It’s strange how badly companies want to emulate, through viral marketing, the natural process that is “word of mouth.” What makes “word of mouth” marketing work is precisely its spontanaeity and its lack of connection to those who might do such a thing for the money. Anything less is, well, marketing. (Look what happened to Lonelygurl13 or whatever her name was, when she was revealed to be a professional actress.) I would give this particular effort by Kadokawa/Bandai an above average grade though–they succeeded, at any rate, in setting the anime blog world atwitter prior to the initial announcement with genuine speculation. But surely, no matter how clever and winsome…a certain kind of spell is broken the moment the words (C)2006 Bandai appear.
I do have a question: who are the Japanese-speaking actresses in the promo video? They’re definitely not the seiyuus from the anime. Are they simply the actresses who will act those roles for the live action promo videos? I know none of these people are going to be the dub actresses….
As for Haruhi itself: it’ll probably win my originality award for 2006 along with Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, and I’m really surprised no one has seen the similarities between Haruhi and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. That was the first thing that came to my mind in the way it mixed sci-fi, comedy, absurdism, and more than a dash of philosophy by the end. Mmmm….philosophy. Red meat for theology majors like me.
Is Haruhi Suzumiya acknowledging the existence of a different god by wishing you a Merry Christmas?
