Japan and Anime

Today, we had a quite free lesson, where we were to work on Japanese culture. We were able to do whatever we wanted to, as long as it had something to do with this topic, and the point was to learn about Japan. The teacher gave us three texts that were related to the topic.

I started by reading the texts and writing notes. I think this was a good start, because that gave me useful background information on the topic. The notes were a good idea when I sat down with Eline, Julie and Heidi and watched Anime. We watched Ouran High school Host Club. The anime was from a high school where we got to see what the students did, and how they acted. This anime was a good example to illustrate the facts I had just read about. However, this anime was not very dark. I thought it was very fun to see what so many people around the world find so fascinating. In the Anime, I found many of the same characteristics that you can find in many other cartoons and films. In the Anime, the main character was a regular girl with no superpowers. Her schoolmates had their faults, and none was like the American dream- male or female. This gives the series personality, and also, this makes people able to relate more to the stories. In the anime, I also found characters that are similar with famous characters from the west, like Fred and George Weasley. Their behavior were very similar, indeed, as wel as the fact that they were identical twins too.

Fred and George Weasley

Hikaru and Kaoru Hitatchin

Of course, there are a lot of differences between the Japanese Anime, and our western comics. First, like I’ve mentioned, the main character in Anime is a regular person. The Anime also refer a lot to the culture in Japan. The culture in clothing and greeting are being showed trough the Anime, giving its fans a quick impression of the society most of the Japanese people live in. You also see Japan in the houses and gardens in the series.

I have learned a lot this lesson. I have personally found Anime a waste of time earlier, but now, my eyes have opened to the brilliance of this way of letting the world know Japanese culture. I also figured that it was a good idea to start by reading a little on the background information, and ending the lesson by seeing a real example.

The first picture of Ouran High School Host Club: http://animeafterglow.wordpress.com/category/anime-series/ouran-high-school-host-club

The picture of Fred and George:

www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/happy-birthday-fred-and-george-weasley71774/

The picture of Hikaru and Kaoru:

http://anime8me.wordpress.com/

The Film vs. The Book

For this entry, I am to choose one of the passages in the movie and relate it to the book. The passage or scene that I will analyze is the first time Amir meets Rahim Khan in many years. He has traveled all the way from America to Pakistan to meet Rahim. Khan is very sick. He has one last request of Amir; to go back to Kabul and save Hassan’s only child, a boy called Sohrab. In the book, this is an emotional part, and a part where Amir also finds out how close he and Hassan actually was. It is also an big turning point, where Amirs life in America is changed forever. I think that this is the first warning that something dramatical is about to unfold, and that the scene and all the emotions involved are essential towards the developement of the story. In the movie, I didn’t get that feeling. The scene was a bit too short and impersonal to meet my expectations. I also feel that it was given very little attention and importance.

I feel that this is the general mistake in the movie. The scenes are to short and lacks a lot of important details, like Hassan’s hare clipped lip, Ali being crippled, Assef having blonde hair, and I think they cut out too much on their life before the Kite fight that fatal winter. This makes the whole change in atmosphere less noticeable, and Amir’s failure less clear. Therefore, I am actually a bit disappointed of the film, and there are many things I would have done differently if I were to make the movie. This made me want to give the movie not more than 4, but mostly it gets this because I like the book so much it feels wrong giving it less...