Japanese Gaming: Super Robot Wars

Posted on December 8, 2010 by J Sensei

A Storied Japanese Gaming Franchise

Known as スーパーロボット大戦 or Super Robot Taisen in Japanese, this franchise goes back to rather ancient gaming times and continues haltingly into the modern era.

What The Heck Is A Super Robot?

For Americans and other non-Japanese, let me explain this in terms that should be easy to understand.

Voltron. Super Robot.

In other words, not realistic.

So, this creates the issue of what is a so-called real robot? (This is Japanese loan word slang, as will quickly become obvious.)

Veritech. Real Robot.

As in, a realistic robot, not a “real world” robot!

This is Super Robot 101.

Western gamers shorten this to the acronym SRW, and to save time and ease reading, I will do so as well.

For the Japanese anime aware, yes, I am WELL AWARE that the above are “GoLion” and “Valkyrie Fighter” in the Japanese versions. Who do you think I am?… But to explain to the uninitiated, such departures are necessary.

Crossover Mecha Gaming

All but extremely limited and rare offshoots of these games are turn-based strategy games involving statistical formulas and player strategy as one army faces off against one (or more) opposing armies. Rather than purely men (and women), these battles are fought with mecha, which is Japanese jargon for a machine (from: mechanical).

In other words, they include what one would identify as a robot specifically (something with humanoid features) as well as things which are not traditional robots, but which nonetheless fit within the context of “robot wars.”

The single great defining feature of the series, however, is that it is an anime crossover game series. By crossover, I mean that the games draw upon characters (and mecha) from a diverse cross-section of mecha anime, ranging from the realistic (i.e. Gundam) to the apocalyptic and incredible (i.e. Evangelion).

Essentially, I eat these games for breakfast.

SRW games are one most challenging type of games in existence for he (or she) who wishes to read Japanese natively. The dialog ranges from the ridiculous, to the insanely colloquial, to the extremely technical, including specialized military jargon. Through it all, the language is peppered with loan words.

Well, it took me a long time to get up to the speed required for them, but it is nonetheless one way I keep my unconventional reading and listening skills sharp.

Recognize any...?

Super-Deformed Mecha

As you can see from the picture, mecha in the “super deformed” style is basically… big head, squished body, which creates a “deformed” body style.

Originally, the use of SD (Super-Deformed) mecha was because the primitive systems SRW games were on had to be this way to fit within memory constraints. Later, it became an issue of economics: studios like Sunrise (creator of Gundam and many other franchises) license SD likenesses of its properties at half the price of full size versions (or so I have heard).

Thus, by using SD models, the creator (Banpresto, derived from Bandai, the toy company behemoth) can unleash a massive army of mecha, and their associated characters, upon a large niche gaming market.

North America: Original Generations Only

Thanks to licensing hell from so many varied properties, the legal challenges of bringing these games to North America have scared everyone off from even trying, except for one.

Original Generations uses the Banpresto “original” (i.e. not appearing in an outside created anime) characters, which means Banpresto owns all the rights, which means, no licensing hell. However, only the Nintendo Gameboy series versions (mainly for the dual screen version, or NDS) have been brought to America. A PS2 version mashing together Original Generation 1 & 2 was released in Japan.

I own that game, and it’s not bad.

Anyway, we can no longer say that originals haven’t appeared in anime. That’s what the Original Generations anime, seasons 1 and 2, are all about, based on the first and second games, respectively.

The image at the top of this article is a Gespenst, one of the oldest “original” mecha used in the SRW series.

A Massive Source Of Dialog

Besides the encyclopedic data in the games themselves (and I’m not kidding – there’s an in-game mecha and character encyclopedia in every console version dating years back), there’s a huge amount of in-game dialog, particularly during battle animations where the results of the statistical foolery play out before your eyes with background music (BGM, BGM’s) playing and voice actors (seiyuu) speaking these lines as they appear at the bottom of the screen. In ancient console versions, and all portable ones, this written text is all you get, but for console versions – including ports – you get voice, too.

The sheer entertainment value of this is incredible, even if the general technology level of these games is at the lower end of the scale in general.

