Wrong about Japan
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 12/17/2014
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 12/17/2014 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I got this fair-condition softcover from Better World Books, after seeing it in the bibliography of Pretty Good Number One. The author takes his 12-year-old son to Japan to see "manga, anime, and cool, weird stuff", while hoping to get the kid to appreciate some of the "real Japan" as well.
I admit I found the book a bit quirky, and learned that some aspects - including son Charley's internet-pal Takashi, a charming Gundam cosplayer - were fictionalized. I'm not sure if that makes Carey's self-described rudeness to Takashi better or worse; perhaps "Takashi" fills in for more than one real-world acquaintance?
Anyway, there are some funny scenes of parent-vs.-child interests, and some equally funny yet also disturbing ones in which Carey, having gained access to various stars of the manga and anime world, attempted to ask them about his own theories as to the true meaning behind their work - only to get shot down every time. Carey describes himself as a horrible interviewer, and the evidence suggests he's right - but that all makes me wonder why he wrote the book... One can certainly debate the meaning of "meaning", and whether the creator's statement as to what, if any, deeper meaning is in the work necessarily means a viewer/reader can't find different meanings, but that didn't seem to be what Carey was at here, and I mainly felt as if he'd wasted some truly rare opportunities to spend time with some of the great artists of the day.
All that said, I appreciated this somewhat unusual look at the manga and anime industry in Japan, but found that, for a parent/child cross-cultural travel-tale, I preferred Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater , by Matthew Amster-Burton.
I admit I found the book a bit quirky, and learned that some aspects - including son Charley's internet-pal Takashi, a charming Gundam cosplayer - were fictionalized. I'm not sure if that makes Carey's self-described rudeness to Takashi better or worse; perhaps "Takashi" fills in for more than one real-world acquaintance?
Anyway, there are some funny scenes of parent-vs.-child interests, and some equally funny yet also disturbing ones in which Carey, having gained access to various stars of the manga and anime world, attempted to ask them about his own theories as to the true meaning behind their work - only to get shot down every time. Carey describes himself as a horrible interviewer, and the evidence suggests he's right - but that all makes me wonder why he wrote the book... One can certainly debate the meaning of "meaning", and whether the creator's statement as to what, if any, deeper meaning is in the work necessarily means a viewer/reader can't find different meanings, but that didn't seem to be what Carey was at here, and I mainly felt as if he'd wasted some truly rare opportunities to spend time with some of the great artists of the day.
All that said, I appreciated this somewhat unusual look at the manga and anime industry in Japan, but found that, for a parent/child cross-cultural travel-tale, I preferred Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater , by Matthew Amster-Burton.
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Harrison's Comics (see notes for details) in Hudson, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, November 14, 2015
GoryDetails at Harrison's Comics (see notes for details) in Hudson, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, November 14, 2015
Released 8 yrs ago (11/14/2015 UTC) at Harrison's Comics (see notes for details) in Hudson, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the window outside Harrisons Comics at around 2:15, while stopping by to feed my own manga addiction {wry grin}. Hope the finder enjoys the book! *** Released for the 2015 World Diabetes Day release challenge. More information at the World Diabetes Day site. ***
*** Released as part of the 2015 E-less release challenge. ***
