Not manga or comics-related, but documentaries that have made a strong impression on me. Cinema has always been one of my strong influences, and cinema would include documentaries, so I watch these with strong abandon too. Here are some great documentaries I’ve seen, and would recommend to people.

 

1) The “Up” Documentaries (ie. 7Up, 14Up, 21Up, 28Up, etc)
28Up onwards directed by Michael Apted
The “Up” documentaries is one of the most long-running and profound documentaries ever made. This documentary series traces a group of 7 year-old children from Britain in the 1950s, and every 7 years, returns to see how their lives have progressed. The subjects of the documentary comes from all sectors of society, as the original question posed was whether Britain’s class structure was breaking down. After 42 years, however, this becomes a moot point. What is a far more interesting about this documentary series is seeing the subjects at age 7 and age 14, speculating about their future lives, then see them grow into adults, into middle age with their own children, and comparing what they once were with what they are now (49Up is the latest in the series).

This documentary series may be the only one I’ve seen in which everyone has something to learn from. If you’re a writer or an artist, you will benefit greatly from seeing this. It poses to the audience a universal question: what makes us who we are NOW, at this point in time? Is it our upbringing? Our personalities? Or just the plain randomness of life? This series doesn’t answer those questions, but it gives plenty of ground to ponder on. Highly recommended.

NB. This series has produced 5 spin-offs: 7Up USA, Japan, South Africa… can’t remember the rest.

 

2) American Movie
Directed by Chris Smith
If you’re an artist of any sort, you’ll find something in this movie to identify with. American Movie is a story both sad and funny about a 30-year old man called Mark Borchardt. Mark’s dream is to direct a become a movie director (preferably in Hollywood), despite the fact that he can only do odd jobs, seems to be going nowhere, and makes short horror movies with names like “The More The Scarier 3”. He may seem like a loser, and in a way he IS a loser in the way all unsuccessful artists are “losers”, but he has a drive and determination you can’t help but admire.

… If I have made this movie sound like a Disney documentary, then I didn’t mean to. It is anything but cute and heart-warming. Mark’s life is a struggle every single day, and while this documentary will make you laugh in disbelief, you won’t come away from it feeling warm and fuzzy. It’s a portrait of a driven, desperate man; not a 104-minute feel-good movie propounding the nobility of artistic sacrifice.

 

3) Crumb
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
A documentary ABOUT a cartoonist. Not a manga-ka, but the famous Robert Crumb (more like the “infamous” Robert Crumb). If you haven’t seen his work, see then this documentary first because you may be alarmed by what he draws. This man specialises in taking inspiration from the dark, grotesque side of human nature, and in this documentary where Crumb and his family are interviewed, you get to see why

What is surprising about this documentary is the honest and articulate way Crumb and his brothers talk about themselves and each other. Frankly, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing half the time – this documentary has to be seen (heard) to be believed. You’d think people with lives like this would at least try and tone down the details, but no. Crumb and his brothers see themselves with startling clarity, and this movie made me wonder how many other families out there are like this one. It’s a scary thought.

 

4) Hoop Dreams
Directed by Steve James/Frederick Marx/Peter Gilbert
Hoop Dreams is about young black basketballers who dream of being NBA stars. About 25 make it each year, out of a crop of about 40,000 high schoolers. This is the story of two such young men, coming from the wrong side of the tracks and taking on basketball in an effort to leave the streets. When you live in a neighbourhood where there’s a drug dealer around every corner, anything is preferable to having to spend the rest of your life there.

And here, the story is not only about the sporting hothouses American high schools are, but about the lives of those who live in less-than-ideal neighbourhoods. This is the story that makes me get pissed off about the way hip-hop culture glamourises violence, black violence, poverty and ghetto life. If you’ve never met anyone from a inner-city ghetto, well, here’s the story that will show you the names, the faces and the dreams of the disadvantaged young black men who grow up there. And you’ll see why things such as desperation and disadvantaged backgrounds should never be turned into a marketing ploy. The people in this film, especially Mrs Agee (One of the subject’s mum), deserve so much better than this.

 

5) Bowling for Columbine
Directed by Michael Moore
No introduction needed, really. Michael Moore’s a funny guy, and he genuinely asks some important and interesting questions about the USA’s love affair with guns. This documentary is a compelling view for non-Americans, as the American fascination with gun ownership is something that is quite unique in the world. Many people all the world over own guns, but mainly as a hunting tool, or it’s a necessary part of their profession. Only in America do people buy guns for self-defense, and that’s where all the trouble starts.

Just try and start a debate about whether Americans need to own guns with Americans. The fervity of their defense against their right to own firearms can be alarming (why get so worked up?). There IS indeed a cultural difference here, and it goes beyond all the usual suspects like violent movies, video games and goth music. They have ALL that in Australia too, and many people don’t lock their doors here either (like Canada). It seems to be borne out of a national fear that something is out to GET you, so you have to protect yourself first. Either way, this documentary doesn’t have the answers, but asks plenty of provocative questions.

This week I’ve put up the 13 pages of “TwinSide”, as well as the assorted bits and pieces. I’ve also been doing a colour wallpaper or two, but won’t be putting it up yet – though my output may slow down a bit because of this.

