The novelist John Gardner once said that every story comes out of one of just two basic plots. The first is when somebody leaves home and goes on a journey. The second is when a stranger comes to town and changes the lives of the inhabitants forever. Squid Girl is exactly that, even if we don’t realize it until the end.

The Squid Girl universe, minus Squid Girl, is an exercise in patience. While Squid Girl was terrorizing those around her, we wanted nothing more than for her to lighten up a bit, to leave them in peace. Suddenly, in her absence, it’s hard to care about their feelings at all. Through the duration of the series when the spotlight was on Squid Girl, I wanted to see much more character development about the Aizawa family — what is the cause of their unusual family unit? Have they gone through hard times? — suddenly nothing mattered without her. Surely their lives were interesting before Squid Girl; Eiko’s temper, Chizuru’s feats of strength, and Takeru’s gradeschool curiosity could have made a lively slice-of-life anime on their own. But once Squid Girl entered their lives, they changed. Rather, she changed them.

Even Squid Girl’s return, nearly a year later, isn’t enough. Minus the tentacle hair, minus the “da geso” peppered speech, minus the larger-than-life proclamations of subjugation, even Squid Girl can’t fill the hole left by the Aizawas’ memories of Squid Girl. Poor Takeru lashes out at this girl he sees as an imposter, demanding that the “old Squid Girl” come back.

At the moment when all seems lost, the familiar old plot comes circling around. A stranger comes to town. With her oversized hat and monochromatic clothes and eyes, she seems to be an oceanic comrade of Squid Girl. Without revealing a word about herself, she provides the advice that Squid Girl needs to return to herself. Who is she? Does it matter?

You already know the ending to Squid Girl before I tell you. It’s the only ending the show could have. Let’s focus on what is missing: the other possible plot, the journey. Squid Girl came to town a stranger and changed lives. But then, once we got to know her and she was, in fact, just one of the townspeople, she left town again for the ocean floor. What happened there? Remember, at this point she has no squid powers to help her adapt underwater.

The journey, like the mysterious adviser’s identity, will probably never be revealed. There’s nothing deep about Squid Girl. But there’s some comfort to be taken in that fact that Squid Girl follows the same literary plot line as told through time immemorial.
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Note: I’ll be on vacation for the next couple days. See you soon!

(Picture is unrelated but still totally awesome.) Phasers Set to Stun by Anna Wu.

I love learning new things. So let’s take this week’s Otaku Links to pick up some new skills!

1. How to break into the videogame industry. Turns out just sitting there and playing games isn’t the answer.

2. How to be a holiday superhero to the geek in your life. Also from CNN, but this story is special because it quotes Colette!

3. How to play Magic without ruining your romantic relationship. A must read for M:TG fans. I’d say 50 percent of my arguments with John are about how much money is proper for spending on Magic cards (and the other 50 percent is arguing whether Kirk or Picard is the better captain.)

4. How to create a decent video game blog… from the author of Game Journos are Incompetent F*ckwits, who usually spends his time tearing video game blogs to bits.

5. How to quit being a weeaboo (but not really, it’s all parody). I just discovered this long dead anime blog and I am very sad it is gone.

6. How to deal if your half elf has an unplanned pregnancy. Or what to do about any other bizarre situations that might come up in your D&D game.

7. How to be a twenty-something. I wrote about this on my Tumblr since it really cracked me up but also got me thinking.

Got any how-to articles to share?

It’s the end of the year, so that means it’s time to set New Year’s resolutions! In this post, I’ve done you a favor and thought them all up for you! (I bet you’re so happy about that, amirite?)

These resolutions aren’t the boring ones you say you’re going to do every year, like working out every day or eating more veggies. These are the ones that, if you do them, will make you a happier otaku. And why do we make New Year’s resolutions if not to make our lives better?

So check out my list:

Photo by Trey Ratcliff.

10. Visit Japan. Or, if that isn’t an option, start planning a trip to Japan for sometime in the next five years. Open a special savings account. Research the Japanese cities and attractions you’d like to visit. Start learning (or keep practicing) your Japanese. If you’re in the Washington D.C. area, you can sign up for the Global Language Network for a chance to get free Japanese lessons at GWU — it’s a randomized lottery.

