Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of It All

[railcaider]

From browsing the racks of bookstores in Japan I was aware of the fact that he was well-known, but I had only a dim understanding of his popularity. I remember reading A Slow Boat to China in my Japanese class. It was one of the first things besides manga that I read in Japanese and understood well enough to enjoy. It was a nice, succinct little

Comments

[saiyajin71]

You should really be a translator for the Japan Times, dude. I remember when you were over I mentioned it, but you have such a better command of both English and Japanese than I. I need to read some Murakami. I read the beginning of Hard-Boiled Wonderland in English, and now I really want to read it in Japanese. Maybe I'll pick it up at the Maruzen upstairs. I remember I read the first 35 pages during a free of mine, and it was extremely intriguing... But, my friend asked for it back so I couldn't continue. I'll have to check it out soon... as I have a hefty vacation coming up. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to go along with the vacation, so I can't go to Hokkaido, Tokyo, or Fukuoka like I want to

[railcaider]

It's worthwhile to read through that one, though you won't be missing that much if you stop after that.

The first step will be to get back to a job where I have to use Japanese again, preferably without all of the baggage that goes along with my current one. I'm really looking forward to moving to Osaka again, and counting down the months left here.

[seryoga]

I wouldn't be so mad with the guy if people didn't make such a big deal of out of him. I remember all those profiles which went on about how "Norwegian Wood" sold him out in the eyes of the critics and "forced" him into virtual exile...to Harvard. Oh, noes, not Harvard! Anything but that

[railcaider]

I'd been searching all over for Gunki Hatameku Moto ni, but it seems like it's only available on DVD in the US. This is pretty surprising, since you can rent a decent number of Fukasaku's earlier films from the same period on DVD. I suppose I'll order it from the US, and pick up the uncut version of Ai no Koriida while I'm at it.

Since I couldn't find the Fukasaku film at the video store on Friday, I decided to settle for Gunbuster. Speaking as someone who's long grown tired of most anime, I was pleasantly surprised by it. Thanks for the recommendation!

Anno knows exactly how far he can push the maudlin sentimentality, using it to maximum effect to draw the viewer in while stopping just shy of utter stupidity. It's ridiculous but he manages to make it work because of his heightened awareness of his audience and their reactions. I'd like to think that when he started Evangelion he wanted to subtly subvert their expectations, though midway through he started using it to lash out at the viewers.