnings should allow Disney+ to finally air "Song of the
South". One can be curious...right?
As
for individual movie talk, TPC provides great launch points into films of each decade as far back as the 1920's. I get to mention my experiences with my
viewings of David Cronenberg's "Shivers" and the Japanese revenge
feature that surely inspired the crimson splashes featured in "Kill Bill",
"Lady Snowblood". "Ally's Accessories Shop's Trash Cinema"
offers up another low-budget feature. "Dark Ride" from the "8 Films
to Die For" series was crammed in just before the editing process. Why
could it not be Ham from "The Sandlot" to be featured in the film's head
bisection scene?
Imagine We Still Had VHS: "Cat Planet Cuties" and the Curse of Too Much Physical Media
*Blog post started on February 19, 2021.
Trying to optimize my Twitter feeds (@maineventzombie, @catbusruss, @russthebus)
yesterday has put me a day behind in terms of writing. What is the
point of staying up late for content if it is not fresh in your mind the
next day? There is a chance that the thoughts that ruined your original
intentions bleed over into the next day. When you are obsessive
compulsive like me, if one thing is optimized, all must be optimized.
That can kill some time at the day job. I may be going through my blogs to
make sure that forwarding the reader on to my different blogs is not
that tasking on the eyes. In other words, the reader maybe frustrated
with reading through have a screen of text to be reintroduced to the same text again when they click on the "Check out..." link. Some further editing
is definitely needed.
As
for my Wednesday content search, it is a good thing that it was an
anime television series. I got home from work, practiced some self care,
and made dinner and watched the "NBC News Nightly News" from my DVR.
With no wrestling on Thursday (I would say the best day for AEW's next
program, but after Dynamite, everything is down hill to BTE on Monday.),
it is the perfect day to binge the streaming services or watch those
series you impulsively buy on DVD.
When
it comes to streaming, I have two hours to catch up on "WandaVision".
If WWE does something offensive to my taste on Sunday, the real
superheroes can take their place. Which reminds me to cancel the WWE
Network for the last time (There is no point to pay $9.99 for 17 days
when it will be on Peacock on the 18th). Sorry NXT UK.
When
it comes to DVDs, I can obviously make any night a wrestling night in
my household, but there are some TV shows that I just have to own. This
seemingly means half of post "Game of Thrones" HBO series ("Watchmen"
and "Westworld" tell the audience that you need the special features)
and what ever affordable anime series I can grab at Disc Replay or Best
Buy. There definitely not as many of those.
I
have considered getting Crunchyroll or Funimation subscriptions, but
Shudder is definitely the greater priority. It might also just be the
hunter/collector in me who does not want to have everything at my finger
tips. My "Speed Grapher" collection might be the pride of my
2000's/2010's collection. To get all the episodes on four-episode DVD's,
the extra $100 spent was worth it. Truthfully, Ebay allowed me to
make that hit a lot less.
Not
being an anime streamer may also be a need not to develop another
hobby. I know there is quite the Japanese animation lineup on Netflix,
but I am starting to ponder if that service is worth maintaining. There
are some great comedy specials, but again, I do not need the hobby.
Especially when I need those sub two-hour time slots for NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast.
They may have one series a year that is worth subscribing for. Is each
series worth 15 bucks? How do I tell all those using my info that I am
cutting it off?
It
all comes down to having too much physical media. Yes, there are
special features, but what is the point, aside from Steelbooks? I say
physical media allows us to be of more critical minds. There are no
worries of "Available till" messages, so when you watch them, you can
take your time and find out the answers to why something does or does
not work.
You
can claim that can be done with streaming services, but I have yet to
find a remote control that functions as well as those of a physical
media player. Personally, the more buttons, the better. Of course there
are special remotes, but you can usually buy at least two DVDs for the
price of one of those.
Ironically,
anime rarely has those kind of expansive extras to warrant a physical
copy. But does "Cat Planet Cuties" need that when I could grab it for
$10 bucks? I could not pass up something catcentric at that price. It is
still a gamble because it is an anime. This is an anime with an American
title that implies loads of fan service.
Fan service is best kept as an implication like the promises at the end of episodes of "Evangelion" or "Blue Seed". As a series, I have seen that backfire so many times like "Agent AIKa" and "Knights of Ramune".
"I
am coming to drop by." That is the first extra-terrestrial message that
humanity has received. It is not necessarily ominous, but the Japanese
Self Defense Force is still on edge since the object they are tracking
seems to be eying Okinawa as a landing zone. There is an incident of a
smuggler's ship blowing up, but otherwise all was quiet the night of the
message.
