Obscure Adventures in Geek and Nerd Culture

Hello there. Here are the actual Japanese actors who inspired artworks of Showa period Kamen Riders.  For Kamen Riders whose real life inspirations were born in the 1930s.  Tsutomu Yamazaki is probably the closest real life model to yet another Kamen Rider. Although Koji Nakata likely is the closest real life model for Kamen Rider Amazon, he also has a fair resemblance to both the titular subject of Sōji Yamakawa’s Kenya Boy and Sanpei Shirato’s take on Ishimaru.  Sonny Chiba is the closest real life inspiration for yet another Kamen Rider. For Kamen Riders whose real life inspirations were born in the 1940s.  Ryutaro Sugi seems to be a model for one of the Kamen Riders on this list.  Keaton Yamada is another Kamen Rider model.  Daisuke Ban is a prolific actor with the most likely real life resemblance to the incredibly popular Kamen Rider Ichigō. He also bears a fair resemblance to Sanpei Shirato’s take on Sōji Yamakawa’s The Boy Champion.  For Kamen ...

There are eighteen surviving books in Niels Meyn’s surreal Yukan series, which have a huge potential to be translated into the English language, helped by the titular antihero who’s essentially the Amazon jungle-based Nordic equivalent of DC’s Batman. There is a high chance that, when all eighteen become PD in much of the world, their future English versions will instead partly come from the superior Swedish translations rather than from the unremarkable originals, which are in Danish. The rest will be relatively Woolseyfied to various degrees, mostly due to the fact that Niels Meyn himself was a dude as uncomfortably values dissonant as H.P. Lovecraft. Even his German counterpart Gerhardt Hauptmann (who also was his spiritual predecessor in some ways) and the already screwed up Edgar Rice Burroughs would’ve run away fast from that terror as well.  Although a definitive translation into English is still increasingly possible, there are only a few significant changes coming into the...

Types of typical light novels  Kiddy Light Novel (子供ライトノベル): It is a type of light novel aimed at schoolchildren.  Shōnen Light Novel (ライトノベル): The stereotypical light novel! As it’s aimed at teenaged boys and young men, it’s clearly a tried and true winner in terms of international popularity. Because it often contains topics which are also found in Shōnen mangas, it’s also known by that name.  Seinen Light Novel (ライトノベル): The young man’s equivalent of the Shōnen Light Novel.  Types of manga (漫画)  Origami Style (折り紙スタイル): The most common type of manga, itself innovated by Osamu Tezuka, and familiarised by millions of fans the world over.  Square Balloon Style (四角風船スタイル): More common in older, pre-1970s mangas.  Text Manga (文章漫画): Rarely seen and written, but older than the two Balloon Style variants. Types of picture stories (絵話)  Toddler Picture Story (幼児絵話): A picture story variant for 1-3 year olds.  Kindergarten Picture Story (幼稚園絵話): A ...

It is somewhat unlike the usual British style of Pantomime, even though they both share some basic conventions known to millions of chronically online (often anglophone, but not always from the British Isles) theatre fans.  Due to their sometimes messy common history, they also feature guest stars which often come from a variety of tv celebs, film stars and stage personalities. But since it currently is the only Anglophone country in the European Union (for a few years now), the Republic of Ireland’s take on Pantomime can adapt public domain works from any EU country available, thus it can be something to be celebrated outside of it.  There can be Pantomime plays which have source materials from countries as diverse as Russia and Japan.  Here are the Future Pantomime Sources, derived mostly from German Language Novels.  The Nuramaya Ring by Käthe van Beeker.  Welcome To Atlantis by Gerhardt Hauptmann.  Maria by the Sea by Friederike Henriette Kraze.