×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Japan Inc.




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
JohnathanEnder



Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 86
PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:02 pm Reply with quote
Man. I bought this at Otakon 2008. The dealer had no idea what he was giving up. Only paid seven bucks. Anime smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Great Rumbler



Joined: 03 Oct 2006
Posts: 327
Location: Oklahoma
PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:39 pm Reply with quote
I actually bought a copy of this at Half Price Books a few years back. It was so strange that I just couldn't pass it up.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:35 pm Reply with quote
I've been looking at that last picture you posted and it brings to mind two things:

1) Having economic terms defined under a sex scene is strange.
2) Where did his legs go? I'm having a lot of trouble deciphering that position...



Speaking of used book stores, I don't know if you take requests but I found and snatched up volumes 7-12 of Five Star Stories at one of my local used book stores. I wouldn't mind knowing more about it before i invest in getting 1-6. And believe me, I tried reading 7-12, but I have no idea what is going on. Shocked
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster


Joined: 07 May 2005
Posts: 357
Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:39 am Reply with quote
JohnathanEnder wrote:
Man. I bought this at Otakon 2008. The dealer had no idea what he was giving up. Only paid seven bucks. Anime smile


Eventually I'll write about Mangajin and Bringing Home the Sushi. Japan Inc. is more of a "whoa, weird" manga than a manga you actually read to enjoy. Rereading it, I was taken by the storyline on anti-Japanese political sentiment. I also couldn't help thinking about the current financial crisis, although looking back on people's financial problems from 20 years ago isn't a particularly constructive feeling.


Last edited by ptolemy18 on Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:41 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster


Joined: 07 May 2005
Posts: 357
Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:41 am Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
I've been looking at that last picture you posted and it brings to mind two things:

1) Having economic terms defined under a sex scene is strange.
2) Where did his legs go? I'm having a lot of trouble deciphering that position...

Speaking of used book stores, I don't know if you take requests but I found and snatched up volumes 7-12 of Five Star Stories at one of my local used book stores. I wouldn't mind knowing more about it before i invest in getting 1-6. And believe me, I tried reading 7-12, but I have no idea what is going on. Shocked


I may have an easier time answering the sex scene questions than the Five Star Story questions. -_-;;

(I think his legs are hanging off the edge of the bed behind her body.... maybe? I assume he's not emerging from her pouch like a kangaroo.)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:15 am Reply with quote
ptolemy18 wrote:
I may have an easier time answering the sex scene questions than the Five Star Story questions. -_-;;

Hey,if you aren't familiar with, you aren't familiar with it. I just thought I'd ask in case you were.

Quote:
(I think his legs are hanging off the edge of the bed behind her body.... maybe?

While twisting his spine 180 degrees or something? That cannot be comfortable... Anime hyper
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
CareyGrant



Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Posts: 453
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 3:44 pm Reply with quote
Makes me wish I was a Japanese CEO/Tycoon during the 1980's. It looks like those cats were living in some truly outrageously decadent times.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
The Xenos



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 7:00 am Reply with quote
I remember taking out Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics by Frederik L. Schodt from my University library for a Japanese culture class, and seeing this book next to it. I sadly never did go back and pick it up. I see that it is on Google Books, though I'd love to have a copy as this is an interesting off the path manga that made it into English. Plus it seems to be an interesting book on Japanese culture itself.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bemused Bohemian



Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Posts: 404
Location: central Mizzou (Moral Oralville)
PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 6:36 pm Reply with quote
What I recall of the early- to mid-80's was a lot of Japanese entrepeneurs coming over here to invest in both real estate and corporations that showed promise. Investment opportunities were cheap because of our hard times and their yen was strong while our dollar was weak. One added benefit was the number of Asian tourists that came over to take advantage of that weak US dollar at that time.

I recall certain Canadian tour bus drivers as well as those US drivers affiliated with Maupin Tours (this company entertained a large Asian clientele during the boom phase in Japan) regaling about the "economic laziness" of the Japanese tourists during Expo '86 in Vancouver, BC. Rather than lug all that foreign currency or change on the flight home they "gifted" this excess to the both the guide and the driver. In plain language a Maupin tour driver would collect $800 USD in tips for 2 weeks touring BC and Alberta sites while the most I ever made as a US-based bus operator running a 3-week jaunt with US retirees from Midwest to Expo'86 with highlights in between was $300.

Much of the commentary I heard at the time about the Asian "invasion" on home soil re business buyouts and takeovers was more fear than race-based. The hysteria centered around what type of transformation the skilled American workforce would undergo with Japanese management at the helm. Computer technological breakthroughs were still in their infancy during this era while past icons (like smokestack America, etc.) that elevated the American standard of living were plateauing on a slow downward spiral. Inflation wasn't helping either.

Some of the US manufactured cars of that time were junk. Lee Iacocca resurrected ailing Chrysler Corporation from the brink by successfully cajoling the US Government into severly limiting the number of Japanese automotive imports. Once enforced Mr. Iacocca wasted no time improving the balance sheet of Chrysler by raising the MSRP. GM and Ford followed suit. Short-term during this contrived boom for US auto manufacturers the American consumer paid much more for transportation; long-term, thanks in part to Japanese competitiveness with emphasis on quality, this same consumer did enjoy a better product.

Not all of the Japanese investments in the US at this time were excellent decisions. Many American business opportunities the Japanese bought went high just before prices adjusted downward. Many Asians lost a tremendous amount of capital.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group