Donations List

Lauren's Donation List!

This is a list of media I donated to the Anime Club (later renamed Anime Society) at my university. My friends Katelyn and Cass took some, which is fine because most of it was purchased at my local library's book sale and was a general donation for the club to do whatever they please with it. I wanted a list of the titles so if I ever want to replace or reread or pick up reading where I left off, I will have access to this information. But.... since I am posting it here, I obviously wanted to share my tastes in manga with you all. I generally stick to action/adventure and anything mythical/magical.

I know that a lot of the general tastes in popularity vastly differ between America and Japan and I think that it is important because supposedly these popular ones in America are very popular in Japan. Yet when I talk to my otaku friends or go to kinokuniya/manga-ya in Osaka, I see other manga being promoted instead. For example, one piece was kinda "eh" in America when it first arrived and died out in popularity after some time. Then it became uber popular in Japan/stayed popular? and when it hit the lists in America again, the fandom skyrocketed, unlike the first time. I don't have the specifics to speak clearly on this, though I am sure someone has kept Wikipedia up to date on all of One Piece's history.

Manga

Alice 19th - Vol. 1

Bleach - Vol. 12

Bring It On! -Vol. 2

Cheeky Angel - Vol. 3

Clamp School Detectives - Vol. 3

Dazzle - Vol. 1

Devil May Cry

Et Cetera - Vol. 1

Fruits Basket - Vol. 10

Fushigi Yuugi - Vol. 7,8,13 (two copies)

Full Moon - Vol. 2

Guru Guru Pon Chan - Vol. 2

Harlequin Pink : Idol Dreams

Harlequin Violet : Response

Hana Kimi - Vol. 7,9,12

Hellsing - Vol. 7

Her Majesty's Dog - Vol. 1

Kekkaishi - Vol. 1 

Love Hina

Mermaid Saga - Vol. 1

Metropolis

Nana - Vol. 1

Naruto - Vol. 4

Neck and Neck - Vol. 1

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Vol. 8

No Need for Tenshi

One Piece - Vol. 2,7

Orphen - Vol. 1

Othello - Vol. 2,3

Pastel Vol. 8

Platinum Garden - Vol. 3

Ral Grad - Vol. 1

Return of Lum (The)

Sgt Frog - Vol. 7

Sokora Refugees - Vol. 1

Tokyo Mew Mew - Vol. 1

World of Narue (The) - Vol. 1

XxXHoLiC - Vol. 1

Video

Plastic Little – VHS

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Genesis 0:1 - VHS

National Geographic Video - Living Treasure of Japan - VHS

Martian Successor Nadesico Volume One – VHS

Goku Midnight Eye – VHS

Ghost in the Shell - "Special Edition"

Fushigi Yugi - The Quest for Shinzaho - Ep. 34-36

Stuff Kate and I took:

ParaKiss 3&4

Wish vol 1

Hot gimmick 2

The wallflower 1 and 4

XXXHoLiC  vol 5

INVU vol. 2

Royal Palace Goong

Thank you!!

News, Literature, Media, Social Questions

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.

Anime & Manga: Me

In 2012 I was very desperate for $. Well... still am. But not to the degree that I was going to sell my anime and manga. Since I have given a good portion of this away to my school's Anime Club, I wanted to note and record what I used to own. The rest of this I probably still own and it is around the house somewhere.

VHS:

·         GOKU: Midnight Eye

·         Gunsmith Cats: Riding Bean

·         Martian Successor Nadesico (v 1: Invasion)

·         Ghost in the Shell (movie—Special Edition)

·         Raven Tengu, Kabuto

·         Plastic Little

·         Fushigi Yugi: The Quest for Shinzaho (episode 34-36)

·         Neon Genesis Evangelion: Genesis 0:1

·         National Geographic Video: Living Treasures of Japan

Library Manga:

·         Bleach (Volume 12)

·         Bring It On (Korean manwha –Volume 3)

·         Cheeky Angel (Volume 3)

·         Clamp School Detectives (Volume 3)

