Tag Archives: culture

Anime Review: Iron Man

Better Than I Expected Before diving into the spoiler space, here’s a general impression. Themes: Sacrifice, Bonds (See spoiler space.) Visuals: 8/10 (More than adequate, but not top) Characters: 9/10 (Better than expected, -1 for annoying reporter) Sounds/ Music: 7/10 … Continue reading

Posted in Anime, Art, Culture, Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japanese Films: Seven Samurai

Shichinin no Samurai (Japanese: 七人の侍) Seven Samurai is known to students of movie-making for its introduction or popularization of a variety if filming techniques, particularly for the use of visual imagery to represent one aspect of the story without resorting … Continue reading

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

Why We Watch Anime, Part 4: Culture

Culture Means Civilization I know I’m going to get into some controversial territory here, but it is for a good cause. This is, after all, called The Japanese Culture Blog. It is about appreciation of culture, and Japan has it. … Continue reading

Posted in Anime, Art, Culture, Japan | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why We Watch Anime, Part 3: Visual Art

Creativity + Visual Art While other nations have no lack of artists, it is Japan’s mix of creativity and visual art involved in the cel (celluloid) animation used for anime. While hard economic times and an improvement in technology have created … Continue reading

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

Japanese Gaming: Super Robot Wars

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 … Continue reading

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

Why We Watch Anime, Part 2: Music

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 … Continue reading

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

J-Comi: Can It Overcome Growing Pains?

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 … Continue reading

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

Free Ebook: The Allure of Japanese Swords

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. … Continue reading

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

Gundam Unicorn, Episodes 1 and 2

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 … Continue reading

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

Japanese Culture: Sakura Shinguji

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 … Continue reading

Posted in Anime, Culture, Japan, Manga, video games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment