On its surface, Silver Spoon appears to be another one of those the-countryside-is-idyllic-compared-to-the-city anime. However, the anime has a clear view of the challenges of rural life, including perpetual farming debt and even the brutality of farm life. It also has a heart to it, focusing on several moral lessons: appreciation for life–including livestock that die so…
Author: Chris Kincaid
An Afternoon at Dr. Makoto Nakamura’s Zen Garden
Recently, I heard about a genuine Zen garden hidden away in Ohio. So of course I had to take a look. The garden was originally designed and built in 1963 by Dr. Makoto Nakamura of Kyoto University as a cultural exchange program. It has all the traditional Zen elements: a raked gravel garden with islands…
Yellow Fever – The Sexual Preference for Asian Women
Yellow fever isn’t particular to otaku culture, but many men in the culture have it. Yellow fever is the strong sexual preference some men have for East Asian women–Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. These men feel more attraction toward Asians than other groups of women, often to the point where a man can struggle to…
Reminances of a Bibliophile
Before I got into anime, before I got into studying Japanese culture, I was a book lover. I grew up ravenous, reading every book in my school library’s science and fantasy sections. Few experiences in life match the musty, ancient scent of a book old enough to be a great-great grandparent. The touch of paper–how…
Midnight Diner: Tokyo
One night as I scrolled through Netflix, I stumbled across Midnight Diner: Tokyo, a half hour show that focuses on, well, a midnight diner. The tiny eatery sits in one of the many narrow alleyways of Tokyo, well off the neon main streets. As you may suspect, some interesting characters appear in the late, late…
Manga Faces: Understanding and Reading Manga Visual Language
Anime and manga uses its own visual language to show a character’s inner thoughts and feelings. The visual language isn’t always easy to understand for those new to the medium. Some expressions, such as happiness, are easy enough, but how do you show a character has an upset stomach from anxiety? What about dismay? Anime…