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Naruto movies save the universe!
Posted on 30th November 2007 by robpwashburn
Under: Movies | Comments Off
AnimeTopTen
AnimeTopTen is a website dedicated to Japanese anime movies, anime TV series, manga and Japanese video games and trading card games. We love them and we know you feel the same! These are your reviews, your guides and your links to the best Japanese inspired entertainment and games, designed especially for those who are new to this topic.
Rin - June Manga
Okay, first I want to say, yes Rin is a BL (Boys Love) but read through, please I am of the serious opinion that Rin could truly be enjoyed by more than just crazy fangirls.
So Rin is the story of a boy, Katsura, who has some pretty intense panic attacks that can, for an unknown reason (it’s explained in the story) only be cured by what is donned a “squeeze” from his big brother’s friend Sou, whom he’s known since childhood. This includes anything from Archery Tryouts to school plays and entrance exams. But Sou is a good sport and puts up with it…. enter story plot.
Now, this is probably still not very attractive to many of you, here’s why I think a lot of people who, go figure, like Shojou, could really like Rin. Firstly, there’s no naughty bits. It’s a June Manga, for starts but it is a pink bar (in the June Manga collection by DMP the color bar that has the June symbol indicates how ‘naughty’ the contents are. Purple is the kind that is often wrapped or has “Parental Discretion” on it, pink are much more diluted and often are just about how the characters fall in love, not what they do with it) So, as I’ve said, Rin is a pink bar, and is the most, dare I say, true to life BL I’ve ever read.
True to life, you ask?
Why yes, I answer.
How, you ask?
I answer:
Rin is NOT written as follows :
“Katsura likes how the “squeezes” from Sou make him feel better. He starts to feel a little more comfortable, and before he can understand why, Sou tells him that he really likes Katsura. Katsura realizes he likes Sou too and the rest of the plot is dedicated to their love.”
Not at all.
Its written more like, how to say and not spoil plot? Okay, here’s a quote; the scene is when Katsura realizes that Sou might - kinda - like him a lot more than he though. He’s uncomfortable and is talking with his brother:
K: “But big brother, wouldn’t you be mad if your brother turned out to be a homo?”
I: (with a thinking look) “Well I’ll have to think about that part, but right now getting you to stop crying is more important”
Why is this crucial? Because in most BL the brother would say “hell naw, go get him” but instead it’s a more natural, real life reaction to the situation. His brother isn’t comfortable with the idea, but at the moment making Katsura feel better is at the forefront of his mind. It’s actually a very touching moment.
When the relationship finally does develop (it is a BL after all) though, its not all fireflies and ponies either. Katsura himself isn’t sure if he likes the idea of knowing another guy feels this way about him, or even if he likes how he thinks. He has a tendency to seek advice from his friend Sakurasawa - which isn’t the best idea, but I wont say why for plot preservation.
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p>Basically, to bring things to a close, Rin is one of those rare things that stick out in a genre for its subtle deviation from the norm..
Paz likes it, maybe so will you?
Posted on 1st October 2007 by Paz_Enai
Under: Manga | No Comments »
Baka, nee?
You hear it used almost religiously in some anime, you read it in comics and you might even hear it on the streets (generally at cons) but what exactly does it mean? And I’m not just talking about its literal translation here. To fully understand its connotations we need to understand the use of vulgarities in Japan, namely that of the lack of them.
You may see it on some site on the internet, some Asian people saying or using English language curses in their sentences, or ‘improperly’. The reason for this is that in Japan, there are no ‘curses’, at least not in the sense we have them. Due to Japans historical growth it developed differently than the western world in language (as well as most everything else). In such a hierarchy, with clear-cut classes evolving into such a rigid formality system (you’ve heard of them; san, chan, kun, kohai, senpai, sensei, sama, dono, etc) there was no room for such slang. If you commit a crime it puts a bad face on your entire family. You’re mother cant get her hair cut because the barber doesn’t want to be seen cutting the hair of a criminal. If you are insulted it affects the whole family, your dynasty, your legacy.
Things aren’t much different today, and that’s where the use of English curses enters the Japanese market. Slang has only recently become popular in Japan, and no such thing existed before its ‘rebirth’ after the Second World War when the west came in and Japan adopted many ‘new’ things (customs, technology…).
So what exactly does baka mean? The short answer is “idiot’ or ‘stupid’ and not to be confused with ‘fool’ (“You have nothing to worry about, they say fools don’t get colds”). But what does it imply? Beyond just making fun of ones personal intelligence, in Japan the word baka is an insult to your lineage. It is a sign that you are defective and that your family is cursed to have one such as yourself amongst its members. You are not just a baka, but your children will be baka too. You are frowned upon and unwanted, at least to the one who says it, and to be called it is the highest of insults.
With such a connotation, it is not often favored when addressing someone, unlike here (in America) where people call their friends and family anything that will get their attention (“hey stupid”, “smelly”, etc). It is this looseness with words that the youth of Japan want, strive for even, and that’s why such words are being used in such a way. They take up our words - though what they know about their meanings I can’t say - and use them in a way all their own. They see the informality it can present and they want it, maybe because they want to rebel against the strict social order, or maybe they do it just because it makes them feel a little better.
Knowing this, when you watch that show or read that comic you’ll understand a bit more what the word you see actually means to the character called it. It might even change your entire outlook on one show from the first time you saw it.
Paz_out
Posted on 30th July 2007 by Paz_Enai
Under: Manga | No Comments »
AnimeTopTen loves Japanese style anime, manga and games.
This website is both a blog, commentary and reviews of our favorite Japanese anime, manga, and games. We love the Japanese style of games, graphic books and video. This includes:
- Anime – Movies. Our favorites include Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Serive, Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, and Advent Children.
Anime – TV series. Our favorites include Pokémon, .hack, Sailor Moon, Fullmetal Alchemist, Wolf’s Rain, InuYasha, Cowboy Bebop, Fruits Basket and Naruto. - Manga. Our favorites include Fruits Basket, Demon Diary, .hack//Legend of the Twilight, Full Moon, and Angel Diary. We also like the web manga Mega Tokyo! There are also some novels we like of Final Fantasy and .hack. These are not regular manga as they are formatted like regular western-style novels.
- Japanese card games. Our favorites include Pokémon card game, Yu-Gi-Oh, InuYasha, and Digimon.
- Japanese video games. Our favorites include Kingdom Hearts, .hack//Infection, the whole Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, Xenogears and Xenosaga, Tales of Symphonia, Phantasia, Eternia and Fire Emblem.
- Web sites. We like the community sites Gaia.com and anime100.com, and the sites dedicated to specific games like Final Fantasy and .hack. The commerce sites Tokypop.com, Animenation.com, and discountanime.com are really cool, and we’ve bought from them. The news sites animenewsnetwork.com, anipike.com and theotaku.com also rock.
- Blockbusters: These are the Kings (and Queens) of all media. They are so popular that they show up in all or almost all of the categories of media. Example of this include Final Fantasy, Pokémon, .hack, Fruits Basket, and Fullmetal Alchemist.