The Edo period made Japan Japan. This long segment of peace shaped Japanese gender expectations and continues to influence them today. Japan was once a matriarchal society. The influx of Confucian ideas from China around the 15th century eroded the ability of women to hold power. Confucian ideas stressed hierarchy, male dominance, integrity, and righteousness….
Author: Chris Kincaid
The No Dating Clause in J-Pop Girl Bands
Take a moment to watch this video. Notice her shaved head? That is a traditional way to show remorse and a desire to repent in Japanese culture, a tradition quite rare for women to practice. So what was her sin? What terrible, despicable thing did she do that warranted a shaved head and this apology?…
Responsibilities of Blogging
This week, lets shift gears. Let’s look at our responsibilities as bloggers and why what we do matters. Blogging is a hobby that comes with responsibilities. The act of writing requires the author to think carefully about the quality of information and what message she wants the reader to leave with. Quality of information is…
One Week Friends: Lessons on Friendship
One Week Friends examines the value of friendship and the work it takes to build a friendship into something deeper. This slice of life story sometimes drops into sap when some aspects are overplayed, but it provides good lessons on friendship. Kaori Fujimiya, the ice queen, ignores everyone and eats alone. Yuki Hase thinks her cute. Driven by his…
Barriers to Anime Going Mainstream
Recently, I rewatched Moribito, and it struck me how rare such anime are for the US. You see, anime is a storytelling medium just like live-action movies. However, anime has a bad reputation for telling poor stories laced with underboob and panty shots. Why is that? After all, anime contains stories like Moribito. If you…
The Comic Artist and His Assistants. Thoughts on Male Lust.
Normally I avoid anime like this, but I thought to give it a watch to figure out what makes this sort of anime appealing to some fans. I still don’t understand the appeal. Maybe it is because I am an old fogey as the anime viewership goes. Kids these days! The Comic Artist and His…