アート: Chapter 7 | Magazines & Books

Otaku Asia July-August 2015 issue

Last month, I bought this mini magazine from Book Sale at SM Calamba after I just saw it. It was a good thing that I still have money left that day and I said “I’ll buy this now!!” Why? Because it was an anime related magazine. Yes, I’m an otaku. Otaku is a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests, commonly the anime and manga fandom. The magazine I bought is entitled Otaku Asia (July-August 2015 issue) and it has Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku (Mikagura School Suite) as its cover page and that time when I bought it I was currently watching that anime too. I was about to share why I also buy these kinds of magazines. It’s not just because it’s specifically for anime but some of the contents are inspiring and reflective too. Anyway, I found another one of my Otaku Asia magazine but it’s the March 2014 issue.

Otaku Asia March 2015 issue

Otaku Asia’s not only for anime reviews and such. It is also used as an advertisement tool for Japanese stores/shops and products as well. There is this article in the March 2014 issue about東京バブルティー (Tokyo Bubble Tea) telling their story and about their products. Based on the pictures in the magazines, it really resembles dishes like their sushi and gyudon. There is also an advertisement article is the about a Cosplay Shop where you can buy clothes, wigs and other equipment needed for cosplay., which is reaaaally helpful for people who want to cosplay a character but don't know how to get materials and costumes.

Tokyo Bubble Tea in Manila

Another article is about a Japanese food entitled “A fish that is not a fish?!” And that food is called “taiyaki.” Taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, cheese, or sweet potato. Some shops even sell taiyaki with okonomiyaki, gyoza filling, or a sausage inside. Seeing these products will make you realize how creative Japanese people are, aren’t they?

Red Been Paste filled taiyaki

It also has an article about “Anime Hair Tutorials” which is really helpful for people who are having difficulties in drawing hair for the character they want to draw. It provides a lot of hair styles too.

And another article is about an anime movie called HAL. I don’t usually watch an anime movie but reading the article made me want to watch that certain movie and guess what, it was amazing! The 3 main characters were voiced by the voice actors that I admire. I have a lot of voice actors that I admire and a character that was in that movie was voice my most favorite voice actor, Mamoru Miyano, so I really had to watch!

There are also articles introducing newly released manga. Manga are comics created in Japan or by creators in the Japanese language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. They have a long and complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art. The term manga is a Japanese word referring both to comics and cartooning. "Manga" as a term used outside Japan refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan. So this falls down to the book category since it is, after all a book. Here are examples of manga: