so i watched this weird movie...

Well, it was actually a documentary. After the football game last Thursday (are we 9-0 now?) I was heading to bed and flipped on to Netflix briefly to see if there was anything I could fall asleep to*. It just so happened that I ran across some Japanese documentary made in 1994 called "Otaku". The description Netflix provided is as follows.

This documentary explores a group of mostly male Japanese youths who are obsessed with Manga and Anime subculture, and how this escapist world of comic books, movies, dolls, guns, art and video games began, evolved and is affecting Japanese society.

Please keep in mind I was reeally tired after the game. When I saw the words "manga and anime subculture" the first thing I thought was, "well perhaps this film directly relates to my ISP". While I won't say I was totally wrong, I must say: I was totally wrong. It very well could have been that I fell asleep before the movie reached the topics I wanted, but the last thing I remember was three dudes sitting around an apartment talking about why they have or haven't had sex. They also kept going on about Japanese idols (equal to Justin Beiber except unquestionably girls) and how they love how they can't access these "goddesses".

The movie did make clear what Otaku is, and through its explanation the movie made a whole lot more sense. To be blunt and crude, the movie described Otaku as this culture of people who do nothing but collect Anime, Manga, Dolls, and anything mainstream pop culture. Essentially, an Otaku is the kind of person Americans mix up normal Anime fans. Granted, there is a similar type people in the USA, examplified by Japanese Culture Greg in the popular mini-series Teen Girl Squad at homestarrunner.com (to the teacher formally know as Dowdle: I highly recommend watching all of the TGS's in order).


On another note, I watched a different Japanese movie last Friday, this one actually being a movie versus a documentary. It was called "Until The Last Sword is Drawn" and had nothing to do with my project except for the aspect of it being Japanese. I'm not sure why, but I thoroughly could not stand the main character that is definitely portrayed as the good guy. This Yoshimura dude is basically a Samurai skimping for a living at the turn of the century. He's kind and flexible -unlike traditional Samurai- and frankly I find him a disgrace. There's another character in the movie that feels the exact same way as I do: we both find Yoshimura extremely annoying. If he wasn't a Samurai I wouldn't mind so much, but I really did feel like punching Yoshimura in the face. A lot. And then I fell asleep in the middle of the movie. What a pity.

*Consequentally, the last movie I watched for the sake of slumber was "Barney: Let's Go to the Zoo"