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The Wonders of [Hidden] Fansub Translation Notes

This post is brought to you by GomPlayer, a wonderful media player, which is sadly, very much underrated kinda like Opera. I’m not sure if we’re all aware of the hidden comments that reside in subtitles, because they’re not really meant for us leechers public viewers. They’re primarily useful for the fansub translators, QC people, etc –- aka the staff, for clarifying translation nuances, adding side-comments, etc. The moment they get encoded into the video, it’s supposed to be not rendered by the players. Or so people thought.

The Anime Breakfast Club: What Do Anime People Eat For Breakfast Pt. 1

Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day. It sustains anime people through a large part of the day, whether they're going to school, piloting mecha, or saving the world. What does your anime character eat for breakfast? What do you eat for breakfast? Motosuwa Hideki (Chobits) This post was inspired by this photo essay.

Library Associations and Library War: Real Serious Business

Apparently, what inspired Hiro Arikawa to write Toshokan Sensou is the Statement of Intellectual Freedom in Libraries of the JLA (Japan Library Association), written on a plaque inside the library she and her husband visited. This was mentioned in her postscript in volume 1, but I really didn't understand it until today, when I checked out the spunky updated Toshokan Sensou article on Wikipedia. I fail as a TS fan! zetsuboushitaaa!

Alternate Universe: An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Introducing a brand new feature of the blog — Alternate Universe! Alternate Universe is where you can find out-of-character characters! I’ll just let Ryuk do the explaining. Ryuk: My precious… muhahahahaha Seleria: Isn’t that a line from another show? absolute0: Am I in an alternate universe? Popularity: unranked [?]

To other worlds with Yoshitoshi Abe

Yoshitoshi Abe is one of my favorite Japanese illustrators. He is famous for his work in Serial Experiments Lain, NieA_7, Haibane Renmei and Texhnolyze. One thing that I like about his art is the degree of realism in it. Compared with most anime/manga art which are simplistic in portrayal, Yoshitoshi Abe's art has a lot of detail. It takes you to worlds beyond ours!

Latest Posts

How I Want the Otaku Elimination Game to End

By usagijen ⋅ November 18, 2009

’nuff said. …but for some reason I can’t stop myself from saying more. As opposed to bloggers sucking up to each other (Anime Blog Awards), this time around we’ve got an otaku eliminator who jizzes and pisses at them blogs. Looking forward to the cumming of age of this one (I think it’s already happening, actually, not [...]

Continue Reading 15 comments Omake

My Animusic ‘Blues Chaser’

By usagijen ⋅ November 16, 2009

Thanks to my melancholic mood for the last couple of days, I came up with a list of my ‘10 Favorite Anime Music Blues Chasers’, also in response to adaywithoutme’s ‘Anime Music to Listen to When Depressed’. What better way to fight melancholy but drown yourself in music, right? I rarely talk about music in this [...]

Continue Reading 14 comments Music

Beyond the Blogging Crossroad II: The Woman on the Mirror

By usagijen ⋅ November 13, 2009

I wasn't supposed to write/publish this post until after a month because that's the time when I'd really grow older, but what do you know, people change. So without further ado, let's get ready to rambleeeee!

Continue Reading 19 comments Editorial

The Soothing Chamomiles of Kimi ni Todoke and Toshokan Sensou

By usagijen ⋅ November 8, 2009

If there's one way to describe Kimi ni Todoke (aside from 'refreshing'), it would be soothing, like chamomile. In the language of flowers, chamomile stands for "energy and patience in adversity" because of its ability to restore harmony and balance into our lives ((as stated in http://www.floweressenceenergy.com/newsletter.shtml)). That's what Sawako is all about, that's what the Kanto Library Force is all about. I'm not exactly sure if Shiina Karuho thought about this chamomile symbolism beforehand, because since there are no visible signs of chamomiles in the manga (especially not as 'visible' as the one in the anime). Either way it can only mean one thing: P.I.G. is AWESOME *bow*

Continue Reading 8 comments Anime