music
There are few Bay Area plans less appealing to me than getting onto I-880 on a Friday afternoon. Yet on August 14, that was exactly where we were headed. YOASOBI had brought the NORTH AMERICA TOUR 2026 “NEVER ENDING STORIES” to Oakland Arena, and avoiding 880 was not an
book
The next book club selection with Ms. Salle was the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin. The first book I read in the club was The Dispossessed, and I became almost obsessed with the beauty of her prose. I even tried to imitate her writing style for a while.
concert
While Huntrix and the Saja Boys might rule the world music charts, my personal favorite is Ado — a Japanese singer who’s built a reputation not just for her songs, but for her mystery. Known as a “faceless” artist, Ado keeps her identity hidden, performing behind a cage that only
movie
In January, I embarked on a business trip to South Korea and Japan, a fun adventure that was not only about work but also in a personal and cultural sense. My stay in Tokyo this time was especially memorable, thanks to the opportunity to immerse myself in the local cinema.
movie
Porco Rosso (紅の豚) is my favorite movie by Director Hayao Miyazaki. It was a movie from 1992, and I might have watched it more than 20 times. I even translated the script of the movie into Korean and ran it at a small cinematheque in 1994 (when I was a
travel
As I mentioned in the previous post, I visited Tokyo last week for the first time in three years. When I lived in Korea, my trips to Tokyo were almost a monthly routine thanks to the convenient 2-hour flight from Seoul to Tokyo. But not only the geographical separation
anime
It is so sad to tell about the loss of great souls recently and repetitively, but Mr. Leiji Matsumoto passed away yesterday (85). He is the creator of Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock, Space Battleship Yamato, and many others. I mentioned that the opening theme of Captain Harlock was my
anime
I couldn't write any article during the MLKJ day weekend, and it means I couldn't have finished Chained Chronicles yet - I was stuck at the last boss (maybe not the last, though). But anyway, I could have great times during the holidays, such as our 18th
anime
2022 had many great music animes. Among them, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocchi_the_Rock! was my personal best (BTW, the runner-up would be "Ya Boy Kongming!") The last episode of the 1st season was marvelous. The live sequence was the best that I've
anime
In Western culture, it is rare calling a person only by appellation without a name; maybe, "Your majesty" or "Your highness" would be in those rare cases. But in Asian culture, calling an elder's (or superior's) name could be considered rude. So,
anime
Last week, there was a cool article from Vulture [https://www.vulture.com/article/most-influential-best-scenes-animation-history.html] about the history of the animation. In those 100 great moments, I believe I know the most from the Japanese anime. As I said before, watching animes has been
anime
Finally, I watched the 22nd Episode of Yamato 1 - The Rainbow Star Cluster. It was an incredible story that a genius engineer beats an admiral who planned and executed a perfect strategy. Space Battle Ship Yamato is an extraordinary anime to me. Though (as a Korean) it is hard to
