Pay attention, even to trifles. –Miyamoto Musashi You remember what you give your attention to. After all, you can’t remember what you didn’t observe or experience! This seems like common sense, but consider the implications against a world where we cannot give our attention to anything for any length of time. Gloria Mark researches attention….
Category: Otaku Culture
Anime, the Love of Learning, and the Love of Spectacle
In Confessions, Saint Augustine contrasts the love of learning with the love of spectacle. His friend Alypius disliked the gladiatorial games of Rome. One day Alypius’s friends convinced and bullied him to join them for a round of games. The excitement of the bloodsport captured him. As Augustine wrote: “Without any awareness of what was…
TokyoTreat’s Santa Snackfest
TokyoTreat sent me their December snackbox to review. If you aren’t familiar with TokyoTreat, the company offers a monthly subscription that sends you a themed box of Japanese goodies. For those who aren’t familiar with Japanese snacks, TokyoTreat includes a booklet that introduces every goodie along with their allergy information. The booklet also contains cultural…
Are Fans Entitled?
Steve Shives, a Star Trek YouTuber, released a video titled “Fan Service Leads to Fan Entitlement” where he outlines how catering to fans causes problems. He argues that fan-service, defined as giving fans what they want, can make fans entitled. Entitled fans demand the story, characters, and lore to develop as they want it to…
Your After Anime Sadness is Okay, but it Brings Personal Responsibility
My article 5 Ways to Handle After-Anime Depression surprised me with the amount of comments people have posted. Feeling sad or empty after finishing a story that resonates with you is a common experience for anime fans. Now, many people would roll their eyes at this idea. “It’s a cartoon! It’s not reality. Save your…
Sugoi Summer – TokyoTreat Box Review
Ichigo, the parent company of SakuraCo and TokyoTreat, asked me to review a TokyoTreat box. If you aren’t familiar with TokyoTreat, it’s a monthly subscription service that sends you a curated box of candy and other goodies from Japan. Most of the goodies aren’t readily available elsewhere or, as is often the case, you didn’t…