My Japanese Husband STILL Thinks I'm Crazy

My Japanese Husband [STILL] Thinks I'm Crazy is a self published comic by expatriate and Tokyo resident Grace Buchele Mineta who runs the website http://howibecametexan.com/.  The book was made available for download via Amazon February 16th, 2015 and Grace was very kind to give me a preview copy to write a review for.

 
    The book is part comic strip, part glossary and all about the things that happen to Grace in her everyday life that stand out to her.  Things such as the differences in celebrating New Years in Japan vs. America to the history of Valentine’s Day in Japan and having to adjust to waiting until March 14th for return gifts of love from her husband.  The concept of having to spend month’s worth of time living with her in-laws if/when she becomes pregnant, following Japanese tradition or the way she avoids conversations with people she doesn't want to deal with by pretending to be Russian and the stereotypical questions she faces on a daily basis due to her status of exotic foreigner.  Most of the panels are humorous, tender and silly.  At times more serious tones creep in as she works to deal with depression issues and concerns about her success and worth.  Her husband, Ryosuke, is presented as her rock of support and indifference.  He does his best to maintain a carefree, go with the flow attitude, stressing to just enjoy life as it comes and things will work themselves out. 

    This was a quick and enjoyable read; the book is around 180 pages in length.  It is a nice look at life in Japan as a foreigner balanced with easy to digest explanations of terms that the reader may not be familiar with.  The artwork is simplistic and reminds me a little of the style used by Brian Lee O'Malley, the author of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  Initially I was off put with the breaks in the comic panels by paragraphs explaining terms and settings but the information was easy to digest and explained things in a fashion that should work well for those not familiar with Japan.  This was a great break from the world of slice of life manga and anime, seeing a true to life perspective on Japan by an American.  I think this could make a great serialized 4koma manga, but I wonder if the author would be willing to put up with the insane work load that is demanded of professional manga-ka.  I could see this having some success in serialized manga format though as a foreigners perspective on Japan is an incredibly rare thing in Japan and that alone may propel it to popularity.  Instead, or for now, we can all enjoy her slightly leftfield commentary on the world around her through her 2 books and her web presence.  Now I have to pick up a copy of the original one to enjoy more mundane adventures of living life like a normal person in a foreign environment.
  
    I recommend this enjoyable read to anyone who wants to get a fresh and enjoyable perspective of what it's like to live as an American in Japan.  You can order a copy of the book for your self here on Amazon.

The Keep and Drop list for the Winter 2015 Anime being Watched

Its officially cut and release time for the brand new Winter shows.  Every last one of them has aired 5 episodes and after watching (almost all of them) to this point I can get a good idea of what will remain and what will be purged from my memory.  So here we go, in alphabetical order.

Aldnoah.Zero 2: With out a doubt the return of a favorite series from last year is sticking around.  The level of intrigue and Vers politics is kicking up and getting entertaining.  Cyber-Inaho proves to be even more bad ass than normal Inaho.  It's exciting to see the conclusion unfold.  Hopefully though, once this season ends we can have more stories dealing with this interesting world setting in the future.

Assassination Classroom: I gave it 3 episodes and realized that continuing it would be pointless.  This popular Shonen Jump series has nothing I am interested in, I just don't match that demographic and have not for a loooong time.  The artwork is not enjoyable either.

Death Parade: I was surprised how much I have enjoyed this one.  They keep this one-trick pony interesting and the episodes where they delve into the personalities of the 'staff' are more enjoyable than one would expect.  The animation is a bit weird at times, especially the canned CG scenes, but the writing is above what I expected.

Durarara x2 Shou: I absolutely loved the original DRRR and the second series has not disappointed.  The new characters they are introducing to the crowded list of personalities are enjoyable as the originals and the out of sync story telling makes the show even more enjoyable.

Koufuku Graffiti: I loved Sayanora Zetsubo-sensei and love cooking.  Sadly this show has little if nothing to offer anyone other then some oddly framed images of moe girls eating beautifully detailed food.  This one is being stricken from the list.

Rolling Girls: Once it got past the first two episodes that were set up for the rest of the story this show got more enjoyable.  Its like a cross between FLCL and I have no idea what else, but I've seen anime that feel similar to this one.  Its a fun romp outside of the realms of reality, even if its some what moe...

Saenai Heroine no Sodate-kata:Technically only lasting 4 episodes for me as the first episode that aired was a lead in.  That was more than enough to confirm that this was another otaku galge fantasy anime with little to no worth.  There were entertaining moments when the characters started to break the 4th wall and lambast the tropes the show was spewing, but that wasn't enough to make me want to watch any more than i already suffered over.  When can we get back to not making anime specifically geared towards niche otaku groups?

Here are the other titles occupying my weekly viewing habits.

Magic Kaito: The spin off from Detective Conan about his sometimes rival magician thief.  This is a mainstay at my house and my kids beg to watch it as soon as its available each week.  I can take it or leave it, but I do enjoy watching it with them.

Parasyte: Again, another series that caught me off guard.  I'm generally not a fan of seinen horror anime (oddly I really enjoy seinen horror manga) and was about to cut this one in the Fall.  I am glad I didn't because each episode that passes makes the show even better.  I'm hoping it sticks around for more than 26 episodes.

Sanzoku no Musume Rojna: This simplistic but oddly well done CG rendition of a loved Scandinavian children's story is fun and enjoyable.  Its directed by Miyazaki Goro and animated in conjunction with Polygon, who did/do the amazing animation for Sidonia no Kishi.

Shirobako: This enjoyable and highly detailed series goes hand in hand with watching any other anime.  See the hellish world the people live in who make the things you enjoy.  How surreal is it for the people making this one?

You're Lie in April: This moody and escalatingly dramatic story of love and self worth is remaining enjoyable.  I have heard rumors the manga ends tragically...lets hope thats true!!

Pale Cocoon

Pale Cocoon (ペイル・コクーン) is a short sci-fi OAV by Yoshiura Yasushiro and was originally released in 2006. 

    Ura works in the archival restoration department and spends his days working with the colonies computer systems to restore fragments of lost data.  People have had to live in an underground colony following the destruction of the surface of Earth long ago.  Through his work on restoring the collected archival information Ura is searching for the truth in the past.  He feels that there is more to the world around him than he understands.  The number of people in the colony is slowly dwindling and Ura is concerned that humanity will be lost in a sea of apathy.  If nothing more he tries to help continue their existence through the archives.  A friend of his who works in a different division challenges his conceptions of the world around him, pushing him to the point of finding out the truth himself.

    It has been a long time since I had seen this anime and realizing the creator is the same one behind Eve no Jikan made me want to rewatch it.  This is a beautiful display of CG animation and focuses heavily on personal interaction, as his other works have.  The concepts and background in this series are entertaining and well done.  The story is simple.  Two people contemplate the history they know and the truth behind the reality around them.  In he end this was a well done and enjoyable sci-fi story that dealt with average people living in the future, instead of hero's and super beings.  We need more stories that do that.

    Unfortunately this OAV was never released on disc in North America, one of the victims of the industries retraction in the 00's.  It was available for a time on Crunchyroll but is no longer available.