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Gnibo created an article from about 66 text blocks
I came to Japan at the end of 2003. The only things I knew about Japan at that point were movies like Samurai Fiction , Wild Zero and Tokyo Four Eyes. Ultraman, Domo-kun and Gamera were my heroes. It was the Japanese world of manga with all the characters, the crazy TV shows and colourful advertising that fascinated and attracted me. But Japan is so much more. At that time, my digital camcorder was my daily companion. I filmed everything. The refrigerators in the supermarkets, the escalators in the train stations, the blue tarp tents in public parks, the dogs in handbags70; Searching for details in displays made me addicted, and when I found myself searching my footage, separating the videos frame by frame (at 29.9 frames per second) trying to find even more detail, I decided to switch from video to still photography in the form of digital snapshots. After a long period of observation, I finally discovered an interest in Japanese architecture and housing. I realised that even though there are a lot of earthquakes on this island, traditional house-building seemed to avoid using diagonals which would strengthen the structur (underbelly.com/)
I can't tell you how much of a Yoshida Brothers fangirl I am, despite the fact that I was disappointed by their fourth album release. This new single brings their tsugaru jamisen talent into a collaboration with Monkey Majik, a rock band from Sendai. The songs are mostly in English since both vocalists in Monkey Majik grew up in Canada before moving to Japan you may have heard of them through the duet single Picture Perfect with m-flo. The single starts off fast with Change, getting slower and slower through Mr. Postman . There isn't a song on this single that I don't like, but Change is definitely the highlight with Yoshida Brothers mixed in. It makes you think of Tomoyasu Hotei in Samurai Fiction , or The Bride 's fight scene with O-Ren Ishii in Kill Bill Vol.1 : (community.livejournal.com..../tag/j-one)
With a title like Sam Noir: Samurai Detective one would almost automatically assume that the comic is going to be a comedy. The merging of samurai culture with pulp detective fiction, after all, seems like something you [70; (www.readaboutcomics.com....ory/image/)
Hiro Nakamura is Heroes main character (If you are not watching Heroes, what are you waiting for!), he has a sword that belonged to someone called 60;Takezo Kensei61;. The cool thing is 60;Takezo Kensei61; is not a fiction character, he was a real samurai, in fact he is probably the most 60;famous61; samurai ever. If [70; (www.kirainet.com....h/2007/05/)
Most adults who have read Samurai have been reviewers; and I've been lucky in that it has been almost universally praised. As with any young adult novel, I do hope there's enough in there to appeal to the adult side of that equation. Still, I often find a great resistance to young adult literature among adults not in the business. There's a perception that such books are just kids stuff, perhaps on the level of an After School Special, all problem novel and no art or subtlety or fun. Sometimes this prejudice is couched in the questions I get from well-meaning adults, like, So, do you ever think you'll move up to adult books? I gently remind these people that young adult fiction is a thriving, competitive, and exciting market, and that I'm very happy to be where I am. At no point did I ever consider writing books for children to be a stepping stone to writing books for adults. This was the goal, and I'm proud to have made it. Even so, I still get comments like the one from an old college roommate, whose response to my announcement that Samurai Shortstop had been published was, Don't worry, publishing a young adult book is almost like having a real book publishe (www.papertigers.org....gratz.html)
For another thing, who could possibly equate "Star Wars" with clean and rustless spacecraft? The design of science fiction movies was almost entirely sleek and streamlined until 1977, when the " used universe " of George Lucas 's "Star Wars" gave us patched and recycled technologies and spaceships. Now everybody does it. I'm not claiming that Lucas was an original thinker, either. (He's proudly owned up to cobbling together the plot of "Star Wars" from the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa , the "Flash Gordon " serials, and Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces," not to mention Laurel and Hardy movies, Howard Hawks 's "Red River," Tod Browning 's "Freaks," you name it. And I've also heard that the lived-in, broken-down look of "Star Wars" was ripped off from " Valerian ," the popular Franco-Belgian science-fiction comic first published in 1967.) But come on, Lane, do your homework (www.boston.com...._re_1.html)
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For those of you who frequent Boing Boing , as I do, you'll recognize Cory as one of the blog's four regular contributors. Boing Boing is my hands-down can't miss blog read every day, and it was through that site that I learned Cory Doctorow wrote fiction. Then last year, while I was visiting Florida schools, bookstores, and libraries to promote Samurai Shortstop , I picked up a copy of Cory's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and read it in various Sunshine State motel rooms. It seemed appropriate, as we were circling the land of Disney (gratzindustries.blogspot.com....chive.html)
Samurai Shortstop was the third novel I wrote for young adults, but the first one that I sold. The other two (one a contemporary super-hero fantasy and the other a romantic high school comedy) still haven't sold, although I'm reworking the comedy and hope to place it one day. I had been trying to find my place as a writer for some time, having written, as you mention in the introduction, for a number of different media. Then my wife became the book and toy buyer for a chain of independent bookstores and she began bringing home books like Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass . These books and more excited me, and I quickly realized that I wanted to be a part of the new young adult renaissance. As for historical fiction that's just the story I wanted to tell, and fortunately for me, it's one an editor wanted to publish. Not everything I write will be historical fiction but I do have another historical baseball novel on the way in 2009; and I'm sure I'll return to the world of old Japan some day as wel (www.papertigers.org....gratz.html)
I meant author as profession and writer as craftsperson. Writing historical fiction (which was new to me) forced me to learn new ways to organize and outline my work. I had hundreds of pages of notes to keep track of after all! My writing grew by leaps and bounds during the development of Samurai Shortstop , and thus I think of it as a real breakthrough for me in terms of craft. And of course to sell the book meant establishing myself professionally what I would call a breakthrough as an author (www.papertigers.org....gratz.html)
By accident. I never intended to write historical fiction. I was far too lazy to do proper research. But the idea, once discovered, was too good to let go. It all started with a travel guide to Japan, where I saw a picture of a man in a kimono throwing out the first pitch at what the caption told me was the 1915 National High School Baseball Tournament. I knew the Japanese were mad for baseball, but I had always assumed they learned baseball during the Allied occupation following World War II. Turns out they had it much earlier52;1872, to be exact52;and that time period, the Meiji Restoration, proved to be a fantastic background for a story about the early days of baseball in Japan and a father and son trying to reconcile the past and the present. Samurai Shortstop was the third book I wrote in my efforts at becoming a career YA novelist and the first one I sold, but I hadn57;t stumbled upon that photo and started down that path when I did, the next book would probably have been Something Rotte (interactivereader.blogspot.com....gratz.html)
AG Before I embraced research, I simply picked projects that didn't 60;require61; any research. I was too lazy. Or, perhaps better put, I lacked discipline. That's not to say that only writers of historical fiction are disciplined. Once I learned to be a more disciplined writer, I looked back at 60;all61; the writing I'd been doing, historical and otherwise, and realized I could be applying more disciplined techniques to everything I'd been writing. There was a 60;reason61; Samurai Shortstop was the third book I'd written and yet the first one I'd sold. I was a much better writer then. I'd learned so much. But before Samurai, I couldn't imagine putting in the time and effort that a research project like that would require. Those days were filled with a lot of writers block, a lot of banging my head on the keyboard waiting for the muse to strike. I have a much better handle on those things now (karensnews.blogspot.com....gratz.html)
