DAICON IV Opening Animation: A Five Minute Anime Legacy

Monsters. Giant robots. Aliens. Space battles. Bunny girls. Each one has become a common staple of anime, and only in this medium is it common to see them all together at once.

To celebrate the enormous variety that science fiction (both Western and Japanese) has to offer, a group of amateur animators came together to create 8mm anime shorts to present at a sci-fi convention known as DAICON. DAICON stands for "Osaka Convention," with "dai" being an alternate reading for the first character in "Osaka." Their first short, entitled DAICON III Opening Animation premiered at the 1981 convention, and its sequel, DAICON IV Opening Animation was shown at the 1983 convention.

Conventions like these are the root of otaku culture, these particular events actually pre-dating the term "otaku" itself. Popular anime titles often took inspiration from existing science fiction works found in other parts of the world (Mobile Suit Gundam for example was based on the 1951 novel Starship Troopers). In these videos, we are treated to seeing both Japanese and American science fiction titles placed side by side, particularly in DAICON IV.

Japanese Myth in Persona 4- Part 2

I've continued playing through Persona 4 and found myself wanting to play Persona 3 all over again. Also, the desire to play Persona Q rises. The same Personas show up again and again, and I really like all the different world myths and legends that show up! For example, I've seen Narcissus (a Greek myth) next to Yaksini (Hindu), a nozuchi (Japanese), and Archangel (Christian religion). I think the main cultures the Persona 4 developers draw upon are Japanese, Hindu, and Greek mythologies, religion, and history. I think the reason behind them drawing upon Greek legend is because it's so well-known. Hindu-derived characters may be because of proximity. Japanese legends maybe be because it does take place in Japan, after all, and Japanese players are likely to have heard of some of these. But what better mythology to draw upon than your own?

Jin, Mugen, and Fuu - Triangular Character Harmony

The success of many large media franchises is often attributed to relatable characters. Sailor Moon is popular because Usagi is cute and stylish but at the same time very human-like, failing tests and waking up late for school, and when she becomes Sailor Moon, she retains her relatable qualities while becoming the badass hero we all want to be. Samurai Champloo, one of my all-time favorite anime, succeeds at this in ways I never thought possible.

Night Raid 1931: A New Perspective in Historical Anime

In the anime medium, works that are considered to be historical dramas usually seem to focus on the romanticized eras of samurai warriors and powerful daimyos. There are very few that discuss events of the twentieth century, especially events that led up to World War II and Japan’s overwhelming defeat. There are notable titles like Barefoot Gen and Grave of the Fireflies that show the suffering of Japanese civilians, victimized by the nuclear bombs and other American military attacks, but there are hardly any that explicitly show Japan acting as the aggressor.