Photo by bananagranola.

9. Bring Japan to you if a trip is completely out of the question. Visit a Japanese botanical garden — here’s a list of the top 25 in America and an exhaustive list of most of the Japanese gardens all over the world. Several US and Canadian cities also have Japanese tea houses and cultural centers; Google your city plus “Japanese tea house” to find out. Go to a Japanese restaurant that has traditional seating or food other than sushi. In DC, I suggest Hama Sushi, which has a tatami mat room, or Cafe Japone, which is the only restaurant I know of that serves onigiri! Another thing to visit in DC is the Japanese Embassy. For the low budget and/or middle of nowhere otaku, try cooking your own Japanese food or check out some books on Japan at the library. There are a lot of options!

Photo by Keitii Keitii.

8. Marathon an entire series in one night. Do it with a new series or one of your old favorites. By watching everything back to back, you’ll get a better understanding of the story as a whole. Stock up on Pocky and Ramune and turn the lights off for the best atmosphere. This can be done with likeminded friends or alone as a test of willpower. The Otaku Journalist does NOT recommend you try this with One Piece or Bleach!

Photo by Alex Leavitt.

7. Attend an anime or sci-fi convention. This should especially be on your list if you’ve never attended one before! It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with not just the topic but the fandom that surrounds it. Figure out all the inside jokes! If you’re still not sure why the #animeconprotip hashtag on Twitter is so funny, attending your first (or second, or fifteenth) convention should help.

Photo by Elliot Trinidad.

6. Make friends with like-minded otaku. This is easier than ever now. Have a specific fandom? Create a forum/Yahoo group/Facebook page and advertise it. Have a specific location in mind? Try Meetup and start planning IRL activities. Keep in mind that these groups might already exist, so all you have to do is join! If you’re in DC, chances are you’ll meet a slew of otaku at DC Anime Club meetups or anything on my Geek Event Guide.

5. Try a new genre. Maybe you’ve always sworn off moe anime/first-person-shooters/playing a Blue deck/playing an elf character because you had a bad experience or just never had the chance to try it yet. This year, end that! If you don’t like it, you never have to do it again. And if you do, well that’s something you would have never known until you tried.

4. Make a J-list or Amazon wishlist. (You can view mine here and here to get started.) It’ll help you decide what sort of things interest you and then, depending on your budget, hone them down to what you like the best. You’ll be introduced to new shows, books and games that you might not have considered. It’s a great way to expand your horizons under the guise of mindless window shopping. At the very least, it’s certainly relaxing.

3. Give back to the community. The best way I can think of doing this is volunteering at your nearest local anime convention. As a convention volunteer myself, I’m continually amazed by how much work goes into running a convention and how important every volunteer is to the whole. If you’re busy, you can limit your volunteer time to just during the event. Don’t like cons? You could try participating in Child’s Play or Cosplay for a Cure, two very nerdy (and very kind) charity groups.

The Seventh Doctor (aka the best doctor) fanart by Kevin Bolk.

2. Create something. Write some fanfiction, if you like to write. Sew a cosplay if you’re crafty. Try your hand at drawing your own manga if you’re so artistically inclined. Other ideas: Photoshop spoof Magic cards, edit an AMV, create your own 8-bit game, sculpt deco jewelry for Lolita clothes. Next, join DeviantART to show off your skills!

1. Start a blog. This year, I’ve found that this is the best way to explore and enjoy my interests and to meet tons of amazing and likeminded people. If you share your interests and you’re enthusiastic, people will notice. If you need help getting started, click here for Bluehost, which is what I use for this site. You can even email me if you want me to walk you through starting a blog — I think the world needs more otaku bloggers!

How many items on the list have you already done? Which ones do you plan to do this year?

This weekend, I had a small party with a few of my friends to celebrate my (and Kailer‘s and John’s) 24th birthday. In case you can’t tell, I didn’t get a single decent photo of the event. However, I did have a great time.