"In spite of the casting uncertainty and production rumors surrounding Sin City 2, there doesn't appear to be a shortage of Frank Miller material headed to the big screen. The opening date of 300 is looming closer , and now IESB has posted the news of the latest Miller graphic novel to be chosen for a film adaptation . 300 producer Gianni Nunnari has confirmed that he is already planning his next project - an adaptation of Miller's Ronin. Ronin is the story of a dishonored 13th century samurai existing in an apocalyptic New York packed with mutants, cannibals, and a reincarnated demon while on a quest for redemption . The story has a little bit of everything; Miller himself has described it as "a superhero, science fiction, samurai drama, urban nightmare, gothic romance ." (www.fanboy.com/2007/03/)
Afro Samurai is on tonight at 11pm on Spike TV. So I dropped by ther website to look at the first few minutes of the show, and I have to say that the quality of the animation is A+for a television series. However I wasn't that impressed with the writing or the editing of the story. I think my problem is that I tend to associate Samuel L. Jackson with a 'Pulp Fiction sense of humor' so I tend to be let down if the plot takes itself a bit too seriously. But of course being the fanboy that I am I'll be DVRing the first show tonight, and then watching at least two out of the five episodes before I give u (www.fanboy.com/2007/01/)
With a title like Sam Noir: Samurai Detective one would almost automatically assume that the comic is going to be a comedy. The merging of samurai culture with pulp detective fiction, after all, seems like something you can57;t succeed with unless there57;s a touch of humor involved. The more I read of Sam Noir: Samurai Detective , I began to have a nagging doubt. Could it be that Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson are taking the concept 100% seriously (www.readaboutco....m/2006/09/)
Crimes against good taste: Lloyd Grove at the New York Daily News has a quick overview of Laura Collins' New Yorker summary of Scooter Libby's fiction debut, the 1996 novel "The Apprentice." The story is a thriller set in turn-of-the-century Japan, but Collins writes that "certain passages can better be described as reminiscent of Penthouse Forum." For instance: "The main female character, Yukiko, draws hair on the 'mound' of a little girl," and the "brothers of a dead samurai have sex with his daughter." Collins says that "other sex scenes are less conventional," and quotes one longer passage: "At age 10 the madam put the child in a cage with a bear trained to couple with young girls so the girls would be frigid and not fall in love with their patrons. They fed her through the bars and aroused the bear with a stick when it seemed to lose interest." A suspiciously enthusiastic reader review on Amazon writes: "Libby's story builds and builds and builds until it reaches a crescendo of sexual and political tensi (dir.salon.com....10/31/mon/)
Additionally, Golding's tale is an extremely universal one. The boys in the book happen to be English, but there's no reason why they couldn't be American, Japanese, Brazilian, etc. On the other hand, Nip the Buds is written with specific regard to its setting: wartime Japan. Oe himself is surprised by his worldwide appeal: he says he writes to his fellow Japanese, his own generation in particular. Several of the themes, including that of heartless , fickle villagers, is common to Japanese fiction (Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" and Abe Kobo's "Woman in the Dunes" come to mind instantly). This book in general is written with obvious scorn for senseless violence and specifically, Japan's role in World War II. This is not to say that Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids can only be appreciated by elderly Japanese people (I certainly am not in either category). But, as is often the case with Japanese literature, it's very important to try to understand the environment the author was living in and commenting on at the tim (www.amazon.com....7/am841-20)
