South Park Whale Wars (2009)

I must say that sometimes I'm humored by South Park and sometimes I am not. I don't watch it consistently, so this delayed post is because of that.  The TV show South Park has made political commentaries about the Japanese. This time it was about The Cove and how Japan gets away with whaling and killing dolphins unlike the entire rest of the world. I think that it is important to reflect upon this episode because it says a lot about both Japan and the US.

I think that this is relevant because South Park did use very timely facts about how Japan is the ONLY country in the world that still does whaling and (still?) club(s?) dolphins to death at The Cove.  I know South Park took it to the extreme and showed the Japanese whaling other countries aquariums and whatnot, but it only emphasizes the power that one country can have in control and influence of another. Now South Park has done that with many other countries, including the US, not just Japan, but in this context of marine biology and species interaction, Japan has a large influence over sea mammals because of how they kill whales and dolphins. Note there is no reason for Japan to up their numbers of killed whales every year because nobody wants to eat whale. The market for whale meat is actually in the decline because whale meat is very oily and smelly. Post-WW2, there was a large market because many people did not have access to chicken, beef, and pork as much, but now there is no honest reason. But because it is tradition, Japan continues.

I know that to make this a truly valid argument I need to include sources, but I think that in this case it would be better for people to go do some research of their own about Japanese whaling and dolphin killing. I think that it is important to look to Horatian comedy and Juvenalian comedy to see how Americans view matters like Japanese whaling because it also reflects Americans.

So at the same time that South Park shows that the Japanese still do these things and it is relevant to the rest of the world and marine ecosystems, it shows that the Americans-- the citizens of South Park don't truly take the time to understand or learn why the Japanese are doing what they do. Instead they just chalk it up to irrationality and leave it at that. But one of the main characters invests time and researches why the Japanese do what they do and explains it to the rest. All other Americans don't seek an answer or make up their own or rely on others to do the work for them despite being concerned about the issue.

This reflects the American-Japanese relationship because they both influence each other but they just chalk it up to differences and that the other side wouldn't understand for the most part. This miscommunication or lack of communication is part of the source of their problems, refusing to deal with it only exacerbates things until time and concern is taken by active members.

Not sure I truly wrote that coherently for others to understand, but I hope you get the gist of what I was trying to say. Feel free to watch the episode, read up on some history, and leave me some comments.

Thank you and have a good night~

Cosplay; Programs; Anime; History

So I have been absent again I know for a very good reason. I recently started editing novels for people since I didn't get into either JET or Fulbright this year... That way I can still build my experience and resume with things I've been doing when I start to work on applying to graduate schools. One author I met on SharedTalk has translated his own stories and publishes them on Amazon.  His pen name is Ryusei, and he is 45 years old. Here is his profile page if you're interested to read more about him or read his works. He is really nice and super knowledgeable about many things, as well as has great English.

Ryusei also introduced me to "The Tatami Galaxy" anime. I really want to watch it because of its unique visual style, but I heard that the subtitles are too distracting from the awesome visuals of the anime. If I do it in straight Japanese, I wouldn't be able to watch it with friends though... so I am torn on whether to just marathon it alone or not.

Last night when I was talking to Ryusei, he said that he was reading up on Kuroda Yoshitaka, a famous samurai. The reason Ryusei was reading about him was because he really loves history and prefers famous samurai who were of reputable character, unlike the samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, who couldn't even beat his rival alone in a fight. Then, because I'd mentioned Miyamoto Musashi and tara no shirako (a Japanese dish), Ryusei said that he was upset by our conversation. I joked two strikes, one more and I'm out and he mentioned that the third thing that would/could bother him would be just the state's shintoism as a whole because of some historical reasons. Bluh, there was no winning for me yesterday.

Since I didn't get into either JET or Fulbright and have pretty much missed out on applying to graduate school this year because of Fulbright and JET, I'm looking into Interac. Interac is another teach abroad program, like JET, that one can use to go abroad to Japan. I am considering applying to this program since they have their own system outside of the U.S. government and generally keep a rolling application process despite having two main application periods. I think Interac is a good program because it is well respected and an awesome opportunity, like Fulbright or JET, for people looking to engage themselves with Japanese society.

Speaking of Fulbright,  they have another amazing opportunity for people to study abroad. I think that there is great potential for applicants because it is more of a multi-media program that one can use to engage audiences of all ages through written research, pictures, visual media such as film, and more. There is so much potential in this program and if I had more time to prepare, I would have applied myself. I wish all of these applicants good luck because Fulbright is very competitive.

So I plan on cosplaying at this year's anime detour that is coming up in a couple of months. If I can get more hours at work soon or get accepted for a second job, I want to cosplay as both Kitsurubami from FLCL and Lal'c Mellk Mal from Diebuster. I think that they are both amazing and strong women who work independent from others and can think individually from their commanders. I want to cosplay them also because I really find their uniforms cute. I'm a little self-conscious because all of my body weight is either in my boobs or in my thighs (mostly my thighs) and I don't want to look frumpy. I know there are a lot of ways to not look frumpy, but spanx wouldn't be able to help my thighs for Lal'c.  If I do Kitsurubami, I will just buy the pattern to a Twiggy Bell dress and modify it. I might even do that for the bell sleeves of Lal'c depending on the funding. That's what I am thinking of doing currently, anyways.

Well that is all I have for now. I will let you know about my applications to Interac and what graduate schools I settle on applying to. I also wanted to remind everyone that there are ways to achieve your dreams, and here's a list to help motivate you all!

Thank you for reading~!