Wednesday, July 7 2004
Of Bootlegs and Business
Getting anime through what one might euphemistically call 'alternative channels of distribution' has become a standard part of the experience for many an anime fan.
Wednesday, May 5 2004
Maison Ikkoku and Displaced Nostalgia
The Japanese TV program Maison Ikkoku generates an elegiac feeling of home. Watching the show creates an odd disjuncture for Ruh -- leaving him feeling nostalgic for something he has never known.
Wednesday, January 14 2004
America’s Japanese Cinema: Appropriating Japan’s Cachet of Cultural Cool
Japanese popular culture now exerts a significant economic (and, by extension, political) force on the world markets.
Wednesday, October 22 2003
Killing in Translation
When we're in Japan, we feel we've somehow become more worldly and debonair than we really are.
Thursday, September 4 2003
A Missive From the Front Lines of Fandom
Fans are forming their own entertainment subcultures, creating their own distinct meanings, and, to steal a phrase from the IWW, creating a 'new society within the shell of the old.'
Thursday, June 26 2003
The Animatrix and Anime’s Burgeoning Influence
While the slogan of anime distributor Central Park Media of 'World peace through shared popular culture' is probably overly optimistic, collaborations on films such as 'The Animatrix' are indicative of a maturation of both animation itself and the general public's perceptions of such a medium.
Wednesday, April 23 2003
Akihabara Dreams and the New Otaku
(Akihabara) . . . is a place where a wide range of one's emotional needs can be handled through technology and media.
Wednesday, February 26 2003
Lessons of the Giant Robot
As commander of an ever-militarizing state with energy-grabbing schemes, George W. Bush seems like our own real-life version of Megatron.
Tuesday, December 17 2002
Toward a New Type of Culture
. . . in their quest for knowledge of and acquisition of the products of the Japanese animation industry, they have surpassed the daily concerns and cares of ordinary human beings.
Wednesday, October 30 2002
Takin’ Comics to the Streets: Glimpses of the Medium’s American Future
. . . Manga is a perfect example of what the comic medium can become: it is as omnipresent as television in its home country and has been likened to air itself, in that it permeates every facet of contemporary cultural life.
