So I was haunting Yahoo news again (only because it is so convenient to skim before I check my email) and Japan has yet again been in their news. First Japan was in the news because one of their volcanoes has erupted for over 500 times this year already and nobody really knows why, but loves the sight of it. The volcano that has been erupting is Sakurajima and the locals there are just that used to it. Apparently the school children even go to school with special masks because of how much this volcano just pumps out.
Secondly, a nineteenth century text has finally been decoded for the Western audience. This literature explains that Bugei no Jo gives detailed information to those becoming master swordsmen on everything in life. Not just how to wield a weapon, but live one's daily life even. But the hilarity of this article will probably make more Westerners think that samurai were really classy all of the time when they weren't necessarily. There were just as many sneaks as not and they were quick to switch sides depending on how battles were turning out. They were just as crazy and as wild as the Joker's Arkham asylum. Maybe more so because there was less supporting evidence like DNA or photography to help them prove that they were killing X persons or protecting Y persons. Sure samurai had rules, but just like today not everyone followed them. Just please keep in mind that people were like people are now, and don't over-romanticize them too much.
I was reading the plot of a movie and I stumbled upon a list of it's influences. Urotsukidouji is the original influence of "tentacle rape" as it is most commonly known. Tenta-rape became popular because of the anime, whereas the manga actually had more of a plot. It became popular because the director of the anime too artistic liberties with the author's permissions. The author acknowledges that there have been liberties taken, and although he doesn't necessarily agree with them, he does find it interesting to see how the director changed and used his works with creative intent.
Then I was following a friend on social media and they posed this question to the rest of our University's Anime Club. This video posed a question of "Is anime becoming mainstream?" and "Do we want it to be?" as an anime fan community. I had already been thinking about that question before he had posed this question openly because I'm working on a grant proposal and since it is only for a year I have to narrow down and specify what I want to research and why it is important. I think I've found the topic I ultimately want to research, but this one is important to me too. It is important because Japanese media and its influence ARE becoming more and more prevalent in American culture whether we acknowledge that. I'm from the Midwest (a place both New York and California think don't like Asia or any of its media for some reason--I just think they want to seem better than us just because they have Asian-town locations they're famous for.)
I think that this question is important because is not only acknowledges that there is a heavy Japanese presence in contemporary culture, but whether it should stay as various subcultures or not. I feel that the way television stations are run and maintained that there really isn't any control over whether the fans want it to become mainstream or not. It is more common and more people recognize it (at the very least) and the majority culture always wins over the minority subcultures. It is like how Hollywood will take movies such as Astroboy, Speedracer, Dragon Ball Z, Batman, Superman, The Hulk and alter it for a broader audience. It might piss off fans, but they really don't hold much power it seems. After all these might be subcultural "things" but at the end of the day it is still for making money.
Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Please comment and share if you enjoy, and feedback or subjects are more than welcome.
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