Kochi Kame (こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所)

Today Tezuka sensei commented on me reading a certain manga known as "Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen Mae Hashutsujo" or known by its nickname "Kochi Kame". This manga that started in 1976 has been a legend among all the other mangas.

The story stars the horse race betting, beer drinking, trigger happy police officer Ryotsu and his mis-adventures of working in a downtown Tokyo police box. This simple yet highly entertaining story has gone on for 168 volumes now while selling over 135 million copies!

Not only has there been 168 volumes of manga made for this story, there has also been 373 episodes of the anime and a live action drama as well!

This manga will always have a soft spot in my love for Japanese comics. The reason being that it didn't require giant swords, big breasted females, or a ton of explosions to be a good manga. It just had (semi) reasonable real events that we all can relate to in real life every now and then! Also, this manga really helped me practice my reading and speaking after reading the same first volume over and over again!

If the sheer fact that this manga's main character has had a statue made for him doesn't show how popular this manga is, I don't know what will!

An advertisement for the Kochi Kame drama starring Shingo Katori as Ryotsu.

An issue of Shonen Jump with the Drama version of Ryostu and the Manga version glaring at each other!

Overall, this is a great manga that fires jokes faster than an AK-47 fires bullets! I hope you have to oppourtunity to check it out sometime! The first few chapters of the manga and a few newer ones can actually be found here online at:
http://www.onemanga.com/Kochikame/

Enjoy folks! Thanks for listening!

Zack

Watching 28 Weeks Later....

So, as I sit here with John watching the 2007 zombie apocalypse movie, 28 Weeks Later, I

can'thelp but think what I would and would not do in a situation like that!

I WOULD:

Gather up a machete, a simple yet sturdy cutting katana, one small arms pistol, and a shotgun (preferably a repeating one) as my weapons.

Quickly get into my car and go to my house as my first option due to the fact that it has a geographic advantage, could easily be barricaded, and has at least 13 guns and various martial implements in it.

Eat sparingly and pass the time by reading, perfecting my head shots, and try my hand at some amateur radio contact to get help from others.

Station myself on an island in Boone Lake if my house was infected, because everyone knows that zombies can't swim!

I WOULD NOT:

Barricade myself in a grocery store, Wal-mart, or shopping mall. There's too many ways to get in and too many people living together to function right!

Take this as my oppourtunity to go crazy, loot a random electronics store, or kill people like a lot of random people seem to do in zombie situations.

Rely on the military to help anytime soon, God only knows how long it would take for them to give relief!

(End of list)

So yeah, remember kids, pack up on your weapons, lock up your doors, keep groups small, and drink your OJ! (It prevents the scurvy!)

On a side note, Mine and John's vote for Zombie Kill of the Week goes to the military helicopter pilot in 28 Weeks Later that killed an entire mob of zombies using the helicopter's rotating blades!

Night everyone! Don't let the.....well, you know.....bite!

Zack

Introducing myself! ^^

Well hello there!

I guess it's about time that I properly introduce myself now that I have created this blog and have left all my loyal reading fans in anticipation to find out who I am!

Let's get started!

For starters, my name is Zachary James, but I prefer going by Zack. It's short and sweet, right to the point.

I'm currently a Freshman in the International Affairs Program at East Tennessee State University (ETSU). I'm also minoring in Japanese and perhaps Chinese if they ever get around to making a Chinese minor here. I basically hope to teach English to middle schoolers in Japan whenever I get done here!

As far as my Japanese studies go, I've been studying for 5 years and I've been to Japan 3 times. I've been on two of the major islands (Honshu and Shikoku) visiting roughly 12 major cities and few smaller ones. I have also climbed Mt. Fuji successfully!

My hobbies include studying Japanese, practicing martial arts (Shaolin Kung-fu, Iaido, Kendo, and hopefully Judo soon), listening to music such as Green Day, Ozzy Osbourne, Greeeen, Home Made Kazoku, and Flogging Molly, and watching movies of almost any kind! (I'm not much a chick-flick guy! Ha ha ha!)

So basically, I'm here to talk about things that interest me (or anything that interests you if you let me know), talk about traveling and my experiences, and basically have a good time here!

It was nice to meet you all! Leave a comment or two!

Zack

Howdy!

Well, hey everbody! My name's Zack James and I thought I would go ahead and start up a blog here of my random travels, experiences, thoughts, etc. Thanks for dropping by! I'll have an introduction up hopefully by tomorrow! Just thought I would go ahead and get this thing made!

Again thanks! More info about me soon!

Zack