Cultural Value

Essentially, SRW is a gateway drug to more mecha anime, and introduced me, personally, and quite a lot of gamers to anime which they have not seen before, but would like to (largely as a result of seeing the content in these games).

Blogging Value

The reason I write these words is so that, in the future, I can simply link back to this post and people can get an explanation of what the broader subject is when I discuss, oh, “and in SRW Z, this unit is great to use) or something like that.

Put bluntly, I am capable of an embarrassingly large degree of highly detailed babble about things arising in this game series, and relating to anime appearing in these games, that I wanted to give people some kind of heads up about it.

At any rate, there’s an incredible amount of non-traditional language education that can be derived from my gaming, and rapid-fire reading, experience gleaned from these games, and that has value to me as a blogger.

So there.

Posted in Culture, Japan, video games, Weird Stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why We Watch Anime, Part 2: Music

Posted on December 6, 2010 by J Sensei

Creativity in Music

Building upon the principle of creativity, the second distinct reason why people watch anime has nothing to do with the eye. Rather, it has to do with the ear, filling our minds, and souls, with music that is entertaining on many levels.

All samples are STRICTLY for EDUCATIONAL purposes, to provide cultural insight. At any rate, they’re from YouTube so it’s not my neck on the line. – J

Genres Without Limit

Taking just one example, the work of Yoko Kanno has ranged from Gregorian Chant, to American Jazz, classical symphony, straight up J-Pop (the Japanese version of pop(ular) music), and futuristic rock music. This is a fraction of this notable composer’s incredibly vast and varied work. In regards to her music evoking American Jazz in Cowboy Bebop, she seemed to have a better finger on the pulse of American musical traditions than Americans themselves.

Yoko Kanno – Know Your Enemy

Kanno Yoko: Europe

Yoko Kanno – Aqua

Perhaps my personal favorite is Yuki Kajiura, who I know best for taking music that sounds “foreign” in very mystical, spiritual sounding ways – particularly from let’s say, South-East Asia – and going from themes of great depth and tranquility, to high energy action scene music of a power and intensity that puts most things to shame. Yet what I remember most about her is her ability to compose some of the most positive, upbeat, fun modern pieces I’ve ever heard, even considering the strength of Kanno’s resume. She might be considered less even, but her best works are absolute top notch.

Yuki Kajiura – Grandpa’s Violin

Re: Yuki Kajiura – Aura

Sacrifice – Yuki Kajiura

These are but two of the more famous composers, and I use them to illustrate the broader principle: the music used in anime is extremely diverse, knowing no limit based on culture and drawing on musical concepts from all over the world.

For example, one relatively recent phenomenon is the rise of Japanese rap music. By this, I mean the mixing of strong musical rhythms with strongly rhythmic speech, combining to create a beat-heavy string of sounds and words. However clear or unclear the words of the rappers themselves, the throwing in of English loan words tends to throw natives off the chase sufficiently that, like many Americans appreciating J-Pop, they simply listen to the flow.

Here’s two examples: one from anime, and one that’s simply “Japanese rap” in a sense that’s closer to American rap.

Eureka Seven 2nd Opening

Sorry, embedding was disabled on the YouTube end for this one, but I highly recommend it. There’s rap that is tolerable in this world, and I felt this was one example. The Japanese rap that has made it into mainstream anime has tended to be very catchy, easy to stick with, easy to listen to (yes, seriously!), and highly entertaining.

HIME , Female Japanese Rapper , DJ Honda Records

Finally, there’s always room for tossing in music that indulges in the deep, rich musical tradition of Japan itself, ranging from stringed instrument music by geisha to music used at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. In my own humble estimation, there are few more beautiful sounds on this Earth than Japanese flute music.

Posted in Anime, Art, Culture, Japan, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Informal Japanese: Why It’s Important

Posted on December 2, 2010 by J Sensei

Not Every Situation Is Formal

One of the real, visceral failings of standard Japanese courses is that they only teach the formal versions of verbs in the classroom. Granted, this is good for academic situations, the conduct of professional business, and interactions with public officials, and all students do need to learn formal versions. Nonetheless, students are tangibly harmed by the inability to use and understand plain and informal Japanese that is commonly employed in real life.

