Sketchbook Promulgation Campaign (obsolete)

Apr 5, 2009 8:16 PM

Offline

Jul 2008

As of this present date, 5 April 2009:

Sketchbook (Manga)
スケッチブック

Statistics
Score: 7.90 (scored by 135 users)
Ranked: #628
Popularity: #1012
Members: 378
Favorites: 14

A popularity ranking in four digits? This is just unconscionable, and it's the primary motivation for creating this club. Only about 400 people even have Sketchbook on their lists, compared to nearly 20,000 for the most popular manga. Such a state of affairs cannot stand. Hence, in the service of this Great Cause of 'The Promotion of Sketchbook for the General Amelioration of our Universe', the Great Sketchbook Promulgation Campaign was instituted.

Discussion of the Sketchbook manga and animation - while certainly encouraged - is not the main intended purpose for this group. I'd like to think the series mostly speaks for itself, and anyway, nobody would post anything even if I did say it was the point of the club. How many members there are, and whether they're 'active', is not really my concern. Sketchbook should not be an obscure series; this conviction of mine is the impetus for the club's existence and should guide its activities.

Insofar, then, as OINC is not acquainting more and more receptive-minded people with Sketchbook, it is without value. As the World-Honored One, Sakyamuni Buddha, proclaims in the Vajracchedika-prajnaparamita-sutra: "Subhūti, if there be one who gives away in gifts of alms a mass of the seven treasures equal in extent to as many mighty Mount Sumerus as there would be in three thousand galaxies of worlds, and if there be another who selects even only four panels from the Sketchbook manga, receiving and retaining them, and clearly expounding them to others, the merit of the latter will be so far greater than that of the former that no conceivable comparison can be made between them." It-- it was something like that, anyway.

Accordingly, our mission statement -- remember mission statements? I recall gifted programs being especially fond of them -- goes something like this:

-To congregate everything on this website related to the Sketchbook series and to its author Kobako Totan in one location;
-To increase the visibility and recognizability of Kajiwara Sora in particular and the cast of Sketchbook in general;
-And, saliently, to make Sketchbook more widely known, as reflected by its MAL popularity ranking, and to increase its ability to positively affect our world and all sentient beings by introducing it into the lives of as many people as possible.

... except that's a collection of clauses, not a statement. Ah shoot.

Incidentally: "promulgate" in this context is essentially being used as synonymous with "promote" -- which is incorrect. However, its meaning, "to make known to the public", while properly referring to, say, announcement of government edicts, could more or less describe OINC(KSFC)'s overall intentions regarding Sketchbook. The Great Promulgation Campaign (taikyō senpu undō), by the way, was an actual initiative of Shintō leaders during Meiji Era Japan.

O.K.! Now we just need somebody on that Mokke Promulgation Campaign....

GulfStandardSep 14, 2009 3:59 PM

Apr 7, 2009 5:05 PM

Kaiserpingvin

Offline

Jan 2008

4016

I will take this to heart. I've sadly yet to begin reading the work; but if it is anything near what the anime was - I have a hard time seeing it isn't - this will be a natural course of action. The particular action, then, I have in mind is such: To print chapters, or carefully selected yonkoma, and disseminate them on the streets to whomever looks sufficiently enlightened to recieve it's teachings - or sufficiently unenlightened to be in need of them.

This will not help the standing of it on this page very wll, of course; but that is only a partial goal, subordinate to the third clause, I'd say.

I will have to say, though, that I will be a heretic and add Kate, Fuu and Ryou to the second clause, as being of equal promulgatory importance as Sora. Not that they touch the main themes as closely as Sora does; but they're... ur.... just equally adorable.

That is all. May we prevail against whatever we need to prevail against.

Apr 7, 2009 6:03 PM

Woutan

Offline

Dec 2008

hankgathers said:
To congregate everything on this website related to the Sketchbook series and to its author Kobako Totan in one location;

There is one thing you'd need to consider; the last part of this club's name (Kajiwara Sora FC). It clearly expresses this site's (apparent) intention to be almost exclusively Sora-focused (like any other MAL club which contains in its title a character name and not an anime/manga name); thus, it might be difficult for new people to think of this as a general meeting hub for everything Sketchbook-related. But of course, the fact that there isn't a club entitled "Sketchbook Fan Club" or anything along those lines yet makes the promulgation campaign easier.
On a side note, we should establish some "links" with Sketchbook ~full color'S~; whether you like it or not, many people go for the anime first and then for the manga when facing series that have both anime and manga versions. I did it with this one... ^-^''
Well, that's it. I'll post any ideas that might come up if they are worth it.

Kaiserpingvin said:
I've sadly yet to begin reading the work; but if it is anything near what the anime was - I have a hard time seeing it isn't - this will be a natural course of action.

You can't compare them on a scale of "better-worser"; Sketchbook and Sketchbook ~full color'S~ are two different works in a considerable number of aspects.

Unlike the anime, in Sketchbook Sora doesn't talk at all; she (unintentionally; she never states an explicit will to not communicate orally) communicates through gestures, facial expressions, and what could be called telepathy.
Sketchbook ~full color'S~ depicts a Kajiwara Sora who interacts a bit more with other people than in the manga and her observations are not only on her perception of reality, but also on how is reality viewed and enjoyed by other people as well.
Sketchbook not only depicts a Sora who is noticeably less communicative (taking away the fact that she doesn't speak) and whose observations are much more often based on her view of reality than in the anime, but also shows a side of Sora not very developed in the anime: her ludic abilities, which many human beings lose dramatically when they hit adolescence.
Something I always thought; Sketchbook ~full color'S~ has AMAZING landscapes. In the anime, they touched me as much as Kajiwara Sora did. They transmit an undescriptible sensation of peacefulness and harmony; a perfect depiction of a peaceful, beutiful, ideal place to live in, which perfectly complements the general warmth and good-heartedness of the show characters and the townsfolk.

