Diehard Webcomic Fans Invent Fake Anime

[John Funk]

Diehard Webcomic Fans Invent Fake Anime

Never underestimate a bored internet fandom.

If you aren't familiar with web series Japanese shooter series Touhou Project [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/] as the craziest and most devoted fandom on the internet. Case in point: When series creator Andrew Hussie announced that he would be taking a temporary hiatus from the comic in order to prepare for San Diego Comic-Con, the fans erupted in a flurry of creation.

Specifically, they created their own anime.

[gallery=822]

Now, that's a bit of a misnomer: The fans haven't actually animated anything outside of .gifs [http://worthikids.tumblr.com/post/26618129715/the-voice-acting-here-was-so-great-omg-i-may]. What they have created, however, is an overwhelming pretense that the story they love isn't a webcomic made by some dude from Boston, but a manga/anime series out of Japan - replete with a bunch of fake screenshots. We've gathered some of our favorites here.

What's impressive here is the commitment to verisimilitude. No, no such Homestuck anime exists, but the "screenshots" have appropriate subtitles, and the style and character expressions look authentic. Some of them even add the subtle watermarks of the various Japanese TV networks (or the YouTube UI for all of those who stream their anime online). Hell, some of the screens even have the compression/quality issues that anyone familiar with watching bootleg anime VHS tapes in the '90s might recognize.

All in all, the focus on creating actual believable screenshots or manga pages (terrible anatomy issues included) is what sets this fan project apart from mere fan art. Fans without artistic talent have also made fake Wikipedia articles [http://thehomestuckanime.tumblr.com/post/26645201848/homestuck-the-anime-the-wikipedia-article-note] referencing the nonexistent series.

Obviously, the next logical step is for Homestuck fans to follow in the footsteps of Touhou fans and actually make their own freaking anime [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w337ij3wtXA&feature=channel_video_title].

If you ask me, this whole thing doesn't have nearly enough Kanaya.

Images Via: Skaia.net [http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/homestuck+the+anime]

Update: I stand corrected. There is an animated and voiced clip [http://digitallyimpaired.tumblr.com/post/26663379188/omg-i-found-a-leaked-clip-of-homestuck-the] after all, albeit a short one.

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[CJ1145]

This happened, like, yesterday. Did this get newsworthy that fast?!

 

[Radoh]

That's...
really impressive.
I've avoided that webcomic because I already keep up with more than enough of them, but with this? I'm pretty sure I need to look into this now out of sheer obligation to their fandom.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

How long before they make an anime of Homestuck fans spitting into a bucket and filming it at a Pizza Hut?

 

[bobmus]

This happened, like, yesterday. Did this get newsworthy that fast?!

Do you know your anime?
You know your anime?
You Gotta know your anime round here!
Oo-wie! Oo-wie!

Best Green Day reference I've seen in quite some time.

OT: At some point, someone will reference Touhou and I won't immediately think of Lilithslave. For now, however...

 

[youdont12know]

You forgot to mention that the anounced hiatus is less then a week and a half.
(This is why I love homestuck, It's fans are amazing)

 

[CJ1145]

That's...
really impressive.
I've avoided that webcomic because I already keep up with more than enough of them, but with this? I'm pretty sure I need to look into this now out of sheer obligation to their fandom.

To give context, they talked Dante Basco into reading the entire thing.

Spoiler: For the uninitiated,

That's the level of dedication that fandom is willing to pour into seemingly pointless endeavors.

 

[Sylocat]

If MLP:FiM doesn't make it past the dreaded 65-episode mark, the fans will make S4 themselves, mark my words.

 

[Warsaurus]

I started reading Homestuck about 2 months ago because a girl I liked was into it. I thought it was going to be bland and uninteresting...I was wrong. If you've got a day or two with nothing to do, I recommend it. Just have to get through the first 2 Acts before it really picks up story-wise.

 

[scotth266]

I gotta admit, seeing the different styles that they've adapted the series to is kind of interesting.

 

[bloodyEmissary]

Obviously, the next logical step is for Homestuck fans to follow in the footsteps of Touhou fans and actually make their own freaking anime.

We're working on that already, actually. [http://homestuckanime.tumblr.com/]
Not as a whole series, though. The plan is just to make one episode set somewhere in the middle of the story, I believe.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

Is this Homestuck thing an actual web comic or some shitty flash game? Went to the website and all I saw was a shitty flash game.

 

[CJ1145]

Is this Homestuck thing an actual web comic or some shitty flash game? Went to the website and all I saw was a shitty flash game.

No idea what you saw. It's a webcomic, and you advance the pages by clicking the commands, usually either looking like ==> or >*insert command here*

 

[bloodyEmissary]

Is this Homestuck thing an actual web comic or some shitty flash game? Went to the website and all I saw was a shitty flash game.

It's an actual web comic. It uses a combination of static images, .gifs, Flash videos, and interactive games to illustrate the events of the story, and dialogue takes place entirely through second-person narration ("You do this", or "you do that", where "you" is the character in the panel) or through "pesterlogs", which are basically chatlogs like on an IRC.

It is currently 5,237 pages long. The first page can be found here [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=001901].

 

[Marsell]

there is not enough keyboard in the world to express my want.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

Is this Homestuck thing an actual web comic or some shitty flash game? Went to the website and all I saw was a shitty flash game.

No idea what you saw. It's a webcomic, and you advance the pages by clicking the commands, usually either looking like ==> or >*insert command here*

Could you direct me to the webcomic? All I'm seeing is a flash game about some character (that you name) who likes old sci-fi movies and paranormal lore

 

[CJ1145]

Is this Homestuck thing an actual web comic or some shitty flash game? Went to the website and all I saw was a shitty flash game.

No idea what you saw. It's a webcomic, and you advance the pages by clicking the commands, usually either looking like ==> or >*insert command here*

Could you direct me to the webcomic? All I'm seeing is a flash game about some character (that you name) who likes old sci-fi movies and paranormal lore

This is it. [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/]

If it's what you were looking at before, allow me to explain. Homestuck is a bit less of a conventional webcomic than you might be led to believe. There's lots of different media involved. You follow the pages and you read the text under the images given, including the text chats (which is where all the dialogue and most exposition takes place), and sometimes there will be pages that use flash, and others that are even out-and-out simple games.

I'm fairly certain that you're being misled by the first couple pages, because it's kind of a parody of old point and click adventure games.

 

[Warsaurus]

The comic is made in a style where it resembles a video game. Old RPG elements and etc, such as the naming thing. To advance in the comic, you simply click at the bottom, which serves the purpose of 'Commands' you would give in a game. You get used to it, and it's the source of a lot of jokes, like, how the inventory or 'Sylladex' works.