The
next afternoon seems like any other. There is a celebration for Kio's
late grandfather going on, but the most stress that could lead to would
be Kio's uncle pushing him to flirt with the cosplay girl who just
randomly showed up. Showing immediate concern for the confused stranger,
Eris, the sixteen year-old ends up getting black out drunk when he
consumes the booze that the uncle had meant for the new girl. Fortunately for Kio,
Eris is quite caring and is able to walk him home at his uncle's
behest.
The
next morning, Kio awakens to a half-dressed Eris being curled up by his
side. This leaves him immediately startled and Eris further confused.
Before she can offer an explanation, Kio's neighbors Manami and Maki
stop by to check up on him and inquire about the girl they presume he
took home to fulfill some furry fantasies. Eris reveals to them and
proves by letting the two pet her tails and ears that she is an alien
from the planet Catia. She is on a recon mission to hopefully establish
diplomatic relations with Earth, a planet that may lag in technology, but
none the less, is very similar culturally to her home world.
With
everything explained and established on Eris's end, all should be
alright provided the girls do not blab about it. Well, they are not
going to go public with it, but that is because they are both covert
operatives. Manami has aspirations to join the CIA, so bringing in an
alien should secure her a spot.
Maki
is a part of the Beautiful Contract, a secret society that is looking
to ensure that first contact with space beings will be a magnificent moment in
history. To find out that the cosplay ideal is what the superior
lifeforms look like does not sit well with them. They intend to
eliminate her to prevent the embarrassment.
On
top of these two agencies, another one of Kio's friends has been
instructed to rid earth of Eris. The shy Aoi is a Japanese immigration
agent who specializes in eliminating any threat to Japan. This all
sounds like too much for Kio to handle, but Eris has an army of cute
helper droids that can carry out almost any command. She is more
concerned about figuring out how humans operate especially Kio. It is
about time for her first mating season and after seeing some of the
manga under her host's bed, she has some ideas that Kio is probably far
from ready for.
"Cat
Planet Cuties" comes across as a refined "Excel Saga". "Excel Saga" was
all about making fun of all of the tropes associated with anime making
every episode its own entity. This cat-girl anime focuses on one trope
and builds a 12-episode narrative around it. If you are not looking to
laugh at all types of anime but want a ridiculous premise, "Cat Planet
Cuties" will treat you a lot better than the abrasive nature of a
straight up parody like "Excel Saga".
This
anime is very well produced. I personally prefer to have my colors a
little more subdued as if the project was a manga with motion,
but for a bright and loud comedy, you cannot complain about it popping
out of the screen at you. Along with a very versatile soundtrack, the
premise may have just sounded too nuts for Funimation to talk Cartoon
Network into airing it on our shores.
What
I really liked about "Cat Planet Cuties", aside from the obvious (six
cat tats and counting), is that the storytelling is very similar to one
of my favorite anime franchises, "El Hazard".
I suppose my comparison to "El Hazard" speaks to how I loved that
P-Anime (Pioneer produced Anime from the 90's) more than the better
known "Tenchi Muyo!"
That title is more appropriate to compare it to since this is a story
about an alien entering a teenage boy's life instead of the protagonist
being placed in an alien world. Either way, the story revolves around
our hero as all the girls for the most part hide their infatuation with
him. Either way, for a narcissistic boy, it is my dream (and a really
weird one at that when you smoke a bowl before bed.).
As
for the fan service fears, the dirty minds of the audience are amused
with near tongue-baths and accidental boob grabs, but it does not
dominate any elements of the story. The series is nudity-free through
the first five episodes, with the exception of the third. In that
episode, that is all played up for laughs instead of "Ramune" and "AIKa"
who wants the viewer leering at the screen the entire series.
The
best homage to fans are through the peripheral elements of Eris. She
attacks with a mallet (like Harley Quinn) and her assistant droids
gradually become chibi-cat tributes to other famous characters (samurai,
even a Hong Kong gunfighter...spoiler for episodes 4 and 5). This
series's humor is not breaking new ground, but it is an ode to the
serieses that I would pay $25 per 1-hour dubbed tape in the 90's.
"Cat
Planet Cuties" shows how important it is too feature relatable and
likable characters. When you have those, any premise can be translated
into entertainment. After three (or five) episodes, this series has done
no wrong. If you can create a series based around cats that is
reminiscent of the best comedies of the 90's, any anime fan should be
pleased with purchase.
