When I found AnimeChicago on Meetup.com and clicked “Join,” I was nervous. Before getting involved with AnimeChicago, I had been trying to distance myself from anime fandom. After majoring in East Asian studies in college and studying abroad in Japan, I landed a shiny new adult job that promised to allow me to use my…
Reading is probably the hardest part of learning Japanese, so I thought I’d share some strategies that helped me improve my reading while I was in Japan. This is directed at people who are taking Japanese classes. I don’t have any experience with self-study from scratch so I can’t offer much advice there. If I…
The seasons are finally starting to change in Chicago, and warmer weather is on its way. But as those of us who have lived here a while know, we haven’t seen the last of cold weather. Hopefully now that we’ve hit 60 degrees we at least won’t see the negatives again for another year, but…
***Contains spoilers for Final Fantasy VII*** The Final Fantasy VII remake is finally happening. If you’ve met me in person in the past month or so, I’ve probably talked your ear off about it. I’m currently replaying the original, remaking my Cloud cosplay, and rereading fanfiction I wrote when I first discovered FFVII 8 years…
**This essay contains spoilers for Tiger and Bunny as well as the movie Tiger and Bunny: The Rising** As much as Tiger and Bunny is a story about superheroes, it’s also a drama about human relationships. To that end, director Keiichi Satou, character designer Masakazu Katsura, and scriptwriter Masafumi Nishida have carefully crafted a unique…