Gender roles are often something we don’t think about. We are socialized as guys and gals to behave in certain ways and often don’t realize it. Our media reflects these mores. Anime, like any other medium, reflects the expectations society has for its members. Aspects of anime, such as a girl cooking a bento for…
Year: 2013
Iconic Skirts. The History of Japanese School Uniforms
They are a famous symbol of Japanese culture…odd since they were modeled after French and Prussian military uniforms. The Japanese school uniform is everywhere in manga, anime, and how we think about Japan. The uniform held many meanings throughout the 20th century. It started as a way for Japan to show other nations how upright…
Japan’s “Missing Million” — The Hikikomori
Most of us here in the US have probably come across people we would classify as “hermits”. That is to say, they barely leave the house, tend to be introverted, have few friends, and generally pass through life trying to be noticed as little as possible (weirdly enough, this might give them a kind of…
Odd and Impossible Anime Hair Styles
Anime hair ranges from drab to the impossible. I thought to turn toward some of the The odder hair styles we can find in our favorite medium. The hair in Afro Samurai reminds me more of a tree than hair. It is a blob of color that swirls like smoke. It lacks a lot of…
Blast of Tempest
Like many of Bones’ works, Blast of Tempest has an odd story but interesting characters. Blast of Tempest is set in our world with a twist. A select tribe of people known as the Kusaribe clan have access to magic through an entity called the Tree of Genesis. Enter Mahiro Fuwa and his friend Yoshino…