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Certification Achievements
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Be Right Back - Undergoing Fujoshi Therapy
Amazing words, Akagi-senpai. You go, girl!
My brain feels fried and I need some pretty men to get me going again. So I’m taking a break this week.
Some upcoming entries will be about Kuroko no Basket, Pandora Hearts, Blue Exorcist, Kuroshitsuji, and Gintama (Yes, I want to discuss that “Rule 63”/Dokobekko arc going on in the manga).
Now if you excuse me, I’m off to play otome games for further inspiration.
What? I…it’s not like I’m enjoying fujoshi material because I want to, ok!? I just find it a fascinating study for research purposes, ok!? You should be thankful……..
IDIOT ONEE-CHAN!!!! *runs away in tears*
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Can I Haz Legal Mangaz Wit Mah Internetz? - What’s Next After JManga
Originally, this was supposed to be an article about self-awareness and how it could be the key to help saving the manga industry. And then out of the blue, the big digital manga initiative that was considered to be a “savior of manga”, JManga goes kaput. So what now and does Japan even care?
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Hitting the Big Trifecta! Manga Therapy Hits the 3rd Year!
Scary that I can probably pull off the Junpei Hyuga look, but I digress.
This week marks the 3rd year I’ve been blogging. Good god, has it really been that long? I remember starting off as just a nobody trying to share some experiences with a few folks. About 1,000+ Twitter followers, 1,000+ Google+ followers, 700+ Tumblr followers, and 350+ Facebook fans later, here I am.
One thing I have started to realize that my blog is becoming my life. Hell, manga and anime are my life. It’s sad that I sometimes take my blog more seriously than my job, though I’m still trying to do a better job in promoting it. Getting a writing gig at GoBoiano helps, but I want to do more, as AnimeNews.biz’s Humberto Saabedra suggests, to become bigger. If you ask me, blogging is 10%-20% producing content, 80%-90% promoting it.
I actually spoke to Humberto via Twitter about the business of blogging a while back. Our brief conversation made me think about the book that got me into blogging in the first place. I am a personal brand and that I should treat myself as a commodity if I really am serious about cashing in on my passion.
With that said, I am thinking of setting up a little online shop that sells merchandise with my logo and some quirky taglines related to various anime/manga tropes. Don’t worry, there will be no copyright infringement and no brand name series/character/studios/publishers will be harmed during the making of the products. I also have some thoughts about setting up affiliate programs on the blog, but I want to make sure they don’t look too intrusive. Though both ideas are ten times better than advertisements, right?
I will go with the shop idea at the moment once I get some designs up and running. I have some interesting ideas flowing in my head, so you guys will see what I have in mind soon.
This will be fun balancing what I have planned for the blog with all my other responsibilities. I don’t know if I can quit blogging. Maybe it really is therapy for me and not just to my readers. It is the first creative thing that I can proudly say, “Yeah, that’s all me.” and I want it to be a big foundation in my life. More importantly, I want more folks to see the powerful positive effects and lessons that Japanese pop culture media provides.
As much as manga is still struggling in the U.S., I still see a future trend where big manga series could come from non-Asian talent. When I was at NYCC 2012 for CBLDF’s “Defending Manga” Panel, Charles Brownstein, Executive Director, said that manga fandom will continue to grow worldwide over time. Though we have to see what people like Danny Choo can do to impress the rest of the world about Japanese pop culture.
Speaking of Choo, he gave some advice and inspiring words when I saw him during his NYCC 2012 panel that still resonate with me today.
“Discover and live your passion and the rest will follow.”
Let’s make the 3rd year full of wonderful and enlightening passion together, shall we?
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Being a Chinese Otaku Ain't Easy →
If you’re a Chinese otaku that has relatives who have suffered at the hands of the Japanese in the past, you’re not the only one. This is my experience dealing with family members who have told me stories about how bad Japan was back in the early 20th century.
You can also apply this to Koreans as well.
At least we have the common sense to realize that not every Japanese person is bad, right?
Though you have to remember that everyone has skeletons in their closet.
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An Anti-Social Gathering - Interview with Organization ASG
Yay! I am getting more Internetz-famous!
Just wanted to give a heads up that I was recently interviewed by Justin S, the editor of a blog filled with abundant anime/manga content (which is ranked highly on Technorati too), Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.
Here’s a brief teaser to give you an idea of what I was grilled on during the therapeutic session:
“Justin: So talk about yourself a little bit and how Manga Therapy was conceived.
Tony Yao: Manga Therapy mostly started out of a desire to talk about how manga can be used to motivate people mentally. Back in late 2009, I was given a book called “Crush It!” by famous social media entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk, on my birthday. I didn’t read it right away, but when I did, I decided to start Manga Therapy since the book convinced me that the Internet & blogging will definitely get you to where you want to be.”
