Becoming Confident – a Panel Story
Recently, organizations such as Ladies in Tech and Etsy have been promoting women and girls in technology. There are lectures, conferences, workshops. And also recently, the topic of confidence came...
View ArticleHidden Hints
The Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series by Atlus are generally urban fantasy/supernatural videogames (and generally set in Japan). Because of this, there are many references to Japanese culture and...
View ArticleGolden Week
What’s so golden about Golden Week? In Japan, company employees often work overtime due to social pressures and expectations. Students also go to school year-round (and Saturdays are often half-days,...
View ArticleIse Jingu, women, and terminology
Ise Jingu (known as Grand Shrine of Ise) is an ancient shrine in Japan, at Ise, described in the texts of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. The Kojiki is the older text, having been compiled and dated to...
View ArticleAnime Boston Schedule
My panel schedule for Anime Boston 2013 is as follows: Vixens and Tanuki: Tricksters in Japanese Lore: Friday Butterflies and Hurricanes: Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, Lore and You: Saturday I may be...
View ArticleAnime Boston 2013 Part One
So Anime Boston is over and done for the 2013 year: and it was my first Anime Boston. As such, and as I was giving panels, I hadn’t paid much attention to the formal guest listings: so when I was in...
View ArticleAnime Boston Part Two
Now with 100% more detail! To hear some of this, check out the Anime Boston podcast on Otaku in Review – I’m one of the guests in that particular podcast. As I said earlier, I enjoyed Anime Boston. But...
View ArticleHeroism
I’m preparing a panel on heroism and femininity, using the series of Revolutionary Girl Utena along with Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Hopefully, this panel will debut at Otakon 2013. In the meantime,...
View ArticleHeroism, part two
In my previous post, I asked what heroism meant to you. The trend seemed to be “courage” or “putting self at risk to help others”; however, in the series I’m looking at, unnecessary self-sacrifice...
View ArticlePortCon (Maine) in Brief!
Still recovering from PortCon, in Portland Maine; it’s the smallest convention I’ve been to yet, as I think even World Steam Expo (where I attended in 2010-2011) was a bit larger. I presented on...
View ArticleIndependence.
So July 4th is upon us in the United States, and along with your ‘traditional’ cookouts and fireworks and whatnot, it’s supposed to be a day to celebrate independence. And here I am, talking about...
View ArticleThe Star Festival (Tanabata)
Today (7/7) is Tanabata, a festival known in several places including Japan and Okinawa. It is originally a Chinese festival and known by various English names, such as the Star Festival, or the...
View ArticleConvention Survival.
Okay, okay, there’s a ton of information about how to survive an anime con; from making sure you drink plenty of water (many US conventions take place in the summer) to don’t overpack. But there’s also...
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On panelist-ing.
Otakon 2013 is coming up, and with it, Otakon’s 20th anniversary, my third convention this season, and the odd sense of debuting a major panel at Otakon yet again. More people do panels now, especially...
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Preparing a Panel.
The spiral staircase from Revolutionary Girl Utena (used for edu/personal reasons, see post) In my last post I talked about why I do panels. But people usually see the end result – the finished panel,...
View ArticleDrift (aka Otakon 2013 in Review)
In the film Pacific Rim, ‘drift’ means two pilots acting as one in order to control mecha like Gipsy Danger. The drift involves a neural link, with the pilots experiencing each other’s emotions and...
View ArticleHide-and-Seek
Since my last post, Obon happened (as did some of my friends’ birthdays). I was about to ignore this, but just the other day, I was asked about the hitori kakurenbo ‘game’ superstition. So this will be...
View ArticleAnime USA!
Before I leave for Anime USA 2013, here’s a brief list of the panels I’m helping present/presenting as main panelist: Heian Japan with Charles Dunbar Gentle Strength: A Study of Heroism (on...
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Anime USA: Or how I told stories and learned of ponies
Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. So, Anime USA 2013 had some problems; and I wore myself down Saturday night, but doing panels and taking part in the storytelling event would...
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Shadows and Fog
“If I told you a day doesn’t contain 24 hours… would you believe me?” 「君は、１日が２４時間ではないと言ったら、信じるかい？」 Protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 3 Portable (Makoto Yuki). In the game Persona 3, you battle...
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