For our purposes, the classroom is not real life.

Anyone attempting to read manga to learn Japanese (and if you want raw material for this, just go to J-Comi; see previous post) absolutely will not succeed without a broad understanding of informal Japanese.

Furthermore, informal Japanese is necessary for full enjoyment of anime, film, and normal, everyday conversation with Japanese natives.

For businessmen, small talk is far more difficult to engage in without informal Japanese. Thus, a firm grounding in it is necessary.

The Really Basic Basics

基本の基本は (The basic basics) are like this:

行く　（いく） = iku, “To Go.” Root version/ plain, informal version.

行きます 　（いきます） = ikimasu, “To Go,” Formal version.

Let’s alter this slightly.

We’re going to use the volitional tense, which reads like “Let’s do X.”

学校に行こう。（がっこうにいこう。）= gakkou ni ikou. “Let’s go to school.”

This is the plain version.

学校に行きましょう。（がっこうにいきましょう。） = gakkou ni ikimashou. “Let’s go to school.”

This is the polite version.

The first version would be naturally spoken by young boys, but the second version would be naturally spoken by young girls.

This is such a basic, basic, fundamental comprehension issue that it is scarcely worth the time to even try to teach someone how to read manga if this is not covered.

It’s vital to understanding the feel and tone of Japanese dialog. If you have an interest in this, make it your business to learn the plain forms of Japanese verbs – starting with the most common ones that you will see. Besides, the plainest form is the root form, also known as the dictionary form. You do want to be able to look these up in a real dictionary at some point, don’t you?

– J

Posted in Grammar, Japanese, Languages | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

J-Comi: Can It Overcome Growing Pains?

Posted on December 1, 2010 by J Sensei

Come on, Hina! There's still hope!

Some Unrequested Advice

日本語版は英語の後

(Japanese version below English)

So, I was speaking to my Japanese culture interested friends about J-Comi. I had asked for an update if the site went up, and apparently it did. Also, it apparently has some issues that a quick explanation made obvious.

First, the site is using an affiliate purchase business model. That is, creators aren’t paid for clicks; they’re paid for purchases made through the clicks (and through the clicks only). This is a more difficult model and is making even testing the idea out a bit difficult, as Twitter posts shown on the site itself are suggesting.

Second, the site relies on a model of PDF downloads rather than on-site hosting. I really, really hate to mention this, but to use one example, the now shut down copyright violating site Onemanga.com had a business model more in tune with the public: making manga readable completely on-site, through a browser, through page by page clicking (or arrow keys). Other sites that I will not name still survive, and put ads for things like free-to-play MMO’s without unduly angering the reader.

Third, as these PDF’s are concerned, let me give my blunt opinion: low-quality PDF downloads are absolutely worthless for reading Japanese. They do have value in the strict sense of viewing the pictures but… people, this is not working. Low quality scans are often adequate for reading ENGLISH, but are completely inadequate for the human eye to properly read kana and kanji.

Now, the site does feature high quality PDF downloads, and these are just fine to read on my 1650×1050 resolution monitor without squinting or annoyance. I plan to catch up on Love Hina manga and intend to support Ken Akamatsu’s effort however I can.

While I’m not sure this is a problem, a site like this can only work if creators sign up. I know Ken said that creators could submit content easily by zip file, but I’m not sure if the sign-up process is smooth. Anyway, if that’s a problem, it needs solving.

Finally, patience is required. Don’t give up, Ken!!

So, in terms of solutions, here’s what my interested friends and I would suggest:

Go to a pay-per-click ad model. It’s better.

Implement on-site viewing.

Make it easy for creators to create accounts.

Don’t give up!!

That’s my advice.

