FunBlog

Since my post on Japanese honorifics seems to have become pretty popular, I am going to post my notes on family titles. Once again, this is for the benefit of people who watch anime with subtitles but do not know Japanese, and who want to be able to pick up nuances that the subtitles leave out. (In dubbed versions these are totally lost.) This stuff will probably seem pretty elementary to long-time fans.

English, of course, has a number of family titles: words like “Mom”, “Dad”, “Grandma” etc. Japanese has many more of these, with numerous variations which can tell you quite a bit about the characters who use them. I won’t try to cover every possible title, but will focus on the most common ones heard in anime.
(more…)

Sometimes the popularity of an anime series can be measured by its longevity. In this case the original 1995 television season was followed by 5 movies, 2 OVAs and 3 more TV seasons, the latest of which has just finished broadcasting in Japan.

The longevity probably has as much to do with the strength of the stories’ setting as with the popularity of the characters. This sword-and-sorcery parody is set in a well-drawn fantasy universe, with stories that are comic, but just dark enough to hold an adult’s interest.

It is interesting to compare the first season to the latest effort. The visual style has changed over the years. The latest series looks different, largely because the anime industry has shifted from hand-drawn cel animation to all-digital techniques. Yet I think the most important difference–and the main reason to check out the first season if you haven’t already seen it–is in the writing. The first season is a lot funnier and tells a better story.
(more…)

The Duchess is a soap opera about the glamorous and scandalous lives of the rich and famous–though 200 years later almost no one remembers these particular celebrities.

17-year-old Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightley) marries the rich and powerful Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes) but the marriage proves a disappointment. The Duke is cold and distant man who cares only about her ability to give him a son. Georgiana consoles herself with a glamorous lifestyle of fashion, parties, gambling and dabbling in Whig politics. Nevertheless she is devastated when her husband starts an affair with her best friend Bess Foster (Hayley Atwell).
(more…)

Click for larger images.

But I pose the question: “Why do the Japanese seem to erase the physical structures of the past rather than preserve them? Do the Japanese have a sense of nostalgia?” The West is a sentimental culture, in which one society uses previous ones as a point of reference. The West’s notion of progress inherently presumes that society is always building upon the past, like layers of sedimentary rock. So the Romans looked to ancient Greece, the Renaissance states looked to ancient Rome, and so on. The pantheon and Parthenon remain potent and well-preserved symbols of their civilizations. But the Japanese, rather than pamper their patrimony, have the habit of tearing down temples, shrines or massive gates that are hundreds of years old, only to immediately construct replicas.

“The ideal form of beauty for the Japanese is the cherry blossom,” says the Japanese fund manger, in perfect American-accented English. “It is temporary, impermanent. It is beautiful, but quickly disappears.” I accept his polite reply, but know that there must be more to it.

From The Economist.

From an office email
kami

Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan. In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches. Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived. While Samurai Bank are soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank are reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black. Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

Apparently this was originally from BBC News.

To begin with Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist has nothing at all to do with The Thin Man. On the other hand it does remind me of the screwball romantic comedies of the 1930s. There are significant differences though: the characters are somewhat younger; the music is different; and there’s this really gross running gag involving chewing gum…
(more…)

I suppose this was inevitable. Still, the picture creeps me out.