I had an amazing year being 23. I went from being a graduate student to being a member of the workforce, and there was nothing quick or easy about that transition! I also:

• vacationed in the Virgin Islands,
• worked as a maid at Katsucon,
• started up my Geek Event Guide,
• started volunteering at Anime USA,
• attended the Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix in Dulles,
• dressed in Lolita,
• was interviewed for a documentary,
• learned how to succeed in anime journalism,
• went to the Renaissance Faire,
• attended the Online News Association conference,
• held a minimum wage job at a gym, and as a result I drastically improved my health and fitness,
• went to 6 conventions (Katsucon, Anime Boston, T-MODE, Otakon, SPX, AUSA),
• watched lots of new anime and read 17 books (yes, I counted.)

I took a look at the blog post I wrote last year on my birthday. I set four goals for myself as things I wanted to do before I turned 24. I’ve mostly accomplished them — I’ve gotten published a lot this year in places like the Newseum blog, Kotaku, Japanator, the American Observer and now Stateline for Pew, and in a variety of mediums. Though I’ve done everything from written reporting to video, my work now usually takes the form of interactive visuals, and I am just fine with that. I’ve more or less kept with my Monday/Wednesday/Friday updating schedule — usually posting even more often! And somehow, through sheer luck and determination, I have managed to find a job right before my self-imposed deadline.

My goals for next year are to keep it up, continue blogging and, especially, to take better pictures. So I don’t end up with things like the one on top of this post!

I love having a blog because it gives me a reason to reach out to people I admire. Ever since I started subscribing to Wired magazine last year, I have looked forward to Brian Raftery’s articles. He’s written for a lot of magazines, but these articles resonate with me the most, and for good reason. His February 2010 article about the Cheezburger Network led me to his website, where I found another favorite in his ROFLcon synopsis. But in November when I read his article about the Insane Clown Posse, I knew I had to get in touch with him.

I’m so glad I did. Even though I’m just a fan, he was nice enough to set aside more than an hour for our phone interview. Brian gave me a lot of insight about what it means to be a freelance journalist today.

Our discussion fell into a few categories, which I’ll elaborate on one at a time.

Writing about subculture

One of the reasons I reached out to Brian was because I admired his depictions of various subcultures. However, Brian’s job description — at least in his editorial position at Wired — is to examine “intersection of pop culture and technology.” Still, Brian doesn’t think that his pop culture work is ever entirely removed from subculture.

“Whenever I write about pop culture, there’s always an element of subculture,” he said.

He said that subculture writing is interesting since it hasn’t been written about to death. “I would much rather write about a small or sizable movement of fans than a Jennifer Lopez album,” he said.

Brian said that as a writer, he finds subcultures fascinating because they’re often ignored or ridiculed.

“I like looking at stories of people or things that maybe other people don’t take seriously and then take them as seriously as I can.”

The problem with subculture writing though, is often finding the audience. At Wired, Brian’s articles need to be comprehensible to a mainstream audience without boring the diehard fans. Luckily, he explains, the readers are always smarter than you expect.

“On the first drafts of stories I will find myself losing paragraphs upon paragraphs trying to explain what LOLcats are or something and at a certain point you realize you’re going to lose people who are really interested in this.”

However, he said it’s very important to give the people who are unfamiliar with the topic an entry point. This is made easier since most of Brian’s stories aren’t about subcultures he himself is interested in. With that in mind, he looks for the big picture reason about why this topic is important to write about now, and uses that purpose to draw readers in.

Working as a freelance journalist

Brian’s current gig as a freelancer allows him to control his own life and make his own hours, but it didn’t happen overnight. After graduating from Penn State, he accepted an internship and then a job at Entertainment Weekly. After leaving the magazine in 2003, he became an editor at GQ. After that, he realized he had enough connections in the magazine world to make a living as a freelancer.

At first, he said, it was terrifying. “It’s such a survival sort of thing. You wake up in the morning and if you don’t start working, you’re not going to be able to pay your rent. Some people tell me, ‘If I freelanced I’d just watch TV all day,’ but if you do that, eventually you’re not going to have a TV.”

The first two years were the toughest. “I took everything I could get,” he said. “It’s the most hustle I’ve ever done, certainly.” But after a couple years, he was able to use his magazine industry contacts to make and keep a couple of streams of income. (The Wired magazine job, for example, came about when he pitched a story to another magazine, and they suggested he try talking to a contact of theirs Wired.)

Now, by “always working three months ahead,” he’s able to schedule time off for writing fiction, honing his comedy improv skills, or taking a technology sabbatical.