日本語版、手短いに

（下手な日本語を許して下さい。－J)

アフィリエイトのモデルは厳しいね？Pay-per-clickは遥かに優秀な手段と思います。

元翻訳者として、悪いが、軽量版PDFは読む価値がない。英語の場合、出来るかもしれないが、かなと漢字の場合、読めないよ、普通な人にとって。日本語版の価値はゼロです。それに、米国版の画質低下を回避するべきです。

ちなみに、高解像度PDFは全く問題なし。私も喜んで読みます。

真の問題は、サイトの必ず必要物がサイト内見る機能です。でないと、pay-per-clickモデルが出来ないよ。コンテンツを盗む人までサイト内見る機能とアドを混じる。そして、金を稼ぎます。プロのサイト、それぐらいを出来ないなら。。。未来がないかも。

是非、私はJ-Comiを全力でサポートします。武運を祈るぞ！

ちなみに、翻訳者が必要ならば、連絡して下さいね？（汗）

では、頑張って下さい。外人のファンも応援します。諦めないで！（＾＾）

Posted in Art, Blog News, Business, Culture, Japan, Japanese, Manga | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Japanese: That’s How It Is

Posted on December 1, 2010 by J Sensei

ソーユーこと

This reads like “soo yuu koto.” This is Tokyo dialect, under-pronouncing the first part. One might see the “koto” part either in kana or as kanji, but what we’re really seeing is actually:

そういう事

The “sou” part indicates something “over there,” like sono and sore do. The “iu” part is for, well, 言う (to say). This doesn’t make much sense until you read it in a context, like this:

“You mean that unless we hit the monster it in three places at once, we can’t beat it?”

(nod) “Sou iu koto.”

In other words, it’s a reference to what the previous speaker just said.

Now, koto (事) here is a thing, but it is not in the English sense in this respect: in Japanese, a “koto” is an intangible thing only.

A mono (物) is, in contrast, a tangible thing.

Love is a koto. Ice cream is a mono. Idealism is a koto. An airplane is a mono.

This pattern never changes.

Words, too, are a koto rather than a mono, for words are not tangible; they are ideas.

So, to revisit the earlier example, with proper localization:

“You mean that unless we hit the monster it in three places at once, we can’t beat it?”

(nod) “That’s how it is.”

Or put in an overly literal way, it is as you (just) said.

So that’s how it is.

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Free Ebook: The Allure of Japanese Swords

Posted on November 29, 2010 by J Sensei

Here. Take it.

I tried pushing this thing in preview form a while back. I’d rather give it away for free than have no one look through the whole thing. It’s about Japan, swords, samurai, art, culture… and more swords.

Essentially, if I want to talk about swords in the future, I’ll point people here.

If nothing else, take a look at the pretty pictures I gathered.

Posted in Art, Culture, Japan | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gundam Unicorn, Episodes 1 and 2

Posted on November 28, 2010 by J Sensei

It Started With A Conversation

This post is as spoiler-free as humanly possible. – J

I was talking to my friend Andrius (readers of my long interview with him about Final Fantasy 14 may recall him) about Gundam Unicorn and realized that people may want some as-brief-as-possible explanations about what’s going on. Indeed, he asked me if the show was good.

I said, yes, the show is pretty good. Little to complain about. I mentioned that the show had a Char clone. He replied, Gundam shows always have a Char clone. (That is, a character similar to Char Aznable, often wearing a mask.)

I said… …no, I mean, an actual clone. DNA. Test tubes. Physical cloning. He said, and I paraphrase, that’s just ridiculous. (^^)

So, let’s start with the present and work our way into the past a little.

How We Got Here

Gundam Unicorn is an OVA (Original Video Animation) released on disc and through Playstation Network downloads (in Japan at least). Unlike recent incarnations of the franchise, this show follows the timeline began by the original Gundam.

While the Japanese title is abbreviated to Gundam UC (Unicorn), this also takes place in the “UC timeline,” that is, the Universal Century timeline.

Char Aznable was one of the main antagonists of the original Gundam, carrying a heavy burden and life story and acting as a kind of blend between The Man in the Iron Mask and The Red Baron. Long story short, he survived the initial struggle, though his “side” lost the war.

This was a war between the Earth Federation and the Republic of Zeon, a Germanic, fascist dictatorship dedicated to liberation of the space colonies that some four fifths of humanity’s population was moved to in order to free the Earth of our polluting ways. The colonies were then run as colonies, as in, colonialism for the benefit of the elites who stayed behind on Earth, slowing down the emigration and benefiting from the heavy labor of space colonists.