 

Doraemon (Fujimoto Hiroshi and Motoo Abiko)
Has been around since 1970

Now for another very, very famous manga you’ll never have heard of if you live in an English-speaking country – Doraemon, the story of a blue robot cat from the future and his human “owner”, Nobita. It’s no exaggeration to say Doraemon is one of the most iconic manga characters of all time – not as famous as Astro Boy or Hello Kitty, but in some countries just as recognisable. Show a picture of him to children in any East Asian country and they instantly know who he is. What seems like zillions of children grew up on this manga and anime series in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

 

Plot
Since this is a children’s comedy series, the characters remain static, and the plot is relatively simple and episodic. The main character is Nobi Nobita, a fourth-grader who is a failure at everything he does. He is so hopeless his great-grandson from the future has to step in and send him a robot companion, Doraemon. Doraemon is a free-thinking robot with a wide array of futuristic high-tech toys, which he attempts to help Nobita with in everything from passing tests to winning fights with the local bullies. However, as the gentle moralistic nature of children’s stories dictate, the toys are often misused, resulting in a lot of laughs and a few subtle lessons. In the end, everything works out okay – this is a comedy series after all.

 

Why I recommend this story
I used to dislike this story when I was a teenager – I thought I was too grown-up for “childish” stories. Well, you might as well say “TinTin” is childish. The truth is, children’s stories can be wonderfully entertaining for adults to read, and many have things in them which adults may understand better than the target audience. Doraemon is such a story.

Apart from the endlessly amusing gadgetry and all the goofy ways they are misused, there are also some surprisingly touching scenes in the story. The moral content is subtle and rarely preachy, and the more recent stories have an sociological or environmental bent. This makes it educational and entertaining in the best possible sense, and while children may not necessarily appreciate everything in this series, adults certainly will. I, for one, appreciate the way the author is able to work so much into the material without making it seem pretentious.

Then there is the protagonist Nobita; which works as a point of identification for children, and as a metaphor for the flaws adults sometimes find in themselves. Nobita is one of those archetypical characters that everyone can see something of themselves in. He’s lazy, stupid and cowardly, yet has a kind heart and can be counted to make the right choices at the end of the day. Nobita’s inner battles between his slovenly self and his nobler self is often the driving force of the story.

In the end, Doraemon is a rare gem, and one of the few children’s manga I can recommend to adults. However, be warned: even if you’re able to find an English version of this, it’s a story best read in large batches. Reading one or two stories isn’t going to impress. Needless to say, people looking for sweeping epics better look elsewhere, because the drama in this is defintely small-scale, though no less entertaining.

I’ve decided it would be a good public service to make short overviews and recommendations of mangas, comics, movies, novels, and art I have encountered and believe are worth a look (actually, it helps me keep track of what I’ve read). My tastes are pretty wide, but seeing this is a recommendation page, I will be leaning towards titles most people may never have heard of. This first one, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, will probably be familiar only to “hardcore” shonen manga fans – it’s certainly off the beaten track.

 

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Hirohiko Araki)
Shonen Jump, over 75 volumes? (1987 ~ present?)

Bizarre doesn’t begin to describe this, and I’m just talking about the art. If you’re into pages and pages of magical warriors duking it out in gruesome, bloody and surprisingly innovative battles, then this grotesquely drawn manga will be your cup of tea (if you can get over how weird it looks). Mind you, this falls squarely into the “Shonen Fighting” genre, and if you hate the idea of muscular macho-men, minimal character development and over-the-top combat in the first place, you won’t like this at all no matter how innovative it is.

 

Plot
As for the plot, what plot? Nobody ever reads stuff like this for the plot. Loosely speaking, the series is divided into 6 sections, mostly detailing the adventures of the Joestar family; JOnathan JOestar, JOseph JOestar, JOtaro KuJO, JOsuke Higashikata, GIOrno GIOrvanna, and JOsephine KuJO. I believe the THIRD section, involving Jotaro Kujo, is the best in the series, though I really liked the innovative combat in the fourth section. You can skip the first 2 sections, because knowledge of it isn’t necesssary to understand the rest of the series.

 

Why I recommmend this
The innovation of the combat system, ofcourse. That’s the only reason why anyone ever reads JoJo. This may be a typical shonen-fight manga, but unlike most fighting manga, the dueling is often surprisingly cerebral. That is because the fighters don’t rely on ki-blasts or complex martial arts manouevers, but on the use of stands, which is like a magical alter-ego of yourself. Each stand has it’s own unique abilities, strengths, weaknesses, limitations and method of use. Battles often rely on finding the abilities, strengths and weaknesses of the enemy’s stand, leading to a tactical struggle where both sides race to eliminate the opponents. And the abilities of the stands can often be very, very strange – and sometimes entirely non-physical. The flexibility in which the users use their stands, and how the heroes figure out the ability of the enemy’s stand can be rivetting and at times brilliant.

“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” is a remedy to a genre inhabited by tired cliches, where villains and heroes explain their special attacks in excruciating detail, and fights are won by pounding the other side into dust. Luckily, no villain in JoJo is dumb enough to explain their stand the the enemy. Finding where the villain is hiding while avoiding the enemy’s stand is one of the highlights of the combat. Nobody stands around offering blow-by-blow commentary as their friends are being gutted either, which is another antidote to the one-on-one fighting in so many manga when five-on-one will get the job done much faster. JoJo also eschews the Pokemon mind-set where stands battle each other – the stands directly attack the users, which is the smart thing to do since the users themselves are the most vulnerable part of their stands.

All-in-all, a fighting manga with a brain, which is rarer than you’ll think in this genre.