Sakuraba and Mayhem Miller are set to fight in DREAM.16 on September 25th. Check after the jump for the official PV just released today.

We don’t know quite what to think about this match up, other than, “Holy crap, we hope Saku doesn’t die.”

It’s always a tough call when two of your favorite fighters meet. Who do you pull for? In this case, both men have tons of heart, tons of personality, but one is a taped up 41 year-old legend who, even with underdog status, continues to amaze.

We’re just going to hope this fight lives up to the spirit and craziness that define both fighters (and keep our fingers crossed for Saku).

Wow.

They found a model whose face does look that jacked up. Not that she is ugly, it’s just that she has a look on her face like she has a concussion.

I don’t understand why concussion girl here, or anyone else for that matter, would want to use this crap. There are other options out there to “cartoon yourself” including a decent South Park character creator as well as plenty of other themed or chibi avatar creators out there. Or, I mean, you could just use a picture of yourself…

Many children’s TV shows come and go. Most of them frankly stink and almost all just get canceled without a real concluding episode. Now, this little post is not intended to make anyone depressed or have a bad day, but I’m sorry to say that destroying the environment can kill off your species and gnomes only live for 400 years. Evidence after the jump.

First off, during the finale to Dinosaurs, Earl helps the WeSaySo Corporation destroy an important species that brings on the Ice Age.

If that isn’t sad enough, at the conclusion of his show, David the Gnome and his wife go to the mountains with their old friend to, you guessed it, die. They say their last loving goodbyes to each other as if there really is no shared afterlife together, and they ultimately turn in to trees…

Wow, it’s the end of August already, which means it is time for our monthly wallpaper cache. Enjoy and feel free to contact us if you have any wallpaper you’d like to share and have posted!

In my opinion, despite all the media that it exports to America and the whole world, Japan’s cultural personality is very hidden and confusing to even the well educated. I guess it is hard to really apply our sociological imagination, or our ability to connect the dots between group and individual actions and motivations, to a different culture like Japan.

The greatest difference that always seems at the forefront in my thought is American individualism versus Japan’s sense of duty, collectivism, and strict norms on public behavior. Another is the competitiveness and inflexibility of their educational system. There is also the perception of widespread xenophobia and racism in Japan, which may annoy or infuriate a Japanophile and make the idea of relocating very troubling.

Though these differences are great, I believe that one of the greatest areas of misunderstanding deals with the personality traits of Japanese women in a country seemingly defined by strict patriarchy and media portrayals of women that seem incredibly shallow compared to even Hollywood standards.  The stereotypes, ranging from the hyper super cute anime character to the shy, “better seen not heard” student, worker, or wife,  contrast  greatly against the dynamic roles often played by and lived by men in movies, business, and politics.

One recent example I discovered, which both entertains and illustrates just how much I don’t know about this area, is the Takarazuka Revue. The Takarazuka Revue is a theater company composed of an all female cast which was started in 1913 as a sort of response to there being no women in Kabuki (traditional Japanese all-male theater). Since its inception, the Takarazuka Revue has become a huge hit and draws millions of fans.

Japan Today had a detailed article that described the Revue as a “theatrical landmark” with “heavy makeup and sugary plot lines” where “enthusiasts, mostly women, wholeheartedly devote their money, time and energy to the troupe just like teen groupies chasing pop idols.”

The article later argues that the Revue’s success is tied to sexism. It quotes an expert on the subject:

So long as Japanese society continues to offer women fewer opportunities for self-determination than it offers men . . . Takarazuka will surely remain a popular medium which caters to the otherwise unfulfilled dreams of countless women, whether as performers or as fans, by affording them the chance vicariously to participate in a wider world not dependent upon their own sex, gender or ethnicity

- Leonie Stickland

It also explains why the actresses that only play male roles are more popular than the female role-players by saying  it “derives from the latter’s displeasure at being reminded of society’s low estimation of their own worth, and of the wiles to which women are expected to resort in order to flatter and serve others.”

However, other facts point out why this seemingly pro-woman theater is just another extension of Japanese patriarchy.

• The actresses are all from the Revue’s own school which is male run.
• All actresses are unmarried and it seems would have to quit if they got married.
• All actresses have to follow a code and “must not reveal their real name or age, or talk about their romances.”

All in all, it seems that this piece of Japanese culture has a hidden or perhaps just not easily recognizable dark side, but like many other shows, movies, anime, or games, these faults are far enough away from us personally that we can still find enjoyment in them. Despite being surrounded by a ton of middle-aged Japanese women (90 percent of their audience), I would love to one day see one of their shows.

The following videos portray some more information as well as examples showing the range and talent of the Takarazuka Revue.

