Well, this is our first try splitting up the podcast. In this way, we are giving you a podcast of a more manageable length and at the same time giving you content more frequently. If you like the idea and think it works or think its a bad idea, please tell us so in the comments section.
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Mailbag Special!
- What are the taboo topics in games in Japan?
- What are your thoughts on Infamous 2?
- What do you think of the 2010 summer anime season?
- How should I go about learning Japanese?
- Don't you think you're being a bit to hard on the Japanese?
- Why is High School life so romanticized?
- What should I buy to support the anime industry?
- Why is Dragon Quest more popular than Final Fantasy in Japan?
- What do you think of the Final Fantasy Versus XIII pictures?
- What Japanese music do you recommend?
- Will the Out-Cast Team be at TGS?
- Is there anyway to watch TGS?
- What is Akihabara like?
- What are Hikikomori and Neets?
- How was Peace Walker for Kyle?
- Will we do dedicated special podcasts on big name titles?
- Do we get paid for making the Out-Cast?
- What kind of mic are you using?
- Can the Out-Cast become bi-weekly?
- What's with the secrecy on our jobs?
- What is the deal with working in Japan?
- How can I get a job in the games industry in Japan?
Posts
24 comments:
Anyone who's thinking about learning Japanese should read this first because it's both incredibly true and hilarious.
http://soyouwanttolearnjapanese.com/
Thanks for answering my question. I don't really mind you splitting the podcasts into two segments, but the old system was fine too. I really don't care either away; I don't mind it when the episodes are long.
I hope The Outcast's version of episodic content is more successful than Valve’s. Even this mailbag podcast is over 1 and half hour long ^_^. Absolutely no complaints though.
I didn’t expect to see any “question” of mine on this cast, especially for a comment I made a while ago. I think you misunderstood my whole “Japanese are frustratingly human” comment amongst others. First, I wasn’t criticizing you whatsoever, quite the contrary. Actually, that comment was aimed toward other readers who may take your comments and complaints about the JPs and make gross over generalizations like: Gwyn, Richard, and Kyle all have experienced racism in JP = All JPs are racists %$@*#%!. While you quoted my, “ . . . insular? Exclusionist? Xenophobic? Racist? Narrow minded? Ignorant? Arrogant?” line my ultimate point was what I wrote 5 and 6 sentences later:
“The Japanese have their faults, but those same faults can be seen everywhere you go regardless of race or nationality. I'm sure you guys understand that, but I hope other potential listeners don't walk away thinking these faults are in any way particular to JPs or that native JPs are going to have these things fit them automatically simply because they are JP.”
I wasn't trying to give an idealistic sense of Japan by downplaying their faults. I'm all too familiar with JP atrocities that they’ve committed in their country and out of it. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 was a mere garden party compared to what they did during World War 2 and before. By the way, the Koreans were not the only people being targeted for murder by the JP mobs. Chinese also were accused of things like poisoning wells after the Earthquake. There are accounts of JP policemen who not only looked the other way while the mobs murdered these people, but actually encouraged and participated in this nonsense. Their behavior in their invasion of Korea in 1592 and 1597 (what the JPs call the Imjin War, I think) was pretty horrific as well. The hatred Koreans have against JP is merely because of their occupation of Korea during and before WW2 (as well as JP attempted to obliterate Korean language, history, and identity in their forced assimilation attempts), it also comes from this time as well. This is not including the immense damage that JP wako pirates did along the coasts of both China and Korea long before this time. Anyway, my point is I most certainly don’t have any illusions about the JPs, but my actual point is non-Japanese people shouldn’t walk away thinking all JPs are racist fucktards. The racist behavior and incidents that you have mentioned, I can just as easily find in the US.
Continued . . . .
. . .Continued
Oh, my comment on JPs and concentration camps was not to say JPs have not committed atrocities. They committed plenty, both those they admit to or refuse to admit to even today. It was only a specific example of how non-JPs can do terrible things as well. Also from my understanding, foreigners in Japan were not thrown into concentration camps in Japan during WW2 unlike Japanese-Americans (actual AMERICAN citizens) who were put into such camps in the US during the same time period. The Kempeitai kept a close eye on such foreigners, but they never actually rounded them up even if they were from countries Japan was at war with. I should’ve been more specific, but I write too much as it is.
