Georgia Pok Guy

As always, the Daily Show does it best when it comes to illustrating how shallow US news is…

These are rather confusing times. North Korea is testing missiles, Iran is working on its nuclear program, and the Levant is going up in flames. And things haven’t been helped by the arrival of a new anime series, PowerPuff Girls Z (出ましたっ！パワパフガールズZ). When I first saw mention of this series I did a double take. Powerpuff Girls? As in, the Cartoon Network series? The very same! Only not. After establishing that it was the Powerpuff Girls, I wondered if it was some blatant copyright violation, the kind that would see Ted Turner foaming at the mouth. This part turned out not to be so, as the series is done in conjunction with Cartoon Network. Hell, even the opening credits mention Craig McCracken (although he does not contribute to the project), so I’m assuming everything is on the level.

So what is PPGZ? At the most basic level, it’s what the Japanese would have done if they had thought of Powerpuff Girls first. PPGZ sees our heroines transformed from full time superheroes into the stereotypical anime “Magical Girls,” complete with transformation sequences. Think Sailor Moon (coincidentally, the character designs are by the same person who did Sailor Moon). This change to being magical girls is further cemented by the fact that our heroines now use exaggerated weapons in addition to their superpowers, which take somewhat of a back seat in the series. So, Blossom now uses a Yo-yo, Bubbles a (surprise, surprise) bubble wand, and Buttercup a giant hammer. And, of course, there is now an obligatory かわいい〜! talking dog that summons the girls to action, as opposed to the かわいい〜! phone from the American series.

The creation story is also different now. Instead of chemical X it is, can you guess?, chemical Z that ultimately bestows the girls with their superpowers. Chemical Z being the superior version of chemical X (the Japanese always have to one up us, don’t they?) after Professor Utonium’s robot dog dropped a daifuku bun in it. Essentially, after this happens, the world is plunged into darkness (I forget why), an iceberg appears in Tokyo Bay, and chemical Z is used to rectify the situation, with the side effect of creating the Powerpuff Girls, Mojojojo, and probably a whole host of other villains. Surprisingly, the girls are no longer his daughters in this series. They are just random girls who were walking down the street and just happen to get hit with chemical Z whilst trying to save innocent bystanders (who, coincidentally, are all children playing with the toys that are to become the girls’ weapons). In place of having the girls as his daughters, Professor Utonium has a son, which I view as being an additional element of making this series more Japanese. The son is the one who used chemical Z to save the day, and is wholly a rather pedestrian character.

There are some other minor changes too. The story is no longer set in Townsville, but Tokyo. The mayor no longer resembles the Monopoly man and actually seems competent to a degree. And Ms. Bellum is blonde, but her face is still conveniently covered in each scene (though I thought they did a better job of this in the American series).

Ultimately, the characters seem to have the same personalities. Blossom is still the leader, but she is also prone to having crushes on her sempai. Bubbles is into fashion and less of a crybaby. And Buttercup is still the tomboy of the group. Same old girls, only older, magical, and no longer related. But, hey, it could be worse…

As for the overall plot, it too is in keeping with the American version. Essentially Mojojojo (being the only villain to appear thus far) tries to wreck havoc on the city and the girls go and stop him. However, it seems like the overtones of female empowerment from the American version are now gone. I have a feeling that Professor Utonium’s son will play a role in everything, and the male characters in PPGZ are more competent than their American counterparts. Which isn’t to say that the series will be bad. Just lacking strong female role models.

In conclusion, PPGZ is a Japanese series. Cultural references and social dynamics differ from the American version. I will continue to watch it, in part because I am curious about it, and in part because it is a decent series. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with Fuzzy Lumpkins. Given that he is a hillbilly in the American series, I wonder if he’ll be from Shikoku or Hokkaido? Just so long as he doesn’t speak in Kansai-ben… Still, this series has me saying, “What in the heck is going on?” It is bizarre to see an American show redone in anime style. I wonder if they’ll redo Dexter’s Lab, given that it is so popular in East Asia. To maintain the purity of one of my favorite cartoons, I hope not…

I also wanted to comment on the songs in this series.  The opening song is performed by Kitade Nana, who did my favorite ending song from Fullmetal Alchemist.  However, this song of hers is awful, jarring and stilted.  That really is unfortunate.  The ending song for PPGZ is pretty good, though.  I don’t know who it’s by.  Still, not as boss as the American ending by Bis…

According to the Mainichi, a yakuza gang in Kitakyushu has asked the local school board to not show an anti-gang film for fear that their children will suffer discrimination. To quote:

If the video is shown at schools, children of crime syndicate members will be bullied.