Plot Keywords: No Opening Credits , Disguise , Loss Of Mother , Messiah , Teenage Boy , Wuxia Fiction , Escape Pod , Galactic War , Fate Of The Universe , Spaceport , Invented Language , Death Star , Cave , Wilhelm Scream , Cult Favorite , Creature , Recapitation , Battle , Epic , Android , Planet , Shapeshifting , Outer Space , Warp Speed , Space , Hologram , Space Travel , Female Pilot , Explosion , Death Ray , Wedding Ceremony , Fight , Sequel , Part Computer Animation , Lightsaber , Clone , Army , Assassin , Asteroid , Bounty Hunter , Futuristic , Good Becoming Evil , Good Versus Evil , Hate , Jedi Knight , Origin Of Hero , Prequel , Prophecy , Revenge , Space Opera , Spacecraft , Spirituality , Sword Fight , Desert Planet , Returning Character Killed Off , Blockbuster , Forbidden Love , Wedding , One Armed Man , Severed Arm , Arena , Bodyguard , Conspiracy , Decapitation , Emotionally Vulnerable , Foreshadow , Investigation , Massacre , Mother Son Relationship , Nightmare , Political Manipulation , Robot , Senate , Senator , Surprise Attack , Teacher Student Relationship , Teenage Love , Teenage Rebellion , Teenage Romance , Chosen One , Levitation , Telekinesis , Kidnapping , Tragedy , Martial Arts , Childhood Sweetheart , Father Figure , Samurai , Giant Monster , IMAX Version , Child Flying Spacecraft , Assassination Attempt , Eaten Alive , Child Holding Severed Head , Prequel To Cult Film , Infatuation , Mass Murder , Seduction , Space Battle , Honor , Responsibility , Warrior , Death Of Mother (see less (www.amazon.com....50-9952129)
Afro Samurai also has one of the most memorable casts of bad guysever assembled for animation outside of Japan. I already mentionedJustice, but there&s also the monk/assassin collective, the Empty 7,the teddy bear-headed Kuma, and assorted heavy artillery-totting hiredkillers and disposable bandits and hoodlums. Although I was a littledisappointed that babe Kelly Hu as Okiku didn&t have a bigger role, sheonly seemed to be in it for the sex appeal (and as the director&s cutproves, to give a little something for the guys who may be watching).Although an odd choice for a role such as this, Samuel L. Jackson is athorough double-edged sword as both Afro and Ninja Ninja. (It&s hard tobelieve this is the same man who once played the Bible -quoting hit-manJules Winnfield in 1994&s Pulp Fiction . (www.imdb.com/title/tt0465316/)
Regardless, I had just finished the second of two novels that my new agent hasn't even read yet, so I figured I had time to take a break from long fiction and give it a go. It took me a little while to plot the thing out to my satisfaction while keeping it short enough to be sold, but I did it. The final result is called "To Honor Ichiko and Defend Japan." The story has none of the same characters as my novel, but the three main characters have their roots in the character work I did for Toyo, Futoshi, and Junzo from Samurai (alangratz.blogspot.com....chive.html)
Case was the sharpest data thief in the Matrix , until an ex-employer crippled his nervous system. Now a new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run against an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a mirror-eyed girl street-samurai riding shotgun, he's ready for the silicon-quick, bleakly prophetic adventure that upped the ante on an entire genre of fiction. (www.thinkgeek.com....cifi/291a/)
Rashomon gets masterful when in one instant there is literally a differentpoint of view: the camera takes another position to shoot the same sequence,thereby forcing the audience to reconsider what they just saw. That is thesort of storytelling that the supposed masters of cinema in our time yethave to equal, or try to copy when they fail. Admitted 'Memento ' (2000,Nolan) is a truly great one. Still not THAT universal. 'Pulp Fiction '(1994) didn't come close, 'La Commare Secca' (1962) also didn't. 'Ghostdog: the way of the samurai' (1999) touched another border of the concept,or does it (us.imdb.com....ercomments)
I have been playing two Playstation 2 games lately. The first one was "Onimusha Warlords", a Resident Evil clone with Japanese samurai and demons . The second is "Red Faction", an interesting game quite similiar to Half-Life. "Red Faction" is about a rebellion on Martian mines, a sort of Emile Zola's "Germinal" with science fiction and guns. Zola's novel is about a strike in the coal mines of Northern France at the end of the 19th century. While a strike is never just sitting on a chair waiting for things to happen, I played with the idea of how a strike simulation would be. Definitively, it would not look like "Red Faction" (www.ludology.org/2001/08/)
This is a classic work of fiction; the story runs in a linear fashion, and the plot is such as you might find in any other book. Rhinehart uses his knowledge of Zen well, though, and the book gives an insight into the thinking of both Buddhist and Samurai thinking that feels full and well-rounded unlike the superficial treatment of these topics in a lot of Western writing (www.bbc.co.uk....g2/A509645)
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