Comments on: Re: The hand-made planet — fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall

By: Pontifus

Pontifus — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:23:09 +0000

Yesss…though it’s interesting that she sort of sucks, and keeps failing tests and such (maybe because nobody’s willing to teach her properly?). She should try rowing backwards.

By: TheBigN

TheBigN — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:58:37 +0000

I’ve not seen a female gondolier ever.

Doesn't mean that there's no lack of trying. :P

By: TheBigN

TheBigN — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:55:59 +0000

In the manga thought, it is mentioned that “Grandma” was in the service for over 30 years. Whether or not that was just gondola-rowing aside, it’s not like only being there for a young age is the norm.

By: OGT

OGT — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:47:08 +0000

I think it’s the age-old adage that applies to the Japanese idol industry as well: women have more universal appeal, as they can be attractive to both male and female fans; a male idol will generally have a fanbase of mostly women, since men are loathe to like a guy who dolls himself up all pretty-like. How many male fans of the Jonas Brothers do you know?

THOUGHT SO.

At any rate, anime/manga is reknowed for busting demographics all the time; Shounen Jump has a significant amount–maybe even a majority–of female readers, enough that they’ve started to actively patronize them; guys watch and read shoujo all the time, and talk about the female characters in much the same way a girl might discuss the male characters.

As for whether or not the Undine industry is sexist in nature, well, gondoliers in Venice itself are frequently portrayed as men–in fact, I’ve not seen a female gondolier ever. Maybe it’s just a reaction to that, maybe it’s supposed to help develop themes, or–get this–maybe Kozue Amano just likes drawing cute girls more than cute boys? Female mangaka often like drawing both to be attractive (see: Kouga Yun), whereas males just tend to make the girls hot and the boys not.

By: Pontifus

Pontifus — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:13:35 +0000

Based on bits and pieces of information I’ve come across, I think some undines retire into marriage, essentially, though I’m not far enough to confirm that. I’m not sure what age is considered too old; I don’t recall ever finding out how old Alicia, Akira, and Athena are, but I assumed mid-20s, at the very least. In any case, I’m hesitant to call the undines romanticized summer camp helpers, if only because they’re grouped with the sylphs, gnomes, and salamanders, all of whom are deemed critical to Aqua’s infrastructure. I couldn’t tell you why undines get the same status as the others; maybe tourism is just that important in Neo-Venezia.

I’m not sure what the original colonists planned to do with Aqua; that’s an intriguing question. Given that Manhome is in bad shape, maybe they simply wanted to use Mars to test out their terraforming capabilities before colonizing the galaxy in earnest prior to the earth’s impending demise. Or, as you mentioned, maybe they intended to set Aqua up as the center of their intergalactic government. I wonder if there will be any hints as to Aqua’s purpose further on.

By: Pontifus

Pontifus — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:03:24 +0000

I think Aria was aimed at a male audience, though I don’t know how much its focus on women is indicative of that. Could relegating men to the periphery give it the same appeal to girls as, say, Marimite (not that I’ve seen/read/etc. any of Marimite, but still)? Either way, I tend to think that men would suddenly be more interested in touring Aqua if they went the hot bishies with oars route, if only because they’d write it such in an attempt to appeal to their audience — but then, maybe the passengers would still be largely female, and it’d be a wish fulfillment thing.

Side note: someone, please, for the love of whatever deity or deities you may or may not worship, draw some fanart of Fan Hyulick in an Aria Company uniform!

By: Pontifus

Pontifus — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:57:14 +0000

You slay me, sir! This is hilarious, and also somehow very pertinent to both the previous poems and reality. Now I’m even more curious about your poetry based on obscure physics and computer science.

By: Cuchlann

Cuchlann — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:28:18 +0000

Sigh… Fine. The title is “A Bystander Interrupts the Shepherd’s Wooing”

Now stop, now cease, cut short your lies,
un-limoniad end your sighs.
The two of you a pair are made,
to squawk and scream till both are frayed.

Lady, you might consider town,
I’ve heard they have loads of men around.
Country clubs, street corners, grime-blacked bars,
most of them don’t know what sheep are.

And you, young man, with phlox-stained hands,
pollen stretched to fragrant sands,
don’t eat your son before he’s born,
don’t weave clothes from sheep unshorn.

Flowers are rather outré, lad,
take her to a show instead.
The crush of young folks in the stands
may make her forgive wand’ring hands.

Or dinner with candles gleaming,
scents of hot honey steaming.
Tea and biscuits, rum and coke,
pastoral dates seem a frail joke.

And lady, seek your satyr couth,
stop waiting for immortal youth.
Say yes, say no, as you please,
romp with Maenads, drink life to lees.

By: Cuchlann

Cuchlann — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:19:40 +0000

Well, for what it’s worth, the two related manga ran in what appear to be shounen magazines, Monthly Stencil and Comic Blade.

By: ghostlightning

ghostlightning — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:01:25 +0000

Goodness. I haven’t read those 2 poems since high school; and that means early ’90s (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains ’90s).

How many female bloggers comment on Aria?

How many female fans does it have? Can it be said that the target market is indeed the male demographic?

This is interesting, because the fans of the undines – except for Akatsuki, are all female. The interest in touring Neo Venezia has so far (I’ve only see up to episode 3 of The Natural) been portrayed as coming from female passengers.

If Aria were marketed to the female demographic, then feminized males would be appropriate gondoliers. We would be seeing very bretty (bishonen) male undines, but essentially behaving like the females. Basically, you’ll get Fan Hulic/Julian Minci/Sigfried Kircheis with an oar. However, the Akira/Aika roles will be tough to portray as male (though Tieria Erde/Alto Saotome comes to mind).

But would men necessarily patronize gondoliers now that men hold the oars?