| Dec. 19th, 2009 @ 08:59 pm Braced and prepared to accept change. |
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It's already a touch embarrasing how personal, and how utterly geeky, this post is going to get.
Set the stage. I'm a mousy sophomore in high school, 1994. A friend of mine lends me a manga novel on the bus. This manga changes my life forever. It becomes a near decade long obsession, inspires me to hone my artistic skill (and is solely responsible for any 'anime' feel to my artwork absolutely), and sets a bar of excellence I've still yet to achieve artistically. I fell in love with the protagonist in an infatuation sense. Like an imaginary friend or an untouchable idol. Hell, it's probably how some people feel about Jesus.
Alita. Or Gally, if you will. Ah. It's still there a little bit.
This is probably that dorky fandom thing that runs rampant in Japan, I've just kept it mostly internal. My close friends all know I obsessed over this manga, but they also found it to be awesome so I just kinda shared in the appreciation. And aside from jokingly, I don't pretend to 'own' this fandom, I know plenty of other people love and obsess over Battle Angel just as I have, or at least enjoy it. It's out there. But it's still fairly obscure, and now it's getting old and buried under the sands of time.
Yeah, then Avatar did fantastic opening weekend.
See, you've probably heard of Avatar over the last year, being James Cameron's new 3D masterpiece. Well, I've known about Avatar for going on 4 years, because it was announced Cameron was making this movie to test out the 3D camera technology before he tried it on his magnum opus. His opus, of course, being Battle Angel. Turns out James Cameron, lover of cyborgs and robots that kill, is also a huge Alita fan. So big, he made a little show in the 90's called Dark Angel starring Jessica Alba, with a not-so-surprisingly similar plot. Of course, instead of robotics it was genetics, but the roots of the tale were the same. Still, he worked to get the rights, and Yukito Kishiro is now working closely with him on the new movie.
I haven't seen Avatar yet, but it is doing well enough that people are going to want more. Eyes will shift to Battle Angel. People will want to know how this one turns out. It will be big.
My little Alita, who's probably already had her share of popularity in Japan, is going to make big waves in America, potentially the world, as Cameron's latest femme fatale. She could be featured on late night shows or Saturday Night Live sketches, much like hobbit and Harry Potter references are these days. Battle Angel could become a franchise. It could become another... Star Wars? I don't know. I can't predict the future.
But what I do know is that something I've kinda always known to be this great thing is about to be opened up to the masses. My silent 16 year obsession could, by 2011, be a commonplace fad.
I'm just saying I'm totally cool with that. It'll be weird, and kinda awesome, and it may strip me of something I've long held to myself, but I'm cool with it. Especially since, y'know, I get to enjoy the movies also. You always want to see the things you enjoy grow and give you more. |
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