All tagged culture

Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out Proves That There's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity

Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out Proves That There's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity

Mary Lee Sauder
Blog Post

Have you been watching Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out this season? It’s a fun show about a loner college student named Sakurai and his obnoxious, but well-meaning kouhai Uzaki who makes it her personal mission to get him to enjoy life a little more. Nothing particularly original here, but the comedic antics are entertaining and the dynamic between Sakurai and Uzaki is much more genuinely sweet than you might expect it to be. Still, is that really enough to make it the fourth most watched anime (besides sequels) on MyAnimeList for all of Summer 2020? Sure, the pandemic means that there isn’t much competition right now, but how did it manage to get so much attention?

Religion in Anime – Creepy Crosses, Hard-Hitting Criticism, and So Much More!

Religion in Anime – Creepy Crosses, Hard-Hitting Criticism, and So Much More!

Mary Lee Sauder
Blog Post

Despite the fact that most modern Japanese people aren’t devout practitioners of any particular religion (Buddhism and Shintoism are thought of as more cultural than spiritual, for the most part), plenty of anime use religion or religious symbolism as part of their stories in one way or another. So, let’s take a closer look at several shows that approach the subject in different ways to see what the medium of anime has to say about religion!

The Fictsexual Phenomenon - Why Some Japanese Otaku Are Choosing to Marry Anime Characters

The Fictsexual Phenomenon - Why Some Japanese Otaku Are Choosing to Marry Anime Characters

Mary Lee Sauder
Blog Post

Recently, a Japanese woman named Ori Kusanagi held a marriage ceremony between herself and Rei Furuya, a handsome secret agent character from Detective Conan. She had rings made, took photos in a wedding dress, and even changed her name to Ori Furuya. Only a year earlier, a man named Akihiko Kondo celebrated his wedding to Vocaloid idol Miku Hatsune and now spends his days living with a $2700 Amazon Echo style hologram of his wife.

Japanese Twists on Western Holidays

Japanese Twists on Western Holidays

Mary Lee Sauder
Blog Post

Japan has many of its own cultural holidays like Tanabata and Obon, but in recent decades, it’s become more common for Japanese people to celebrate Western holidays as well. Of course, the vast difference in cultures means that these occasions look quite a bit different when Japan is in charge! Just in time for White Day (which we’ll get to in a bit), let’s check out some Japanese twists on Western holidays!