Friday, May 27th, 12:06 am
Update
- Genvid Staff
Reading the Japan in
Sailor Moon
UPDATE 5/28 - We're happy to announce that
Warriors of Legend is on
Amazon.com already!
Check it out! It says "1 copy" there but it's actually unlimited so don't
worry about that. Shipping is cheaper from Amazon (only $3.50!), but not
significantly reduced to Canada.
As it turns out, the reason Canadian shipping is so high is because they're
using overnight mail. (Even though it's apparently being printed IN Canada.)
This place seems to be good for finding deals. (If Alibris pops up,
note that their shipping to Canada is cheaper than both Amazon and Booksurge.) We'll continue to try
to find the cheapest way to get the book to you.
Before we begin the article- did you check out the story on
Warriors of
Legend on ICv2? It
offers an interesting hint from someone who knows the industry inside-out.
We thought tonight we'd speak a bit about the background for the book's
analyses. Which is a fancy way of saying that this is a biopic.
To do a book like this you obviously need to know about two elements: both
Sailor Moon and Japan. Collectively we worked out really well.
On the Sailor Moon side, we have co-author Sushil K. Rudranath, and
researcher Hans Schumacher. They were our two experts on the series, having
read, and reread, and watched, and rewatched, all there is to know about this
series. Sushil's background, as a lawyer and someone with a degree in political
science, brought in a powerful analytical element. He also has a strong
background in mythology, and some of the most interesting essays, like drawing
connections between Sailor Venus and the Babylonian Goddess Ishtar, came
from him. Hans provided critical fact-checking for series data. His retention
for factoids enabled us to draw connections we might otherwise not have seen.
(Example: We discuss the fact that the Hikawa shrines have a connection to iron;
he pointed out that iron is associated alchemically to Mars.)
On the Japan side is co-author Jay Navok. He holds a Masters degree in East Asian
studies from Columbia University, where he focused on modern Japanese history.
Recently he won the Japanese government's research student scholarship; he'll be
researching local history and culture in postwar Tokyo's Minato ward, something
inspired from what he did in this book. He brought to the book significant
knowledge about both Tokyo and recent scholarship on Japan. Findings by
anthropologists and historians who study Japan are strewn throughout the book
are courtesy of his wide background. Bruce Clark and Andrew Floyd also performed
translations for the book which were a major asset. We wouldn't have some of the
data we use without their fine translating jobs.
Columbia University doctoral candidates of Japanese history performed a
critical review of the manuscript. If you've never had your work reviewed by a
graduate student before, know that there are only two words adequate to
describing this: absolutely brutal. One of the PhD students returned the
manuscript with 5 pages of handwritten notes, in addition extensive markings on
every piece of nearly 200 pages of texts. (Looking back on it, it's almost
frightening to read.) But we accepted their suggestions and critiques and the
book is much better for it.
As a fun aside, Warriors of Legend has already been cited in a college
student's paper; a CU undergraduate writing on Sailor Moon and gender.
(We gave her some pre-press material.) We also received congratulations from
several professors and others at CU on the book's release.
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