Kaiserpingvin said:
The particular action, then, I have in mind is such: To print chapters, or carefully selected yonkoma, and disseminate them on the streets

I wish I wasn't so shy so I could do that... ;_;

Kaiserpingvin said:
to whomever looks sufficiently enlightened to recieve it's teachings - or sufficiently unenlightened to be in need of them.

The goal of promotion, IMO, is to get people to like the manga first, and then, as a secondary goal, learn from it if they wish to. They could read it thoroughly, not get a single lesson from it, and still like it. We'll be winning even when that case happens, because we'd be getting a member anyways.

WoutanApr 8, 2009 12:13 AM

Apr 8, 2009 9:45 PM

GulfStandard

Offline

Jul 2008

About the name: originally it was just "Observation is No Crime". Two months later, when I was still the only member, it occurred to me: "Maybe I should mention something about the actual club itself in the title." So the parenthetical suffix was something of a reluctant compromise to begin with. As you (Brother Mesousa) point out, it limits me to an extent -- which I regretted; if I had a sudden impulse to, say, link to every Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei girl in the character relations, I didn't want to feel I was moving out of bounds in some way. I also wanted (for example) a mechanism by which to recognize characters like Saegusa Matsuri or Ayase Ena, who do not have the support to warrant a personal club, nor do they fit into any acknowledged "types", but are nevertheless epoch-making (in Matsuri's case) or really, really cute (in Ena's case).

It's probably for the best that it didn't end up diffuse and vaguely defined like that, since 'anything goes' clubs just aren't all that interesting in the end, not least of all to the person in charge. However, as it stands now we still have things that need working out. When it comes down to it, is this a club for Sora, or for 'Sketchbook'? While I don't see great importance in distinguishing between those two (she is the series, to some extent), there's nevertheless the matter of the name. The current one - "Observation is No Crime (Kajiwara Sora FC)" - is rather cumbersome and not very subtle; this is only exacerbated with something like "Observation is No Crime (Kajiwara Sora FC/Sketchbook Promulgation Campaign)", although it certainly covers all the bases. Removing "Observation is No Crime" obviously streamlines things considerably, but I wish to avoid this for several reasons. First, it's distinctive. Second, it goes well with that picture of Kajiwara-san looking through the deskel. Third, it amuses me (fulfilling the Hidden Fourth Clause of our mission statement, which takes precedence over all others). If we, instead, take out Kajiwara's name, it opens up titles like:

'Sketchbook: Observation is No Crime'
'Sketchbook FC'
'Sketchbook Promulgation Campaign'
'Sketchbook'

...and so on. Any of these seem unobjectionable enough, but I'm leaning towards reverting back to simply "Observation is No Crime". It doesn't immediately announce our intentions, it's true, but it has the advantage of excluding neither Kajiwara-san nor the overall series as the 'main focus'. And there are already a million groups named "(Name of character/series) Fan Club", and that's boring.

Now, then, regarding the Kaiser's comments: ruminating on the actual mechanics of bringing Sketchbook to the attention of a wider audience, I independently came to much the same conclusion he did. Adorability is our most devastating offensive weapon. Nothing creates the desire to see a series quite so instantaneously as a picture of a pretty girl assumedly appearing therein (and there's nothing as infuriating as encountering such an image and not being able to figure out which show she's from). I had just such a thing in mind with the creation of my forum signature. It's hardly the extent of her charm, but there's just no way around it -- Sora's a cute one. (I'm sorry for subjecting you to this, Kajiwara-san. It's for the sake of our Great Cause.) Of the others -- well, "cute" isn't the first word that comes to mind when I think of Kate, but, well, see here, here, or here. Plus she's got those big blue eyes in the anime. I've elsewhere broadcast my feelings on Hazuki's appearance, and Kamiya's design is, I feel, underrated. And... well, I mean, Sketchbook is Japanese. They're all cute. Speaking of which, there happens to be a particularly cute character from Kobako's other manga, 'Scorebook'. Isn't she cute?.

Suzukaze -- that's Ryou and Fuu -- are a special case. Their 'nekojarashi' ditty in Episode 1 was really responsible for Promulgating 'Sketchbook' to me, so properly, they're the founders of this campaign. Before Kajiwara claimed her rightful, unchallenged throne, Suzukaze were right up there for me (as reflected in my response to this forum topic). (Though I guess what that post really shows is that Sora asserted superiority right from the start. Well, whatever.) The point is, they're every bit as qualified, and as entitled, as Kajiwara-san to serve as the 'mascots' for the Sketchbook Promulgation Campaign.

Finally: as for the anime. Clearly, this should be our primary avenue of attack if we truly wish for maximum dispersion. (See: the name of this website. Or: the fact that probably every one of us came to the manga through full color'S). That said, I'm wary of encroaching upon the lawful territory of the pre-existing club dedicated to the show. On the other hand, I'm totally about to completely encroach upon the lawful territory of the pre-existing club dedicated to the show with my next OINC project.

P.S.: The word of the day is "ludic".

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Sketchbook Promulgation Campaign (obsolete)

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