Who knew boredom and apathy could be so entertaining? One Punch Man, so far, has plenty of all three. Saitama approaches superheroing as a hobby. What’s his main problem as a part-time superhero? Outside of supervillains attacking during grocery store sales, Saitama struggles with being too powerful. One Punch Man explores what happens when a…
Tag: Anime
JapanPowered isn’t just about anime (even if the bulk of it is). You can find all different types of anime in this section.
Anime’s Breast Obsession Explained
Boobs, headlights, breasts, jugs, chichi. Modern American culture worships the breast. But American culture isn’t alone. Anime too has a special fixation on the breast. While I’ve already addressed breast symbolism in anime, I haven’t discussed why anime obsesses over breasts. At first blush, this seems like a simple answer: guys. Guys like boobs, and…
Musings VI: On the ghost of O’iwa, and why she’s still scary.
The Season of Horrors It may seem strange at first that summer is the prime time for ghost stories in Japan. We tend to associate summer with pleasant things… but imagine you’re living in early modern Japan. You have no iced drinks, no electric fans, no convenient water taps. There’s basically no way to keep…
Anime Undermines American Manhood
Anime is a threat to American values. It injects foreign ideas into the veins of American culture, particularly American masculinity. But then, American masculinity needs the medicine. Click-bait title and introduction aside, let’s look at American values. The United States contains several core values: freedom of speech, rights of the individual, equality, achievement, social mobility,…
Love, Chunibyo, and How to Cope with Reality
While I watched Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions, I began thinking about how the series illustrates the difficulties of coping with reality. Everyone has different ways of coping with their problems. We avoid, fight, deny, and face demons within and without. Reality is tough. It’s hard to face death. It’s hard to face loneliness, loss,…
Tokyo Ravens
Tokyo Ravens lacks focus. So many anime fall into this trap! The story cannot decide if it wants to be a magical action-adventure or a slice of life story. Throw in a sketched out magic system, reincarnation, cults, and shake well. The story tries to do too much. Harutora Tsuchimikado is the usual block-headed shonen character….