The End Is Here… Awww, That Is Really Sad :(

Many children’s TV shows come and go. Most of them frankly stink and almost all just get canceled without a real concluding episode. Now, this little post is not intended to make anyone depressed or have a bad day, but I’m sorry to say that destroying the environment can kill off your species and gnomes only live for 400 years. Evidence after the jump. Read more »

Wallpaper Wednesday – August 2010 Edition

Wow, it’s the end of August already, which means it is time for our monthly wallpaper cache. Enjoy and feel free to contact us if you have any wallpaper you’d like to share and have posted! Read more »

The Enigma of Gender Roles in Japan and the Takarazuka Revue

In my opinion, despite all the media that it exports to America and the whole world, Japan’s cultural personality is very hidden and confusing to even the well educated. I guess it is hard to really apply our sociological imagination, or our ability to connect the dots between group and individual actions and motivations, to a different culture like Japan.

The greatest difference that always seems at the forefront in my thought is American individualism versus Japan’s sense of duty, collectivism, and strict norms on public behavior. Another is the competitiveness and inflexibility of their educational system. There is also the perception of widespread xenophobia and racism in Japan, which may annoy or infuriate a Japanophile and make the idea of relocating very troubling.

Though these differences are great, I believe that one of the greatest areas of misunderstanding deals with the personality traits of Japanese women in a country seemingly defined by strict patriarchy and media portrayals of women that seem incredibly shallow compared to even Hollywood standards.  The stereotypes, ranging from the hyper super cute anime character to the shy, “better seen not heard” student, worker, or wife,  contrast  greatly against the dynamic roles often played by and lived by men in movies, business, and politics.

One recent example I discovered, which both entertains and illustrates just how much I don’t know about this area, is the Takarazuka Revue. The Takarazuka Revue is a theater company composed of an all female cast which was started in 1913 as a sort of response to there being no women in Kabuki (traditional Japanese all-male theater). Since its inception, the Takarazuka Revue has become a huge hit and draws millions of fans. Read more »

Sugiyama Out of Jewels 9th Ring Due to Injury

Bad news: Shizuka Sugiyama, our favorite up and coming mixed martial artist, is out of the next Jewels event due to an injury. According to Nikkan Sports, it seems she suffered a broken collar bone as well as a dislocated shoulder during training. Sugiyama was to face Mongolian wrestler and MMA newcomer Esui in a shootboxing match at Jewels 9th Ring being held July 31st.

Unfortunately, this is another sad note considering Sugi’s career seems to have taken quite a downturn recently. After she went 5-0 at the beginning of her career, Sugi is now only 1-2 in her last three fights. It seems that her first loss at the hands of Alexandra Sanchez took quite a bit out of her. She also notably skipped Jewels 8th Ring, which was held back in May, after her second loss to Miki Morifuji.

We were looking forward to seeing her take to the ring again, although with mixed concern as she was pitted against a noticeably bigger opponent in Esui. Regardless, we wish Sugi a quick and lasting recovery, and we await the day she dons her oversized marshmallow-like Jewels gloves once more.

Wallpaper Wednesday – July 2010 Edition

Back with another batch of wallpapers. We went through a few more this month compared to last, and I was pleased to find the above fanart image of Lum by Range Murata. It’s definitely bikini season!

Catch the rest of the images after the jump, and just as a heads up, as Lithobolos continues to contribute we’ll probably be seeing more idol pics popping up here.   Read more »

Ellen Page, Cisco, and the China Connection

Watching commercials sometimes gets me annoyed and rarely gets me angry. Most of the time, I just try and zone out as to not be influenced into buying something I don’t need.  This is not the case with the recent ads from Cisco featuring popular young actress Ellen Page. Not only do these commercials annoy with their cheesiness, fail to actually present a product I might want to buy, but they ironically make light of the human rights violations the company is perpetrating in their cooperation with the oppressive government of China.

The two main Cisco advertisements I have seen are: 1) where she goes to a classroom in her hometown and meets kids who are going on a virtual field trip to China and 2) where the small town’s city hall has a police control center with video screens connected to local surveillance cameras. Read more »

Hooray for Women’s MMA

In anticipation for the upcoming duo of women’s tourneys taking place at Bellator 24 (August 12th) and Strikeforce Challengers 10 (August 13th), we were scouting about for some highlights. The following video shows a collection of some of the best KO’s and subs. Enjoy!

Vaseline Promoting Self-loathing Skin Whitening in India with Facebook

Skin whitening is very popular in India despite the social and health consequences. Here are two articles, from Feministing and CBS News, about a new Vaseline campaign on Facebook India where people can whiten their profile picture.

Guess I’m going to have to buy another brand of lotion now.

Wallpaper Wednesday – June 2010 Edition

I’ve been thinking about sharing the wallpapers I run across (mainly browsing through 4walled.org) and stare at on my desktop all day, so why not start posting them for the enjoyment of all?  I’ll be keeping track of which wallpapers I cycle through throughout each month, and I will subsequently post them on the last Wednesday of the month.

My friend Tommy over at Suika-san Studio has already done the same, so be sure to check out his monthly stash as well.

View the rest of this month’s papers after the jump. Read more »

Cat Shit One Gets New Trailer and Release Date

I’ve been out of the loop a bit lately, but thankfully I had a little reminder today that led me to check up on some new Cat Shit One info. I learned that the PV trailer I had uploaded on to YouTube, along with virtually all other instances of the video, had been taken down due to a copyright claim by 株式会社 IDA.

Unfortunately, IDA’s channel isn’t available at the moment, though when I checked earlier the new trailer was up but unavailable in the U.S. I have no idea why they’re being so restrictive at this time, but I was able to locate the new trailer on Chinese video site, Youku.  Check it out after the jump, and look for the first episode of Cat Shit One July 17th! Read more »