Asian artists: curvy elegance & smoothness

clockwise: Audrey Kawasaki, Toonikun, kidchan, Matsuo Hiromi

It's been awhile since the last time I've posted about art. Today I bring you some of my most favorite artists. I have much love for art nouveau: the slender figures, the graceful lines and the mesmerizing, at times bizarre, decorative elements/ shapes. And I'm also attracted to textures, be it smooth like the above or rough. These artistic 'Achilleon heels' of mine are presented exquisitely through the four artists you'll be able to explore in this post.

A History Lesson from Hyouka

"It all becomes part of the classics, as per the rules of  historic perspective."

Dear The Paper and gendomike asked me to write for their blog. They are great bloggers and very kind hosts. Visit their blog to check my contribution. Enjoy!

Our Genshiken Diairies: The Greek Community Part 1

Introduction

We may not be advertising it a much, but The Beautiful World is a Greek based blog. As a team, both Foxie Lady and Neko-kun are not crazy about their country but they cannot help it and live in its reality. It is a part of this reality, our experience and opinion of the local j-community that we wish to share with our readers.

The main reasons that led to the creation of this article are as follow:
   - The need to share a positive side of Greece, rather than the -quite reasonable- negativity that goes around these days.
   - The wish to keep a sort memo of what happened the past six years, so that we can evaluate the present and future of the community.
   - The interest to see what some of our closest friends have experienced as Greek "Otaku."

The article is separated in two parts: the first one will present my memories of the past and some interesting information on the Greek Otaku community. The second one is going to be an estimation of the present and the future, written by myself and others whose opinion I treasure.

Some events and periods will be briefly mentioned, to save space and time. The article focuses mostly on the experience I had as an "Otaku" living in Athens.

Prism* and the free market of creativity

Bad news came up some weeks ago, when for reasons of copyright infringement, mangaka Higashiyama Show had been forced to put Prism, our favorite yuri manga of all time, on hold. This means that the constant rise in popularity the story met will also be put on a hold, so manga readers are going to miss a great opportunity to take a look on a realistic, high quality slice-of-life yuri.

The Beautiful World could not be sadder for Prism, one of the series for which, very soon, we plan to dedicate an exclusive article. Right now we would like to make a more general comment on the issue of copyrights. None of us has knowledge of how national or international law treats the subject. So we cannot take the position of an expert, but rather decide a stance as creative people and willing consumers of this market.

Lesbians, inspiration and work ethics

Each work one does has a purpose. Some works were made to be bring profits. Others to earn and build reputation. But there are projects that were thought of, and made for, the satisfaction of passions. This is the sort of a case I am going to present in this article, and it is perhaps my dearest story evolving around one of my projects and what, thanks to a sweet young couple, I found out about work.

Blog Carnival: Our Genshiken Diairies

Let's get to see the bigger picture. There are quite a few blog carnival series that center in the personal journey of each blogger. But what about us and the anime community closest to us? We'd like to know more about how everyone experiences anime culture in his/her local/national community.

What kind of activities are there for anime/manga fans?
Any rants? The highlights?
What are the distinctive characteristics of each community?
How does the anime scene look like internationally?

Share your experience. You may as well invite guests, hold some interviews, research a bit, if you are in the mood. It's about the 'we', after all.
Contact Foxy Lady at her twitter account to link your post here, where you'll be able to find the other contributions as well. If this goes well, we're considering to make this a book by next year. So let's have some fun!

________________________________________

Update: For those who want to write but the single anime community they are members of is the online one, they can participate later. We want to ask their understanding and patience. We don't wish to exclude their experience, but because everyone is online active, we'd like to prioritize the IRL groups that form around anime. Thus, let us wait about a month's time to see how the main theme of this anime carnival goes.

Thank you very much!

IDAHO- Because a 'deviant' sexual orientation isn't a disease

For those who don't know what day is today and what make it a special one: IDAHO stands for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Just like today, on May 17th 1990, homosexuality was removed from the International Classification of Diseases of World Health Organization.

This blog supports the rights of all people to love and a healthy sexual life. Because we've experienced bullying for one reason or another. Because we know the agony and struggles of not being accepted by people that play a major role in our lives. Because we want to see this world change for the better.

straight or gay, cisgender or transgender love is love

To commemorate this day we share with you personal stories, our opinion on some articles and our thoughts. Acceptance of yourself and the others is a journey. Let your mind open up!

Diary of Anime Lived - Potpourri Part 2

Neko's turn in anime confessions.

Diary of Anime Lived - Potpourri Part 1

by Child of Ginger

Anime is a rich medium that knows how to deliver good/ powerful/ touching stories, if used properly. Their impact, of course, depends also from their viewers' experiences and tastes. When the viewers can see themselves in the story, that's when the strongest emotions are stirred and get unlocked. In this post, we reminiscence such key moments.

Part of the Diary of An Anime Lived Project. You can also check the Remembering Love project by trzr23 that is pretty similar.

Saya Monou: a mermaid of sin

Illustration by CLAMP for the Tarot Collection - 0. The Fool

After I got into CLAMP fandom, I started exploring the various manga out there and of course X, being the masterpiece it is, wasn't left out. It must have been while I was still in high school and I wasn't that aware of the Internet communities out there or the streaming online - if I remember correctly. I was a newbie 'otaku'. So when I read about Saya Monou turning into a mermaid in the afterlife as punishment, question marks started floating over my head. And I guess that I'm not the only one feeling puzzled about this fact, if we take for granted the strong influence of Disney's The Little Mermaid adaption of the homonym fairy tale in the West. This article is my attempt to explain the imagery associated with Saya Monou.