Category Archives: Uncategorized
October 2018 Update: Work-Life Balance
I’ve been thinking about the concept of work-life balance. For a lot of people who work in the anime industry, it’s non-existent, and not just because they work for punishingly long hours. Many people get into anime because it’s a vocation, so they’re okay with making it their entire lives. Even when they’re off the job, they’re still thinking about anime.
NOTICE: I Will Be Going to the UK for Scotland Loves Anime
Hi guys!
I’ll be going to the UK next month for a business-that-is-also-a-leisure trip. I’ll be starting off in England on October 8th before making my way up to Edinburgh for the second part of Scotland Loves Anime on the 18th. It’ll be my first time going to the UK (and, well, outside of the Pacific in general). I’m pretty excited to visit the land of tea and scones!
If any of you readers in the UK want to hang out or something, shoot me a message and I’ll let you know more details about my schedule.
That’s about it for important notices! Below is the usual list of articles I worked on this month:
August 2018 Update: Comiket Sucks
It is pretty interesting to see how Comiket has been mythologised, both inside and outside Japan. Just like Akihabara, the electric town, Comiket has become a symbol for the Otaku Lifestyle. Every year, hundreds of thousands of anime fans from around the world gather at Tokyo Big Sight to get a taste of this time-honored otaku tradition.
Many come away disappointed.
June 2018 Update: Oops, I burnt out on light novels so I’m now going to talk about video games instead
So in my last blog update post, I said something about how “light novels are cooler than anime”.
Turns out light novels are actually bad.
May 2018 Update: I’m A Twenty-Something Year Old Anime Journalist, But I’m Being Swamped By Light Novels Because They’re Cooler Than Anime
Hello, friends! I just got back from a week-long trip to the Philippines and am typing this blog post in a state of bone-dead exhaustion. So I’ll keep this month’s update brief.
April 2018 Update: Persona 5 Took Over My Life
I spent over 100 hours last month playing Persona 5 and I regret nothing.
I Translated Mari Okada’s Biography
Hi all!
I’m thrilled to announce that Mari Okada’s biography From Truant to Anime Screenwriter: My Path to “Anohana” and “The Anthem of the Heart” will be getting an English e-book release on May 4, published by J-Novel Club. You can read a free preview of the book’s prologue at J-Novel Club’s website, and you can pre-order the book from Amazon here.
If you’re a subscriber to J-Novel Club and you pre-order the premium ebook, you’ll enter the draw to win a shikishi signed by Mari Okada herself.
I’m biased – I’m keen on promoting this book because I translated it myself. Hopefully if this sort of book sells well, it could pave the way for more English translations of books about anime creators. So if this sort of thing interests you, please do buy the book!
What to Expect from the New Full Metal Panic Anime According to the Voice Actors
This is gonna be a brief post since there’s not much to say. I went to a Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory stage event at AnimeJapan 2018 on Saturday, where the voice actors discussed what viewers should expect from the new anime.
Voice actor events are usually banal as hell, and there’s rarely ever enough material to string together a report. Sometimes there is news, but it’s only ever in the form of a tiny snippet at the very end of the show. I didn’t get to report on this event for ANN, so I’m just going to dump my observations in this blog post instead.
The voice actors highlighted the following elements of the new anime:
