tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-474822155726017607.post5477987199592478221..comments2023-04-03T18:40:42.735+09:00Comments on The Caffeinated Symposium: What Happened to Cool Japan?Dave Cesaranohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01454928720043301400noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-474822155726017607.post-44354074674894926762016-02-25T14:06:17.817+09:002016-02-25T14:06:17.817+09:00Hey,
Thanks for your comment. Haven't gotten...Hey,<br /><br />Thanks for your comment. Haven't gotten around to responding to it because I've been busy teaching these past few semesters and it keeps me from writing as much as I'd like--that's why my posts have slowed to a trickle.<br /><br />Your observations are spot-on! It is also interesting how different Japanese and Koreans are, culturally. I should probably get around to writing more soon, but midterms are coming up and I will be having a lot of grading to do. Hopefully, though, I'll get some time to put something up.<br /><br />Love having dialogues. I've even considered starting a vlog channel on YouTube but I'm not the most photogenic guy in the world.Dave Cesaranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01454928720043301400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-474822155726017607.post-84262074659261382062016-01-21T19:05:14.921+09:002016-01-21T19:05:14.921+09:00Hi Dave,
Thank you for your thought-provoking arti...Hi Dave,<br />Thank you for your thought-provoking article.<br />I realise you posted it more than a year ago but recently I've been thinking about the same thing - what happened to the Cool Japan I knew when I was growing up?<br /><br />I'm from Melbourne, Australia and I have a very similar experience with you - Neon Genesis Evangelion was my Anime gateway-drug that got me hooked.<br />The characters were so interesting, the story-telling unconventional and unexpected.<br />I grew up in the outmost suburbs of Melbourne and so to watch anime I had to get my mother to drive me into the closest town and take the bus to the asian area of Melbourne where I could hire out VHS' from a store called 'Hobby Japan'. As far as I know, I was the only person in my school let-alone the area where I lived that did that.<br />I hired Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo, Ah My Goddess and others.<br />Like you said, compared with standard western entertainment Anime was so fresh and compelling, and depending on the show, hilarious.<br /><br />When I went to University one of the first things I did was join the resident anime club with my friend who was studying a course similar to mine. In the years of university I noticed anime was subtly changing, but just like boiling a frog you don't notice that much until it's dead!<br /><br />After graduating I largely ignored anime coming out as none of it held me like it did before then.<br /><br />It's interesting to compare Japan to Korea in that Japan had it's meteoric rise in the 80s and 90s and is now declining, whereas while we were growing up Korea was unknown, definitely not as cool as Japan and wasn't making anything as cool or as good quality as Japan was.<br /><br />However before university while still at school I studied Korean and found Koreans easier to get along with than Japanese - ironically when I traveled to Korea to study Korean further most of my friends were Japanese as they were my classmates and Koreans aren't as likely to study Korean!<br /><br />The recent rise of k-pop and Hyundai, Kia, Samsung and LG have been fascinating to behold. Almost with a linear relationship, the decline of Sony, Panasonic, Toyota and other Japanese car makers has been sad to watch - who doesn't remember Sony's walkmans and minidisc players which were so much cooler and better than the competition back in the 90s?<br /><br />Along with the decline in Japanese physical exports from car and electronic makers, I have felt the same thing with anime. Just like you said, the same tropes over and over again. In fact, until most recently with the advent of One Punch Man and My Love Story I haven't watched or enjoyed any anime except the Studio Ghibli stuff.<br /><br />I could go on and would love to have struck up a dialog about this but suffice to say thanks for your article!Alister Smithnoreply@blogger.com