Topic: Japan Discussion

Maybe it's just me but I'd rather see something clever than just showing 30 seconds of gameplay clips. Even looking beyond that, the Japanese one loses by default due to the choice of music. The Rolling Stones always trumps generic J-pop.

@fox ok agree to disagree

Another episode of Itadakimasu! Dining With the Chef.

The man dish was Nanban-Zuke. The fried fish looked good, but I'm not a fan of onion or bell peppers.

One of the side dishes was Avacado & Grapefruit with Wasabi. Never had avacado or grapefruit before, so not sure if I'd like it or not (although it was interesting to know that a shark skin grater is used to grate wasabi).

The other side dish was Okra Miso Soup. Looked pretty good.

Miso soup is good I have a ton of miso soup at home

Tokyo Fasion Express was on tonight. About my 5th or 6th try watching it, but it's just not the show for me.

Although I just found out that cat eared hoodies are popular (the show mentioned they were influenced by a popular anime).

EDIT: the whole episode was actually about a fasion designer that is influenced by anime & video games (and is licensed to make official products for Creamy Mami, and Panty & Stocking. Two anime series I've never heard of).

Cats in general are popular in Japan. There are cat cages where you can pay for a coffee and a hour or so to play with a kitten.

On today's episode of Journeys in Japan, the city of Kitakyushu!

It's a major industrial center for Japan (coal & steel), but is being remolded for "green" innovation.

Went through a local market. Looks pretty cool (a bunch of tight interconnected hallways, with shops for "rooms"). Kind of like a mall without all the flashyness.

Visited Mojiko train station. A 100 year old institution that is popular with tourists.

With the city's mix of old & new, it's become a go to place for filming movies, and tv shows. An old rice whearhouse is their most popular filming location.

A popular shop of traditional Kites was visited. A 400 year old tradition in the city.

They talked about the importance of ports and ferrys in the city's history. A traditional restaurant at a local port was featured (everything has stayed the same in the past 100 years, and it looks really cool). They had a beef pot which really looked good. Since the ports aren't used as much anymore, they've been revitalized with live entertainment on weekends and holidays (Jazz is popular).

They also highlighted Kitakyushu style ramen, which uses thin noodles and often features tonkatsu (pork cuts).

Old factories have become major tourist locations.

the city is 5 hours away from Tokyo by bullet train.

Imagine-Nation was on tonight.

They quickly highlighted Bishojo Battles at Home fighting video game.

The Blood series was highlighted. The new anime movie Blood-C: the Last Dark (released June 2, 2012) was the main focus. the previous entries in the series are Blood: the Last Vampire (anime film, shown on SyFy's defunct Ani-Monday block in the U.S.), Blood + (tv anime, shown on Adult Swim in the U.S.), and Blood-C (tv anime). Tarantino said that Saya (the main character) influenced the heroine of his "Kill Bill" films, and James Cameron (of Titanic and Avatar fame) praised the effects of the first Blood film. I enjoyed watching the first film and tv adaptation, so I may look into the newer stuff.

Manga artist Ippo Moriyama was interviewed. Kodomokedi Memetan is his current work. It's a comedy about a baby, that's also a cop. He has released the manga as an app.

We watched an episode of blood + in anime club at school a while back

Have you ever thought about watching the entire show? I thought it was pretty good. Even if you don't, try to watch Blood: the Last Vampire (the original anime version, not the crappy live-action Hollywood remake), because it's a great film (even if it's a bit short).

Anyhow, Great Gear was on tonight.

They covered a Japanese ruler maker, a Tokyo convention on new healthy living tech, and a manufacturer of cutting edge kitchenware.

Any other Kurosawa fans? I have pretty much all his films on DVD with the exception of only one I don't care for and one I'm waiting for a non-letterboxed release of. My favourites are probably Red Beard, Rashomon, and Sanjuro.

Uhh I liek japn cuz da sushis

I really need to start getting into Japanese cinema. The only non-anime Japanese films I've seen are some Godzilla movies (which are probably somewhat to severely Americanized, depending on the film, and it's age).

The only one I've saw subbed is Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), which I think is still the most current film. I loved how Toho had Godzilla kill our cruddy @ss Zilla in 5 seconds flat (yes, Toho officially introduced the U.S. "Godzilla" into their Godzilla universe, redubbed it Zilla, and made it look like an utter joke when confronting the real deal, lol).

My favourite Japanese film is a film called Sakuran.

Been a few days since this thread's been active!

Anyhow, J-Melo was on tonight. They had a performance by rock group Buck-Tick. Apparently they've been in the Japanese rock scene for 25 years (debuting in 1987), and the band's been together since high school. I thought they were pretty good, although I didn't hear anything I couldn't live without.

Itadakimasu! Dining with the Chef was on today. A Tofu Set Meal was made.

A Sautéed Tofu Crumble was the first dish. They stir fried the tofu crumbles (a firmer variety of tofu), along with vegetables (peas, carrots, and corn). It was seasoned with sugar then soy sauce. A beaten egg was then mixed with the dish, then sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Tomato with Tofu sauce was the next dish. Tofu was mashed into a paste. A Suribachi was used to grind a sesame paste, then the tofu paste was added, and mixed into it. sugar, soy sauce, and salt were added. Sliced tomatos were added, then the dish was ready.

Tofu "Ice Cube" and Chilled corn soup was the last dish. Tofu (a softer variety) was shaped to look like ice cubes, blanched in hot water, then put in ice water. a traditional Japanese soup was made, and the tofu was added. Chives were added.

Never thought tofu looked appetizing, and this really didn't change my mind (although if I ever go to Japan, I'll try it).

Journeys in Japan was on this afternoon. Sapporo was visited.

the first place visited was Odori Park. A local food stand was showcased. They served ears of corn in a butter soy sauce mix.

"Ramen Street" was the next stop, where there are lots of ramen restaurants. Sapporo style ramen uses miso soup.

Next up was a tour on a horse drawn carrage. The horse's name is Ginta

A tourist sight is the Sapporo Clock Tower. The clock was imported from the U.S. in the 1800's and it still works.

The former building of the Hokkaido government was visited. It is currently a museum.

Banei Horse Racing is popular in the region (a pulling competition), and Ginta (the tour horse) is a retired competitor.

Trams are an important mode of transportation, and in winter, they have snow plowing trams. There is also an underground walkway, so people can get around warmly in the winter.

A confection shop was visited (influenced by western style, and using superior ingredients from local farms). Looked awesome!

Hokkaido University was visited. It specializes in agriculture, and the locals love it for it's greenery. There is an area showcasing old farming machinery imported from the U.S., and there's even a farm on campus visitors can go to.

Next up was Sapporo Beer Garden, a restaurant inside an old sugar factoty. they specialize in Ghengis Kahn (a lamb dish). Lamb ususally isn't eaten in Japan, but it's very popular in this region.

Ferris Wheel Noria is popular amongst tourists, and you can oversee the entire city (beautiful at night).

Seems like a beautiful city. I'd love to check out their famous cuisine. They said it's best to visit in the summer, as it doesn't get too hot.

Imagine-Nation was on tonight.

They covered an event surrounding Final Fantasy XI, in which a new expansion pack was announced.

A game called Dokuro (a platformer) was highlighted. there are no plans to bring it out west currently, but the dev hopes to work out a deal with XSeed.

They covered Library War, an anime series where all forms of media are heavily censored (to the point that the gov't will kill anyone opposing censorship), and a group determined to fight it. The series was influenced by a recently (failed) attempt to clamp down on manga, by the Japanese gov't (saying certain aspects of the medium were damaging to young people).

They interviewed Senri Iida. A newly graduated anime artist. He won recognition through his short film, Girl and Cleaner.

Does anyone know where I can find clear scans of Pokemon Adventures Manga, GS saga-onwards? Was reading RBY on MangaReader but their pictures for GS are blurry, and I haven't had time to look for other places. I would ask in the proper thread for it but this one is just so much neater overall and still related. Thanks!

I don't know if they have anything Pokemon related, but I go to Manga Fox when I get the urge to read manga. Still, you'd probably get better results if you went to the dedicated Anime & Manga forum.

Unrelated to your post however, I watched Begin Japanology today, and it was all about the summer high school baseball tournament.

It's huge (seems to be even bigger than college football is here in the States), and the atmosphere is like nothing I've ever seen before. They spent a good deal of time also talking about a classic game that went 18 innings!