I’m back from two tours – Kyushu and Hokkaido respectively – and man oh man, I missed being able to chat with/yell at you guys about the news. Speaking of yelling, since we were in Japan before the election, we got to listen to people standing on trucks speaking into megaphones to convince one another of their respective points of view! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is how people promote their political views in Japan:
Honestly, I used to hate hearing old dudes standing on trucks during election time (especially when they drove by my apartment at SEVEN IN THE MORNING), but now I can only think of it as a marked improvement over the constant deluge of internet-fueled sadness we have here in the states.
So the election happened, and surprise surprise, the LDP won again [Japan Times]. While many voters are still skeptical of the LDP’s efforts to prop up the economy and potentially revise Japan’s peacetime constitution [Washington Post], most reporters and observers point to the LDP’s track record for national defense and a steady hand in the face of North Korea as the main reasons they trounced the competition. So congrats, Shinzo Abe! Here’s your reward:
JUST LOOK AT THE THRILLED LOOK ON THEIR FACES! I can’t tell if they’re discussing trade or meeting their daughter’s new boyfriend (he’s a biker!).
Yes, these two fellows got to bond over golf and the lovely crafting hour you see here! No idea whether the alliance referenced on the hats will become “even greater” or not, or whether the hats were made in Japan, the USA, China, or some other country that us first worlders get to exploit (hooray for capitalism!). Anyway, how did President Orange Fluff’s visit go? Well, before it started he used outdated and borderline offensive references to the samurai [Japan Times] to ask why Japan didn’t shoot down North Korean missiles… so yeah, exactly how one would expect. Regardless, I’m sure both of these men had a lovely time talking about the menacing figures occupying their minds – Kim Jong Un for Abe, and Robert Mueller for Trump.
Of course, a different kind of news has been menacing the minds of anime fans lately: Sony’s acquisition of Funimation has been finalized [ANN]. If this development has you worried and/or diving into the myriad of hastily-penned, less-than-well-informed pieces on the internet about this, I’d like to suggest you go back a few months to read this piece by Answerman/all around swell guy Justin Sevakis about what may be on the horizon. My hot take: as anyone who has joined us at Anime Japan during Animated Spring can tell you, fandom here and fandom in Japan is like night and day. If Sony Pictures TV has decided to bring a company with strong ties to North American fandom into the fold, they might be able to work with their Japanese counterparts to help bridge an understanding gap that anyone who has worked in the industry has struggled with. Also, as both Justin and Nikkei have noted, they also run an anime network in other countries called ANIMAX and may be looking to expand that brand. Whatever happens next, the industry shake up could be kind of epic.
Speaking of industry shake ups: here in the world of travel, the cool kids in Mountain View (aka Google) just delivered a friendly note to all those third party cheap flight search sites: get off our damn lawn. [Flyer Talk] You see, much like everything else in the world of “finding information online”, Google developed the API that many airfare search sites use to find cheap fares. This is a pretty lucrative business, and considering that Google has been trying to beef up their own flight and travel offerings, it’s no surprise that the big G has told the little fish to get out. So how will this play out? It’s too early to tell, but you can expect the bigger players (Kayak) to firm up their already solid in-house options to brace for new competition.
As for me, I’ll be waiting for my dream search engine to come out of this. Something that automatically re-routes anyone who tries to book a flight on Spirit to a self-help hotline, because you have to be at least a little masochistic to fly Spirit. Maybe just a popup that says: “Do you want to fly Spirit for $198 to Los Angeles, or do you just need a hug?” I’d pick hug. You should too.
We’ll be back next week, when I’ll be far less jetlagged and we’ll be able to deliberate on which world leader is the better golfer. Have a good week, everyone!