Actually, JP isn’t going to be on YouTube, but my new channel, which starts today, is called “Tales from Old Japan”. The idea is to release video-book readings of Japanese folktales along with video essays about Japanese history, the lessons and importance of folklore, and other stories about and from old Japan. Expect to eventually…
Revisiting Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions
Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions explores the psychology of avoidance, coping with change, and seeing magic in everyday things. And it is a love story. The story centers around Rikka and Yuta, a pair of high school students (because life ends after high school, or because most people never leave high school). Rikka has…
Lessons to Take from Akira Toriyama’s Death
Akira Toriyama died from acute subdural hematoma. He was 68 years old. Toriyama’s started in manga by entering a Weekly Shonen Jump contest, which he lost. But his entry attracted the attention of Kazuhiko Torishima, who would later become his editor. Toriyama broke into manga when he was 23 with his first work Wonder Island,…
The Peony Lantern
In Yedo there dwelt a samurai called Hagiwara. He was a samurai of the hatamoto, which is of all the ranks of samurai the most honourable. He possessed a noble figure and a very beautiful face, and was beloved of many a lady of Yedo, both openly and in secret. For himself, being yet…
Revisiting Bleach
When I revisited Bleach, I decided to give it what I call the “kai” treatment. Named after Dragon Ball Z Kai, the kai treatment is how I approach long anime that are notorious for filler and story interruptions. I watched Naruto Shippuden using the same approach. The kai treatment involves skipping any episode, or even…
West Virginia, Librarians, and Obscenity
A bill passed from West Virginia’s House of Delegates and to the state’s Senate. The bill removes protections from public libraries, schools, and museums, holding librarians and curators possibly liable for displaying or distributing ‘obscene matter to a minor’ when the child isn’t accompanied by a parent or guardian. Which, I must add, is the…