Ironically, it was a space colonist, a boy who happened to be the son of a brilliant robotics designer who was creating the Federation’s primary hope of countering the main Zeonic weapon of war, the Mobile Suit, a ~55 foot tall, one man humanoid robot. Reconnaissance troops of Char attacked the colony after having discovered the mobile suit development program. With regular military officers slaughtered, this boy, armed with a manual in his lap, and it becomes gradually apparent, latent psychic ability, Amuro Ray, age 15, pilots his father’s masterpiece, the Gundam, and destroys two Zeonic mobile suits, saving what remains of the colony – for the moment.

Char and Amuro would become bitter rivals, finally falling in love with the same young woman. This woman, Lalah, intervened in a battle between the two and put her machine in the way of Amuro’s attack to save Char. Thus, Amuto slew a girl he loved with his own hand.

So, Char survived the end of the war, disappearing. Seven years later, he re-emerged in a different disguise, this time fighting fascists that had developed an “elite” all-Earth-born army to further oppress the colonists, culminating in a poison gas attack that killed every last soul on a colony, radicalizing opposition into a privately funded paramilitary army complete with a small number of ships and mobile suits.

This plot is covered in Zeta Gundam, of which a compilation of three movies was recently made to remake the story into something somewhat less bleak than the original

However, Char emerged from the conflict changed. Once again, he disappeared, believed dead by some, and well nearly having died, but instead, he spent his years watching… and regretting trying to save the Earth, it would seem.

While I am not all that fond of what his character was turned into, Char Aznable returned, this time under his “real” name, and took command of a revolt against the Earth Federation, but quickly culminating in an effort to drop a pretty huge asteroid on Earth. This “asteroid drop” would have plunged the Earth into a nuclear winter and cause Earth to no longer be inhabitable by mankind, thus (in his mind) removing the source of conflict and oppression for the colonists.

Char was also guided by a desire to settle his score with Amuro, but thanks to the massive psionic amplification abilities of the experimental Nu Gundam (“Nu” in the Greek sense), which drew on the anger of both rivals (at this point Char was in a cockpit escape pod only, having lost his duel), and the common wills of pilots on both sides who tried to stop what was happening, the huge chunk of asteroid still hurtling towards Earth was enveloped by a green glow and telekinetically pushed off a collision course.

Three years passed.

Laplace’s Box, and the Unicorn

A nigh-mythical repository called Laplace’s Box is being sought by both sides of this seemingly eternal conflict. Using a colony as camouflage (a familiar story), Anaheim Electronics, a lunar surface based arms manufacturer usually serving the Federation (but having armed its enemies at different junctures depending on circumstances), secretly develops a prototype Gundam that is considered the “key” to unlocking the box.

Whatever the box contains, both sides consider it a way to permanently alter the balance. Even as Neo-Zeon forces engage in operations to locate the Unicorn Gundam, Federation military forces are in no mood to simply allow this to occur.

Thus, the first scenes of Gundam Unicorn, Episode 1, are of a battle featuring the mecha shown above, which longtime Gundam fans will understand to be a successor to older designs.

To make a long story short, and keep spoilers to a minimum, a teenage boy with some sort of secret past and a connection to the designer of the Unicorn Gundam survives the outbreak of hostilities. Thanks to twists of fate involving a “stowaway” girl trying to stop the outbreak of a war, who he knows as Audrey, he winds up in the center of events and is entrusted by the dying mobile suit designer with the Unicorn Gundam.

The Unicorn, And “NT-D”

Normally, the Unicorn Gundam is simply a very high performance Mobile Suit with the kind of power able to match the highly advanced Neo Zeon mobile weapons. It is known as the Unicorn because it was built with the Unicorn as an inspiration, and as you can see above, it has a single horn functioning as the machine’s antenna. However, the reason that this boy pilot survives his first encounter with combat is, in fact, quite simple.

NT-D mode is also known as Destroy Mode. In this mode, the Unicorn “opens up” to reveal its true form as a Gundam with the classic “V antenna” on its head.

