If you've got like 2 hours to kill.

I put this in the gaming forum because it comes from a gaming website... but this article barely barely touches on gaming and mostly on Tokyo, Japan. It's epic in length so beware. If you're not interested in sociology, well you might not find this interesting. This is an American's view of a foreign land. Really really foreign. It says as much about America as it does about Japan.

So what? who gives a shit what they do? Well, I see it this way.... the next time I see an argument about JRPGs vs Western RPGs it gives me more perspective and insight into what factors produce these two similar yet fundamentally different forms of artistic expression. Knowing what to expect will definitely affect my purchase decisions. And it also helps me feel better that at least I'm not as confined.

Parts of the article WERE interesting, but the article as a whole comes off way too much as a "I'm sick of where I live now" bitchfest for me to be really supportive of it.

I definitely love reading things that dip more in to showing their culture in ways we don't ever get to see here (I especially liked reading his background info on how Japanese company culture works, particularly the party bits). So I liked a westerners opinion on those kinds of elements.

But then going through his massive rant about being a vegetarian and annoyed that it's hard to find food tailored to his taste... I mean I get it, and maybe Japanese culture is less supportive of that lifestyle choice, but it's not like vegetarians frequently find restaurants tailored to their tastes. I know Rhoa has a number of restaurants she won't go to because they have no vegetarian choices. It's part of choosing a lifestyle that is different from the accepted norm.

I also agree with the stuff he says on Anime in the beginning. Anime suffers from the same fate that all things that end up getting super popular and mainstream. You get a lot more quickly produced work that doesn't have the same thought given to it as it used to... in short it gets watered down. I'm sure there are still series that are created that are fantastic, but you need to dig through a much larger pile of crap to find it now. I'm guessing here since I haven't really watched a 'new' anime series in almost 3-4 years now.

That's not totally true. There are some isolated, stand out cases, but virtually every restaurant has vegetarian options (I think they even have to, but that could be a state thing). It's more a matter of the quality of those options.

But yeah, I like how eventually he just gets away from even trying to relate his complaints to videogames. Certainly a subjective bitchfest, but also far and away the best/most interesting thing I've ever seen on Kotaku.

While I realize how ranty the article was, I found personal amusement on seeing how certain traditions like shouting Good Morning to the room even if it's empty can be rather humorous. Obviously though, this guy is a westerner at heart and cannot be forced to conform. And that is why he takes issue with the vegetarian restaurants that wind up conforming and becoming like everyone else. I think he needs to move or he's going to go crazy against the social forces at play

It's hive mind vs true freedom, borg vs federation, east vs west, communism vs democracy.

On the vegetarian thing, I have a friend who is a vegetarian and long ago he came to my house... my (chinese) parents in their minds were trying to be good hosts by offering my friend some food. They could simply not understand the concept. They kept thinking that if you just take out the meat, then the dish is vegetarian LOL. And that fish is not meat. How about soup? just don't eat the meat .... this discussion/debate was exasperating to say the least. The look of annoyance on my friend... my parents looking insulted... me in the middle trying to explain the concept of vegetarianism. I don't think this event I just described is exclusive to eastern concepts of hospitality either. I'm sure the same scenario plays out all over the world. other conversations included people saying the same argument over and over: "WHY DON'T YOU EAT SEAFOOD? SEAFOOD IS NOT MEAT!" It's quite obvious some omnis simply don't understand the concept. This is yet another example of why I find sociology and psychology so fascinating... (and why I hold the human race in such contempt).

Much shorter. And infinitely stupider. This is the kind of stuff Kotaku posts that simultaneously makes me LOL and also has me consciously avoid their site unless someone sends me a link.

Well then here's something you don't need to read. Just look.

Micro Chun Li

Everything I know about Asian culture tells me she's pointing to the "private booth."