Christopher Kincaid's Blog, page 56
July 30, 2017
Jiraiya and the Magic Frog: The Story Behind Naruto’s Characters
“Jiraiya and the Magic Frog” provides the inspiration for three of Naruto’s characters: Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru. In this story, Jiraiya doesn’t become a sage until the end, but he summons giant frogs and matches the rough character from Naruto. As in Naruto, the Jiraiyo of folklore chases Tsunade. Both struggle against Orochimaru. Many of […]
July 29, 2017
Tanuki Book Available for Free
From Sunday, July 30th – Thursday, Aug 3rd, I’m giving away free Kindle copies of “Tanuki: The Folklore of Japan’s Trickster.” Head over to Amazon, download it, and let me know what you think by leaving a review.
July 23, 2017
What Naruto Gets Wrong: The Real Shinobi
For many anime fans, Naruto introduced the world of the shinobi, or the more familiar word ninja. Sadly, Naruto plays fast and loose with the history of the shinobi. It gets some things right, but it gets far more wrong. This isn’t to beat up on the series. It’s fiction, and fiction makes reality its […]
July 16, 2017
Tsuki ga Kirei – As the Moon, so Beautiful
As the moon, so beautiful follows the romantic relationship between Kotaro Azumi and Akane Mizuno, two junior high classmates. You won’t see world shattering events, or much in the way of melodrama. The plot centers squarely on everyday life, teenage conflicts with parents, stress of school and extracurriculars, and two young souls trying to find […]
July 9, 2017
2 Steps for Better Anime Blogging
You, the anime community, are great. I’ve seen a lot of positive things in my time with you, and its time we extend some of these positive aspects to other parts of the Internet. Lately, the Internet suffers from vitriol and low-leveling writing: crudeness, profanity, and bad writing. Yet, most of the anime blogging community […]
July 2, 2017
Influenced By… Judaism and Christianity
Saviours, Angels, Robots, Nuns and Vampires! After my look at the ties of Dao, Onmyōji and Twin Star Exorcists, in this installment of my ‘influenced by’-series I’ll engage with an exotic topic – for Japan, that is. Let’s have a look at Christianity in Japan and its appearances in Anime! Saint Young Men A special […]
June 25, 2017
Anime’s One-Piece Swimsuit Fetish and the History of Japanese Swimsuits
Form-fitting, sleek one-piece swimsuits dominate high-school anime’s depictions of girls. Fans demand, in fact, require their anime to feature their favorite female characters in these iconic one-pieces. More than a few fetishes in the fandom focus on this blue spandex swimsuit. The swimsuit features in high-school anime because it is a part of Japanese school […]
June 18, 2017
The Shinigami Behind You: Considering the Messages We Consume
A shinigami waits behind you, counting your limited heartbeats. It’s not a comfortable thought, but one we must all face. We will die. This realization should govern our every action. Many times while watching a terrible anime, the thought strikes me, and I turn off the drivel. Each of us have a set number of […]
June 11, 2017
Ama: Japan’s Sea Diving Women
Ama come from a tradition that dates back over 2,000 years, and the tradition is dying. Today, about 2,000 ama dive off the coast of Japan, and fewer dive each year. Most ama are well into their 60s and 70s (LeBlanc, 2015; McCurry, 2016). Before we continue, I have to leave you with a disclaimer. […]
June 4, 2017
Dragon Ball Super: Dubious and Lacking Heart
Dragonball Z is perhaps the most iconic Shonen anime. So, when Toei Animation announced a new Dragonball series helmed by the legendary Akira Toriyama, fans were no doubt excited. I’m a little late to the part myself where Dragonball Z is concerned. As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t grow up with DBZ and didn’t really […]
