Wow, what a year 2019 has been. We've seen some amazing highs and lows (and those will differ depending on your outlook!) but I wanted to look at the most memorable moments of the year for me personally, both as a fan and a pundit in comics, anime and cult movies.
Toys
With amazing highs like the Metal Build GAT-105 Strike Gundam and it's glorious build quality and enhanced design, not to mention Takara Tomy's ridiculously priced but undeniably cool Optimus Prime MP44, I've seen some beautiful stuff this year. The Bishoujo line from Kotobukiya impressed with their Marvel's Domino release, and I discovered the company Pop Culture Shock via their huge Juri statue. I even learned about the Japanese heritage of Dogtanian and the Three Muskahounds via the wonderful statue courtesy of French company Fariboles.
It's a bit of a shame that the year was let down by the absolute stinker that was Masterpiece Bumblebee 2.0. I'd seen the figure in proto-form, and alarm bells started sounding early on when what everyone assumed was a badly transformed version in early photos was actually legitimately as good as it got - huge feet and badly crumpled backpack included. It got worse in hand, when it became clear that the plastic was incredibly cheap and fragile, paint was sloppy and the engineering hugely compromised by having to bend said cheap plastic to dangerous levels of tolerance to get pieces where they needed to go for the transformation. It signals a very worrying 2020 for the Masterpiece brand, and it's £90 I'll never get back. Boo.
However, on a happier note, my year also included new releases from the ever expanding line of High Metal R Macross figures (augmented by the bust of the VF-1S by Kidslogic Bry bought me for Christmas) and even some rather good Marvel Legends, it's been a great year overall for collectables and toys of every kind. I've loved taking photos and sharing them here with you, I hope you've enjoyed it too.
Anime
Thanks to my "First Thoughts" articles, I've been able to sample some great (and not so great) series this year, reigniting my passion for the medium yet again. While anime has died for many leaving their twenties as the demands of real life and family take hold, I've been very fortunate in my career to be able to continue to watch and read during working hours as part of my general routine - as such these first glimpses of shows such as Grancrest War, Carole & Tuesday, Revisions and Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans have led to reviews of the whole series over on the UK Anime Network, giving me twice as much space to extol my thoughts on these popular shows. Others I've enjoyed this year include Hi Score Girl, Assassin's Pride and Fruits Basket among others. Overall I've seen some fantastic new anime and I'm very glad to have been able to discuss them. I've not seen anything I'd call a dud, so a complete win for my own personal experience of 2019! Hurrah!
Manga
For the first time in 2019, manga outsold Western comics in the US. Given the way Marvel and DC have been going lately, that's a pleasant surprise. It's no shock to me, as I've had a wonderful year reading diverse, engaging stories with no woke filter to soften the edges.
While most of my reviews are posted over at UKA, let me say that I've had a whale of a time with the medium this year. Finishing on a very high note with How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?, I've been equally impressed with the teasing duo of Don't Toy with me Miss Nagatoro and Uzaki-Chan wants to Hang Out. Bakemonogatari finally received a manga adaptation which worked very well indeed, Gleipnir was horrible in a fascinating way, and I finally got the time to sit with the Rising of the Shield Hero manga and address the so-called "controversy" whipped up for clicks by less honest websites that deemed it "problematic". You can read my dissection of this ridiculous notion here. It seems Japan also ignored the storm in a teapot and commissioned more seasons of the hit anime!
It wasn't all gravy of course - Forbidden Scrollery was underwhelming, and An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride was a bit embarrassing all told. Nothing truly terrible to be sure, but not books I'd waste any more money on.
Live Action with a Japanese twist
What a year for movies! Three brilliant blockbusters featuring Japanese icons. The first of these was Transformers: Bumblebee on 4K, which gave the series a much-needed soft-reboot, slimming down the cast to manageable levels and telling a coherent story from start to finish - a strong female lead and an admirable 80's jarhead turn by John Cena made this film a standout in 2019, and that's without mentioning THAT opening scene on Cybertron - freaking tremendous!
Then there's Alita Battle Angel, the long-awaited James Cameron produced hit that featured no less than three Oscar winners with Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Conelley and Mahershala Ali, supported by a superb cast, not least of which was the spirited Rosa Salazar as Alita herself. Not only did this continue Cameron's history of strong female leads (Elena Ripley and Sarah Conner being the most notable, though I'd say Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in The Abyss was my favourite) but it completely destroyed the narrative that movies with female leads don't do well at the box office. Not that this line was credible after Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel anyway (or the history of cinema from Carrie to Leon, Fargo to Working Girl, but who looks further back than 2 years in media nowadays eh?). Alita largely won over critics and a fan following. It's not a perfect movie by any stretch, but it's a kick-ass ride while it lasts.
Finally, Godzilla King of Monsters stomped across the silver screen and looked utterly incredible. Critic reactions were mixed, but for me it was the perfect monster mash-up, complete with incredible attention to detail from the naming of King Ghidorah as Monster Zero right down to the use of Godzilla-like eyes on Mothra's wings to give the pair a connection, it was breathless, wanton destruction on an epic scale. Needless to say only a 4K home release was acceptable having seen it on Imax the first time around.
Something called Avengers Endgame happened as well apparently...
