Tomo-chan is a Girl! offers interesting character dynamics and avoids many of the pitfalls of using the “dense” character tropes. In this story, the characters’ inability to see the feelings of the other is intentional on the part of the characters, coming from their own awareness of their conflicting feelings. Tomo is a tomboy with…
Otaku USA, the physical anime and manga magazine
Physical magazines have increasingly been going extinct. As far as I know, Otaku USA is the last-standing physical magazine that covers anime and manga in the US. At my library, the children’s department uses the magazine to help their manga ordering. The magazine reviews manga, anime, and video games as they release here in the…
The Learned Helplessness of Male Protagonists in Anime and Manga
How many anime have you watched or manga you’ve read where the female characters dote on the male protagonist? You often see women argue over who is going to care for the guy in harem and other romance stories. For example, in Oreimo Kyosuke is forced to live alone so he can focus on his…
Can You be too Old for Anime?
Some time ago, I went to the theater to watch Dragon Ball Super: Superheroes, which is an entertaining film. I was the oldest in the showing. Can you be too old for anime? “Of course not!” I’m sure you are saying. I reacted the same way to the thought, but take a moment to consider…
Okakura Kakuro’s “The Book of Tea”
Okakura wrote The Book of Tea in 1906. The books seeks to bridge and explain the Eastern perspective to the West. At the time, most people weren’t familiar with Japan, China, or Korea. Japan had opened to the West in 1853. Fifty-three years isn’t a lot of time for people to understand another culture. As…
Men Going Their Own Way [MGTOW]: The Good And the Sad
When a boy is raised without the tools to identify and communicate his feelings, he initially might still be able to express different kinds of emotions. Yet over time, he will end up with a limited ability to express his full emotional range and will slowly become more emotionally anesthetize as he sinks into covert…