No, really. It’s not all security, all the time. For example, my latest at Tor.com, on why the Akira adaptation is a big deal. Snip: One of Akira’s distinguishing characteristics is that none of its characters ever gets to be the hero for very long. Kaneda is careless. Tetsuo is weak. The story gives both …
If the pronouns listed in the title above mean anything to you, I suggest you read this piece by Deb Aoki about why she left American superhero comics for Japanese shounen manga. Snip: The fascinating and diverse female casts of Bleach and Naruto are a big part of these series’ appeal to both male and …
Re: DC, Starfire, Sailor Moon, and the difference between comics in the US and Japan: Read More »
Today I had lunch at Yuzu with a friend from my Strategic Foresight & Innovation program. (I ate about half of a giant, fabulous bowl of hwaedupbap.) We were discussing our design theses. You see, in between polishing my novel and writing a study on the future of media, I’m also working on my second …
Maybe you missed it, but New York Times writer Ginia Bellafante just insulted about half of HBO’s new audience share. It took place during a review (and I use that term loosely, here) of HBO’s new series Game of Thrones, adapted from George R. R. Martin’s exceedingly popular Song of Ice and Fire series of …
Why the New York Times should give me Ginia Bellafante’s job: Read More »
Apparently, Roger Ebert and William Gibson have discovered that Japan has a thing for surgical masks. This is true. Japan does have a thing for surgical masks. They are worn as protection from both allergens and airborne illnesses. They’re available in most every convenience store, at a variety of price points. (Here are some examples …
This November you can find me at SFContario, where I’ll be on a bunch of panels as both a participant and moderator. Here’s my schedule: Friday 10 PM – Ballroom A Cyborgs AI and Androids in Anime Japan leads the world in developing humanoid robots and anime productions address the question of what it means …
The other day, my husband and I caught a trailer for The Expendables, which is the cinematic result of a mad scientist’s attempt to mix the mitochondrial DNA of every American action star from the 1980’s into a sweaty, tattooed, bulging-veined chimera. We first saw this trailer during Kick-Ass, and my comment at the time …
Note: My husband typed this during his usual comics-consumption time. If it was important enough to interrupt that, you should definitely read it. This is Not a Digital Revolution or You Won’t Believe What Watching The Runaways Taught Me About the Fight Over Manga and DRM In my last year of high school, I wrote …
DeathRay Rants: This Is Not A Digital Revolution Read More »
Warning: the following contains spoilers for the endings of Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, Neon Genesis: Evangelion, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Battlestar Galactica, LOST, Supernatural (current) and The Prisoner. I’ve noticed an alarming trend in television finales, lately: God.
It didn’t give me the rush of pure awesome that Kick-Ass did, but it fell prey to exactly none of the problems I once imagined it would. Charlie Jane Anders is correct when she says that the greatest villain of the story is Tony Stark himself, but while for her this was a betrayal of …