(Blinks Again)
Okay I'm a fan of all forms of nerd-media including Anime and Video Games. I am however not a Japanaphille. I simply am too well grounded in reality for that. Simply put Japan falls under the catagory of a nation crawling out of "Neo-Barbarism". The Neo bit coming from science fiction and having to do with the fact that civilization is determined in degrees by the most enlightened and progressive nation on the planet. When you fall far enough below that level in so many ways your a Barbarian. However it's important to distinguish because many people tend to always assume that Barbarism means little or no civilization or technology. One of the things that makes the modern world such a pain to deal with, especially morally, is that the modern equivilents of the Huns and Mongels and such might have guns, schools, electricity, planes, boars, and all the other trappings that represents "civilization" until you start looking at it in degrees.
Despite that lead in, I'm not entirely going to hate on Japan here. For all the problems with the USA, though consider that this is still a nation grounded in racism (ethnic/national purity), and which less than 100 years ago were trying to conquer the world, loading their brainwashed children into flying bombs, and launching them into ships. They were only deconditioned enough to survive by using weapons of mass destruction to demonstrate that there would be no heroic last stand if they didn't surrender in a losing war, there would just be ignoble death.
Given that people can live 75-80 years understand that this didn't even occur 2 full societal generations ago. For a society to really change it takes at least 4-10 societal generations. Usually everyone has to be dead who even knew someone that was part of the original culture, and for those teachings to die out.
I point this out because for every cool thing you see coming from Japan, there is something really twisted and messed up it seems. Not to mention a large degree of militant nationalism, racism, resistance to progress, and other factors. All of which can apply to a lesser extent to other nations like the US, but in a differant situation.
It should be noted that a lot of their science fiction and fantasy (through anime, video games, etc...) basically came from the USA. It's just produced initially with less watchdog groups and hoops to jump through (at the moment) than American productions. This is one of the big reasons why there is a cross-cultural appeal to a lot of this. It's our own stuff.
It should also be noted that both Samurai and Ninjas as the exist in Japanese pop culture are pretty much American creations through RPGs and such. Ninjas for example were kind of disliked in Japan for historical reasons, however Americans got a hold of the idea of these Shadow Warriors, changed it around beyond recognition, and developed this sort of anti-hero motif. Japan for example then took the idea and figured "oh it's kind of cool like that" so instead of being an unpopular idea, you have all these Ninja-girls and everything jumping all over the place. Again it appeals to Americans because we sort of created the pop culture version, and then they took it and used it. The same can be applied to say Samurai to a lesser extent. The Samurai aristocricy was overthrown, but then we sort of re-envisioned it along the lines of European Knights from times past, and they kind of retroactively ran with it.
Now some people are probably freaking out here because what I'm saying doesn't go with the vibe a lot of Japanaphilles. The bottom line I'm making here is don't confuse the pop culture with the people themselves, and also don't misunderstand where a lot of it comes from. Anime, JRPGs, etc... and their Western counterparts are heavily inbred.
Also understand that for every decent sci-fi story, you've got one that can't resist putting in some dude who took a Katana to his own eyes because he couldn't stand to see
post-war Japan or something, with an overall message of resisting change and bashing American and such. Not the kind of statement, or method of expression, one expects from a fully civilized country in Japan's position (and yes, I'm talking about Gasaraki).
Things like "Lodoss Wars" were heavily influanced by DND, and games like the original "Wizardry" and such heavily influanced the direction Japanese gaming took.
Also, understand that it appears a lot of the stuff Japan makes doesn't make it to the US because of US Bashing. For example it seemed to be a big deal that us "round eyes" didn't get "Final Fantasy X: Final Mission" and thus the story of that game was not completed. Keeping a lot of stuff as "Japan Only" is a big deal down there, and I've run accross a few referances to fans down there feeling that an American release cheapens a product.
I guess I'm rambling borderline incoherantly about Japan, because the point of this article seems to be "At first I wasn't a Japanaphille, but now I am one and it rocks".
The bottom line is Japan is a nation that hates you for a bunch of reasons, including racial ones. While they produce some good Sci-Fi and Fantasy products, they tend to be jerks about it, and it isn't half as innovative or even as "Japanese" as they pretend.
So basically while I like a lot of Japanese Video games and Anime, at the same time I've been poisoned somewhat against their culture. Anyone who wants to move there is insane (even though this paticular article didn't go there specifically, other similar ones have). It's not some great, and magical wonderland for nerds. It's a defeated island nation that needs to grow up... a lot.
>>>----Therumancer--->
R but whatever.