Tag Archives: culture

Why Newtype Awakening Won’t Save Mankind

A Naive Idea, Often Repeated An idea advanced by Japanese writers, directors, and thinkers in general, goes something like this: if we only understood what was in each others’ hearts, war would cease and we would become a better, more … Continue reading

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Early Anime Impression: Gosick (Pronounced “Gothic”)

ゴシック (“Gothic”) Gosick is animated by Bones, which I have lauded in the past; I liked Heroman, but at any rate they tend to do far out and artsy stuff which I respect. Pronounced “gothic” (and you see this clearly in … Continue reading

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The Fractale Scandal And Its Implications

A Sad, Infuriating Spectacle My experiences with the new anime Fractale began innocently enough with this article in the Asahi Shimbun (official romanization; ‘shinbun’ in text but ‘shimbun’ as spoken in Tokyo dialect). Long story short, director Yutaka Yamamoto sees … Continue reading

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The Sohei

Warrior Monks Although the word sohei is usually translated as warrior monks, the hei part fits “soldier” much better. These are monk-soldiers, but as English has no such term, warrior monks will generally do. The image above is a procession … Continue reading

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A Japanese Spin On Thor

An Imagining of a Western Icon This is an artist’s impression of Thor used as a representation of the mythological figure in the Playstation 2 game, Persona 3. As opposed to other games in the “Shin Megami Tensei” franchise, also … Continue reading

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No Spoiler Anime Review, Ore no Imouto

Highly Recommended. Ore No Imouto Ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai OK, the basics: this is not Yosuga no Sora. This is not porn. The relationship at the heart of the show usually translated as “My Little Sister Isn’t … Continue reading

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Gundam 00 Movie Review, Spoilers Under Tags

Gundam 00 Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer Spoilers Under Tags Below Non-spoiler review HERE. Now, the point of this review is not to spoil the plot. It is to write in detail about various things of interest to the Gundam … Continue reading

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Gundam 00 Movie, Non-Spoiler Review

No Spoilers Here Spoilers, under appropriate tags, will be included in a separate post. This post is spoiler-free so that I can link back to it for people who don’t want to know any of the plot.

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Traditional Dishes of Japan

Edible Culture You may have noticed from the last couple of posts, but I am not feeling well so I am not doing intensive writing. Rather, I’m trying to point people to other good content on the Web. Why is … Continue reading

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Japanese Cultural Principles: Gaman

Gaman (我慢、がまん) I saw this word being used as a cultural principle over at the Japan Times in an article about a modern production of the Tale of the Forty-Seven Ronin (known natively as the Chuushingura – “chuushin” (中心) means … Continue reading

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