17 nights. Never before in my life have I spent 17 nights in a row at the same hotel, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. I have to admit that towards the end the sojourn began taking a toll on me as the environment was not really designed for the creation of anything meaningful. Luckily, those days are now over and I am finally returning to Tokyo to assess damages, empty my trash cans that have probably become alive during my absence and eventually resume work as usual.

The Bard’s Song

I was recently relayed the list of final changes I have to make to my thesis before I can get it printed. The list was substantial and overwhelmed me in such a way that instead of tackling the issue I opted to spend the following couple of days protecting the Sword Coast from the Iron Throne.

Once I get back home, however, my diet will consist of finishing the thesis, writing a paper to get my final 3 credits, go to work, study Japanese and write more job applications. The order of importance may vary.

Tokyo Safety Disclaimer: I won’t drink tap water and I hired a guy with a Geiger counter to follow me wherever I go and help me make my saving throws against radiation with a modifier of +3. Looking at that last sentence, I get the feeling might have played slightly too much D&D during the past 24 hours. I will also try my hardest not to get stuck in an elevator when the blackouts strike. Or maybe the opposite. It could prove to be quite the introspective moment when stuck in an elevator alone for a couple of hours. I could become enlightened or… bored?

Just Communication

Thanks to long train trips and relentless queuing for muteppou, I’m really close to finishing reading the Love Hina series in Japanese. While the comic itself is a relatively repetitive and stereotypical love story about a hopeless purikura nerd and a tsundere, there is one peculiarity that really sticks out when following the events unfold in this day and time: Love Hina relies heavily on plot mechanics that imply that geographical separation equals complete loss of communication. Anyone reading this blog may now realize this is not the case, anymore.

The original comic was published between 1998-2001, as arguably one of the last contemporary stories that were able to realistically rely on the aforementioned equation, which was effectively destroyed within a few years by the increasing prevalence of mobile phones and online communication. I felt it was rather interesting thinking that in only 10 years, a common and plausible storytelling device became unusable due to its now ludicrous nature.

Not unrelated to the previous paragraphs, I am also looking for a new manga series that includes full furigana, so suggestions are very welcome.

-Antti

P.S. Just arrived in Nerima, everything is fine.