I recently attended the Sports Day (undou-kai) at the Portland Japanese School at Hazelbrook Middle School in Tualitan, Oregon. It was on an especially hot Saturday at the end of June. At 
PJS they teach a 100% Japanese curriculum, which includes the traditional all-school Sports Day. For the day-long event the school is divided into two teams, red and white, and a variety of games are played in the summer heat. From traditional relay races and tug-of-wars to interpretive cheerleading challenges, students of all ages participate in their own way. The red and white designation is pretty arbitrary. The real challenge of the day is showing unity and strength against the almighty sun, which put up a real challenge to the PJS students this year. I was reminded not only of my Sports Days in the Japanese high school I worked at a decade ago, but also there is almost always a Sports Day episode in every high school-themed anime. "To Heart" gives one of the best representations, but my favorite is the over-the-top telling in “Shingu”. The preparation and events themselves cover several episodes, and every student basically drops what they are doing to be involved, whether as athletes, reporters, announcers, referees...I used to think the Japanese Sports Day was much ado about nothing until I realized the day is an exercise in bonding for Japanese students that I am not sure students in the US ever experience.
After much buzz and anticipation, the official English release of the first volume of GANTZ is finally on shelves. This title is well known for its violence and nudity, but GANTZ is not simply a fan-service escapade. I am a sucker for mind-shattering openings and the first 60 pages of the first volume of GANTZ throw the reader on one of the best manga mind-scrambles of recent memory. What starts as two high-school chums jumping to rescue a drunk who fell on Tokyo subway train tracks leads to a tale that is part "The Sixth Sense", "Running Man", "Battle Royale" and "The Cube". A rag-tag group of strangers who have just escaped(?) death is stuck in a tiny Tokyo apartment. It isn't long before the unique group (in various states of undress) is given a few moments to prepare for their first mission. This is where our inner-city castaways find a way out...but to what violent ends? The close of the first volume is as engaging as the opening and I can't wait to see what happens next.
For mature manga fans this is the summer of Dororo and the second volume of this three-book series has hit shelves (the final volume came out this week). This volume finds our hero, Hyakkimaru and his thief ward, Dororo at each other's throats, and in quite a pickle. A mysterious wall in the middle of nowhere sets the stage for a dark and sometimes shocking second act. If you read the first volume of Dororo, you will want to read all three. If you haven't, then start at the beginning of this Osamu Tezuka classic and read it all the way through.
The manga series I look forward to reading more than any other is MPD-Psycho, and the fifth volume of this 11-volume series is the second loop-the-loop in an awesome roller coaster ride of a tale. MPD-Psycho is about schizoid detective with multiple personalities that might be one of the more sane residents in a Tokyo full of some truly homicidal nutcases. A well-known American profiler comes to Japan to help solve an old child murder case (and embarrass Det. Sasayama) but this profiler is a lot more than he seems on the surface. Not only is the action getting darker, we are given some pretty solid clues as to what really is going on in Nishizono and Amamiya. MPD-Psycho Vol. 5 is available now. Volume 6 comes out September 10.
An iron stomach isn't required to watch the recent DVD release "Wakeful Nights", but earmuffs might be. The Japanese funeral traditions are strict and somber, and therefore a perfect subject for a comedic lambasting. However your ears might turn red in this tale of a traditional rakugo story-teller's death (which opens with one of the funniest erotic mix-ups on film). The sensei's adult students relish in the all-night drunken story-telling at his wake, and the challenge is to tell the most moving and/or funny story as the sake flows and the inhibitions break down. Is it in bad taste to look forward to the next death in the circle? Professional story-tellers shine at the blue tales they tell, and this is a translator's nightmare of Japanese dialogue as nasty as "The Aristocrats".
PJS they teach a 100% Japanese curriculum, which includes the traditional all-school Sports Day. For the day-long event the school is divided into two teams, red and white, and a variety of games are played in the summer heat. From traditional relay races and tug-of-wars to interpretive cheerleading challenges, students of all ages participate in their own way. The red and white designation is pretty arbitrary. The real challenge of the day is showing unity and strength against the almighty sun, which put up a real challenge to the PJS students this year. I was reminded not only of my Sports Days in the Japanese high school I worked at a decade ago, but also there is almost always a Sports Day episode in every high school-themed anime. "To Heart" gives one of the best representations, but my favorite is the over-the-top telling in “Shingu”. The preparation and events themselves cover several episodes, and every student basically drops what they are doing to be involved, whether as athletes, reporters, announcers, referees...I used to think the Japanese Sports Day was much ado about nothing until I realized the day is an exercise in bonding for Japanese students that I am not sure students in the US ever experience.
After much buzz and anticipation, the official English release of the first volume of GANTZ is finally on shelves. This title is well known for its violence and nudity, but GANTZ is not simply a fan-service escapade. I am a sucker for mind-shattering openings and the first 60 pages of the first volume of GANTZ throw the reader on one of the best manga mind-scrambles of recent memory. What starts as two high-school chums jumping to rescue a drunk who fell on Tokyo subway train tracks leads to a tale that is part "The Sixth Sense", "Running Man", "Battle Royale" and "The Cube". A rag-tag group of strangers who have just escaped(?) death is stuck in a tiny Tokyo apartment. It isn't long before the unique group (in various states of undress) is given a few moments to prepare for their first mission. This is where our inner-city castaways find a way out...but to what violent ends? The close of the first volume is as engaging as the opening and I can't wait to see what happens next.
For mature manga fans this is the summer of Dororo and the second volume of this three-book series has hit shelves (the final volume came out this week). This volume finds our hero, Hyakkimaru and his thief ward, Dororo at each other's throats, and in quite a pickle. A mysterious wall in the middle of nowhere sets the stage for a dark and sometimes shocking second act. If you read the first volume of Dororo, you will want to read all three. If you haven't, then start at the beginning of this Osamu Tezuka classic and read it all the way through.
The manga series I look forward to reading more than any other is MPD-Psycho, and the fifth volume of this 11-volume series is the second loop-the-loop in an awesome roller coaster ride of a tale. MPD-Psycho is about schizoid detective with multiple personalities that might be one of the more sane residents in a Tokyo full of some truly homicidal nutcases. A well-known American profiler comes to Japan to help solve an old child murder case (and embarrass Det. Sasayama) but this profiler is a lot more than he seems on the surface. Not only is the action getting darker, we are given some pretty solid clues as to what really is going on in Nishizono and Amamiya. MPD-Psycho Vol. 5 is available now. Volume 6 comes out September 10.
An iron stomach isn't required to watch the recent DVD release "Wakeful Nights", but earmuffs might be. The Japanese funeral traditions are strict and somber, and therefore a perfect subject for a comedic lambasting. However your ears might turn red in this tale of a traditional rakugo story-teller's death (which opens with one of the funniest erotic mix-ups on film). The sensei's adult students relish in the all-night drunken story-telling at his wake, and the challenge is to tell the most moving and/or funny story as the sake flows and the inhibitions break down. Is it in bad taste to look forward to the next death in the circle? Professional story-tellers shine at the blue tales they tell, and this is a translator's nightmare of Japanese dialogue as nasty as "The Aristocrats".Hope to see you or have seen you at Kumorinon this weekend!
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