The booth babes are also known in other industries as “booth bimbos” (Talk about even more degrading). The whole business of booth babes, maid cafes, and any other venture of dangling half-naked women to sell crap is just embarrassing in general . . . but guys can’t stop looking.
Oh, in terms of how to pronounce “Jung” correctly, it completely depends on which one you’re referring to: Eastern or Western name. If you’re talking about the Asian name then Gywn’s pronunciation is correct. If you’re talking the German name then it’s more like “Yoo-ng”. For some reason Richard keeps saying “HG” rather than “KG” though. Heh, he can get platinum in FFXIII, but can’t tell the difference between “H” and “K” ^_^.
As much as I would love to have the podcasts more often, I’m just amazed you get them out as you do. All of you have so little free time for yourself that making these podcasts is quite the endeavor. Thanks again.
BTW if my comments aren’t long enough, I’ll just start adding footnotes and reference notes to my comments :P .
I forgot to mention that I, too, feel so bad for booth babes and all others in similar jobs. I've never actually been to any place with them, but I watched E3 on G4 and it's so demeaning with all these guys leering at them like they're a piece of meat. I'm not sure what a Maid Cafe is, but it sounds just about as bad.
Thank you for answering my questions and great podcast! I'm looking forward very much to your TGS coverage.
Great podcast, guys! How was the concert?
Thanks for answering my questions. I've actually watched Tetsuwan Birdy (both Decode and the original series) and also Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (1st season and Zan). They're both really awesome series and I got a lot of laughs from Zetsubou Sensei. It's one of SHAFT's more memorable works for me (it and Bakemonogatari). And I never really realized that the whole "anime season" is more of a western fandom concept although now that I think about it that's the same way it is here in America with TV shows, so I suppose I should've realized before hand lol. I suppose we English moochers have it better than you local viewers in Japan with our fansubbing community and simulcasting sites like Crunchyroll and even Funimation now.
As for the Japanese, thanks for the suggestions. I'm not sure if I'll be able to use the community college in my area (I checked it out and it seems they offer Chinese but not Japanese) and doubt I'm going to find a tutor in my city lol. As for my level of skill in the language and my learning methods, I think you guys misunderstood what I was saying. I don't solely learn from anime and manga. I started out using grammar books and some websites and discovered the online anime community a bit afterwards, which is when I began using anime to pick up some words (keeping in mind the politeness levels). It's pretty easy for me now to tell the difference between when a word is in a casual, formal, or rude form after listening and studying for the past two years. I've already learned the bare basics of the language; I memorized all hiragana and katakana (awhile ago in fact, when I was in 8th grade IIRC); memorized most of the particles used commonly in sentences; the polite/formal and casual form words can take on ("desu" can be shortened to "da" in casual convo, "-masu" can be omitted completely and replaced with shortened "-te", "-ru", "u" and more; "suru" can be conjugated to "shita"; etc. etc.) and learned of differences in the way men and women speak ("atashi" = feminine, boku/ore = male, watashi = neutral; some women use "wa" at the end of their sentences to sound dignified while a man doing so is pretty gay; using "zo" and "ze" in place of "yo" is considered manly although all forms can be considered as rude when talking to a superior; etc. etc). I know the basic sentence structure of the language (SOV as opposed to English's SVO) even though I still have a hard time piecing together sentences. I'd say I have a pretty good (at least beginner's) vocabulary of words and phrases and know all of their more polite forms if they have them. I haven't really gotten into learning how to read kanji although I've memorized some of the kanji used for the words I know (which is hovering around 150-200 according to the list I keep of the words and phrases I've learned lol).
Basically what I'm trying to say is that, going by what you guys said on the podcast, I already have a good foundation and what I really need is more intermediate and formal lessons. The reason I asked the question was because I feel like I'm stuck in my studies of the language without any further official teachings and was wondering if you guys had been in a similar situation and managed to overcome it to some degree when you were learning the language. I still have 2 years to go before I go to college (going to the 11th after summer is over) and I was wondering if there was some way to advance my studies further. Well, at least it sounds like I'll breeze through my first year of Japanese in college lol.
