Monthly Archives: March 2009

Reflections: Shibata Motoyuki on Japan’s Reception of Media (EXPANDED)

Last Thursday and Friday, I got the opportunity to attend two lectures (one detailed here) by Shibata Motoyuki, who is a professor of American literature at the University of Tokyo and who has translated over fifty English-language texts into Japanese. There’s a good (and humorous) article over at NeoJaponisme that discusses a panel he spoke [...]

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Seiyuu Politics: Full Metal Alchemist & Voice Actor Idolization

In the States, there seems to be a strange, cult-ish fan following for American voice actors. Contrary to the past, when early anime conventions hosted a fair number of Japanese guests, today the Economics of Cheap dictate that instead of flying over Japanese voice actors (seiyuu) most conventions host a multitude of American-based dub voice [...]

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Cool Japan: A Look Into Exotic Anthropology

Via Japan Society
A response to coverage of the KRAZY! anime & manga art exhibit at the New York Japan Society and a preview of my lecture/presentation at the Popular Culture Association national conference on Wednesday 8 April.
If geeks had never thought of anime as cool, it would never have become popular in America. This is [...]

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  • Department of Alchemy


    Connecting the dots between popular media and social culture.

    伏見いなり、京都

    The Department of Alchemy approaches American, Japanese, and international digital culture from a critical, analytical (and sometimes quite academic) perspective.
    The blog provides commentary, news, essays, reviews, reports, presentations, audio/video, and general thoughts for a mainstream audience, with intended respect to the context of the works and the broader society that encompasses them.

  • Events



    See me speak at Ignite Boston 7 at Microsoft NERD in Boston, MA, on 4 March 2010.


    See me speak at Penny Arcade Expo East in Boston, MA, from March 26th - 28th, 2010.


    See me speak at the Popular Culture Association National Conference in St. Louis, MI, from March 31st - April 3rd, 2010.


    See me speak at Anime Boston in Boston, MA, from April 2nd - 4th, 2010.


    Meet me at ROFLcon II in Boston, MA, from April 30th - May 1st, 2010.


    Meet me at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, CA, from July 1st - 4th, 2010.


    Meet me at Otakon in Baltimore, MD, from July 30th - August 1st, 2010.

  • Archives