It’s been a long while since I was interviewed, but this interview was pretty fun and you get to understand the process I go through to provide dosages of manga psychology medication to you, my darling readers. :)
You can read the interview below at:.
Thursday Lab Report #27: Interview With Tony Yao From Manga Therapy
Also, follow Justin on Twitter. He loves Gintama.
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Let’s Play Anime/Manga Trope Bingo!
Here’s a game that’s fun for all fans of Japanese pop culture! These happen in a lot in manga too. Which of these is your favorite/non-favorite trope? Usually there is some interesting history behind these tropes. They happen for a variety of reasons.
Kudos to the Otaku Journalist for this lovely piece of work.
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Calling All Readers - What Makes a Conscious “Manga Diet”?
With all the manga titles available out in Japan and the world, one wonders how much manga do we consume that’s not really “outstanding”. While titles like Naruto, BLEACH, and One Piece rule the world, readers can get bored with them from time to time. It’s either that or all they know are the mainstream manga titles. Over-consumption of certain manga titles/genres can be pretty dangerous to a reader’s mind as it can create strong biases.
A book called “The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption” discussed an “information obesity” epidemic that’s happening with people in America. There’s too much information out there and people let themselves consume a lot without ill regard. Not many people are able to filter out the distractions the age of the Internet provides.
So, I want to ask you readers what makes a good “manga diet” in your minds. Send me some of your lists/suggestions/ideas and I will post them up here for everyone to see! What manga titles should make the “fruits and vegetables” portion that people need to consume more of? What titles should be our “sugary” guilty pleasures? How much of the “meaty” shonen battle manga can one be allowed to read? Are there “whole grain” titles that naturally get you pumping?
Feel free to send your suggestions to tonyyao82 (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject title, “MANGA DIET”. You can also comment below!
Looking forward to see a variety of diet plans filled with thoughtful stories, great characterization, and riveting protagonist/antagonist conflicts!
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The New York Comic-Con 2012 Retrospect!
Forsooth, as I have returned from the crazy masses of pop culture fans that attended New York Comic-Con this past October 11-14. I can definitely say that it was a blast to be at as I have gotten to see almost all the Japanese guests that attended the event. The spirit of Tokyo was definitely thriving (albeit a small one) in NYCC.
The only problem I have is that the Jacob Javits Center (the building it’s hosted in) is still not the greatest convention center for a pop culture convention. When you have an organization like JManga complaining about the building, you know there are problems. As NYCC continues to grow and become even more like San-Diego Comic-Con, will there be any extra room for more than 116,000+ folks? Compared to San Diego, you have to travel a bit far to get to the good restaurants/bars around NYC and the Jacob Javits Center is much smaller than the San Diego Convention Center. However, NYCC seems to have more anime/manga-related content than SDCC.
Another thing I realized after attending NYCC was how much I missed New York Anime Festival. While the likes of Danny Choo, Yu Asakawa, Yoshitaka Amano, Moyoco Anno, Masakazu Ishiguro, and Masakazu Katsura are very notable guests, how can NYCC top Danny Choo? Though we should leave it in the hands of folks like Japan Foundation to bring notable Japanese talent overseas. New York definitely deserves another anime convention as there are notable differences that make Japanese pop culture stand out compared to American pop culture.
In any case, Japanese pop culture was still alive in the East Coast’s premier pop culture event thanks to the efforts of the Japan Foundation, Vertical Inc., SUNRISE, Viki, Dark Horse Comics, and JManga. すべてのありがとうございました！
Enjoy the photos below!
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The Lovely Yu Asakawa at New York Comic-Con 2012
Hey, I snagged myself a famous bimajo. Bimajos are pretty hot these days, right?
It’s interesting to see Japan finally find older women attractive when the rest of the world saw the light a long while ago. Yu Asakawa looks AMAZING for her age.
Getting past the looks, I think we need more people like Yu Asakawa to help build strong anime/manga communities outside of Japan. She is very passionate about otaku culture. Her continued desire to speak English says a lot about her commitment to the fans.
You can follow Yu Asakawa on Twitter at @Julia320.
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Japan/NYC Love! The Journey to New York Comic-Con 2012 Begins!
It’s that crazy time of the year once again as the East Coast’s biggest pop culture convention, New York Comic-Con, returns to entertain various fandoms over the span of 4 days (October 11-14, 2012).
Earlier this year, NYCC announced that it would shut down New York Anime Festival and incorporate it into NYCC. Despite there being a shortage of anime-related content (especially fan panels), it hasn’t stopped NYCC from bringing over some very notable guests from Japan. Here are the big Japanese names that will be coming to New York.
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