Christopher Kincaid's Blog, page 13

Hagakure: the Art of the Samurai

The Hagakure appears obsessed with seppuku when you read through it. In the book, Yamamoto Tsunetomo collected myriad accounts of samurai from Saga domain along with various proverbs and lessons. Tsunetomo lived during the long peace of the Edo period as a custodian of Lord Mitsushige’s books. He worked from theory, which is why seppuku acted as a representation for the values of nonattachment the Hagakure examines. Tsunetomo grew up under a father that admonished him to “become an intrepid sam...

Berserk Deluxe Edition 1 Review

Long-time readers know I’m not usually much of a manga reader. I prefer to read prose. But I’ve been needing to expand my reading, so I jumped into the first deluxe edition of Berserk.

Berserk fans won’t be happy with me. I can summarize my reading of first volume in a word: meh.

It’s not a bad story for what it is, but I grew up on high-fantasy novels, so the beginning of the story feels pretty standard. Guts is a fairly standard unlikeable character: tormented by his inner demons, violently l...

How to Understand Research Papers

Research papers follow a regular structure that helps you find what matters for your project. Most papers have the following sections:

Abstract – the summary of the study and its findings.Literature – a sketch of background information and where the study’s hypothesis fits in this literature.Methodology – a breakdown of how the study was conducted.Results – a technical breakdown of the study’s data.Discussion – what the data means.Conclusion – draws meaning and discusses weaknesses in the...

“My Japan,” A World War II Anti-Japanese Propaganda Film

My Japan takes an interesting tact with how it tried to spur Americans to buy war bonds. The film claims to be a captured Japanese propaganda film aimed at demoralizing Americans. The film was, in fact, produced by the War Finance Division of the United States Office of War Information in 1945. The film uses a combination of travelogue footage which came from before the war mixed with actual war footage, including executions, beheaded soldiers, wounded American soldiers, and footage from Pearl ...

I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too

The title of the story says it all. Isekai stories have long focused on power fantasies, of one-upping everyone who had ever slighted you. The story encourages catharsis and vicariousness with a hero who is a “nice guy”. Despite his niceness, he’s a geek, fat, ugly, or otherwise socially inept, especially with women. Of course, his geekiness and understanding of role-playing games becomes a strength. I Got a Cheat Skill​ takes all of these tropes and pushes them to their extreme conclusion. The...

Yes, Public Libraries Censor Manga…Sometimes

I live in a rather conservative region–the type of region that professes to follow Christian values while many people have a brood of kids, all with different last names, and where people have no qualms about shooting someone for theft. You know, possessions are more important that a life after all. To be fair, there are just as many people who actually live according to the morality Jesus taught…aside from disliking [illegal] immigrants. That’s one sticking point that seems to be nearly univer...

Why Do Anime Characters Always Get Colds [and Collapse from Them]?

You know the scene. It starts with a sneeze or a chill, usually after being caught in the rain. Next, the character collapses into unconsciousness. Sometimes this happens in the classroom; other times it happens during some emotional event, such as a kokuhaku. The character’s friends and love interest rush to their side. They call ambulances or rush the character to the school infirmary. What could it be? A heart problem? Some other fatal illness?

How about a cold?

The cold-flu-fever episode ap...

Kokuhaku, How to Confess Your Love the Japanese Way

Kokuhaku, or love confession, isn’t easy to research. People take contemporary cultural practices for granted; such practices aren’t studied until they fall out of practice. If you do a web search for kokuhaku, you will find many articles, but I aim for academic or newspaper sources. These are scarce.

In any case, like so many things in Japanese culture, romantic love has some rules and practices designed to retain harmony and reduce external conflict. Throughout anime, you see characters fret ...

Be Curious Beyond Anime

You need hobbies beyond anime. It sounds obvious. However, I’ve encountered many people who are consumed by their interest whether it is anime or, more common to my area, sports. These people have few interests outside their field and those few interests link back to that field.

Growing up, I idolized Leonardo da Vinci and his notebooks. He covered everything from anatomy to flight to water flow to poetry on a single page. Even now I strive to keep my interests wide and my own notebooks eclecti...

Praise For A Quiet, Average Life

In anime, you sometimes see a protagonist who wants nothing more than a quiet, average life only to be plunged into some sort of drama or misadventure. Usually, the character learns they enjoy a more-than-average life.

American society also frowns on a quiet, average life. Media teems with stories of people traveling, doing extreme sports, driving fast cars, doing this and that. Education and culture pushes us to be ambitious, to hunger to be rich and successful. To “live the dream.” You aren’t...