Oh, Next Media Animation, you crazy Taiwanese CGI-using, viral YouTube-generating-while-we-sleep machine you! They’re the go-to for watching headline news with fart noises; perfect for Asian American blogs during slow news days, and for that we’re eternally grateful. And oh hey, they have an actual non-CGI host that’s an American! Find out more about Li Anne, the only person not living in The Uncanny Valley, after the jump.
Presumably to rake in more snarky American viewers, NMA unveiled their new host Li Anne, a model, actress and make-up artist originally from the Bay Area. While the actual content from the clip itself is kind of irrelevant to this point (The Situation’s dad is suing The Situation! CGI depictions of a woman under a desk fondling a literal Italian Love Sausage! More honking noises!) Li Anne’s delivery as a host is very — how do we best put this — American: calm, laid-back while being funny and self-effacing, works directly on my vlog-watching humor sensibilities. Even the lighting in her introduction piece, with the cool colors and muted lighting, goes against anything inherently Taiwanese when it comes to video production — no neon colors, no bubble letters in Chinese, no acting like a creepy hyper-sexualized thirteen-year-old girl. (Like seriously, have you seen variety shows in Taiwan? I imagine the Taiwanese version of CSPAN would be something like a Taiwanese Congressional brawl but with a machine playing wacky sound effects.)
So here’s some advice to you, Li Anne: I like your vibe — keep being snarky and comfortable and low key, and soon you’ll have some people talking about you, in a good way. But you know those girls that do the weather forecasts? You know, those five Taiwanese girls in the group cubicle down the hall from you? BAD NEWS, GIRL. At the very least, don’t change your name to Esse or Kitty, not matter how great the temptation.