As a young journalist, of course I wanted to know how to get my own writing contacts! But Brian said that he owed a lot of his success to luck and timing. He said the magazine community is very small and getting writing jobs is a matter of breaking into that group.

“I really lucked out. I had some great mentors… There were a lot of people who were incredibly generous and gave me writing jobs even when I was just an intern. Nobody would have known I had any talent if an editor hadn’t given me a chance.”

Here’s an audio clip of Brian’s advice for young writers today combined with a bit of talk about new venues for writing:

The writing process

Brian’s articles are long but they never lose my attention. Even when I think I know a topic, like the Cheezburger Network, he always manages to reveal facts I didn’t know yet. So in order to figure out how he starts working on a story, I decided to give him a story assignment. On furries. Listen to the clip to hear how that turned out:

Afterward, I wanted to know what it was like to write about the Insane Clown Posse. You will be amazed at how much preparation went into writing this story… including listening to every single ICP album twice. If you don’t listen to any of my audio clips, listen to this one!

Niche journalism

In 2009, Brian finished his first book, Don’t Stop Believin’: How Kareoke Conquered the World and Changed My Life. It was especially interesting to hear about Brian’s work examining a subculture that he himself is a part of. As a subculture reporter myself, I worry about getting too involved in my subject and I was glad to hear that I’m not alone.

Brian said that it’s natural to become familiar with the people you report on. When you work a beat, he said, you get to know people. However, he said it’s important to be able to tell the difference between being friendly and being friends.

“[In an interview] the trick is to make sure you’re not sitting there thinking ‘Oh wow, we’re friends now.’ I always wait a couple days after an interview before writing the story. You kind of need that clarity so you think ‘this is my subject. They aren’t someone I have to make happy with this. They’re someone I have to be fair to and accurate about,” he said.

He said this is something that he’s been especially vigilant about policing. After reporting on the Insane Clown Posse, for example, “I found myself defending them to friends… But the story itself remains very neutral.”

From what I told him about my reporting on anime conventions, he thinks that as niches go, this is a big one. He doesn’t think it’s easy to get too immersed within but for any subculture that you’re also a part of, “you have to find a level of engagement you’re comfortable with.”

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I’m so grateful to Brian Raftery for putting aside some time for a fan and aspiring journalist. It was amazing to talk with someone with such an interesting career. His success has definitely inspired me to more seriously pursue my particular brand of otaku journalism.

Let’s get back to the core of this blog. My links this week are all about anime fandom, all the time!

1. F*ck Yeah Anime Subs is rocking my world. If they ever allow submissions, I’ll send this one to them!

2. The twelve types of anime congoers. Which one are you? Is it bad if I say I’m both the Otaku and the Journalist?

3. 2-D Teleidoscope is my go-to anime blog of the moment. I love that nothing is off topic to this intelligent

4. The anime plot generator = hours of fun. I got this: “Magical salarymen run a syndicate of noble penguins to save Tokyo from evil Professor Tanaka.”

5. Over at Japanator, Pedro gives some anime logos a makeover. What do you think of the results?

6. One woman’s Akihabara maid cafe experience. (via @notitles)

7. And finally, Japan takes the anime version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles completely over the top:

Are there any awesome links from the anime blogosphere that I missed? I want to get more involved in reading other anime blogs and listening to podcasts, so recommendations would be great!

This definitely isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned the kotatsu John and I bought at Ginza last May. It wasn’t exactly the most opportune time to purchase a kotatsu, so we hadn’t gotten any use out of it until D.C.’s most recent cold front.

On Saturday, I used it as a spot to display the onigiri I was making for Kevin‘s party in the evening. I made a ton, and thank goodness I did because they went fast! We ran into a lot of people from the Baltimore anime convention circuit there, so I didn’t even have to explain what they were.

In fact, I think this picture that I took at the party explains everything:

On Sunday, we had a couple friends over for hot tea and gaming around the kotatsu. It definitely makes for a cozy atmosphere.

Want your own kotatsu? I was just browsing J-list and it turns out they now carry a very affordable option, especially if you consider that it costs about $400 to get one on eBay! It doesn’t come with a comforter but you can always do what John and I did and pick up some non-flammable bedding. Click to check out the J-List kotatsu! Clicking this link also supports my site.