Balancing the scales in media
One of the most interesting aspects of 2019 for me have been the issues facing online publishing, and what seems to be a systematic failure of certain websites and their brand of content. Kotaku, Deadspin, Buzzfeed, Vice, CNN, ThinkProgress and Verizon among others have all hit the headlines over firings and layoffs, totalling an estimated 7,200 job losses this year alone. Obviously nobody wishes for others to lose their jobs, but what amazes me is the type of people being hired in the first place, most notably Laura Kate Dale of Kotaku UK who made false claims of transgender bias against comedian Fraser Millward at a London gaming show that were later publicly retracted. There was plenty of unpleasant crowing by some online commentators as writers were told to "learn to code" (advice many in their industry had given laid off miners in the US previously). The irony was a bit forced, but not entirely off-target either.
It does seem that there's a real shift in the content people want, and it's away from divisive click-bait. That at least is a very good thing indeed. Hopefully we'll settle into actual news in 2020 and people can start getting along again. Well, one can dream, anyway.
Hollywood is also discovering that lecturing audiences and preemptively blaming any failure on toxic fandoms does not end well. Perhaps they'll learn that normal, perfectly tolerant people don't appreciate being condemned for their cinema choices. Terminator Dark Fate, Little Women and Charlie's Angels all followed Ghostbusters 2016 in aggressively attacking the very audience required for success (even before release), only to predictably bomb at the box office. In the case of all three, they are nothing more than objectively bad films (Charlie's Angels even had its advertising budget slashed in half, evidence that even the studio knew it was DOA). Hollywood can't afford to continue this cycle, so with any luck they'll return to making entertainment and not one-dimensional political messaging.
A changing Anime Industry
Seismic shifts have occurred in the UK anime industry this year. Back in April, over 40 Anime Ltd titles, all Funimation licenses, were pulled from distributors shelves. In May it was revealed that Funimation had acquired Manga Entertainment in a deal that would see all UK distribution rights handled by Manga. Additionally existing Manga licenses were made available on the Funimation Now streaming platform. This was a big blow to Anime Ltd, who themselves had lured Funimation away from Manga Entertainment to much fanfare in 2015. This year's Anime Ltd 12 Days of Christmas sale has been dominated by a fire-sale of Funimation stock, much of it for under £5.
Further woes were added when Anime Ltd arranged a cinema release for Konosuba: Legend of Crimson in UK cinemas, a film that was described as "deeply transphobic" and "downright harmful" by Gamespot writer Jordan Ramée. This didn't go down well in some quarters.
At least some good news - the sale to All 4 of the digital rights to 14 series, including Cowboy Bebop and Kill la Kill in October. Not all the series are managed by Anime Ltd, but it should fill the coffers for a limited time. The going rate for licensing an anime series (from my experience working with other licencors) is around £500 per episode, or more for very popular shows. 285 episodes were reportedly licensed in this deal, so we can assume at least £140,000 may have been netted, enough to keep the lights on a little longer. For fans, it means a plethora of top titles are now available in the UK absolutely free, so that's a lovely Christmas present that should see us well into the new year!
Both Manga Entertainment and MVM continue to have strong showings for the new year, with each announcing big titles at MCM Expo in October. Both companies are on friendly terms so it seems that they'll forge ahead to a strong 2020, which can only be good news for UK fans.
Rediscovering Japanese music
I wrote an article back in October about HD audio and my reconnection with Japanese music. Since writing that piece, I've discovered many more bands to rock out to, with an increasing number of Japanese artists appearing on streaming services. Wagakki Band in particular have been blasting my ears off over the winter months, aided by SawanoHiroyuki(nZk) and Lisa on Amazon Music HD.
Finally, for me personally
On top of all this geeky preoccupation, I've had something of a renaissance myself. Anime Independent has given me a lot of pleasure, but nothing tops the birth of my beautiful daughter Thea this year, already a smiley, happy bundle of energy that keeps me motivated.
I also visited Milan for the Unica trade show (taking in a lot of the sights) and spent 2 weeks in Korea working with my good friends at Grimm International. The house was decorated, I built an office, designed a nursery, saw Mark Knopfler and Kelly Jones (of The Steroephonics) live and even had time to visit the Isle of Harris. It's been a busy one!
There's also been my reintegration in full over at UKA, the site I founded back in the 90's. I've been working, as time allows, on recreating the site for the new year, a slightly changed design with new features will arrive in a few months (March most likely) to see it through another decade. To be honest there was a time I thought about just letting it go completely and focusing here, but the conversations I've had with people over the last year have proved to me that it's still a glue that holds people together, and it's coverage of unusual topics (such as Dan's trip to Yuruket) are still thoroughly enjoyed. New writers are now joining the staff and I'll be working to make the content fresher and more focused in 2020.
I've been really happy with my interactions with some real artistic heroes of mine, including J Scott Campbell, Kenichi Sonoda, Rachta Lin, John Mcrea and Bengal. Via Thought Bubble I met many aspiring and hard-working artists, which is always a pleasure too. As usual, TF Nation brought me closer to many excellent writers and artists such as Nick Roche and Kei Zama too.
I was also delighted to be invited to an event hosted by a fellow Transformers collector who had amassed over £45,000 of robotic loveliness, but had yet to unbox them. Well, I like to be helpful! Thanks Robert, a terrific and very exciting event with some lovely people.
The coming year will see me visit Paris, Milan, Singapore and South Korea, with a likely trip to Japan simply because it's been a while and I miss it! Wherever possible I'll try and coincide these visits to shows of interest, so hopefully some interesting trips to write about in 2020.
For all of you who read the site, interact on email, twitter or even (gasp) in real life, have a wonderful new year. There's a lot of interesting times ahead, and whatever your views on anything else, I hope anime brings us all together as it always did in the past.
Onward to 2020!
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