1. What are your thoughts (any of you assuming you guys keep up with this kind of stuff) on the growing popularity and efficiency of fansubbing and simulcasting anime in the western anime fandom and how do you think it could effect the Japanese market? For reference, just in case, ever since Crunchyroll and Funimation started simulcasting anime and traditional fansubbers started competing with them to get series out first, most Japanese anime are fansubbed/simulcasted and released for download in the west within 8 hours of airing in Japan.
2. How proficient, by your estimate, would you have to be in Japanese to read a light novel? Toaru Majutsu no Index, Shakugan no Shana, or Bakemonogatari in particular.
^ Those are my questions btw lol. I forgot to indicate that in the comment.
Thank You for answering my questions guys! Ill be waiting for your TGS special next podcast maybe i think? I also watched Tetsuwan Birdy like Richard and loved it. the 2nd season artwork and animation was different but i though it was amazing, and must been the creators way to make something diferent. On another note Im kinda having sorry for you guys there, it seems living in japan is as though as they come, working all day and having little time to have fun... I have to say your words somewhat killed my dream to live in japan :/
I still want to visit it someday but to actually live in there...who knows maybe Ill live as a NEET there ^_^
I have only a question right now and that is about the topic you guys mencioned previously about the way gaming and anime in japan works. You guys told that gaming is tabu and people dont talk about it. Well then how is that Kojima is so famous in japan if gaming is viewed as a negative thing? Japan still to nowdays have many gaming companys and people who make games so i dont understand whys is gaming viewed that way in japan. Also I dont know if you guys ever watched making of MGS4 or other game but they have a LOT of anime and gaming stuff in their desks and they are adults! They are clearly people with passion over gaming and anime/manga. So i think what you guys told are only cases on your workplaces maybe? Im sorry bringing this back I just would like to know this better.
Hang in there and keep the awesome work giving us news in Japan! ;)
I've thought of a question for your next podcast.
As gamers who aren't really that interested in MMO's, have you been looking at Guild Wars 2 at at all? I'm someone who hates the concept of MMO's because I enjoy single-player games a lot, I don't want to pay a monthly fee for a game, and bashing monster after monster is incredibly boring. Guild Wars 2 seems to be addressing these concerns, and I've seen a couple of articles written about it by people who, like me, don't like mmo's been are actually looking forward to the game. Any interest on your end?
When you guys get to see "Scott Pilgrim vs The World", I would be very curious about what you think of it. If it gets released in Japan, I wonder if the audience there enjoy the vid game references.
@KG - Actually, I dont believe a release date has been announced for Japan yet. Theres a chance it will never even come out (Kick Ass is also missing in action so far - although Zombieland FINALLY came out last month). Remember - its based on a comic.IP that doesnt exist in Japan.
Having said that, Im in Aus for work and will hopefully catch a midnight screening after work tomorrow night :-)
But more importantly - Macross Frontier Movie/Trial Game Bluray trailer! Preorder GET! (thankx for the headsup Richard!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toyPKhSJH8A
Thank you very much again for answering another set of questions. I would comment about in the United states they aren't airing anime on TV or it's on extra pay channels or they kiddy it down a lot and do bad redub scripts(Naruto or Bleach) the dubs aren't as bad. And also people wanna see it. But I would watch anime on sites with ad's in the video if it ment their was money going back to the anime creators even if it's a small part. Their is also a growing attitude in America that is really sour. And it's not just anime and people feel entitled to everything and find nothing wrong with for example cracking a psp, pirating computer games and anime or movies/show, and also iphones/touches. But throwin it out their
Hey guys I loved the podcast!!! I've been listening from the beginning and you've been doing a fantastic job! Keep it up, the Out-Cast has evolved into one of my all time favorite podcasts! I really can't say enough good things. Anyways, have any of you seen "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" yet?? I'd like to know your opinions...Its everything my nerd heart wanted and desired from a film. It blew my mind.
