At least you don't have to sit at the back of the chibivan.
Zero Like Me #180:
Tokyo Police Club
Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 2. Today's setting is not actually Tokyo nor a police club, but it is set in Japan, for what it's worth. Today's guest star is
Umezawa. Today's title is a reference to the band Tokyo Police Club, who coincidentally has a song called "
Your English is Good," which I'd argue's possibly their weakest song.
Fun Facts: Japan has a thing for light skin. It's undeniable. Lighter skin's best--from the ultra-white make-up of traditional Japanese beauty care to the depictions of their historical figures in ancient scrolls, you don't want to be dark. And yet when I came here, I discovered many Japanese people can be pretty dark! Like...
me-level dark. Shocker given how much press light-skinned Japanese people get abroad. Being dark is a not a death sentence, but it's something of a dangit (for Japanese) or a novelty (for foreigners); the ideal is to be as light as possible.
Baa: I dunno. Is light skin is aesthetically more pleasing? I feel like I've been conditioned to think that. I read a ridiculously fascinating article a while ago about why there are basically only white-looking people in anime/manga. I wish I could find it again...but to put it roughly, it argued that Japanese people are so psychologically insulated that any drawings are made like how we westerners make stick figures, except the assumption is that unless
otherwise specified, the person is assumed to be Japanese, if anything at all.
The article introduced the idea of a stick figure analogy. If I draw a stick figure what do you know about it immediately, with no context provided? It's male. It's white. Now if I draw that stick figure with a triangle-dress, what is it? It's female. It's white. In order for me to communicate this is a black man, I'd have to tell you that this stick figure represents a black guy. I'd have to go out of my way to make explicit the context of the stick figure otherwise it is assumed it's a white male, assuming you stop to consider what the figure represents at all beyond "this is a human."
And so it is, the article explained, with anime and manga characters: they're just humans, but pausing a second past that, they're Japanese if we must assume nationality. If we make the character pronounce our language weirdly, or dress him in ridiculobviously non-Japanese clothing, or otherwise make it painfully clear he's not from around here,
then he's a
foreigner. This then gets around to why all "Americans" in anime and manga are blond/blue/white people, but that's
another discussion.
Wish I could find that article again...
Reuxben
Fun Facts: Japan is quite smoking-friendly--or as the jKids call it, "smorking." There are vending machines everywhere that sell cigarettes. The cigarette ads all look like deodorant or sports-drink ads. Like it's a refreshing drink they're selling. There's also no non-smoking sections in restaurants or bars or anything--if it isn't designated a non-smoking establishment, you can assume people will light up at will. That foul stench will catch you out of nowhere if you're not careful.
Baa: On the plus side is that drugs are highly illegal here, so even if you have to deal with smokers, at least you don't have to deal with random onslaughts of weed stench. That's the one thing that life at Yale doesn't have over life in Japan: no surprise weed bombings.
Fun Facts: You cannot have a drop of alcohol in your blood stream while you drive in Japan (or knowingly be in a car of a driver who has even a drop of alcohol in his or her veins while driving) on pain of arrest. You cannot use a cell phone while you drive in Japan, on pain of arrest. You CAN have and watch a TV that's built into the car's dash, right where the radio should be, while you drive in Japan, on pain of possibly crashing, dying, and/or manslaughtering.
Baa: You can't even ride a bike with earbuds in your skull or hold an umbrella while biking in Japan. Yet I've seen people do both, as well as seeing cell-users in cars. But the most intense spit I've ever seen was a mother smoking in her car with her baby in the front passenger's seat (relax the window was cracked a little, sheesh). I don't know if that last one is actually illegal, but dude, that's brilliant! Imagine how much dangerous second-hand smoke smokers would spare inflicting on innocent people if they all carted around babies with them to act as human smoke filterers? Smoke can't spread to unwanted people if the baby sucks it up first, now, can it? That's just considerate.
Baa: I dunno. Is light skin is aesthetically more pleasing? I feel like I've been conditioned to think that. I read a ridiculously fascinating article a while ago about why there are basically only white-looking people in anime/manga. I wish I could find it again...but to put it roughly, it argued that Japanese people are so psychologically insulated that any drawings are made like how we westerners make stick figures, except the assumption is that unless otherwise specified, the person is assumed to be Japanese, if anything at all.
The article introduced the idea of a stick figure analogy. If I draw a stick figure what do you know about it immediately, with no context provided? It's male. It's white. Now if I draw that stick figure with a triangle-dress, what is it? It's female. It's white. In order for me to communicate this is a black man, I'd have to tell you that this stick figure represents a black guy. I'd have to go out of my way to make explicit the context of the stick figure otherwise it is assumed it's a white male, assuming you stop to consider what the figure represents at all beyond "this is a human."
Fun Facts: Umezawa-sensei is yet another antagonist for Zero. She is icy and irritable yet she still heralds the undying Japanese devotion to cute and non-sequitor, for instance today she is wearing a silly outfit including a ridiculously happy hair clip that has nothing to do with her mood.
Baa: For the record, none of what's going on this "season" is intended to depict actual people, events, etc. Ya know?
Fun Facts: Oh, man. Posting this on a Monday cuz things are getting hectic.
Baa: Just when things felt hopeless, I got this current gig. I am extremely thankful for that. I pray to stay so fortunate and am ever cognizant of that fortune.
Fun Facts: Today's comic had to be rushed out a bit, so I really felt like I was back at the YDN, except rather than coming down to the wire to get this thing inked so it could go to print, it was to get it inked in time to scan at work so I could finish it up digitally at home. Line quality suffered the rush, but I also realized my main inking pen is at its limits; it's time to try a new one. Speaking of new things, next week will be our first brand new, non-recycled script since July!
Baa: I recently learned my old dean is leaving Yale for a job in Sydney, Australia. He was definitely a reason Yale was a wonderful place to be. Feel bad for future JEsters, especially those who need people in their corners.
