[Editor's note: We're not just a (rad) news site -- we also publish opinions/editorials from our community & employees like this one, though be aware it may not jive with the opinions of Destructoid as a whole, or how our moms raised us. Want to post your own article in response? Publish it now on our community blogs.]
We told you about the anime Princess Robot Bubblegum in GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, and Conrad was kind enough to record the entire thing so that we could take a moment to enjoy and discuss the piece. Clocking in at around 11 minutes, the show does what GTA has been known for in its more recent iterations: lampooning culture.
Except, in the case of Princess Robot Bubblegum, it's about fifteen years late. I really shouldn't mind, and it's not like this bothers me on the scale ofModern Warfare 2, but it's still ticked me off just a bit. Follow me after the jump so I can rant a bit.
I know, you're asking: "Who cares?" So, when people talk about videogames as "that stupid Mario stuff that's just for kids," you're totally with them, right? Well, I see you guys defending videogames here as an art form and serious business day in and day out, so why not give me a moment to do the same with anime.
My real problem is that a lot of the tropes they're lampooning are really old. It's akin to judging today's games by Super Mario Bros. Now that the anime industry is at a level where they post serious numbers -- FUNimation was one of the best performing divisions of Navarre, a Fortune 500 company that owned Circuit City -- poor translations, shitty dubs, and shows with next-to-no production budget are few and far between.
I shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto to be the most highbrow of pieces, especially something entitled The Ballad of Gay Tony, but it's necessary to point out that this really isn't what anime is like anymore. Some of you poke your head in over at Japanator from time to time, and you have an idea just how awesome anime can be at times. We tell you about some good stuff.
To give you readers here at Destructoid a quick glance at some of what's gone on in the anime industry in the past several years, things have changed a bit. Those giant robot shows? They've gotten a hell of a lot more awesome and manly. There are stories that explore new artistic ways of telling stories and romances that will grip your heart and not let go.
Shows with little girls? Yeah, they're still around, but they can be used to explore some emotionally deep topics, such as giving people a second life at the cost of their humanity.
My point is this: there are a lot of good things in anime out there. It's not all tits and tentacles. It's all good and fine if you poke fun at anime once in a while in general pop culture, but when these negative stereotypes are all that gets played? Then it becomes problematic, because then it just reinforces the idea that anime is nothing but tentacles and bad storylines.
Rockstar, I'm not saying you're a bad company for this, but you're really not helping my cause here. It'd be great if you could show anime in a positive light once in a while. I'm just sayin'.
For the rest of you, head over to Japanator and get yourself schooled in the ways of anime and manga. We've got plenty to talk about, even if you're just there for the lulz.
Wait what. You're expecting any program being shown on the TV in GTA IV to show it's subject matter in a positive light? You're..really not familiar with this whole GTA thing are you?
I agree, people who hate anime tend to think of stereotypes that aren't really relevant anymore at all. Anyone who says that all anime sucks clearly has a very small understanding of how much there is out there and how much it's grown from the stereotypes they think of.
Writing off an entire form of media in general (or even a genre) is pretty ignorant in the first place, not just for anime but for anything.
I have to agree with my fellow commentors here. The GTA franchise isnt exactly known for its subtlety, and i find it funny that anyone would take any of the fake TV shows that seriously.
I dont recall anyone taking offence to the Halo/Gears of War/Homo-erotic/Republican spoof in the bog standard GTA IV.
Um...........it was clearly a parody. Not ALL Rockstar associates hate anime and wish that the Dark Land of Japan should burn in Hell.
Simplified argument in two sentences: there's a ton of good anime, there's a ton of bad anime, and saying the entire genre sucks is pretty ignorant. For every horrible Anime trope, there's a Michael Bay movie, and for every Tentacle Rape anime show, there's an American Scat Porn Production company.
Honestly I must admit I'm amazed that you expected more substance out of GTA? I'm kinda ok with the world being a bit Anime-stupid, if the religious right-wing nutjobs ever saw the full scope of what anime offers they would attack in ways that would shame what they've tried to do to D&D and Video Games over the past few decades. I vote we let these stereotypes continue to keep them stupid and just smile knowingly.
Sorry, even as someone who enjoys many anime movies and TV series, I'm NOT feeling you on this article. You apparently don't know how parody works, particularly parody within GTA.
And frankly? upwards of 90% of anime is not good, and is represented fairly well by the clip you included. Sorry, for every Mamoru Oshii, Shinichirō Watanabe and Miyazaki, you have forty Yuji Shiozakis or...jeez. Don't get me started. Anime does not deserve special treatment.
After watching it i have to admit i did find it funny. But seriously i bet the average viewer wont *get* the joke and think "WTF IS THIS JAP SHIT, I WANNA KILL SOME GANKGSTAZ AND SHIT" and never view it ever again.
