For me, it’s the manga series Kindaichi Case Files. If there was ever a manga more made for me, I don’t know of one. Focusing on mysteries (my favorite genre), especially locked room mysteries (my favorite subgenre of my favorite genre), it has lots of material that is unlikely to see the light of day in English (sadly, my only language).
Why? Because, of course, of dismal U.S. sales from a manga-buying public that only seems to appreciate Rumiko Takahashi and giant mecha. Not that those two aren’t, or can’t be, quality, of course, but it really saddens me to think of all the stuff that I’ll have to go to a lot more trouble to get if I want to see it, because of the tastes of the general public.
What about you guys? What do you like that you wish had more popular support?
(Whatever it is, it’s probably native to English, so you’re luckier! :D)
Pretty much any TV series I catch the first episode of (Firefly; Stark Raving Mad…).
A number of the odd, quirky (read: usually cheesy) movies I’ve stumbled across over the years (A few that come to mind: Zeppelin; Dog Soldiers; SS Doomtrooper; Swashbuckler), and a few from my younger days (The Secret of NIMH; The Mouse and His Child; Raggedy Ann & Andy: a Musical Adventure; The BFG).
After that, for the geekier angle, almost any fanfic “shipper” pairing that “clicks” with me seems to be doomed to obscurity at best.
As mentioned in thesetwo threads, I am quite fond of Sarah Fimm, an independent musician from the New York area that I discovered a couple months ago that seems to be a relative unknown even amongst the indie music crowd. I wish she got more love.
And also Sarah and Gert Bettens and K’s Choice as a whole but they are already adequately known but I wish they were the superstars that befits their awesomeness.
Oh, heck, speaking of anime or manga…anyone remember Detective Conan aka Case Closed? God, that show was magnificent. Like Encyclopedia Brown with gruesome, onscreen murders. God, I wish that one had been around when I was a kid.
Sondheim musicals. At least for my age-group (early 20s).
It seems like the only time I can ever discuss the witty lyrics of “A Little Priest” or the insight of “Another Hundred People” is… never. Unless a Sondheim post happens to pop up on Cafe Society.
I suppose it depends on how popular. I’m always going on about Happy Rhodes but I’d only want her “popular” enough to 1) not have to worry about working a day job so she can concentrate on music, 2) other musicians and music lovers would know who she is and know enough to respect her, and 3) her music could be found by those who would love it. Any more popular than that would be inviting a backlash.
Sarah’s very nice alright. I would have loved to see her opening for Charlotte Martin at the Knitting Factory in March. I’ll bet that was a wonderful show. Considering that she’s playing out with Bauhaus and Peter Murphy, she doesn’t need all that much help in getting attention. The right people have been paying attention. Good for her, and I mean that sincerely.
Mine’s more of a past one, but; the Battletech Animated Series. As far as I can tell, no-one else I know watched it when they were kids. I think Thundercats must have been on the other side, since everyone seems to have watched that but me.
I miss the B-films of the 1960s and 70s. You know, the kind that filled out the nightly double bill at the local drive-in theatre.
See, we didn’t have TV where we spent summers in those days. Playing endless game of cards and Monopoly with the radio on got a little boring after a while, so on most summer evenings, we’d head off to the local drive-in.
And the movies we saw! Sure, there was the A-film on the bill. But it’s the B-films I remember best, perhaps because they rarely or never showed up in later years on the late movie. Cheesy Westerns (Chato’s Land, Valdez Is Coming, and Duel at Diablo), action pictures (They Came To Rob Las Vegas, Fuzz, and Death Race 2000), and “now” films about Disgruntled Young People (Two Lane Blacktop and Faster, Pussycat, Kill, Kill!) among so many others.
The reason I wish they were more popular is that if they were, I could find them at my local video store. I’m sure that if I looked out on the Internet, I could find copies of them for sale somewhere, but let’s face it–Electra Glide in Blue and The Cheyenne Social Club are just going to take up shelf space at the average suburban video store, where the demand is for the most recent releases of Hollywood blockbusters, and safe family entertainment.
Oh well. Even if they were available at the local video store, I’d probably still complain that they weren’t accompanied by the “Visit the Snack Bar Now” short films of dancing candy bars.
I’d like it a lot if Mesh were a little more popular. I’m not asking for dominating the charts, just popular enough that they were able to release their albums and singles in the US and tour here from time to time.
Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez love these B-movie double features too, so much so that their next collaboration, Grindhouse, will be an actual old-school double-feature of horror exploitation films: Rodriguez’s zombie thriller Planet Terror (starring Rose McGowan) and Tarantino’s slasher pic *Death Proof * (starring Kurt Russell as the killer). Both of these will be full-length movies, released together with new trailers for fake movies in between them.
Except for TV shows, which go away if not enough people are watching, I’m okay with it if the things I like aren’t popular. I wish Arrested Development and Futurama had had more viewers, although it turns out Futurama was popular enough after all.
Analogue Tape Delays. Because digital delay sounds cleaner and is infinitely cheaper, analogue tape delays have become incredibly rare; I think only one or two companies are currently making them, and they’re exorbinantly priced. All of the older ones from the sixties and seventies have become cult items and it’s hard to find one in working order. They sound likenothing else, so I wish that they were more popular and that it was easier to just go out and buy an affordable new one.
Pre-MIDI syncing devices for tape and pre-midi electronic instruments - There are four or five pre-MIDI specs that have been completely lost since the advent of MIDI, but for some vintage gear it’s the only option if you want to sync them to tape or even to digital using some master time code. Even DIN-sync devices (some of the most culty vintage beatboxes and synths) are incredibly hard to integrate with more modern equipment because nobody’s making the types of sync boxes that you need to tie it all together. You’re stuck looking for 20-year-old sync devices on the used market, which can be expensive and time-consuming. A few boutique companies in recent years have released “sync everything” boxes, but they’ve quickly gone out of business and even those late-model boxes become culty and sought after on the used market. I just want to sync my 808 up to my sequencer!
Shows what I know and I am very happy to hear that as I’m quite enamored with her at the moment. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more beautiful mixture of vocals and instrumentation.
Also, just so you know, when I eventually get around to looking at the artists in the thread I posted last week, Happy Rhodes will be at the top of the list. I’m a bit overwhelmed with new music at the moment and am trying to give it a chance to sink in before moving on to new ground. I have a very deep sympathy for Buridan’s ass at the moment.
I followed the links in the last post you made about her, and I’m very impressed. Thank you!