Here’s a collection of books to help expand your knowledge about Japan. I’ve referred to these books for my various writing projects. This list skews toward history because that’s my thing. You will also find English translations of landmark Japanese literary works, which everyone interested in Japan ought to read. The Art of the Samurai…
Why are Anime Obsessed with Big Boobs?
Anime is obsessed with breasts. Top-heavy female characters appear across anime stories, including stories aimed at girls. Female characters obsess over their bust size, fondling larger friends or feeling self-conscious about their own small bust. It’s easy to dismiss this as simply “boobs sell” and anime is made for horny teen guys. These are partial…
Crunchyroll’s Western Anime Monopoly
Sony Pictures Entertainment, the owner of Funimation, bought Crunchyroll from AT&T for $1.175 billion in 2021 (Simons, 2021). In the past, Funimation and Crunchyroll worked together, distributing pieces of each other’s anime catalogs. Now, we have a vast, unified catalog, but we also don’t have real alternatives for anime consumption in the West. Okay, smaller,…
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Facing Death and Memory
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End goes deep. You won’t find philosophical musings like in Ghost in the Shell, nor does Frieren goes into the darkness that some stories dive deep into. No, the story retains hope and humor, while allowing death to permeate the story. Frieren, after the deaths of the human heroes who she had…
How Do You Know How to Know?
All knowledge is a matter of faith. You trust that I offer something worth your time and thought. I trust that you understand the words and my logic. We trust what we’ve been taught by our parents and teachers, and we trust our own judgment when we distrust information. Likewise, we have faith that we…
Anime I Keep Revisiting
Some stories continue to resonate years after you first watch them. I revisit few anime. Fewer still do I watch again and again. Every so many years, I feel an urge to revisit certain video games: Final Fantasy VI, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, and various classic Mario games. The…