What happens when you take American heavy metal and infuse it with the kawaii saccharine of j-pop? Kawaii metal. At least, that is what the metal group Babymetal wants to create. Babymetal is a j-pop idol schoolgirl trio set against the demonic riffs and imaginary that defines metal. The outlandish whiplash mix reminds me of…
Category: Culture
Musings On Nameless Old Women in Edo-Period Popular Literature
About a year ago, I was looking at Edo-period book illustrations and reading name cartuoches – until I stumbled upon two which did not actually contain a name! I was working behind the scenes of an exhibition at my former university (Goethe-University Frankfurt Main, Germany[1]), which owns a small but very well-preserved collection of mid-…
Shockwaves of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Rise of Manga and Monsters
August 6, 1945 marked a turning point in human history. August 9, 1945 left no doubt. Humanity had entered the Atomic Age. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagaska burned itself into the memories of the Japanese and the Americans. In many regards, the rise of the atomic bomb, and later the hydrogen bomb, gave…
Japan on a Pedestal: Thoughts on the American Idealization of Japan
Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun. American has long had a complicated relationship with Japan. America forced Japan to open her ports to the wider world for the first time after nearly 500 years of isolation, resulting in Japan’s astonishing transition from an agrarian feudal society to an industrial powerhouse. This planted the seeds…
The Meat Head: Looking at Shonen Heroes
I have a bit of a bias toward shonen. I often write about shonen anime and themes. Frankly, it is because most shojo stories do not appeal to me. Another reason is because most imports we see here in the States are of the male variety. So that being said, it is time for another…
Andrew’s Guide to Blogging–Good Writing is the Key to Good Blogging
In the first two installments of this series, we talked about how to choose a premise for your blog, and in the second I gave a brief primer on different blogging platforms. Assuming then that you’ve chosen a topic and have a platform to write on, you’re probably eager to start clacking away, churning out…