2014 - 04/2014 Meeting

Page Created: 03/06/14. Last Updated: 05/05/14.

PHIL LIPARI / ANIME VIDEOS

Phil Lipari has written articles about anime (Japanese animation) for ANIME UK and ANIME HOUSE PRESENTS and edited SASHA A.P.A. for many years. He is a former member of the Cartoon Fantasy Organization and the Anime Fantasy Association. He has also helped out on anime programming at Lunacon and other science fiction conventions.

He will present clips and episodes of anime series he considers particularly noteworthy.

MEETING SUMMARY

Meeting Date: April 12, 2014.

Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, Upper Saddle River.

Official Attendance: 20.

Meeting Program: Anime Videos / Talk by Anime Expert.

Notes:

Videos of the following series were shown at the meeting:

Fruits Basket / Furutsu Basuketto

..........Funimation.com: http://www.funimation.com/shows/fruits-basket

..........Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruits_Basket

Mushishi

..........Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi

Rocket Girls / Orketto Garu

..........Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Girls

Newsletter Account:

The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2014 Philip J De Parto:

The April 12, 2014 General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at the Saddle River Valley Cultural Center in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. The program was a screening of episodes from various anime series selected by anime expert Phil Lipari.

The theater company which uses the Cultural Center had moved a lot of equipment into the mirrored room where we normally hold the Ice Nine Discussion. We therefore moved the discussion into the basement and set up the Animation Associates screening of SHREK in the auditorium. This arrangement allowed us to resent Phil Lipari's anime videos without repositioning the A/V equipment.

The basement discussion went smoothly, moving from television (THE NEIGHBORS) to movies (THE SILENCE) to literature (the death of Lucius Shepard). Thee was also talk about super-heroes and humor in science fiction.

Robert Fenelon, who had come to the meeting as a guest of Phil Lipari, was singled out as one of the fathers of Bergen County anime at the start of the meeting. He and his friend and fellow anime buff, Nelson Tatham, began showing anime before the meetings of the old Bergen County Science Fiction Society about 35 years ago. These were shows taped off broadcast television in Japan and then sent to America. There was no subtitles or dubbing in those days. Knowledgeable fans would either translate on the fly or view them in advance to give a commentary during playback. Our Animation Associates activity was formed to reestablish that anime tradition, although its mission was later broadened to include a variety of animation styles and countries of origin.

The first part of the meeting consisted of playing the first episode of three anime series. Since each series was based on a manga (Japanese graphic novel), they are presented in their American and Japanese titles, as well as their creator.

First up was ROCKET GIRLS / ORKETTO GARU by Hosuke Nojiri. This is the story of teenaged girl Yukari Morita who comes to the Solomon Islands searching for a clue about the whereabouts of her long-lost father and winds up as the lead astronaut for the Islands' space program. "We need someone small to save payload. Don't worry, this is so simple even a monkey could do it." Needless to say, things become complicated on both the family (she discovers dad and a half-sister) and the astronaut (their rockets tend to blow up) side of things.

Next was MUSHISHI by Yuki Urushibara. This is a supernatural noir featuring a sort-of ghost hunter named Ginki who battles mushi, magical spirit beings which feed on human emotions. One cute touch is that smoke keeps the mishi away, so a cigarette is never far from his hands.

Finally, was FRUITS BASKET / FURUTSU BASUKETTO by Natsuki Takaya. This features homeless orphan Tohru Honda who becomes involved with Yuki, Kyo, and Shigore Shoma, a cursed family who turn into animals under certain conditions.

After the break, the group was offered a choice between a viewing an episode of a new series or watching another episode of one of the shows we had already presented. A second episode of ROCKET GIRLS was the overwhelming choice. Phil Lipari joined Kate Landis in reading aloud the subtitles.

Our thanks to Chuck Garofalo, Roy Greenberg and John Upton for their help with set up / clean up.