Sunday, March 25, 2007

   New Rurouni Kenshin anime to be made, or possibly the Jinchuu Arc animated?

According to this thread on The ORO, one of the posters knows someone in Japan who has spoken to college students who like RK, who say animation of a new RK anime or possibly the Jinchuu Arc has already gotten under way.

What we have here is proof built on the rock-solid foundations of hearsay and conjecture.

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Friday, March 23, 2007

Blogthings - Are You Cutthroat?

You Aren't Cutthroat

You definitely have ambitions and drive, but you also have integrity. You'll get where you want to in life, and you'll do it the right way. For you, the ends never justify the means.

Are You Cutthroat?

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Saturday, March 10, 2007

href="http://www.reverseblade.com/rurouni_test.html"
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You're a loner. You're completely OBLIVIOUS to just about anything except "being the strongest". By the way, your friends are dead. Let them rest. href="http://www.reverseblade.com/rurouni_quiz.html"
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ReverseBlade!

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Thursday, March 8, 2007

Hee hee

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Sunday, March 4, 2007

You Are More Yin

Feminine Devoted Forgiving Fall Winter Afternoon Moon Time Passive Metal Honey

Are You More Yin or Yang?

You Are Not a Dumb American

You got 8/10 correct. You know a good deal about American history, but there's some basic facts you have wrong. Time to go back to history class!

Are You a Dumb American?

You Will Be a Cool Parent

You seem to naturally know a lot about parenting, and you know what kids need. You can tell when it's time to let kids off the hook, and when it's time to lay down the law. While your parenting is modern and hip, it's not over the top. You know that there's nothing cool about a parent who acts like a teenager... or a drill sergeant!

Would You Be a Cool Parent?

You Are Not Logical

Logic is obviously not a talent of yours Or maybe your brain is totally fried today Try again later!

How Logical Are You?

You Are 38% Homophobic

You don't want to be homophobic, and you're usually not. You have a few stereotypes about gay people - and they'll eventually be broken.

Are You Homophobic?

You Have Low Self Esteem 52% of the Time

While you sometimes feel good about yourself, you tend to struggle a little with self esteem issues. It's not about changing who you are, it's about accepting your faults. You just need to be less critical and demanding of yourself!

How is Your Self Esteem?

You Are 56% Addicted to the Internet

You're somewhat addicted to the internet - but who isn't? You can keep it under check, and you're by no means a hermit.

Are You Addicted to the Internet?

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Six Comrades better as three?

I've been thinking that perhaps the Jinchuu Arc's Rokutai would have been better off as the Santai (Three Comrades). The comic bookish looking ones, Kujirinami, Mumyoi and Banshin just seemed a bit out of place to my mind. I know Watsuki likes to do wild characters from time to time such as Hyotoko and Fuji, but three of them as constant characters was a bit much.

Kujiranami started out as kind of a sympathetic character. I could understand why he was angry, being denied an honorable death. But by the 23rd volume, he was reduced to running around barefoot screaming, "BATTOUSAI!" and just rampaging like a lunatic.

Mumyoi was just a train wreck from the beginning. He's unbelievably ugly and all he does is yell "I'LL KILL YOU!" over and over again in his battle with Saitou. Personally, I wouldn't have cared if Saitou had finished him off.

Banshin was really out of place in army fatigues which weren't even invented until the 20th century. His fight with Sano was kind of cool, but he really seemed like he was just there to be an opponent for Sano.

I simply would have had it be Enishi, Gein and Ottowa (who was really cool, but needed some better development) wreaking havoc on Kenshin's friends.

That aside though, it's still the best part of the story.

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Saturday, March 3, 2007

Oddball Father

May, 1886
Tokyo

It never failed. Whenever Kenshin went into town with Kenji and later Murasaki strapped to his shoulders, he felt people's eyes on him. In a country that prided itself on its homogenity, he stuck out like a sore thumb. It had always been so due to the red hair and violet eyes, but of late it was for a different reason: That he as a father was almost constantly with his children.

Most fathers spent hours and hours away from home working and frequently sought sexual pleasure from other women after their wives had the two children they wanted. At night, the mothers and children slept in the same room while the husbands slept or brought their lovers to their rooms.

