Ironically, one theme that is becoming quite popular nowadays in manga/anime/light novels is "isekai" (i.e. main character gets transported to another world, typically a medieval fantasy similar to LoTR)
Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
71–80 of 158 posts
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Evangelion, power represented civilization in various stages of decline. It's post-apocalyptic, so the state of the infrastructure shows you if an area has been abandoned, reclaimed, etc. The Evas (basically giant mecha) have to be tethered to power to work, etc. The whole theme of the anime centers around the type of arrogance Man (in this case, a single man) would show in the face of annihilation by God, and how…
Ive heard that they put in christian imagery just because it was cool and with no real purpose.
I dunno; the biblical imagery is pretty central to the plot (Adam/Eve, Angels, Lance of Longinus, etc.) There's a strong implication that this takes place during "the rapture" and in fact, EoE shows what is basically a textbook version of rapture. It's not used with the same level of reverence it would be in the West (it's treated more of the way we would treat a story about Greek gods) so it may seem hokey to Western viewers, but the imagery is definitely there and used for central plot purposes.
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#73To highlight the location using archaic and outdated infrastructure? I mean, a two-prong 115 V outlet would be kinda hard to see in comparison, no? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#74Lol... I was going to say this exactly. Evangelion and Lain were pretty popular even in the US around the year 2000, so I imagine they were near ubiquitous in Japan. Both were well-animated and the power lines a symbol that was returned to again and again. Anime/manga also loves to meme/trope things like this because animation studios are cheap and love 30s tracking shots across 2 hand-drawn panel with nothing more t…
One thing I learned about anime (from discussing it with Japanese folks) is that "anime Westerners like" and "anime Japanese like" can be way different. Something may come out in Japan that has only niche appeal, only to blow up in the West. Azumanga Daioh -- Mother of a Thousand 4chan Memes -- comes to mind. Likewise, sometimes a title takes off in Japan only to find rocky soil here. I think Evangelion was well love…
I think that's easier now with the Internet, but keep in mind when Lain came out the Internet fansub community was really just getting going. I remember in 2001 being blown away that I could download an entire series in under an hour from a friend at another university (it ran over Internet2 so I could actually saturate my 100mbps ethernet connection with it). This was years before streaming video was even possible outside RealPlayer.
Back then, it didn't really get popular in the US unless it was already popular in Japan. I realize that's changed now, but back in the early days of Internet video there just wasn't the same level of access.
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Evangelion, power represented civilization in various stages of decline. It's post-apocalyptic, so the state of the infrastructure shows you if an area has been abandoned, reclaimed, etc. The Evas (basically giant mecha) have to be tethered to power to work, etc. The whole theme of the anime centers around the type of arrogance Man (in this case, a single man) would show in the face of annihilation by God, and how…
Ive heard that they put in christian imagery just because it was cool and with no real purpose.
The use of christian symbology in evangelion is both meaningless and deep.
like, the use of christian symbology is arbitrary and it poses basically no meaning to the plot, merely being used for texture; but someone with sufficient knowledge of it can use it to predict some short term plot points.
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#76Power lines are awful. They are an eyesore that destroys an otherwise beautiful landscape. I hope we can start putting these underground soon.
For high voltage distribution they are very efficient and change relatively little about the ecosystem. Moving the same power through the earth is not only more expensive (counter-intuitively, buried power cables must have thicker conductors to carry the increased reactive loading due to the cable itself; and you obviously need insulation; and digging trenches is more expensive than erecting a steel tower every few hundred meters or so), but puts quite a lot of heat into the ground, apart from a lot of digging. [1]
(There are actively managed buried cables which are oil or gas filled, but this becomes impractical for longer cables, or extensive networks. It's extremely expensive as well. This technology is mostly used in the catacombs underneath cities, to get 380 or 220 kV to power stations inside [or underneath] cities).
Low or medium voltage distribution is a different story and has been buried in most of central Europe for many decades. I don't recall seeing power lines in any city.
[1] Just to avoid someone from posting it inevitably: No, HVDC does not solve this.
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which article(s) do you recommend for going into more detail on "Evangelion revolutionized anime"? I remember reading on how one of the people involved was surprised at its popularity despite all the "characters being messed up".
I don't know where to read, but it seems to me that end of the 90s, TV shows (real and anime) became less episode based but got a whole story arc, like we know from current TV shows like "Game of Thrones", "Breaking Bad" or "The Wire". I always hear people talking about how "The Sopranos" was the first TV show that did this, but anime like "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Cowboy Bebop" came out years before it.
AFAIK, J. Michael Straczynski was the first person to get a successful arc-based television series on TV, with _Babylon 5_ - the pilot aired in 1993.
He had tried earlier with _Captain Power_ in 1987, but that only lasted a single season, and it was kind of doomed to be thought of as a kid's show because of the toyline tie-in.
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#78Because they are graphically striking, lush.
Also they are magical objects. A visible shout of power.
Speaking as an artist, it's low hanging mangos on a silver platter. Of course we're gonna do them.
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#79It isn't just powerlines. Anime -- especially well-done anime -- has a way of focusing on the mundane in order to establish an emotional connection to the setting.
Thr anime movie Your Name is riddled with brief, but sumptuously animated and richly detailed, close-ups of doors opening and closing. These include simple doors on a rustic rural home as well as the automatic sliding doors on a Tokyo railway car.
Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which article(s) do you recommend for going into more detail on "Evangelion revolutionized anime"? I remember reading on how one of the people involved was surprised at its popularity despite all the "characters being messed up".
I don't know where to read, but it seems to me that end of the 90s, TV shows (real and anime) became less episode based but got a whole story arc, like we know from current TV shows like "Game of Thrones", "Breaking Bad" or "The Wire". I always hear people talking about how "The Sopranos" was the first TV show that did this, but anime like "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Cowboy Bebop" came out years before it.
Macross and Gundam did this in the 80s. Macross was even viewable here, as Robotech.