·         Dazzle (Volume 1)

·         Fruits Basket (Volume 10)

·         Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play (7, 8, 8, 13)

·         Goong: The Royal Palace (Korean manwha -- Volume 5)

·         Hana Kimi (Volumes 7, 9, 11)

·         Harlequin Ginger Blossom’s

o   Harlequin Pink: Idol Dreams

o   Harlequin Violet: Response

·         Hellsing (Volume 7)

·         Her Majesty’s Dog (Volume 1)

·         I.N.V.U (Korean manwha -- Volume 2)

·         Kekkaishi (Volume 1)

·         Metropolis

·         Naruto (Volume 4)

·         Neon Genesis Evangelion (Volume 8)

·         One Piece (2, 7)

·         Paradise Kiss (Volume 3)

·         Platinum Garden (Volume 3)

·         Ral Grad (Volume 1)

·         Sgt. Frog (Volume 7)

·         XXXHolic (Volume 1)

Boxed Set:

Entire series Boxed Set of Fushigi Yugi Books for $55, the condition is practically new, well taken care of.

Boxed Set of Oh My Goddess VHS cassettes for $10, kept in the best condition possible. (Boxed set is of 5 vhs.)

My Manga

·         Sokora Refugees (Volume 1)

·         Tokyo Mew Mew (Volume 1)

·         Neck and Neck (Volume 1)

·         Alice 19^th (Volume 1)

·         Et Cetera (Volume 1)

·         Nana (Volume 1)

·         Guru Guru Pon-Chan (Volume 2)

·         Full Moon O Sagashite (Volume 2)

·         No Need for Tenchi! (Volume 1)

·         Mermaid Saga (Volume 1)

·         Paradise Kiss (Volume 4)

·         Othello (Volume 2, 3)

·         Hot Gimmick (Volume 2)

·         The World of Narue (Volume 1)

·         Wish (Volume 3)

·         Orphen (Volume 1)

·         Pastel (Volume 8)

·         The Wallflower (Volumes 1, 4)

Used Manga:

•             Bleach (Volume 12)

•             Bring It On (Korean manwha –Volume 3)

•             Cheeky Angel (Volume 3)

•             Clamp School Detectives (Volume 3)

•             Dazzle (Volume 1)

•             Fruits Basket (Volume 10)

•             Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play (7, 8, 8, 13)

•             Goong: The Royal Palace (Korean manwha -- Volume 5)

•             Hana Kimi (Volumes 7, 9, 11)

•             Harlequin Ginger Blossom’s

o             Harlequin Pink: Idol Dreams and

o             Harlequin Violet: Response

•             Hellsing (Volume 7)

•             Her Majesty’s Dog (Volume 1)

•             I.N.V.U (Korean manwha -- Volume 2)

•             Kekkaishi (Volume 1)

•             Metropolis

•             Naruto (Volume 4)

•             Neon Genesis Evangelion (Volume 8)

•             One Piece (2, 7)

•             Paradise Kiss (Volume 3)

•             Platinum Garden (Volume 3)

•             Ral Grad (Volume 1)

•             Sgt. Frog (Volume 7)

•             XXXHolic (Volume 1)

Set:

Volumes 1-13 of Fushigi Yugi Book

Manga

•             Sokora Refugees (Volume 1)

•             Tokyo Mew Mew (Volume 1)

•             Neck and Neck (Volume 1)

•             Alice 19th (Volume 1)

•             Et Cetera (Volume 1)

•             Nana (Volume 1)

•             Guru Guru Pon-Chan (Volume 2)

•             Full Moon O Sagashite (Volume 2)

•             No Need for Tenchi! (Volume 1)

•             Mermaid Saga (Volume 1)

•             Paradise Kiss (Volume 4)

•             Othello (Volume 2, 3)

•             Hot Gimmick (Volume 2)

•             The World of Narue (Volume 1)

•             Wish (Volume 3)

•             Orphen (Volume 1)

•             Pastel (Volume 8)

•             The Wallflower (Volumes 1, 4)