The only people who would seriously sit down and watch it fully would be in on the joke and understand what parody means.
With anything creative your always gonna have amazing products( one piece) and shit ( amazing nurse Nakano). and to be honest this gta thing kinda looks like a lot of the shit in anime. good job gta
I'm on the bench saying Rockstar is just treating anime like they did EVERYTHING else in that game. And that the reason they went with tropes from an old era, is probably thanks to the developers exposure to the stuff, as well as the target age group's.
As for Anime in general, I love that stuff, but it's still got plenty of problems and things that are entirely fair to make fun of.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to watching a show about the ultimate combat android, spending her last year of life as a maid for a male high school student.
You could say the same things in regards to Republican Space Rangers and western programming. I understand where you're coming from, but I really don't think this is a big deal.
On that note, put it on Adult Swim on anime night so I have something to watch.
It was making fun of a serious part of culture in the same way it does politics and music genres and everything else. And what do you mean "I shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto to be the most highbrow of pieces, especially something entitled The Ballad of Gay Tony" Why is that low brow in any way? Its not Saints Row 2 and just because it features violence and humor it doesn't make it low brow. Else The Wire could be described as "not the Most highbrow of pieces"
Take a joke man!
Big baby. I have no problem with most anime (have watched and loved a few series myself), and that video was awesome.
You fell into a trap, Brad, trying to defend anime after running into a video so absurd is just asking to be made fun of.
I mean, jeez. Have a sense of humor, otherwise you're just the one kid that everyone makes fun of who say "I don't find that funny" to every joke made at his expense.
Also, Jesus, we're talking about Rockstar here, a game developer. Nearly every person who made the game is a big nerd, and by the law of averages a good portion of them are probably legit anime nuts.
I like Anime, but prefer to read Manga. Anyway. This whole GTA thing. Really? Did you expect them to actually respect Anime?! Or take a stereotype and run with it? That entire game is like this big bunch of stereotypes rolled up into a ball and parodied. It's funny.
I saw some dumbass moaning about this on another website and my thoughts haven't changed. Are you new to GTA? Rockstar lampoon pop culture, politics, current events and anything else that presents itself as a target with every GTA game. It's supposed to be a parody, it's supposed to exploit sterotypes and cliches.
I thought it was hilarious. I remember watching Ninja Scroll when I was younger. Loved it. In order to find other, more recent win in anime, like Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, I had to wade through a ton of trash. You can say that about an awful lot of media. And Rockstar is there to lampoon it. I do so love Rockstar.
Nice write up Brad, I can understand some of your resentment as an anime fan but I have to disagree with some of your points.
Your assertion that GTAIV is not "the most highbrow piece" seems to betray your unfamiliarity with the not-so-subtle satire sprinkled (sometimes excessively) throughout the game.
GTA may over do it sometimes and it can be heavy handed and even corny with its pop satire, but I find that the writers are also very smart and thoughtful; not to mention, sometimes genuinely funny (a rarity in most modern videogames) when it comes to this sort of stuff.
I remember frequently hearing the radio version of a trailer for Princess Robot Bubblegum when I played the original GTAIV. I also remember a similar commercial poking fun at RTS video games, I thought that one was clever also, but I didn't jump to the conclusion that GTAIV was doing any type of disservice to RTS videogames.
If you really think about it this whole anime thing is really just an inside joke made especially for anime fans like you.
He wasn't saying that it offended him he was saying that for a parody it wasn't all that up to date. Imagine if I tried to parody videogames when my only knowledge of it is from old school platformers.
That's the point of a parody: you make it as ridiculous as possible. What's the ultimate goal of a parody? To be funny. Did it succeed? Hell yes, it did!
Also, all the "merchandising" jokes in the Rockstar parody can be applied TODAY to Naruto.
Saints Row 2 dealt with the same issue as GTA but it said "HEY LOOK YOU CAN KICK SOMEONE IN THE BALLS" which made it lowbrow.
And GoldenGamerXero we did read the article and it was a bitch about something that GTA does all the time. It uses out of date stereotypes. The joke is If you think THIS is all anime is your an idiot in as much as the out of date conventions and stereotypes are. Just cos we disagree don't mean we didn't read it.
Read the article.
Still judging a parody is kind of silly. There are still animes with shitty dubs and mistranslations. And expecting anyone at Rockstar to use anything but Family Guy style humour to parody something is only setting yourself up for disappointment.
I was refering to the comments that seemed to be less focused on this article and just wanted to tell Brad he was wrong still because of the other one. I actually disagree with most of what he's saying but that doesn't mean that people can be dicks.
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press living the dream since March 16, 2006