January 2011
12 posts
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“TV: The Ooedo Healthy youth ordnance revision bill has been approved….
...”
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- From Gintama Chapter 337. Out of all the Shonen Jump titles, Gintama is probably the one title hugely targeted by the law. But, it’s still pretty much better than most manga out there.
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Robot Relations (Karakuri Odette)
This week, I decided that I’m going to join the Manga Movable Feast by doing an entry on this month’s MMF book, Karakuri Odette, by Julietta Suzuki. It is an interesting series that takes a look at how androids & humans interact with one another. Karakuri Odette represents a world that could be our reality someday. Going forward, will we be able to treat androids (& robots in...
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How Wizard Magazine Influenced My Life
Just an amazing (though not surprising) shocker today regarding the most prominent magazine that focuses on comic books, Wizard Magazine. After 20 years of publication, the print edition will cease its run. Starting next month, there will be an online publication called Wizard World to meet the demands of users who prefer reading Internet sites over a magazine.
I remember reading Wizard around...
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Hot Alien Action, Pretty Actors, & Wacky Dubs...
I managed to catch the live-action movie version of GANTZ (starring Kazunari Ninomiya & Kenichi Matsuyama) last night at AMC Empire 25 Times Square. As a huge GANTZ fan, I was looking forward to see how this movie was going to turn out. After watching the film, I have to say is that it’s a good movie, but there was more potential for it to be amazing.
GANTZ, as I discussed in an...
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Science Fiction & Deathmatch Obsession (GANTZ)
“Your lives are over. What you do with your new lives is up to me!”
If there is one series that really defines the essence of seinen manga, it’s none other than GANTZ. Hiroya Oku’s science-fiction tale is an ultraviolent & grotesque one that doesn’t seem to stop at pushing the boundaries of craziness in mainstream manga. Despite all of the graphic violence...
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Pokemon Goes Mature
Wow, looks like Pikachu will be dealing with horny teenagers. A new Pokemon manga will be published on Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday and it will be targeted towards older readers. The series is expected to start serialization this March.
I’m wondering how this will turn out, although as Anime Almanac points out, he would like to see a seinen version of Pokemon. I would heavily...
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The "Keep Anime Alive" Project
Wow, this is big news. Just recently, two anime fans, Colin Harvie & Chris Perry, recently started a initiative called “Keep Anime Alive” to help get fans to purchase anime in favor of illegally downloading them. Their website has a wide variety of information on the effects of piracy, how to identify bootleg anime, & how fans can join the movement and do their part.
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The Energy & Hyperactivity of Youth (Yotsuba&!)
“She can find happiness in anything, nothing in this world can get her down.” - Mr. Koiwai talking about his daughter, Yotsuba (Yotsuba&! Volume 1)
I recently caught up with a manga series that I have heard about from 4chan (with its depiction of the main character as a mascot) and it is probably one of the more simple, yet very well-executed, manga out there. Kiyohiko...
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Eastern-Style Parenting: Is It Really Superior?
Earlier today, I read an interesting (and very controversial) article on Wall Street Journal Online entitled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”. The author of the article, Amy Chua, is a Chinese-American parent (and professor at Yale University) who raised her two daughters in a very strict & rigid manner. She even put up guidelines, which they were forced to uphold. One of the...
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What The Tokyo Youth Ordinance Bill Teaches Us...
(Japan’s “Angel of Death” or “Jesus Christ Superstar”?)
Time to start off the New Year with a look at a big law that was passed last month in Tokyo, Japan and the circumstances behind it. I’m talking about none other than the Tokyo Youth Ordinance Bill, also known as Bill 156. It is a law that will basically prohibit displays of “excessive sexual...
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Thoughts on Patton Oswalt & Japan's Declining...
Patton Oswalt Says Geek Culture Must “Die”
Some of you guys may have heard about and/or read this article by comedian Patton Oswalt. He talks about how Western geek culture has become so mainstream to the point that it doesn’t have as much meaning as it did back then. Personally, I am happy that geek culture has been relevant over the last 10 years. Although there are some...