For the first time ever on Ningin, we’re going to have a roundtable discussion – in a blog format. The one thing I really want to impress upon people is that Ningin is a community for people interested in all aspects of Asian media and that a community has many different parts. Today, this roundtable format will give a very clear example of how that community and all those different parts can come together in an open discussion. This roundtable post will be done in 4 parts spread throughout the day.

The people that making up this roundtable will be: Ningin bloggers, Lan and Mia; outside bloggers, Louis from Xorsyst.com, John from Otakuden.com, and BZou from Otakuinternational.com; and Ningin users, Owari, Kibouhou, and SimonMBC. They’re all going to give their opinions about the following topic:

Which anime series would make the best MMO universe based on story, characters, and abilities? More »

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Media based on a shared world past are in their own category; historicals come in many forms like movies, novels, or mini-series. We notice when history inspires Anime and Manga, the most infamous series come about. At their height of popularity shows like Lady Oscar and Inuyasha inadvertently peaked peoples interest into their own planets past.

Inuyasha, written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi is also known as ”the Feudal Fairy Tale”. The Manga strip ran as a weekly series in a magazine called Shōnen Sunday. This adaptation lasted over 12 years from 1996 to 2008 and followed the adventures of a young girl as she was swept back to the Sengoku Era of Japan. The fantasy aspect of the Anime and Manga at times made reference to Japanese history and brought many things to light besides mythology. One episode in particular talks of Oda Nobunaga aka Demon King who was the first individual to attempt to unify Japan at the end of the Warring States period. The comedic part is the main male character of Inuyasha, is a mythological hanyu (half demon) himself. Although the Oda Nobunaga in the series was never relative to the real one, we do hear about the one that actually existed in several scenes. In fact it is the other female lead, Kagomewho is very impressed with the Nobunaga she meets and tells her friends all about the other legendary Nobunaga. More »

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As a newcomer to anime, it was suggested that I watch a couple of different styles as well as formats. There’s so much to choose from, but here’s where I began…

Ghost In A Shell: So, I’m gonna start off by simply saying: “Wow.” I know this an oldie but goodie, but I think that seeing this movie first really set the bar high. I was consistently impressed by not only the animation, but maybe even more so by the storyline. While following the covert ops team in a techno-crime thriller sounds like it could be complex enough, I was often caught off guard by all of the existential subtext. Motoko Kusanagi’s “construction” lends itself to major philosophical issues; by having a human brain and spinal cord while the rest of her body is mechanized she is constantly reminded of her duality. To me, this added another level of depth to “The Major” as she forged ahead in her fight against the Puppet Master. More »

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One thing I liked about growing up in Seoul was the fact that there were so much Japanese animes being broadcast on Korean televisions. I definitely took advantage of that and watched many, many animes in my elementary school days. However, I decided around sixth grade that I was “too old” to watch these “cartoons” and simply stopped watching them. I regret doing that, but thankfully my friends bought me back into the anime world in ninth grade with Slayers.

Once I got back into the wonderful world of animes, in the last ten years or so, I’ve been trying my hardest to reconnect myself to all my favourite animes from my childhood. To be honest, it proved to be a rather frustrating task. See, the animes that were shown on Korean televisions were all dubbed into Korean, Japanese titles were changed into Korean ones, and even the names of characters were changed to Korean names! Needless to say I had a fun time searching the American or Japanese titles for Tekuu no Escaflowne or Fushigi Yuugi. But the one that took me a while to find and had a pain of a time looking for due to it not being popular in Japan happened to be Mado King Granzort. More »

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Anime has commonly featured their characters dancing which in return has had fans band together to learn and perform them in the streets. Not only are these dances cute and easy to learn, but they’ve become a popular trend; sort of like the moon walk. While Michael Jackson couldn’t save his life to be cute, other characters have beaten him to the punch.

There are lists beyond lists of popular dances in anime, but the most famous of them all are the Hare Hare Yukai and Lucky Star Cheer Dance. Both are common dances that have been done many times over by fans around the globe in addition to each other (Haruhi Suzumiya characters have done the Cheer Dance and vise versa). Although they aren’t America’s Best Dance Crew material, they’re definitely something of wonder. More »

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In case you haven’t heard, we’re partners with the New York Anime Festival! This is our biggest event partnership so far and so we felt something special was needed to promote it. Well, the 7 Days, 7 New Bloggers special worked out so well for us, we decided to do 8 Days of Anime (the number 8 is lucky in many Asian cultures). For 8 days, starting on Thursday September 18th, we will be posting at least two articles a day about something Anime related. We’re hoping that if we hyped up Anime enough online, you’ll be all hyped up for the real world event in NYC. In addition to articles, we’re also doing a roundtable discussion for the first time on Ningin where bloggers and members get a chance to share their opinions on a particular anime topic. Also joining as part of this 8 Days of Anime special are two very good friends of Ningin, Xorsyst.com & Otakuden.com, because we love working with good people and they have very interesting websites.

So here’s a list of planned articles which is more or less solid: More »

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People are so quick to blame “otakus” or everything in the world but themselves. Turns out the popular manga series turned anime, novel, tv-series and movie Death Note, has caused crime and controversy in every where but Japan. I guess Japan has enough problems.

If you don’t know what Death Note is, it’s a popular manga series that turned into a big franchise. For those of you who have seen it would understand why. It is probably the most well written anime I have ever seen. If you really enjoy suspense, mystery, shinigamis (death gods) and a cute blonde Anime girl, Death Note is definitely for you. 

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