Book Review Archives | Otaku No Culture

A Trendy or Cool Japan? These Case Studies will Enlighten! A Book Review

Tim Craig’s Cool Japan is an excellent study in nearly everything a student of Japanese pop culture will want to know more of and get answers to those aspects he or she is afraid to ask.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Tim Craig’s Cool Japan is an excellent study in nearly everything a student of Japanese pop culture will want to know more of and get answers to those aspects he or she is afraid to ask. If the product can be exported out of the country to experience then it is explored here. Specific companies are examined in this collection of essays, and the big three — traditional culture, popular culture and business — are looked at in synchronicity. The topics include nearly every aspect of the entertainment scene. Foodies will take delight in two chapters too (more on this later).

From the music industry to Sumo culture and even video games, the breadth of knowledge this author reveals (some units are in collaboration with others) is amazing. To take a look at the differences between Japanese games and Western ones is just one tiny part of this particular chapter. Not everyone knows about the details behind the merger of Square(soft) and Enix, and what it meant from a financial standpoint.

The title of this publication is aptly named as it is also the name of the initiative the Japanese government started back in 2010. The goal is to broaden the greatness of this country’s most exportable products and “capitalize commercially on the worldwide popularity of Japanese manga, anime, film, TV dramas, fashion, food, and other cultural products. It was also a response to the widely noted fact that—despite exceptions like Pokémon, Studio Ghibli and Sanrio’s Hello Kitty—Japan’s cultural industries were underperforming internationally. Despite the global popularity of their products, Japan’s cultural creators were earning far less than their counterparts in the United States and South Korea.”

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“Victoria’s Most Haunted” Gets A New Book by Ian Gibbs!

51nsewsef1l-_sx322_bo1204203200_ By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Presentation at Bolen Books
1644 Hillside Ave #111
on May 9, 7pm

Many long-time residents of Victoria, British Columbia will not dispute the fact that this garden city is haunted. More ghosts are said to spook specific streets here, and most of the downtown core and neighbouring districts are covered in Ian Gibb’s debut book, “Victoria’s Most Haunted.”

From bars to homes to restaurants and schools, this variety of sites is welcome. A few places are missed—some of which I had the fortune to check out during my time with PARAVI, a local paranormal investigative society (understandably not mentioned in the book because it’s no longer in operation)—but to get every story crammed in means obtaining permission not only from the group but also from the current business operators to talk about them.

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Rating He-Man & The Masters of the Universe Compendium

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Everything you ever wanted to know about He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (MoTU and She-Ra too) can be found in A Character Guide and World Compendium (available to preorder on Amazon), due to hit shelves May 10th. This voluminous tome is perfectly organized into sections to make finding information quick, and the fact the entries are further subdivided, based on either the toy-line, comics or animated series, makes for a great way for fans of this franchise to keep the facts straight!

Of course, I had to read the entry for Skeletor and The Sorceress right away. The sheer amount of information found for these two is staggering, and I love the dedication the research team put forth to collect images from various sources (including foreign adaptations) and photograph (i.e. the toys) to include. Even though some of the information can be found online at a wiki source, there’s something to this atlas which makes for a great conversation piece among nerds. The bonus of ownership is that this codex is reasonably priced.

While it will take time to read through all the entries in prep before a game of MoTU Trivial Persuit, I’m ready!

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Impressions of Austin Dragon’s Cyberpunk Detective Novel, “Liquid Cool”

I enjoyed finding the undercurrent of dark humor in Liquid Cool, and discovering the way a web of seemingly separate events all comes together in ways I wasn’t able to predict.

Liquid Cool By Shawn Trommeshauser (Dreaming In Digital)

I’m not usually one for detective novels, but the cyberpunk angle convinced me to give Liquid Cool a read. The setting brings to mind the scale Judge Dredd’s Megacity, and the colors and flying cars of The Fifth Element’s New York. Here, the city is called Metropolis and it is populated with colourful characters who tend to go by odd nicknames such as Run-Time, and China Doll. They live life alongside the fringe elements in the city because the police don’t have the manpower or resources to properly deal with everything the city throws at them.

“Liquid Cool” is a world of rainy skies and neon lights. Hoodlums are everywhere on the street and crime lords are living large. Even the police, such as Officer Break, are forced to deal with the underground simply to force his superiors to prioritize a young girl’s kidnapping. Here is where we find the eccentric main character, Cruz, a private investigator who drives an old Ford Pony. Not investigating the scene at a business that had just been shot up, but trying to put off meeting his girlfriend’s disapproving parents for the first time.

Liquid_600x800

I enjoyed finding the undercurrent of dark humor in Liquid Cool, and discovering the way a web of seemingly separate events all comes together in ways I wasn’t able to predict. I always appreciate when a narrative can surprise me without going completely off the rails into deus ex machina. If this were adapted into a film or a TV miniseries, I wouldn’t hesitate to spend more time in this world.

If this sounds appealing to you, then I would suggest checking out ‘These Mean Streets, Darkly’ It’s a short prologue to “Liquid Cool” and is freely available. I would recommend it if you’re a fan of either detective or cyberpunk stories.

These Mean Streets, Darkly – http://www.austindragon.com/books/these-mean-streets-darkly-a-liquid-cool-prequel/

Liquid Cool – http://www.austindragon.com/books/liquid-cool-cyberpunk-detective-series/

The Legend of How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury, a Review & Look into the Saga

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Fans of the How to Train Your Dragon book or animated series will no doubt know that two worlds are always going to be at odds with each other. The trust between humans and dragons is difficult, and when these two cultures clash, to find methods to preserve the peace is difficult. This principal message is one that both creator/author Cressida Cowell and writer/director Dean DeBlois have expertly crafted into the this narrative, and that is what makes this Viking saga so enduring. To see how the conflict finally comes to an end in the final book is aptly named How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury.

This novel was released in the UK on Sept 8th. In North America, it will be released in Canada on Oct 20th and in the USA on Nov 3rd. Readers will finally see the finale that’s been built up two books ago. The last three books comprise The Dragon Rebellion story-arc and the rising action only gets better in this last release. Here, the hero Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third finally confronts the dragon Furious, who is upset at all the inhumanity done to him and his species.

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Discovering the Lost Ark with the Covenant of Primus

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Covenant of Primus Book

The Covenant of Primus is one of those holy grails that fans of the Transformers series are waiting for. It delves into the biblical origins of how the Cybertronian race came into being and what the wars first fought were like.

As for where this book release fits in the many universes, namely from the original Generation 1 series to Michael Bay’s interpretation, this book is problematical. The movie talks about only seven primes. Who “The Fallen” is gets addressed only briefly, and as for how this modified history fits into to the Hasbro defined universe could benefit from a couple more pages of exposition.

At least this book belongs to the mythos established that began in the video game Transformers: War for Cybertron and ended in the televised CGI spectacular. Even the origins of the Predacons get revealed.

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