Kenshin knew he was an oddball among Japanese fathers. The townspeople thought he didn't hear the whispers or see the stares. They thought he didn't notice the sidelong glances the mothers with young children gave him when he was among their numbers with his children.

He saw. He heard. He knew.

He didn't care.

After having been a hitokiri and a rurouni, both solitary lifestyles, Kenshin was thrilled by the idea of carrying a baby around on his shoulders, changing diapers, doing laundry, feeding, bathing, etc. Let them stare, let them whisper, let them laugh. What was it to him?

Feeling the weight of little Murasaki on his shoulders and watching as Kenji went for every puddle from this morning's rain brought a smile to his lips and peace to his heart. How many absentee fathers had that much?

~~Owari~~

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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

What an annoying thing

I don't know why, but for some reason my Thunderbird stopped working today. Granted, it was an old version (1.0.7), but it was just so sudden. It crashed and when I restarted it, it seemed OK. But the next thing I knew, the computer couldn't detect the modem. It was fine after a hard reboot. I updated my Spybot S&D, thinking it might be spyware.

I ran the spyware check and found nothing but a few cookies. Then I started my programs up again. Thunderbird started, but then I realized there were no sounds playing. To top it off, the sound control extension froze up along with Thunderbird. Again, I had to reboot.

I just upgraded to Thunder 1.5.9 and so far it seems OK. I guess this is what I get for neglecting it for so long.

Of course the real lesson is not to try and use this shit on an old 266 MHz computer. Hopefully, I have enough money for a new laptop by spring.

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Sunday, February 25, 2007

What Inuyasha Villain Are You?


Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

Honne to tatemae

Honne is one's true feelings. Tatemae is how one acts in public.

This concept dominates every area of Japanese life outside the home. Can't stand your co-workers? Too bad, pretend you like them. Feeling tired and want to go home at the end of the day? Say "yes" and go out for a round of drinks that will last for into the night. Want to throw that annoying house guest out? Ask them to stay longer.

This never-ending putting up a front probably explains the extremeness in a lot of Japanese past times, such as love hotels, those wild game shows, hentai, etc. Simply put, these things are an outlet for the repressed honne of the average Japanese person.

I can say honestly I'd never last in a culture where I had to continually smile at people I couldn't stand and was expected to hang out with them after work. I'd go nuts!

However, the Japanese are raised with this idea from the time they start school. Junior high and high school students wear uniforms and always work and learn in groups rather than alone. Students don't go from class to class, but rather stay in the same class room with the same people all day while the teachers come to the class room. The students do everything in groups. Achieving classes rather than individuals are sought out for praise and rewards. After school is over, the students cooperate to clean up their class room.

This behavior likely goes back to the days when a person couldn't leave their han without putting their lives at risk and couldn't break away from their family's legacy. In other words, if you were born into a fishing village, you stayed in that village all your life and did what your father before you did.

That meant of course that you were around the same people your whole life. You had to work with those people to plant and sow crops, catch fish, etc. There was no room for petty grudges. Therefore the idea of hiding one's "honne" behind the facade of "tatemae" to maintain "wa" (harmony) was the reality, necessary for survival.

Even though it's not like that anymore and a person can pursue whatever career they'd like and move far away from their place of birth, the old ways remain and pervade the modern culture.

OK, with this understood, it sheds a new light on Kenshin and the way he acts for me. Kenshin of course is a tortured soul who hides his pain beneath his patented "rurouni" smile and says everything's OK.

As Westerners we say he needs to open up, get it off his chest, confess his feelings for Kaoru and sweep her off her feet with flowers, chocolates, etc. Guess what folks! That's not Japanese!

Kenshin's not going to do any of those things because those go against his culture! Kenshin says everything's OK and smiles because he doesn't want to worry his friends because that is what a properly polite Japanese person does! In his eyes, there's no thing wrong with hiding his true feelings most of the time.

As for confessing to Kaoru and sweeping her into a searing embrace and kissing her breathless, not likely. The most we as Westerners can hope for is a hand on the shoulder, perhaps an arm around the shoulder (ala Jinchuu Arc) or holding hands (in the last volume). To us, such an act is mundane, but to a culture where showing off one's personal feeling isn't done, it's a bold move.

So there ya have it. Kenshin isn't a self-styled martyr who delights in torturing himself by hiding his pain beneath his smile. He's a polite Japanese guy doing the polite Japanese thing.

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