In 2019, Shinji Aoba broke into Kyoto Animation studio (also known as KyoAni), sprayed gasoline, and ignited it. He escaped to the nearby train station before collapsing from the burns he also sustained. Witnesses reported (BBC, 2019): “A person with singed hair was lying down and there were bloody footprints,” a 59-year-old woman living nearby…
Author: Chris
How to Not Sound Like A Weeb
How does a weeb sound? That depends on vocal cord size, lung capacity, language, and–okay, the question deals with the words and references people use. First, what is a weeb? I’ve written an article that defines what a weeb is and how to not be one. But to summarize, weeb is short for the slang…
Japanese Book Guide : 27 Books You Ought to Read about Japan
Here’s a collection of books to help expand your knowledge about Japan. I’ve referred to these books for my various writing projects. This list skews toward history because that’s my thing. You will also find English translations of landmark Japanese literary works, which everyone interested in Japan ought to read. The Art of the Samurai…
Why are Anime Obsessed with Big Boobs?
Anime is obsessed with breasts. Top-heavy female characters appear across anime stories, including stories aimed at girls. Female characters obsess over their bust size, fondling larger friends or feeling self-conscious about their own small bust. It’s easy to dismiss this as simply “boobs sell” and anime is made for horny teen guys. These are partial…
Crunchyroll’s Western Anime Monopoly
Sony Pictures Entertainment, the owner of Funimation, bought Crunchyroll from AT&T for $1.175 billion in 2021 (Simons, 2021). In the past, Funimation and Crunchyroll worked together, distributing pieces of each other’s anime catalogs. Now, we have a vast, unified catalog, but we also don’t have real alternatives for anime consumption in the West. Okay, smaller,…
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Facing Death and Memory
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End goes deep. You won’t find philosophical musings like in Ghost in the Shell, nor does Frieren goes into the darkness that some stories dive deep into. No, the story retains hope and humor, while allowing death to permeate the story. Frieren, after the deaths of the human heroes who she had…