Osamu Tezuka is considered the godfather of manga. He popularized the format with his storytelling, using film techniques as a part of his approach. His art style mixes the style of early Disney with Japan’s native ukiyo-e style. This lends the impression that Tezuka’s work is “childish.” His three-volume story Ayako contradicts this perspective. As…
Author: Chris Kincaid
The Art of Love and War | Kaguya-sama: Love is War
Kaguya-sama: Love is War is a romantic comedy that I’ve already covered in a few other articles. However, the story deserves a deeper look. Beneath its comedy is a male-aimed romantic message that shows how romantic notions are for men too. Akasaka Aka approaches the romance with using the “slow boil” method as we will…
2024: Another Spin Around Our Star
This next year, 2025, will mark my 14th year of blogging about anime, the anime community, Japanese history, and all the other meanders I make here. JP began as a video game blog called Gamemories about a year before I changed over to blogging about anime. Some fragments of that blog still float around if…
Public Writing and Self Censorship
As JP has increased in views and approaches the 7 million total-views milestone, I’ve become even more aware of how what I write can influence people. Of course, JP doesn’t have the reach of various other blogs, websites, and YouTube channels. However, whenever your make anything public, you expose yourself to a variety of personalities….
Hara-Kiri: Japanese Ritual Suicide by Jack Seward
When I worked as a librarian, I had the chance to come across many interesting old books. Hara-Kiri: Japanese Ritual Suicide is one such book. Dating to 1968, the 103-page read covers the development and history of hara-kiri, or seppuku, in Japanese culture. Seppuku, as it is formally called, was a type of suicide practiced…
The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho
The Unfettered Mind contains essays and letters written by the Zen monk Takuan Soho, who was a friend and a teacher of Miyamoto Musashi. As Takuan neared death, he reportedly told his students: “Bury my body in the mountain behind the temple, cover it with dirt, and go home. Read no sutras, hold no ceremony….