A theme I’m irresistibly drawn to is the contrast between the tedium of everyday life and the richness of the imagination. The Japanese term for “everday life” is nichijou, and it crops up fairly often in anime and manga taking place in the limitless suburbs surrounding big cities like Tokyo. A perfect vehicle of this theme is Studio Ghibli’s Mimi wo Sumaseba (lit. “If You Listen Closely”), and of their films it is, in spite of the greatness of Totoro, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, my favorite. More »

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This isn’t the place to discuss being a foreigner in Japan: a quick search will turn up a million blogs (possibly even my own) started up by foreign exchange students, drifters and playboys who discovered to their amazement that (gasp!) the experience is pretty strange. I’m more interested in how Japanese view foreigners, and–supporting my thesis that it is a great way to learn about Japan–anime provides some striking examples. More »

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Here it is. When the cultural bomb of Ninja Scroll (Yoshiaki Kawajiri, 1993) hit American shores, the Japanese entertainment industry could assure itself of two things:

1) Its national role as tastemaker to the West was assured for one hundred years. 2) Its image as a sedate and refined nation was ruined for one hundred years. More »

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Women aren’t the first thing you think of when someone says ninja. More often than not, your mind jumps to men with dirty glares in black outfits. What you may or may not know, is that women played an integral role in ninja clans of the past. More »

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So we’ve been calling each other baka and kawaii since june of nineteen eighty-five. Perhaps it’s time to take things to the next level, if only to decipher incomprehensible messageboard arguments on 4-chan.* Here are eight more esoteric Japanese terms commonly encountered in anime and the discussion thereof; and as someone who considers anime the most legitimate of art forms, I think it’s time some of them entered our broader cultural discourse. After all our artists, it seems, have known about tsundere for years. More »

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From Ningin: Lately, we’ve been reflecting a lot on the things in life that are most dear to us. Things in life we are most thankful for and things we genuinely appreciate. Given that it’s Thanksgiving week and it is still indeed, Ninja Month, we’ve all come to the conclusion that all of us at Ningin, Rekuru and Wirebot are thankful for the same thing: Ninjas. Believe it or not, ninjas happen to be our driving force in life. Key figures we look up to, even! We’re also very thankful for you. To express our gratitude, I present to you the Ninja Thanksgiving Special. More »

From Wirebot:

It’s a fact: most video game to movie adaptations suck. Luckily, there’s anime.

Dealing with drawings and animations gives creators the freedom to make the characters look exactly like they’re supposed to, unlike when actors are involved (I’m thinking the new Dragonball Z movie, in which all the characters are white. It’s just… wrong). Some games have been adapted into animes that are just as good, and which can stand alone as fantastic shows. The following 5 are my own personal favorites. More »

Liberal or Torry? Catholic or Proddy? Pro-Skub or Anti-Skub? But more importantly: Anime dub or anime sub?

I long took for granted that the issue was resolved in favor of subs; but there apparently are those, after all, who prefer dubs–and at that, quite vehemently. To me dubs are the most preposterous idea; the only place I’ve seen them outside of anime is on the Criterion edition of Kurosawa’s Rashomon(!?). But I can understand that subtitles take some getting used to. It must be confessed that there a few good dubs out there–and more than a few very, very bad ones. Thus, without further ado (because everyone loves lists)(and because we like to accentuate the positive), the top five best anime dubs of all time: More »

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From Girlybubble: We’ve all envisioned Lady Gaga as an anime character thanks to the Markus Klinko and Indrani photoshoot, but how would she fair as a chibi anime character? The word “chibi” in Japanese typically means a cute “small child” or “short person.” Brazilian artist Joapa transformed our anime eyes-lovin’ Lady Gaga into chibi Anime drawings. Looking at these drawings makes me wish there was an actual anime series featuring Lady Gaga. More »

Kanon (Key Studios, 2006)

“For love is as strong as death, Its jealousy as unyielding as the grave.”

–Song of Solomon 8:6

In making the transition from “self-professed anime expert” to “self-professed J-Pop expert,” I will probably find myself unable, from time to time, to refrain from making my own recommendations. This is one such instance.

I can mince no words in saying that the 2006 adaptation of Kanon (originally a pioneer “girl game”) is one of the most beautiful works of art I’ve seen. Kanon is probably best known in the West as a favorite of Fred Gallagher, and accordingly the original sad girl in the snow; but when the ‘06 series was released in the States, it suffered from a poor dub and a lack of promotion resulting from the unfortunate breakup of ADV Films. But those who have seen it know the uncanny emotional power of this series. More »

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