At the end of January, I had the privilege to witness a benshi performance, which impressed me immensely. Finally, it led to me writing this blog post. So, what am I actually talking about? In Japan, silent films were never truly silent Western audiences may be faintly aware that in the first cinemas, at least…
Author: Chris Kincaid
Considering Japanese Incest, Cultural Obsession, and the Book The Six-Foot Bonsai
Recently, I’ve read a memoir written by Stacy Gleiss that shares her experiences with an abusive Japanese husband and her immersion into Japanese culture. I’ve considered doing a standard book review, but it’s difficult to critique a memoir. By their nature, memoirs share intimate details about a person’s life that I don’t feel right critiquing….
What is a Postmodern Anime? What Does Postmodernism Mean, anyway?
Postmodernism is one of those stuffy words you see thrown around the Internet. It’s slapped on architecture, education, movies, and even anime. But what really is postmodernism? How can an anime be postmodern? Despite it’s name, postmodernism has nothing to do with being modern. I rather dislike the word modern because every age thinks itself…
Keijo!!!!!!!! Review
I loathe fan-service. The only exception to this was Kill la Kill, but with that series the fan-service was satirical. So when I started watching Keijo!!!!!!!! –I think I counted the right number of exclamation marks in the title–I often asked myself “What am I watching?” I’ve seen the popularity of the show in my…
Matsuo Basho’s Life and Haiku
Each day is a journey, and the journey itself home Matsuo Bashō was born in 1644 in the town of Ueno to a minor samurai family. While he is best known for his haiku in the West, his travel journals broke ground in Japanese literature. In his teen years, Bashō entered the service of Todo…
Musings VIII: Monsters and Identity in “The Great Yōkai War”
Monsters – the Ultimate Adversary? It seems to be the most gripping kind of tale: The fight against a monster. Our heroes may confront it literally, as a demonic creature or a mad serial killer, or more symbolically, in the faceless grinding mechanisms of society, or the depths of their own subconscious. The Japanese monsters…