An excerpt from the BBC documentary “Dream Girls” that also helped in the writing of this article:

The Phantom of the Opera:

Nintendo DS series Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney:
(Take notice, there is a lot of pointing)

Bad news: Shizuka Sugiyama, our favorite up and coming mixed martial artist, is out of the next Jewels event due to an injury. According to Nikkan Sports, it seems she suffered a broken collar bone as well as a dislocated shoulder during training. Sugiyama was to face Mongolian wrestler and MMA newcomer Esui in a shootboxing match at Jewels 9th Ring being held July 31st.

Unfortunately, this is another sad note considering Sugi’s career seems to have taken quite a downturn recently. After she went 5-0 at the beginning of her career, Sugi is now only 1-2 in her last three fights. It seems that her first loss at the hands of Alexandra Sanchez took quite a bit out of her. She also notably skipped Jewels 8th Ring, which was held back in May, after her second loss to Miki Morifuji.

We were looking forward to seeing her take to the ring again, although with mixed concern as she was pitted against a noticeably bigger opponent in Esui. Regardless, we wish Sugi a quick and lasting recovery, and we await the day she dons her oversized marshmallow-like Jewels gloves once more.

Back with another batch of wallpapers. We went through a few more this month compared to last, and I was pleased to find the above fanart image of Lum by Range Murata. It’s definitely bikini season!

Catch the rest of the images after the jump, and just as a heads up, as Lithobolos continues to contribute we’ll probably be seeing more idol pics popping up here.  

Watching commercials sometimes gets me annoyed and rarely gets me angry. Most of the time, I just try and zone out as to not be influenced into buying something I don’t need.  This is not the case with the recent ads from Cisco featuring popular young actress Ellen Page. Not only do these commercials annoy with their cheesiness, fail to actually present a product I might want to buy, but they ironically make light of the human rights violations the company is perpetrating in their cooperation with the oppressive government of China.

The two main Cisco advertisements I have seen are: 1) where she goes to a classroom in her hometown and meets kids who are going on a virtual field trip to China and 2) where the small town’s city hall has a police control center with video screens connected to local surveillance cameras.

The sequence of my thoughts went from China, to video surveillance, to Cisco, and closed with the ditsy voice at the end chirping the catch phase: “the human network.”  All of this together reminded me of the Tank Man documentary and human rights.

Years ago I watched an amazing documentary on PBS’s Frontline called The Tank Man. This documentary largely covers the Tienanmen Square Massacre, but it also deals with the so called “Great Fire Wall of China,” which touches on present day information and security efforts to crush free speech and dissent.

Cisco Systems was mention many times in the documentary and is also mentioned by Amnesty International as one of the corporations that are helping oppress the Chinese people.

From the Tank Man Documentary:

ANTONY THOMAS: It is that aspect, direct cooperation between Western corporations and the Chinese police, that is of greatest concern.

HARRY WU, China Information Center: China have a national program, so-called Golden Shield program. It means try to upgrade and modernize the police control system.

ANTONY THOMAS: Posing as a provider of surveillance technology and database management, exiled dissident Harry Wu contacted local police authorities across China. He says that time after time, he was told he was too late. They already had the latest technology from the American corporation Cisco.

HARRY WU: Cisco signed a contract with the provincial security department one after the other one. In their proposal, they say very clear that, “We help you make your work more effective.” Patrol car to patrol car connection, patrol car to police station connection, include the voice identification, image identification, fingerprints identification. They’re training Chinese police to control the country, control the people.

ANTONY THOMAS: Cisco declined an interview but issued a written statement: “Cisco sells identical products world-wide. It is the customer, not Cisco, who determines how the specific capabilities will be used.”
But Harry Wu wonders whether Cisco is violating the law.

HARRY WU: American have the law since 1989, not allowed to sell any products to China about the detective or crime control.

ANTONY THOMAS: The law forbids the sale of any crime control or detection instruments or equipment to China. But Cisco says this means “equipment such as shotguns, police helmets and handcuffs. Networking products are not covered by this legislation.”

But under pressure from Harry Wu and Congress, the administration and the State Department are now reexamining the rules under which technology companies should operate in China.

- Frontline: The Tank Man: Transcript

Cisco has also said, “if the government of China wants to monitor the Internet, that’s their business. We are basically politically neutral” (Amnesty International USA).

All of this is horribly troubling and alone gets one incensed. The last thing we need is Cisco trying to get some cute Canadian girl acting innocent to show how great their technology is, all-the-while rubbing the fact they make money by selling said technology to China in to the faces of anyone who cares even a little bit about human rights there.

Skin whitening is very popular in India despite the social and health consequences. Here are two articles, from Feministing and CBS News, about a new Vaseline campaign on Facebook India where people can whiten their profile picture.

Guess I’m going to have to buy another brand of lotion now.