Christopher Kincaid's Blog, page 10

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Revisiting Omamori Himari

Omamori Himari was my first exposure to ecchi harem anime. It’s been over a decade since I last watched it, so I thought I’d give it a revisit. I’ve enjoyed some harem comedy in the past (the few that are fairly well-thought out), so I can, sometimes, appreciate the appeal the genre has. Even a mediocre story like Omamori Himari offers some insights to an important theme.

Japanese storytelling has a woman-as-savior theme. If I’m wrong about this, please tell me in the comments. From what I’ve o...

Revisiting Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions

 

Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions explores the psychology of avoidance, coping with change, and seeing magic in everyday things. And it is a love story. The story centers around Rikka and Yuta, a pair of high school students (because life ends after high school, or because most people never leave high school). Rikka has chunibyo, a delusion that fills her perception of the world with magic and battles. Headlights on a river become the magic of the “invisible boundary.” An umbrella becomes a...

JP Heads to YouTube…Kinda

Actually, JP isn’t going to be on YouTube, but my new channel, which starts today, is called “Tales from Old Japan”. The idea is to release video-book readings of Japanese folktales along with video essays about Japanese history, the lessons and importance of folklore, and other stories about and from old Japan. Expect to eventually see many of JP’s articles converted into an essay-video format of some sort. Think old school “Histories Mysteries” (the version with Leonard Nimoy, Spock). While no...

Lessons to Take from Akira Toriyama’s Death

Akira Toriyama died from acute subdural hematoma. He was 68 years old. Toriyama’s started in manga by entering a Weekly Shonen Jump contest, which he lost. But his entry attracted the attention of Kazuhiko Torishima, who would later become his editor. Toriyama broke into manga when he was 23 with his first work Wonder Island, released in 1978. Dr. Slump marked the beginning of his popularity. Toriyama is best known for Dragon Ball, which drew inspiration from the Chinese novel Journey to the We...

The Peony Lantern

 

In Yedo there dwelt a samurai called Hagiwara. He was a samurai of the hatamoto, which is of all the ranks of samurai the most honourable. He possessed a noble figure and a very beautiful face, and was beloved of many a lady of Yedo, both openly and in secret. For himself, being yet very young, his thoughts turned to pleasure rather than to love, and morning, noon and night he was wont to disport himself with the gay youth of the city. He was the prince and leader of joyous revels within door...

Revisiting Bleach

When I revisited Bleach, I decided to give it what I call the “kai” treatment. Named after Dragon Ball Z Kai, the kai treatment is how I approach long anime that are notorious for filler and story interruptions. I watched Naruto Shippuden using the same approach. The kai treatment involves skipping any episode, or even season, that interrupts the main storyline. It doesn’t matter if the sidestory is canon–that is, found in the manga–or not. I detest anything that interrupts or postpones a main ...

West Virginia, Librarians, and Obscenity

A bill passed from West Virginia’s House of Delegates and to the state’s Senate. The bill removes protections from public libraries, schools, and museums, holding librarians and curators possibly liable for displaying or distributing ‘obscene matter to a minor’ when the child isn’t accompanied by a parent or guardian. Which, I must add, is the majority of the time. Public libraries are often a free babysitting service. Under the legislation, if it passes, librarians can be convicted of a felony...

Revisiting Spice and Wolf

Spice and Wolf first released as an anime in 2008. The series has a soft spot in my heart; I watched it when I was going through a heartbreak and when I was still new to anime. I’m slowly working through the light novels. They aren’t available in my library system, so I’ve been buying the novels in recent years. Spice and Wolf remains one of the most grounded stories I’ve seen in anime, centering around economic and business deals for its conflict and plot. Lawrence and Holo remain one of the b...

Revisiting Neon Genesis Evangelion

As I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion again, I wondered what more I could say about it. After all, it is perhaps the most analyzed anime. I’ve written about Eva and examined Shinji. The influence of the anime can’t be denied. Anime could be considered BE (Before Eva) and AE (After Eva), especially inside the mecha genre. The story is constantly referenced and popularized many of the tropes we now have: the broken hero who doesn’t really rise to the label of hero; the doll-like character who repr...