anime | Daddy Mojo

The Man Who Leapt Through Film, an illustrated look at Mamoru Hosoda and his films.

You don’t need to enjoy anime to appreciate its art or entertainment value. For example, I’ve only seen a dozen or so anime films, but have enjoyed each one of them for different reasons. Those film fans who don’t know anime at all still enjoy the work of Mamoru Hosoda. The Man Who Leapt Through Film is a coffee table-style book for movie fans, anime people, Japanohpiles, as well as animation fans who are curious about the creative process. It’s also a clever head nod to one of Hosoda’s most popular films, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

The Man Who Leapt Through Film: The Art of Mamoru Hosoda, a very thorough look at one of anime’s top directors, the art and how they’re made. — This is the love letter to anime and film production that you’re looking for

The 35th Anniversary of JapanFest Atlanta is September 17-18

Readers of the site may know that I lived in Japan for a few years. Thus, it would stand to reason that we really enjoy going to JapanFest each year. It’s being held September 17 and 18 at Gas South Convention Center in Duluth, Georgia. We were thinking the other day about people who don’t have an affinity for Japanese culture. Why would they want to come to JapanFest? What could they possibly get out of it?

Family friendly, international flair fun kids will dig

Momocon, mark the 2023 family calendar for this all-encompassing event

“I’ve been taking my sons since here they were that age,” said the lady who checked us in when we arrived at Momocon. She went on to tell me that they now have a local hotel room so that they can enjoy Momocon to its fullest extent. I could relate to her on both levels. Our boys have been attending Momocon since the youngest was three and a hotel room to crash out for a bit would’ve been nice. On an entirely different level, it was great to attend a con again and to that end, Momocon 2022 did not disappoint.

Momocon 2022 proved that the cons are back-in particular, this all age example, focusing on animation, gaming, costumes and comics.

So much fun-and it is for the entire family, yes really.

Kyle’s Little Sister, a graphic novel friendly manga for middle school

Kyle’s Little Sister is a manga-esque graphic novel that really knows the soul of a sixth-grade girl. The more mature fifth-grade students will see themselves in the characters also. It mirrors their emotions, interactions, peer groups, and sibling rivalries so accurately that it’ll take you back to the halls of yesteryear or to yesterday, whichever is closer.

Kyle’s Little Sister is a graphic novel in the Venn diagram of manga about family expectations, friends and finding yourself.

A manga that graphic novel folks could dig, or vice versa

Otaku Japan, distills a massive amount of pop culture into a travel book

Geek culture, con life, and having a hobby all have some crossover within a Venn Diagram. Otaku is a Japanese word that has one meaning, with countless degrees of intensity. If you look it up online the meaning is “a young person who is obsessed with computers or particular aspects of popular culture to the detriment of their social skills”. Yikes, that doesn’t sound like a compliment, does it? Otaku Japan is a book that travels that county, documenting interesting sites on all four major islands. Also, as a former resident of Japan, I would take issue with the internet’s technical definition of otaku, but more on that in a moment.

Otaku Japan is an approachable, photo-rich travel guide to geek, cosplay, anime-centric, museums, festivals, parks and more in Japan.

Otaku, geek culture by another name, Japan style