Tag Archives: twitter

I Swear, It’s Coming

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We’re still here, I promise. I’ve been fairly busy over the past few weeks though, so here are some excuses to occupy your time:

- Finally started at the Convergence Culture Consortium at MIT (Comparative Media Studies). Been organizing research projects for the next year, and I’ve already applied anime as a case study for analysis of modes of media consumption by certain audiences.

- Been hard at work with the Web Ecology Project. Last week, I spent the greater part of five days finishing up our most-recent major publication, “The Influentials: New Approaches for Analyzing Influence on Twitter.” I would say it’s our first academically-toned report, and we have a sick data visualization, so check out the website.

- Looks like I’ll be attending and speaking at the Schoolgirls & Mobilesuits at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis, MN, from Friday 25 September to Sunday 27 September 2009. I’ll most likely be presenting on the death of narrative structure in anime and money-dependent entertainment, exemplified by Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Finally, look out for a couple articles (finally) coming out next week. Plans for saving the future of the anime fandom and many thoughts on Ghibli flicks to come!

We’re Back…

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But then off again to Anime Expo!

Sorry for the aberrant hiatus, everyone. Been really busy in the past few weeks with:

- Open Video Conference, where I spoke about the anime fandom’s balancing act of video culture and copyright law
- Web Ecology Project: We released a white paper full of quantitative analysis about how ideas move in the discourse regarding the Iranian Election on Twitter
- Hanging out in NYC with the crew from my Kyoto study abroad group (KCJS)

I really want/need to write articles this week, so I’ll try to get a lot of content up soon. But I have a lot on my plate right now, specifically fandom research in California and drawing up grant proposals for fandom research in Boston and Tokyo.

Good news is that come Thursday I’ll be in Los Angeles, speaking at Anime Expo. I have four panels lined up, which are:

Anime and Manga in Academia
Saturday, July 04, 2009 6:00pm to 6:50pm – LP 2
Whether you have just begun studying anime and manga seriously or are already well into your studies, this panel will guide you on the path from fan to established Japanese popular culture scholar.

Introduction to Anime/Manga Studies
Friday, July 03, 2009 10:30am to 11:20am – LP 3
Ever wanted to write a school paper on religion in Naruto? Read a book on Neon Genesis Evangelion? Or even get a college degree in otaku studies? Come meet the members of the Anime/Manga Research Circle!

The Problem with Otaku
Sunday, July 05, 2009 12:00pm to 12:50pm LP 2
From 1980s science fiction geeks, the concept of otaku has wholly transformed in Japan and America. We’ll examine the history and controversies of the most crucial part of the anime fandom: the fans.

Without Watching the Anime: Opening & Ending Themes
Friday, July 03, 2009 6:00pm to 6:50pm LP 3
When we watch anime, we tend to ignore what begins and ends series. But these small clips matter too! We’ll discuss history and music, and show some of the most influential OPs & EDs out there.

The rest of my potential schedule looks like this:

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Fansubs: The New Wave

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Scene from BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, episode 1

TED.com officially announced today a project that will crowdsource translations of every TED video in more than forty of the world’s most-vocalized languages. The splash page is viewable here.

The video above is a Japanese translation of Blaise Aguera y Arcas’ demo of Photosynth, one of the more interesting yet much shorter videos available at the TED website. As you can see, the subtitles work pretty well and the timing is for the most part up to par. The only petulant remarks I can make about meticulous details would be: 1) there’s no furigana… but that only applies to Japanese anyway, and 2) the subtitles cover up the images when the projector is shown… but that’s unavoidable, and it’s not that important a matter.

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