Lafcadio Hearn was an American journalist who, along with Basil Hall Chamberlain, collected and wrote down Japan’s folktales. While many Japanese, in the past, had also recorded various folktales, it wasn’t until Westerners took an interest in Japanese folklore the keepers of this cultural oral tradition began be given a long shift. Hearn and Chamberlain…
Author: Chris
Redo of Healer: Edge and Reviled Revenge Revel
As I get older, I find myself growing sensitive to violence in stories. Saw never used to trouble me; it does now. Redo of Healer troubled me with its violence and sexual abuse. The version of the anime I watched was censored, but that censorship made the rape and violence even worse. Redo of Healer…
What Do Livestreamers, Politicians, and Waifus have in Common?
To answer the title’s question in two words: parasocial relationships. Okay, you can return to your regularly scheduled livestream! Parasocial relationships (PSR) are a common part of media consumption for many, so much that few of us stop and think about it. These types of relations extend to celebrities, politicians, livestreamers, and even fictional characters…
Beheneko: The Elf-Girl’s Cat is Secretly an S-Ranked Monster!
Beheneko: The Elf-Girl’s Cat is Secretly an S-Ranked Monster! beyond being a mouthful is also an ecchi, uh, handful. For the longest time I’ve avoided ecchi stories. They weren’t my thing, and they remain not my thing. But as an anime writer and armchair academic, this genre has been a blindspot for me. I’ve watched…
Texas Senate Bill 20, Obscenity, and Banning Anime and Manga
Texas’s state senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 20 which aims at AI-generated child pornography but can also end up banning many anime and manga titles in the process. Texas has joined many other states, such as Ohio and West Virginia, in efforts to crack down on materials deemed obscene. Ohio and West Virginia have…
New Book: Kappa The Deadly Finger Puller and Bonesetter
I’ve been behind with my book projects; I didn’t release anything last year. But publishing can take more time than you’d expect. I have several books awaiting release this year and next year. The first will be Kappa The Deadly Finger Puller and Bonesetter. In this brief book, I trace the traits and origins of…