All this from a group whose job it is to bully people enter into legitimate business deals…

An interesting article over at GI Korea about the US government axing a deal to sell the ROK Global Hawk UAVs for fear that the technology may be leaked to North Korea.  Also important to note is that a similar deal with Japan was OK’d.  What I found interesting is the last paragraph, where he talks about how South Korea’s policies toward the North are giving the Japanese a reason to further normalize (read: create an official military).  I have never really thought of it this way, but I can see how Japan must be saying to itself, “Well, if the South isn’t going to get tough with the North, we will.”  Another variable in the whole normalization equation…

In Mongolia they are celebrating the 800th anniversary of the unification of the Mongol armies by Genghis Khan, and the BBC has some nice photos of the festivities and re-enactments.  I especially like the last picture, with the two guys in costume looking at the cellphone.  What a difference eight centuries makes…  The title of this post refers to the wrong Khan, I know.  But Coleridge didn’t write a poem about Genghis…

Why is it that every time I read about a trade agreement that concerns South Korea, I inevitably end up reading about rioting farmers?  Do these guys ever farm?  Or are they too busy protesting capitalistic attacks against their proud way of life?

Also, I loved this quote:

Opponents in South Korea - including farmers and labour groups - say any deal will lead to cheaper US imports, while critics in the US say an agreement will threaten American jobs.

They can’t both be right.  And, coincidentally, I think they’re both wrong!  What ever happened to healthy competition?  Oh, right.  You have to work hard if you’re competing.  And who wants to do that?

Perish the thought!  From the July 1st edition of the Economist:

“There are going to be some seagulls popped,” admits Mr Patterson, adding that “after several generations we’ll have smarter birds.”

Quoted in the article on wind power in Texas, another pleasant surprise…

So, last week, whilst Americans such as myself were celebrating the Fourth of July, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was firing off some fireworks of its own. The reaction in the region was, needless to say, negative, with even the Republic of Korea suspending shipments of food aid to the DPRK, a big move, I assure you. Yet, despite President Bush’s best efforts, the world is not speaking with one voice over the missile tests. China and the ROK are not in the mood to further raise the DPRK’s ire. Reading about all of this, I asked myself, how long can a broken state last? A country like the DPRK, where the government seems much more interested in developing weapons than feeding its own people, and which has to resort to counterfeiting and laundering money for foreign currency is indeed broken. But how long can the system last? For years now we’ve been hearing about how the DPRK is on the brink of collapse. However, this has yet to pass, in part due to aid from China and the ROK, and such economic projects as the Kaesong Industrial Region (although its contribution is surely limited).

So what now? The Taepodong-2, which was the one failed missile test, would put all of Asia’s major economies within range of DPRK weapons. There is too much at stake to allow the DPRK to continue with its missile and nuclear programs. Besides being a threat to the region, it is also exporting its missile technology for lucre. How can the world engage the DPRK in such a way to better integrate it with the world community and stop it from developing WMDs? This is a very difficult question that really we’ve been wrangling with for years. The Bush administration I think is taking the right approach by insisting on the six party talks. And, it seems, the missile tests have been a reminder to the administration that it has some unfinished business. But speaking with one voice will take a lot of negotiation with China and the ROK. Is the administration up to that challenge? For the good of the region, I hope so.

Another thing is that these missile tests have piqued my interest in the so called “Gap Theory” expounded in Thomas Barnett’s “The Pentagon’s New Map.” I have yet to read it, but I think that is what I will tackle next. From what I understand, the Gap has been popping up all over the news, from the DPRK to Somalia. So, it will be interesting to read his take on the matter, and perhaps get to thinking a bit more deeply about broken states.

I suppose it was bound to happen. I would eventually pay for my own web space. I couldn’t just leech off of elms-蝠 forever. Thus far, I’d say I’m rather impressed by WordPress (the expert blogger that I am). Good riddance to blogger.com. And hello to Ramapajama 2.0! Hopefully, I can revive the now defunct ringo, just as red and just as delicious, just like communism. So, if you enjoyed my old blog (someone must have), I’ll try not to disappoint on this one!