I stumbled across your guys podcast while looking for a review on Final Fantasy XIII back when it came out in the U.S. and thought it was so well done that I have been listening ever since. I always look forward to the next podcast you guys do. I remember back in the day how arcades were a big part of my video game diet with games like Street Fighter II, Atari Star Wars, Xenophobe, etc. Arcades now are a niche market in the U.S. and younger gamers have very little reason if any to go into one. You guys talked about AoU Arcade Show though in an earlier podcast which made me think that the arcade scene is maybe still relevant in Japan. My question for the next podcast is, are arcades still popular in Japan or are they a niche market as well?
Hi, just wanted to say I love this podcast, I seriously look forward to this one the most! You guys have a great dynamic and have interesting opinions, even if I don't always agree with them (FFXIII!)
First question, how would you rate your own Japanese accents? Do Kyle and Richard speak differently from Gwyn? Might be fun to hear a conversation between you three, only in Japanese, maybe for a minute or two. Do Japanese people make comments about your accents, or ask you to repeat yourself?
Second question, how did you all meet up in Japan? I might have missed this topic in an earlier podcast, because I only started listening around May. I listened to all the old episodes back-to-back, and my memory is a bit fuzzy. Maybe it's time for a second listen.
Being the unscrupulous double-poster/multiple question-asker that I am, I thought of another question while having another listen to this mailbag segment.
Richard makes a point of mentioning (when addressing KG's question about Japan) that there is a big difference between other countries' romanticized image of Japan and the reality of the Japanese culture. Could you further explain the gap between these two views? More importantly, short of traveling to Japan (since for many people including myself, it probably isn't an option) what would be a good way of getting a realistic view of the nation? Are there any games, movies, books, etc...that illustrate Japanese culture as it really is?
One more quick question. Have any of you seen the films of Makoto Shinkai? I've only ever seen a subtitled version of 5 cm per second, but the entire time I was completely and utterly captivated by it.
Thanks for enduring my wall of questions! :)
Thanks for another great podcast! I appreciate the time you guys take to make these:) I'm fine if you guys split the podcast or stick to the old format, whichever is more manageable.
Questions:
1. It has been mentioned that westerners are often looked down upon, treated with suspicion, and even fear when visiting or living in Japan. Is it as bad when it comes to other Asians? Ex//Chinese, Vietnamese, Singaporean.
2. What’s the fashion scene like in Japan? ; Specifically for teens and young adults. Can you think of any western brands that are similar in style?
@Kyle
Since you're into fashion and a Nintendo fanboy, this should be right up your alley:
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/30/super-mario-cardies.html
@KG Jung.
Whats up? Many thanks for your continued support of the podcast! Yeah, I saw these a couple days ago.
I see things like this, and I immediately think to myself, "who are they hoping to sell these to?" Big Nintendo fans who also happen to be fashionistas...? Of which I can say there are about five of us in the world. (To say nothing of it being a cardigan. While I do own an extensive cardigan collection, every time I try to wear one back in the states, everyone wants to call me "Mr. Rogers".)
Its like that Super Mario tshirt that Dolce & Gabanna released a couple years ago...who exactly is their market for a $175 tshirt with an ancient, 14 year old picture of Mario on it??? (the shirt had the CG character model of mario from mario 64)
Even though I don't own any video game clothing, I am not diametrically opposed to it....but I tend to like things that are somewhat tongue in cheek/self aware. Like for example, that Mass Effect hoodie...or the hoodie from punchout.
If they are going to put any Nintendo character on a sweater, I would prefer Donkey Kong or DK Jr. Monkey > Italian plumber.
I don't care much for hoodies, but a nice N7 t-shirt should certainly impress the ladies. If not, the replica of the Avenger assault rifle will settle any doubts of one's manliness even if there is no chainsaw-bayonet.
http://volpinprops.blogspot.com/2010/08/mass-effect-m8-avenger-assault-rifle.html
Try waving this at the Muteki Mario bar next time you're drunk off your backside.
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