In this mode, the suit can – or more precisely, has to be – piloted entirely by thought, with the machine becoming the pilot’s proxy body. The newtype (originally: “New Type of Human Being,” a more evolved being; since: “a psionic human”) piloting the machine is capable of incredible maneuvers, but the system places an incredible burden upon the human brain, and as such, can only be used for about five minutes before the pilot loses consciousness. The mobile suit shuts the process down before actually killing the pilot, but that is clearly where things would otherwise lead.

Episode 2: The Red Comet

Though the boy loses consciousness at the end, he still manages to beat off the Zeonic forces. With survivors from his class, and the mysterious Audrey, the young “pilot” is recovered by the Earth military, which considers the Gundam its property. The aim of this ship is to bring the Gundam to Anaheim Electronics, and as “stealing” military property is a capital offense, the boy finds himself in dire straits.

On the Zeonic side, the leader of the Neo Zeon forces, known as (try not to laugh…) Full Frontal, decides to take matters into his own hands.

It is not at all a show spoiler to say that this is a literal clone of deceased Zeonic protagonist/ antagonist Char Aznable, but this is, I think, the best version of “Char” that I have ever seen. He knows what he is, and he essentially has the attitude of, if people want me to be Char Aznable, then I will be Char Aznable, or the Pope, or anything else they want me to be… because the cause of colonist liberation is not over, and it’s going to be led by someone. As he believes in it, it might as well be him leading the charge.

And so, he sorties, intending to take down the ship single-handedly.

A thing of beauty.

So, Is The Show Good?!?!

Yes. It’s pretty good.

I am firmly of the opinion that this show is very good, for the following reasons:

  • Excellent visuals. Simply put, even though you have Gundam 00 with its highly advanced high-definition computer graphics to compete with, this looks better, and more importantly, the virtual cinematography is dynamic and exciting, allowing us to focus on the pure coolness of it and actually honest-to-god cheer what is going on. It has a soul. It feels good.
  • Characters who are more than tolerable. There is a minimum of characters who exist solely to be hated by the viewer, essentially playing the roles of corrupt money-grubbing arms dealers, corrupt politicians, small-minded butchers… the sort of people we should be hating. Quite a few characters are intelligent and complex, which leads to the next point…
  • A world with a lot of moral gray. Neither big side – the Federation or Neo Zeon – is wholly right, nor wholly wrong. Both want the Unicorn Gundam for their own purposes, large and small, and both have civilians – including children – with hopes and dreams. This is in contrast to the spectacular combat scenes, but the combination makes the story go round.
  • You can’t tell what’s coming. Not unless you’ve already read the novels, and I have not, so I can’t spoil myself even if I wanted to. Nor can I spoil you.

So, that’s the long and short of it.

Well Worth Watching

I strongly recommend watching this show. Hopefully it will continue to uphold the high standards it has introduced so far. There’s clearly a lot of plot here, and at this juncture, we really don’t have any idea what Laplace’s Box is. That’s okay; mysteries shouldn’t be revealed quite this soon. Making plain (and the show does make it plain) that there really is something larger at work here is a good reason for the viewer to care in spite of the small, tightly controlled battle zones that the show has operated in so far.

I mean, the visuals have been absolutely wonderful, but without the plot to make us care about something important going on, we might be tempted to ask for giant fleet battles or dozens of mobile suits in combat.

Surely, we’ll see things closer to that in the future, but the point is, giving us a plot to care about is a Good Idea, and we, the viewers, are much better off for it. – J

For detailed summaries of both episodes, I would be remiss to omit links to these summaries by Chris Guanche of MAHQ.net, “Mecha and Anime Headquarters.”

THESE SUMMARIES CONTAIN EXHAUSTIVE SPOILERS.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Posted in Anime, Art, Culture, Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Japanese Culture: Sakura Shinguji

Posted on November 27, 2010 by J Sensei

真宮寺さくら

In Japanese, the family name is said first. Also, while romanized as Shinguji, a word processor would want “shinguuji.”

Sakura means cherry blossom (though it can also refer to the cherry tree). Shinguji here uses kanji at variance with the usual kanji used for this name; Shinguji is a real Japanese last name, but not in this form. These kanji mean true + shrine + temple. Since the Meiji Restoration, Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples have been set more cleanly apart than in the past.

The meaning of the name is thus, at once, the beauty of a cherry blossom and a repository of true Japanese cultural values.

And so it is.

A Video Game & Anime Heroine

Sakura Shinguji is the heroine at the heart of the Sakura Wars (“Sakura Taisen,” or サクラ大戦) franchise from game publisher and one-time console manufacturer Sega. The game series is not so much named after her as taking the theme of young, beautiful women battling against the forces of darkness.

At first, the series takes place in Tokyo. The era is the 1920’s. Although modified along the lines of so-called steampunk, that is, imaginary steam-based machines (powered, per se, by the spiritual power, or reiryoku (霊力), of the pilots where the members of the Flower Team (hanagumi, 花組) are concerned.

Raised in Sendai, Sakura is the daughter of a master swordsman who fought demons to protect the Empire years ago and paid with his life. A former comrade of his, now a rather old lieutenant general named Yoneda, calls upon her to join the Imperial Flower Assault Force (my translation – J), usually translated simply as Imperial Assault Force. (Japanese: Teikoku Kageki Dan (帝国華撃団), of which the middle kanji can mean “flower” or “petal.”)

This force is based out of Ginza in the Grand Imperial Theater, with the troupe of all-female stars of the stage under a name that is pronounced the same way, but with kanji making it out to be an opera troupe only. Thus, it is a secret organization devoted to defense of the Empire, but with recruits from around the world.

Old Cultural Values In A New World

In the first game, and at the start of the related manga and anime plots, Sakura is an optimistic, 19 year old girl who is getting her first brush with the modern world. Compared to mid-1920’s rural Sendai, Tokyo is a shockingly huge and busy place; even trains, steam-based automobiles (since this is steampunk), and the crush of people, are all overwhelming. To Sakura, this is a world of wonder, something to be embraced rather than feared.

While Sakura has dreams of starring on the big stage herself, she is rather clumsy, both figuratively and literally. This is not because of a lack of physical aptitude, but rather, failures of concentration; it’s such a new world, she’s still lost in it.

Sakura is earnest and sincere, though she has a mischievous sense of humor. She is a strong believer in teamwork and helping people and is, therefore, quite idealistic. However, she has a strong will that manifests itself at times of crisis, standing up for her friends, her country, and her own love and admiration for recently anointed team leader Ensign Ichiro Ogami.

Budding Mistress of the Sword

Aside from her strong taste in kimono (clothing), which is in the wafuku (“Japanese clothing”) style, she inherits the Hokushin Itto Ryu sword style from her father, Kazuma Shinguji. (“Itto” would be for 一刀 or “single blade.” Miyamoto Musashi’s legendary two-sworded style was known as “nito ryu.” I am using normal romanizations here. – J)

Sakura also inherits a great amount of inner spiritual power, combining to make her a devastating opponent. Even having barely set foot in Tokyo, she briefly made the newspapers (without her identity being revealed) by taking down one of the sorcery-powered humanoid machines of the evil force Kuro no Sukai when one entered a park and menaced civilians there. She took this opponent down in the flesh, with only herself and her katana, the named, spirit sword Arataka (“Wild Falcon.”)

Thus, aside from being very easy on the eyes, she has practical combat power worthy of a main heroine in her own video game/ manga/ anime.

Sakura as Cinderella.

Dreams Of The Stage

Sakura is also an immense fan of not only opera and theater in general, but romantic plays such as Cinderella. Indeed, Sakura is often trying to practice the lines in Cinderella to truly perform well as the character.

Aside from teaching cultural values and to be more than a secret military outfit, this is training in discipline, concentration, footwork, and coolness under pressure. Of course, being new on the stage, Sakura sometimes has… let us say, incidents, that create some friction with other members of the troupe/ team at times.

They’re all part of her enduring charm.

