Asian Culture
Following WWII, there would be a shortage of decent alcohol and before long bootleg, shochu liquor, referred to as kasutori (effectively Japanese moonshine) began to circulate. Being made from whatever ingredients people could scrape together, sometimes even toxic chemicals, kasutori alcohol soon developed an extremely poor reputation in society, with widespread cases of blindness and
We all love a good horror anthology, don’t we? From Creepshow (1982), Trick ‘r Treat (2007), The ABCs of Death (2012) to V/H/S (2012), horror anthologies have been a favorite in the horror genre, thanks to their multiple stories and enduring entertainment value. And aside from these examples, the Philippines turns out to be the home
Operation Wandering Soul was a creepy USA propaganda experiment orchestrated to frighten the superstitious instincts of Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Propaganda has a variety of purposes to misinform, but a predominant one is to elicit fear: demoralize and route the enemy. Operation Wandering Soul was an audacious plan seeking to manipulate the Vietnamese’s
While zombies have traditionally been mostly influenced by Western culture, the zombie sub-genre has been getting a resurgence these past few years thanks to South Korea. Zombies are some of the most beloved monsters of horror cinema, from the early George Romero films that started with Night of the Living Dead in 1968 to the
Sitting at the southeastern corner of Asia lies the Philippines, which like any other Asian country such as Japan or Thailand, has its own fair share of cinematic horrors. Filipino or “Pinoy” horror is mostly rooted in local folklore and religion, a result of the country’s beliefs and culture before and after it has been
With the release of the new ‘Cowboy Bebop‘ live-action show, and a new Yoko Kanno soundtrack, perhaps it’s time to look at one aspect of anime that is often neglected: the music, and the way it is used by anime creators to tell the story. Why did that show choose that exact OP or ED
The “Death Game” is an unofficial genre of thriller wherein a set of humans (or at least sentient beings) are pitted in a contest where the consequence of failure is the player’s last reward. The appeal isn’t hard to explain – the premise packs immediate tension as characters are faced not only with the threat
Born in 1839, Yoshitoshi’s career spanned the transitional period between the Edo and Meiji eras. This was a time of great tumult, as the breakdown of the Tokugawa shogunate led to the increasing modernization and Westernization in Japan, and the traditional art of woodblock printing was fast losing favour, leaving Yoshitoshi as one of its
Hanatarash, or Hanatarashi, are a two-piece noise band from Osaka, Japan. Composed of vocalist, visual artist Yamantaka Eye and guitarist Mitsuru Tabata, the band focused on the obscure music genres of Japanoise, industrial, and advant-punk. Hanatarash was well known in the live music scene for their ridiculous and, quite frankly, dangerous live performances that have
Why wallow in filth and degradation when there’s so much beauty in Japan? Why spend time in a porn store in Kyoto instead of The Museum of Ikebana, studying the art of flower arrangement? Because it’s fun, that’s why. It’s great to gawk at outrageous dirty things, plus it’s interesting at the same time to