Greg's introduction

[Jen526]

What a great experience it sounds like your life has been so far, with the back and forthing to Japan. Congrats on the new job and the chance to go back.

My otaku room/nerd cave video (the apartment one)

Oh, I love the KOR posters. Madoka art is always so very pretty! {Pause while I go switch to my Madoka avatar. } Also thumbs up for the Keroro's. I picked up the first set a while ago as a possible light filler for my meetup group, and we've been loving it.

Those Perler bead things are very, VERY cool. The Macross one - wow. I love the vibrancy of the colors that medium is giving you. I'm horrible at following through with craft-things, but I'm so tempted to give that a try.

I started discovering Brian Edmond's Bubblegum Crisis site and Hitoshi Doi's anime pages

AH! Hitoshi Doi - that's one I haven't thought about in a long time. What an invaluable resource that was! I can't believe it's still out there.

Linna was always my favorite Knight Saber, too... though I prefer Sailor Mars on the Sailor Moon side. Something about Michie Tomizawa, I think.

I've been rewatching Bubblegum Crisis right now, actually. It's the first time I've watched it since the VHS days, and it's even more awesome than I'd remembered. Something I've noticed about my own experience is that it took me quite a while to really "get" the storytelling style in anime. Something about the combination of getting used to subtitles and just the general difference in pacing. It's amazing how often I go back to older stuff that I haven't seen in a while and have this same experience of really "getting" it this time around. It makes me roll my eyes at kids nowadays who can't enjoy older titles. For me, the older stuff is always surprising me in a *good* way. I can't wrap my head around the other POV.

[Armblessed]

Greg, I noticed that your avatar looks very much like art by Fujishiro Seiji. Is that the case?

[greg]

Yes! I use the same avatar on several forums, and you are the first person who has recognized Seiji Fujishiro's art. My wife and I love his art and enjoy going to his galleries. He is our favorite artist. Fujishiro's meticulous paper cutting artwork (kiri-e) is so beautiful, and his serene galleries are amazing. I currently live fairly close to his gallery at Shirakabako in Nagano-ken, but it looks like we won't have time to visit there before we move to Shizuoka-ken to start a new job there in April.

[Armblessed]

I first saw his art on a show called "Japan Video Topics". Its a series of documentary-like shorts about a variety of topics from Japan. I used to watch it a lot in the late 90s. One of the shorts was about Fujishiro Seiji and I was amazed and have been a big fan since. Over the years, I've tried to find some prints of his art to purchase and I've only had success once with some lady who said she was buying them and bringing them back from Japan. I was a little skeptical about whether they might be authorized by the artist himself, but I couldnt find anything else so I bought one (the price was right anyways). It was printed on... I dont know the term.... a transparent plastic so I made a light box to display it.

Its very cool that you have visited a museum of his works. Its been on my list of things to do someday for some time. You mentioned you have some prints of his work. One of my favorites is one with cats playing musical instruments inside a factory. Do you know it? I did a quick browse around the sites you linked but I cant find it.

[greg]

Hmm... well, cats are quite a theme of his, as is playing musical instruments. I don't remember a factory specifically, but I have seen cats playing musical instruments in many of his works.

The clear plastic print is likely from one of his calendars. My mom-in-law has given us several of these. You can hang them in the window or make a light box. His art galleries are pitch black inside, with the only light coming from behind his artworks. Charming, serene music is played over the speakers inside, creating a tranquil, meditative, and contemplative atmosphere. One room inside the gallery at Shirakabako has a panoramic, 360 degree scene of nature that fades from winter to spring to summer to autumn. The gallery also makes use of reflections from pools of water and mirrors. Photography inside the gallery is prohibited, however I did manage to sneak a picture of the one art that has the water pool and mirrors:

[Armblessed]

That museum looks amazing. Definitely hope I can check that out some time.

I realize that asking about cats playing instruments in a factory was a long shot but I figured I'd see if it rang a bell. I just tried to find it with google but could not. Then again, I couldnt find a good repository of his art, period. I did find what I think may be my new favorite though. This is awesome! http://img2.blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ybi/1/73/ ... 1321441271