A Cultural Icon

While the heyday of the Sakura Wars franchise has passed us by, Sakura Shinguji is an instantly recognizable cultural icon who seems to embody all of the best of old Japanese cultural values in a beautiful, approachable, kind, gentle, and very human vessel. She presents not only a femininity that is innately appealing to the male spirit, but is an outstanding swordswoman (post-Meiji, we cannot call her samurai but this is simply a technicality) whose faith, devotion, and fierce spirit make her a dependable ally and teammate.

You can learn a lot about Japanese cultural values just by looking at her a little. This is why I have helpfully provided several images… for cultural education, of course. Yes, for educational purposes. What else could they be for…

Trivia

  • Loves pretty much anything romantic.
  • Frightened by lightning (traumatic childhood experience).
  • Electricity is fine, though.
  • Panics at the mere sight of a mouse.
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The Impact of Japanese Fashion

Posted on November 26, 2010 by J Sensei

Quick Post This Time.

I just wanted to bring this article to everyone’s attention. It’s from the Japan Times, which is in English here, about the impact of Japan’s fashion input on the wider global fashion industry.

The part that got my attention came last:

The final section of the gallery is dubbed “Cool Japan” and shows work from a new breed of designers who have been influenced by manga, “anime” and the “kawaii” (cute) culture epitomized by the Hello Kitty brand.

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Japanese Culture Blogging: My Future Legacy?

Posted on November 25, 2010 by J Sensei

What Bloggers Leave Behind Them

This post is part of a blog series on Brazen being sponsored by Entrustet. As a member of Brazen Careerist, I was asked to make a post about what I want my legacy to be. Here is my answer.

While it may be somewhat premature for a young blog like this to be involved in a discussion about legacy, this blog, which has undergone a couple of early revisions and refinements in its “vision,” now has a clear focus. That focus is Japanese culture.

The national culture of a relatively tightly knit, economically advanced, culturally robust nation is something with a great deal of facets.

In modern times, there is certainly anime and manga, which were my original routes to Japanese cultural knowledge. There is also modern fashion and school culture. For me, there is also the Japanese language itself, which is, for me, a clearer window into Japanese society. Through knowledge of the language, I am much closer to understanding the culture as Japanese people experience it.

In times past, Japan underwent radical societal and cultural changes, followed by long stretches of slower change, making Japanese history divisible into periods. We have the legacy of the samurai and the warring states period, the era of prolonged civil war; we have the Meiji Restoration, which dragged Japan into the modern era, where it came to thrive beyond the reformers’ wildest imaginations before breaking against the shoals of conflict in World War II. This brought Japan into the form it is known by today.

The chief legacy of this blog is to be a witness to events past and present. Insofar as culture is concerned, modern popular culture combines the old (samurai) with the new (schoolgirls) in entertainment without so much as a conscience. Western culture influences Japan greatly, but Japanese culture influences the West as well. You cannot spit two feet and not hit a Naruto fanboy these days, after all. Then there is Pokemon. In times past, there was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, full of Japanese cultural ideas intertwined with… mutant turtles, New York, and pizzas. Truly a modern combination!

Really, though, the idea behind this blog was to take my past as a translator, my present as a writer and blogger, and my hoped-for future as a more extensive teacher of the Japanese language, and give people a reason to care about Japan. After all, language is merely a bridge, or as I said, a window into another culture.

Culture is a reason to care. It is a source of inspiration that gives us the motivation to look beyond the shallow and embrace a more rewarding and more fulfilling depth that brings us closer to a richer, more vibrant life. You don’t need to be Japanese for this; I certainly am not. I simply bring Japan to me, and embrace some very nice parts of it with my heart.

So, I want the legacy of this blog to be, at once, entertainment and food for the mind, and showing people greater depth and a vibrant array of stimuli to inspire a hunger for deeper knowledge. That knowledge – in snippets, anecdotes, stories, features, and so forth – deepens the enjoyment that readers can derive from Japanese culture.

Thus, when I think in terms of legacy, I don’t think in terms of Google cached blog posts or readership numbers (though those are nice) or even money (which is also nice), but in terms of etching something invisible, but real, in the hearts of the readers. I want my legacy to be carried on, and improved upon, long after I log off.

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