Ask our reporter in Japan!

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Paul

Paul

Ghost of Animes
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Lately I've been speaking with someone called Chris Stones, who is an English man (originally from sunny Hull!) living in Japan!

If you have any questions about anything in Japan; from the latest anime and manga to interests in the culture itself- Chris would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Just leave any questions in this thread.
 
Um, Ok...

I guess one question I've always wondered about would be what sort of rent/prices do you pay for housing? Of course this depends on where in Japan he is...

And how expensive is your average tankoubon/manga?

Er, thats it. Cheers.
 
answers

Rent:
Well it depends on where you live. You can find cheap places in or near Tokyo for around 40,000 Yen a month. If you stay in a Gaijin House it is a lot cheaper but you have to put up with other forigners and share a lot of things (kitchen, bathroom, etc...). There are some places that are under the 40,000 mark, mostly 1-room appartments sometimes with no bathroom. There are a lot of "weekly mansion" companies who offer a small but reasonably nice room, with bathroom, kitchen, TV etc for a not too extortionate price, depending on the place. Tokyo is expensive, so I would recomend somewhere in the Chiba or Saitama areas. I live in Ichikawa, Chiba. VERY close to Tokyo. I live in my wife's house- so no rent (lucky me!)

Tankoubon/Manga:
They usually cost around 400 Yen (about 2 pounds? I'm really crap with numbers, sorry! :? ) But, if you buy them used you can get some for 50 yen (25p?). Some are in a so-so condition, and new ones in almost mint condition, like Full Metal Alchemist etc... are about 100 to 200 cheaper than if you bought them new.
Many people go to a "Manga kissa" (manga cafe) which is more like a library than a cafe. Where you pay around 400 Yen or less for the first hour then a smaller extra price for every hour or half hour extra (depending on the shop). Most places have a few thousand books and are open 24 hours. They do midnight prices, a 6 or 8 hour pack, for a lot cheaper than in the daytime. A recomendation for when you miss the last train and are looking for a cheap place to sleep for the night. They also sell food/drinks/cigarettes, and not only manga- they also do Playstaion, TV, DVD'S (films, etc...), and porn. Some shops also have darts/billiards and other things available.

Hope this has been of some help :D
 
Thanks, that's a great help. Living over there must be a blast! If I can think of any other questions I'll ask away.
 
I have watched many anime where the school kids seem to be at school on Saturday and I was wondering if there is actually school on Saturdays in Japan?
 
Hi. I would like to ask about this year's new anime releases in Japan. And what is your opinion on the "big-name" titles reaching the UK this year. (Mainly consisting of Fullmetal Alchemist, the long-overdue Cowboy Bebop and Nightow's Trigun and Gungrave)

Thank you in advance.
 
There used to be school on Saturday, but since about 2 or 3 years ago it has been stopped. Some schools still do it, but most don't. A lot of the schools club activities, football, baseball, etc... are held on Saturdays.

As for this years manga. FMA will be big, the PS2 games are selling well and the movie is due out this spring so it'll be getting bigger and bigger. Other shows that are big at the moment are "Bobobo-bobo-bobo" (a very weird anime about a guy with a big afro who fights using his nose-hair :roll: ) And my personal favourite "Samurai Champloo" (from the makers of Bebop)- it's AWESOME!!! :D :) :shock:
also "yakitate Japan" and especially "MONSTER" are doing well.
 
How is football viewed in Japan? Is the their 'main' sport?

Also, what are your favourite aspects of Japanese culture?

Thanks Chris! :)
 
And my personal favourite "Samurai Champloo" (from the makers of Bebop)- it's AWESOME!!!
Click to expand...

You make me jealous :oops:

Does it stand up to CB? From what I've seen it looks fantastic, hope this one makes it to the UK sooner rather than later.
 
Thankyou for answering my question :D

I have another, if you don't mind.

Does EVERYONE take their shoes off and put on slippers? and is it really the big deal it appears to be if you don't?!
I have seen some anime where people at work (in offices) are wearing slippers. I was also wondering if all abodes have the entrance lower than the rest of the place, where shoes are left?

One last thing, do you personally eat Japanese food? and do you ever crave fish & chips (or other typical British foods)?
 
Football:
Is not all that popular in Japan. Lately the national team is doing well and that seems to get people interested, but only on the short-term. The J-League is quite popular dispite being rather crap. But, most football fans prefer the Itallian or English leagues. There are weekly football programs on TV, but nothing compared to those in the UK and focus almost entirely on European teams. The main sport is baseball. Football is nothing compared to it. During the season, most of the sports news is 99% baseball. This year a new team has started, the Touhoku Rakuten Golden-Eagles. The first new team in like 50 years or something like that.
You seem to get this "Whats the skill in football?! All they do is kick a ball around the field" attitude from baseball fans, which pisses me off. Especially since finding ANY skill or interesting things in baseball is almost impossible.
By the way, for those won might have any interest: last season the Seibu Lions won the Japan series.

