I spend a fair amount of digital ink speaking about Japan’s culture and how it affects anime. As an international medium, anime also sees American influences on it. As an American, I struggle to see how odd some American behavior may be to Japanese people and other people around the world. In this post, I…
My Favorite Articles to Write in 2017
I’m always a bit late with this sort of post. Well, I’m a bit late in reviewing anime too. I have a review slated for Oreimo soon, and that show is 8 years old. I had thought to post a short article about my favorite anime posts from other websites, but I’m sad to admit…
Anime Incest is Just a Part of World Literary Tradition?
Recently, there seems to be a glut of anime focusing on sibling incest. Known as the big bother complex or little sister complex, sibling incest has become a subgenre of romance. The level of romance varies. Most of the time, the complexes appear between siblings without any genetic ties or removed cousins. Sometimes, you have…
The Dream Story of Gojiro
Only a few years ago there was a gentleman in Fukui, Japan, who had a son, a bright lad of twelve, who was very diligent at school and had made astonishing progress in his studies. He was especially quick at learning Chinese characters, of which every Japanese gentleman who wishes to be called educated must…
Do Reviews Really Matter?
Some of you may have noticed that I don’t post anime reviews all that often. It’s not that I’m not watching anime. In fact, I’ve watch more recently than in recent months thanks to the Crunchyroll app on the Nintendo Wii-U. In part, I haven’t been writing reviews of these stories because I haven’t felt…
What is in Ramen?
Have you ever wondered what goes into the otaku’s go-to food on the cheap? It’s also Naruto’s favorite food–ramen. The bowl of noodles and magic-flavor powder, like most packaged foods, is a wonder of engineering and chemical science. There is some actual food in it too. Some brands have slightly different formulas (you really can’t…