In this summer’s first sci-fi thriller, Ken Watanabe stars in “Inception” with Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead, directed by Christopher Nolan, known for thrillers such as “Memento” and “The Dark Knight.” Watanabe has taken on the role of Saito, a powerful business mogul in the energy industry who needs Cobb (DiCaprio) to plant an idea […]
Arts & Entertainment
Thriller ‘Inception’ represents breakthrough role for Japanese actor Ken Watanabe
July 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment
TOM YASUMI: From Tokyo to SpongeBob in 44 years
July 15, 2010 by 2 Comments
Tom Yasumi has worked in animation for the past 22 years, his entire professional life. He is currently an animation director for the hit cartoon series, “SpongeBob SquarePants.” He’s worked on many of Nickelodeon’s popular shows, including “The Rugrats” and “Rocko’s Modern Life.” He has worked on “SpongeBob” for the past 12 years. He was […]
MANGA REVIEW: Reboot: X-Men goes kawaii
July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
X-MEN MISFITS By Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman Art by Anzu (New York: Del Rey, 2009, 192 pp., $12.99 paperback) “X-men Misfits” ironically describes itself by its title succinctly. The comic is a misfit in itself within the world of Marvel’s hit X-Men series. Through the frame of a shoujo-manga artist, this original English manga […]
MANGA REVIEW: Time to get schooled
July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
ROSARIO + VAMPIRE: SEASON II VOL. 1 By Akihisa Ikeda (San Francisco: Viz Media, 2010, 184 pp., $9.99 paperback) School is back in session. “Rosario + Vampire: Season II” is back for its second year. This continuation of the original series starts off with Tsukune Aono returning to Yokai Academy for his second year. All […]
MANGA REVIEW: A walk on the wild side
July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
ARATA: THE LEGEND VOL. 1 By Yuu Watase (San Francisco: Viz Media, 2010, 208 pp., $9.99 paperback) Yuu Watase, the acclaimed author of other manga series such as “Fushigi Yuugi” and “Ayashi no Ceres,” is no stranger to fantasy settings, but “Arata: The Legend” serves as her first foray into comics for boys. In “Arata,” […]
MANGA REVIEW: A collection from the legend
July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
A DRUNKEN DREAM AND OTHER STORIES By Moto Hagio (Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, 2010, 288 pp., $24.99, hardcover) Moto Hagio is certainly one of the world’s leading artists when it comes to shoujo manga (comics for and about girls). Born in 1949, she is one of “the magnificent forty-niners,” a group of shoujo manga artists that […]
State of the Industry A Q & A with Fred Schodt on the end of the anime and manga boom
July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Fred Schodt is a well-known expert on Japanese popular culture. He was one of the first to write about manga in English, and was Osamu Tezuka’s personal translator for both the man and his comics. His first book, “Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics,” was published in 1983, and is still an invaluable resource […]
JASON SHIGA: Interview with a Crazy Genius
July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
“Crazy + Genuis = Shiga,” wrote Scott McCloud, considered by many to be the foremost authority on comics. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to argue that those two words do not apply to Jason Shiga. A favorite in the indie comics scene for more than a decade, Shiga won renown for his dark humor […]
Cosplay, transcending the fourth wall and more
July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
With the rising popularity of anime and the subsequent rise in popularity at such anime conventions as Anime Expo and Fanime Con in California, the practice of cosplay became a largely popular activity among fans. Cosplay, a contraction of the words “costume” and “play” is a fan-activity where people dress up as characters from anime, […]
A New Relationship, Unfolding Through Art ‘Japan’s Early Ambassadors’ at the Asian Art Museum
July 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment
In 1927, 58 young women arrived from Japan, toting newly issued passports, clad in elaborate silk kimono, their trunks filled with tea sets and painted fans, with the goal of teaching Americans about Japanese culture. They just didn’t know it. These representatives from Japan were a group of dolls sent as part of a friendship […]
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