My favourite aspects of Japanese culture??? :roll:
:idea: Convenience stores that are open 24/7 and have everything from dried squid to hardcore porn.
:idea: Trains that actually arrive and leave on time.
:idea: Tokyo having everything you want, so you don't have to go to some far off place (like Leeds or somewhere, sorry for being a Yorkshire boy) to get something you need.
I can't think of anything else at the moment...


Tenchi OAV and Outlaw Star 2:
I'll do a little digging and get back to you soon :wink:


Samurai Champloo:
It sh*ts on CB from a great hight :D Cb was cool but SC is better! I heard that it is getting a release in America soon on DVD. The new series starts here SOON!!!

Shoes:
All houses have a place that it lower than the rest of the house at the door where you take your shoes off. It is quite a big deal if you don't do it, but no-one will kill you or anything like that. In most offices, schools etc people change into slippers. At home most people use slippers sometimes but mostly bare feet or socks.

Japanese Food:
I do like Japanese food. Not all of it of course, some I wouldn't even offer to my worst enemy :!: I do get cravings for British food, especially Cadbury's "Mini Eggs", Galaxy Hazelnut, Pork Scratchings, KP Skips, those little pink/yellow/brown MR. Kipling cakes that are full of e-numbers, Jelly Tots, sausages (there are NO bloody real sausages here! I'm thinking about contacting the Human Rights Commision).
I do a lot of cooking myself so fish&chips etc, I can make at home. But I do miss standing in the rain outside a chippy, freezing and covering them in so much salt you could preserve them for a year and drowning them in vinegar so your eyes melt if you put them over them :roll:
 
Thankyou for your replies :D I wish I could send you some mini eggs (they've just come into the shops!).

One more question; might sound a little silly, but I just wanted to know if Cicadas are as noisy in real life as they are in anime? Sometimes their call seems almost deafening and rarely is there an anime without them in :D and I've got to say I've never heard such a noisy insect before!!
 
It sh*ts on CB from a great hight :D Cb was cool but SC is better! I heard that it is getting a release in America soon on DVD. The new series starts here SOON!!!
Click to expand...

A second series? Cool. Genon are releasing it in the US so I guess it's up for grabs in the UK. This is the #1 series I'm looking forward to over the next year so I hope it gets a release sooner rather than later!

Thanks for the asnwers, much appreciated!

One question: is 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano on TV much anymore? We get repeats of a show called Takeshi's Castle over here, an It's a Knockout variant of sorts in which 100 contestants compete in a variety of silly (and punishingly difficult!) games. But it's obviouslly quite dated so I was wondering what he's up to now...
 
Here's a good one. *Opens up his can of worms* ;)

From your unique position, how do you rate the quality of English language anime dubs in comparision with the original Japanese versions? Also, how are anime voice actors treated in Japan? Are they respected/famous people?
 
ohhhhh big words paul lol :p

something i wanna hear, like when i went to an ani convention i was worshiping the VA of Yurika lol
 
Cicadas:
Yes, they really are that noisy! They sound like a dieing evil robot laughing.

Takeshi:
"Takeshi's castle" is a LONG dead show. He is still on TV quite a lot though, and still making rather crap movies (i.e. Zatoichi, Brother, etc...)

Samurai Champloo:
Yes it is a continuation, but is classed as a second series- aren't all 2nd series the same??

Anime dubs:
I haven't seen any anime in English for AGES, but from what I remember they can be very different from the original. Most of the time they have to change things that would be difficult to understand for a forign person overseas watching, references to famous people who are unknown outside of Japan etc... The pronounciation af Japanese names in annoying though as they usually change them to a more western accent.
Voice actors are not really all that famous outside of the anime fan community. There is a magazine called "sei-yuu" that is in most big book shops, other than that and rarely on some late night TV shows or special events in places like Akihabara, you never see them.
 
Anonymous said:
Takeshi:
"Takeshi's castle" is a LONG dead show. He is still on TV quite a lot though, and still making rather crap movies (i.e. Zatoichi, Brother, etc...)
Click to expand...

Boo! :wink: I loved Zatoichi and Violent Cop. His minimalistic super-depressing style is a reshing change from Hollywood pap. Although Hana-bi won lots of fancy awards but I wasn't so keen.
 
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