Go Speedracer, Go!

Here he comes, here comes SPEEDRACER!


One of the great things about being back in the good ol' US of A is the relative ease and inexpence of going to the movies. Sure, in a big city like Tokyo, Osaka, or Nagoya, a movie theater may not be far away, but it's always expensive. A ticket usually costs about ¥1800, but if you're lucky enough to live in a beautiful place like Ena (inaka: countryside), you also have to factor in the roughly hour-long train ride into town at ¥1100 each way. Altogether that's about $35, not to mention the total investment of a day since the entire affair will take no less than four and a half hours. All this for the rare privledge of watching a movie that's probably already available on mininova on an unusually small screen(compared to their counterparts in the States, that is.)

In my hometown, movie theaters are many and the prices are right. Before 6'o clock a mere $6.25 will get you a comfy reclining seat in a spacious stadium-style theater complete with a perfect, puffy hair-free view of an enormous screen. WhatI saw on that screen the last time I went to the movies was a teaser-trailer for none other than the classic Japanese anime SPEEDRACER!

Perhaps I'm exposing my overwhelming nerdiness by admiting it (if I haven't already), but I think it looks most cool... Like anime- ALIVE!

Check out the original Japanese opening:


Here's the Americanized version:



And may I just say, Anime has come a LONG way (^_<)

If Only I Were More Anime-ted...

My most favoritest nengajo, or new year's card, EVER! Drawn by my extrememly talented student, Yuno Matsuo, from the Beautiful Mountain School. Remember that name. She's going to be famous some day (^-^)/ This is supposed to be me, by the way... Thank you for making me kawaii Yuno-chan!

On My Conversion from Anti-Anime to Anime Addict

No, I haven`t dyed my hair a las Hilton heiresses. This is much more serious.

I`ve become addicted....to Anime. Well, one anime in particular.

BLEACH.

"So what? No big deal! Anime is anime-zing! " You might say, but to be honest, I was about as Anti-Anime as anyone could be. I vaguely remember watching the classic Akira with my older brother as a junior high schooler, and promptly forgetting it ever existed. I also recall trying to pass the 4 hours of complete and utter bordem afforded by my Saturday detention (part of my punishment for 'inciting a riot and being obligerent to an officer` in my cheerleading uniform) by sketching a wide-eyed, anime-style girl, although I don't know what posessed me to do so. Other than Akira, my Asian exposure was almost nonexistant, and I made little effort to rectify my　ignorance on the subject. For one thing I was too busy concentrating on other cultures and forms of art, speaking Spanish, escaping to Mexico, playing softball and any other sport the boys would let me get in on, cheerleading, or partying. Japan was an exotic land of sushi eating samurai and geisha on ketais (cell phones), lost in a neon colored concrete jungle...And it was the last place I ever thought I`d end up.

I'm not sure why or how, but by the time events had conspired to send me to Japan as a study abroad student (my senior year of university), I had somehow formed a rather unfavorable opinion of anime (despite of my lack of information on the subject) . I was shocked to find that at least half of the gaijin students at Kansai Gaidai had come to Japan with the expressed intent of watching anime they couldn`t see in their home countries. While the other half of us explored the adventure-filled streets of Kyoto and Osaka with our new Japanese tomodachi, they stayed in the dorms watching anime, or dressed up in their Cosplay-best and headed to the nearest gathering of anime otaku (dorks, nerds, freaks).

Japan's culture and customs were basically brand spankin' new to me. I had been transported from a land where cartoons and comics were mostly for small children, to a hardcore manga metropolis where everyone from the ojiisan's (old men) waiting for the next bus, to my university-aged boyfriend, stood in cornerstore conbini's for what seemed like forever, viewing the newest, phonebook-sized releases of their favorite comics. Buisnessmen in gloomy black suits shamelessly scanned page after page of manga on crowded trains, even when they were blatantly pornographic. Sexy depictions of young girls in school uniforms and the shady, smiling, salarymen staring at them seemed to me to be the source of the problematic tsukebe and chikan (perverts) obsessed with anonymously violating women on crowded trains, not to mention the endless score of old men that paid young girls to 'play' with them (enjou kosai).


The original opening for Bleach to one of my favorite Japanese songs: *ASTERIK* by Orange Range.

The connection stuck. Needless to say, I made it through an entire 3 and a half months of study in Japan without ever reading manga or watching anime, not to mention the 3 years since then. In fact I was irritated when, during my breif visit back home for a friends wedding, I found an entire section devoted to Anime at a Borders book store. Shelf after shelf of big-eyed, big-breasted, long-legged school girls, in sailor uniforms, with super-short skirts and clothes molded to every curvey contour of their illustrated bodies.

The seemingly huge success of anime in America shocked me, especially since it seemed to have created and conquered such a huge market in such a short period of time. For the first time, I wondered..."What is it that makes Manga and Anime so special? How are they able to transcend the boundaries of age, nationality, ethnicity, and sex?" Let's face it. People all around the world are obsessed!

Depite the fact that I had always admired the art form, I never considered investigating the substance behind the style.

That is, until now.

Enter BLEACH.

...to be continued

The Bread-Head Incredibles

A young mother and her pre-school child share a tender moment admiring his superhero snackables.

Anpanman is not alone in Anpan Land! The Bread-head incredibles are always saving the day with their special super-pan powers! Where as Anpanman`s bun is bursting with sweet bean filling, Currypanman`s cranium is crammed with curry (center of the photo). Shokupanman, a slice of white bread, has no delicous filling, but he makes up for it with his dashing good looks (upper right). Shokupanman is Anpanman's closest and most handsome superhero friend. Patron super-snack of school lunches, he is the resident gaijin of Anpan Land, complete with the gaijin powers many foreign men recieve upon entry in Japan. He`s quite a hit with the ladies! Suprisingly enough, Shokupanman's secret headquarters lie deep within Toaster Mountain.

Anpan Man Begins...

The story of Japan's most beloved super-hero snack-man.


Anpan (あんパン) is a Japanese bread (or pan, as it was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese,) filled with sweet, red bean paste- the secret to Anpanman's super-snack strength!

Uncle Jam's bread factory nestled in a forest..."Let's make living bread!"

"This time will it will really work!"

Dear God, please give us living bread...That night....

In a distant sky, a Star of Life was born.

....The bread is baked!.........Waaaaah!

Living bread! Come to Dada...Walk... Ah! He can fly!

He got bigger and bigger and became Anpan-man. "I'm going to help the hungry!"

Someone is crying! Go for it, Anpan-man!

It's coming from the bottom of the valley...Who's that?

"Baikin-man, arch- enemy of justice! I was born to fight you! "

"Until we meet again, Baikin!"

I'm coming...come on! You're OK! Eat this! It will make you feel better!

"Yummy Woof! "...."Let's call you cheese!"

The Original Anpanman Cast:

Uncle Jam, the kindly old baker who made and raised Anpanman, and replenishes his sweet-bean strength.

Batako, Uncle Jam's young, female assistant.

Cheese, their adopted puppy.

Anpanman, the super-hero snack man fighting hunger with his delicious sweet-bean filling.

Baikinman, a dirty germ, and arch-enemy of anpanman.