Kotatsu Tips

• To achieve peak Weaboo-ness, be sure to put a basket of clementines, green tea or a sake set on top.
• Never leave it plugged in when you leave the house! Easier said than done since it’s so quiet, so make a mental note.
• It’s tempting to stay under it for the rest of your life, so try to think of motivating goals like “eating ever again” in order to get up.

Mini Squid Girl figures, which won’t be out until March 2011.

Lately, I’ve been thinking of buying my first anime figure ever, even though I’ve been admitting for the past year or so that I don’t understand the figure collecting craze. What’s changed? Thanks to my position at Japanator, I’ve started watching recent anime releases. And with recent anime come shiny new figures. It just turns out that when I was watching the old stuff, figures weren’t made or had already sold out.

However, once I started looking around, I realized that most figures are female characters, and these figures are MUCH too sexy for my tastes. I was hoping to find a cute figure, like my pink Gundam SD, to put on my nightstand. What’s a girl to do? In my case, I wrote to the quintessential female figure collector, Frances Delgado, aka Dancing Queen, of How A Girl Figures, one of the most popular figure collection blogs online and the only one written exclusively by a woman.

I asked Frances what it’s like to collect figures when it seems most figures are aimed toward male collectors. I also listed a few anime I would really like to have a figure from, including OreImo, Squid Girl, and Honey & Clover.

Frances explained that the reason I’m having trouble finding a “cute” looking figure is that yes, figure collecting is a male dominated world. She said that while she adores sexy figures, “Fret not, there are some amazing figures that we girls can still collect that are free some the overly-sexualized depiction of woman that most figures are today.” She added that more figure manufacturers are recognizing women as collectors and just beginning to cater to our interests.

For now, Frances suggested that I start considering Nendoroid figures, which are known for their cuteness. She suggested this one of Kirino from OreImo. I love how it comes with multiple faces for different looks.

I also especially liked Frances’ suggestion of an Alter figure of Hanamoto Hagumi from Honey and Clover. Hagu’s expression is very charming and, to me, Miyazaki-esque.

However, the one I like best of all is this yet-to-be-released Kuroneko Nendoroid figure, which I found on Danny Choo’s Figure.fm. I like her way better than Kirino in the show so this would definitely be worth the wait!

I really appreciate how Frances, who has tens of thousands of readers, took time out of her schedule to answer one blogger’s email. I’ve learned a lot about figures in the process. If you’re interested in learning more about figures, I definitely recommend her blog.

Remember when I asked you to join me on my latest adventure? Well in case you haven’t heard yet, I finally got a job! And since it’s primarily an infographic design job (with plenty of CMS and website management packed in), I decided to celebrate by creating an infographic highlighting the things I learned from my NaNoJobMo experiment.I put it on my Tumblr, but I wanted to share it here, too.

I’m hoping my job will encourage me to give the long-neglected Design and Infographics category some new posts. Especially since John and I are starting to process the results to our Anime USA demographics survey. And if anyone is doing an otaku-centric data project (Charles at Study of Anime and Charles at Beneath the Tangles come to mind), maybe we can collaborate!

Click the jump to view the whole infographic. (more…)

1. QRapping paper feeds my QR code obsession and gives your present recipients links to catchy rap videos. At $19.99 though, I would never use it for wrapping presents.

2. Just found out about something VERY cool in the December Geek Event Guide. The University of Maryland Gamer Symphony Orchestra is playing a free concert tomorrow (Saturday) at 2 pm. If you can’t make it, you can still listen to some of their mp3s.

3. Charles from Beneath the Tangles is conducting a survey about anime and Christianity that really made me think. I admire the niche he’s made in the aniblogging community.

4. I also found out from his blog that His and Her Circumstances is streaming on Hulu! I watched this my freshman year of college and it’s still my favorite anime romantic-comedy.

5. Finally! Now the only Uncharted news I am waiting for is to hear that Nathan Fillion will play Nathan Drake in the movie. I know they picked their cast, but they will CHANGE THEIR MINDS.

6. Mad Men D&D alignment chart. I could’ve guessed what Betty Draper was without it.

7. And last, the Dirk Gently trailer. I will watch the heck out of this.