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Feeling Cold, Feeling Old
Jan. 8th, 2020 08:56 amThe temperatures here in Minnesota have returned to something resembling average for this time of year, so when I took Shawn in to work this morning around 7am, it was -1 F / -18 C. And, for whatever reason, I really felt the cold, too, you know what I mean?
When my barista asked me how I was doing today, I said "cold," but he heard "old" and we had a laugh about how: yes. As the kids would say, "Same energy."
Speaking of what the kids would say, I was surprised to discover that my barista who says thirty is still some distance from him had NEVER heard of the French foreign legion. I mentioned it in the context of "things people used to say when they were planning on running away from it all, ala, 'I'm going to run off and join the circus.'" Which, of course, also made NO SENSE to this young man because circuses do not come to town any more. I then spent several moments trying to figure out what "kids these days" would say when they want to pick a universally understood place of escape from it all. Do people still say, "run off to the country/the big city," maybe? I have no idea. Anyone out there think they might know?
As it is also Wednesday, I will tell you that the big thing I read over this last week was all six VERY THICK volumes of Akira by Otomo Katsuhiro. "Akira" (the movie) was one of the first things that made me sit up and say, "Wow, what is this anime thing you speak of?! I must consume all of it," back when we actually had not yet borrowed the word anime from Japanese into English and instead awkwardly called this style of visual media "Japanimation" (which looks fine, until you say it out loud.)
At any rate, I saw the film when it was first imported to the US in the early 1990s at the Uptown theater (where I also saw my first Lupin III film, "Castle of Cagliostro" as they did a run of the early imports.) I was enough into it that at one point I went to the trouble to get a video tape copy of "Akira" imported from Japan at great expense and hassle. Yet, somehow, I had not read the manga until just yesterday. I'd heard that it was much longer and more detailed, I did not realize the extent to which the manga is almost a completely different story, not unlike how Kubrick's "The Shining" is both completely nothing like but is also yet the story of Stephen King's The Shining. I mean, the vibe is the same and there are even moments in the manga that are almost the same, but it's... well, for one, the movie of "Akira" stops at volume 3--though the final resolution is tacked on.
There are some parts of the manga that I totally get why they were skipped. The manga destroys Neo-Tokyo more times than is strictly necessary and the Americans invade at some point (awkward considering how soon after WWII this was written) and several new "nations" are formed under various psychic cult leaders. I mean, yeah, it's fine that the movie chose to condense all this stuff. honestly. But, I will say that Kaneda (arguably the main character, since he has the most agency, though most of the plot happens to Tetsuo) is shockingly more unlikable to start and shockingly more likable by the end. I guess that's what happens when you have several extra hundred some pages to develop character.
Anyway, I unearthed my replacement DVD and tried to rewatch the movie... and I got half way through to the trippy nursery stuff and quit. Partly because I found the music/background sounds really difficult to listen to.
None of this means anything if you've never seen "Akira" or read Akira, but that's what I've been reading.
My library had a manga I simply HAD to pick up, as the joke is too good. If you're a manga or anime fan you probably know that the sound cats make in Japan is "nyan." You also may (or may not, since I only learned this last year) know that "yankee" is the term for delinquent. So, what do you imagine a manga call, wait for it, Nyankees might be about?
Yeah! It really is!
It's a manga about delinquents who you first "see" as tough guys, but who are quickly revealed to actually be alley cats. I... simply HAD to pick that up. I'm going to read it next.
I also decided to make 2020 the year of manga classics, so I'm going to read Dogs next and then maybe move on to the full volume set of Astro Boy.
Did you read anything fun this week?
When my barista asked me how I was doing today, I said "cold," but he heard "old" and we had a laugh about how: yes. As the kids would say, "Same energy."
Speaking of what the kids would say, I was surprised to discover that my barista who says thirty is still some distance from him had NEVER heard of the French foreign legion. I mentioned it in the context of "things people used to say when they were planning on running away from it all, ala, 'I'm going to run off and join the circus.'" Which, of course, also made NO SENSE to this young man because circuses do not come to town any more. I then spent several moments trying to figure out what "kids these days" would say when they want to pick a universally understood place of escape from it all. Do people still say, "run off to the country/the big city," maybe? I have no idea. Anyone out there think they might know?
As it is also Wednesday, I will tell you that the big thing I read over this last week was all six VERY THICK volumes of Akira by Otomo Katsuhiro. "Akira" (the movie) was one of the first things that made me sit up and say, "Wow, what is this anime thing you speak of?! I must consume all of it," back when we actually had not yet borrowed the word anime from Japanese into English and instead awkwardly called this style of visual media "Japanimation" (which looks fine, until you say it out loud.)
At any rate, I saw the film when it was first imported to the US in the early 1990s at the Uptown theater (where I also saw my first Lupin III film, "Castle of Cagliostro" as they did a run of the early imports.) I was enough into it that at one point I went to the trouble to get a video tape copy of "Akira" imported from Japan at great expense and hassle. Yet, somehow, I had not read the manga until just yesterday. I'd heard that it was much longer and more detailed, I did not realize the extent to which the manga is almost a completely different story, not unlike how Kubrick's "The Shining" is both completely nothing like but is also yet the story of Stephen King's The Shining. I mean, the vibe is the same and there are even moments in the manga that are almost the same, but it's... well, for one, the movie of "Akira" stops at volume 3--though the final resolution is tacked on.
There are some parts of the manga that I totally get why they were skipped. The manga destroys Neo-Tokyo more times than is strictly necessary and the Americans invade at some point (awkward considering how soon after WWII this was written) and several new "nations" are formed under various psychic cult leaders. I mean, yeah, it's fine that the movie chose to condense all this stuff. honestly. But, I will say that Kaneda (arguably the main character, since he has the most agency, though most of the plot happens to Tetsuo) is shockingly more unlikable to start and shockingly more likable by the end. I guess that's what happens when you have several extra hundred some pages to develop character.
Anyway, I unearthed my replacement DVD and tried to rewatch the movie... and I got half way through to the trippy nursery stuff and quit. Partly because I found the music/background sounds really difficult to listen to.
None of this means anything if you've never seen "Akira" or read Akira, but that's what I've been reading.
My library had a manga I simply HAD to pick up, as the joke is too good. If you're a manga or anime fan you probably know that the sound cats make in Japan is "nyan." You also may (or may not, since I only learned this last year) know that "yankee" is the term for delinquent. So, what do you imagine a manga call, wait for it, Nyankees might be about?
Yeah! It really is!
It's a manga about delinquents who you first "see" as tough guys, but who are quickly revealed to actually be alley cats. I... simply HAD to pick that up. I'm going to read it next.
I also decided to make 2020 the year of manga classics, so I'm going to read Dogs next and then maybe move on to the full volume set of Astro Boy.
Did you read anything fun this week?