Liebester Blog Award Number Three

Lynn from Lynn’s Book Blog has passed on the Liebster Blog Award to me. Not one for ignoring praise (please give me praise, I have writer’s syndrome) and never one for ignoring Lynn (a blogger with great taste in films as well as books) or any of my fellow commenters/bloggers, I have put up my responses here. Here are the rules:

1. Tell us 11 things about yourself

2. Answer 11 questions the blogger who awarded you asked

3. Pass the award to 11 people

4. Give them 11 questions.
5. Tell them about the award
6. Don’t award people who are recipients already

I have done this before so I’ll skip the formalities and the whole nominating people bit because I doubt anybody I would nominate has the time to reply to be quite frank.

11 Things About Me Updated for 2013

1. I have met Doctor Who.
2. I have met the film director Isshin Inudo.
3. I have Japanese relatives, I own Japanese things, I obsess over Japanese films, I speak Japanese but I have yet to go to the country.
4. I have a sister who is much younger than me and more beautiful, cooler and smarter than me. She has developed a cool taste in films.
5. I watch at least two films a week, usually both Japanese.
6. I spent most of my childhood watching subtitled films from France and Hong Kong.
7. I like rainy weather.
8. I work in an art museum with a famous collection.
9. I sometimes like to watch trashy anime like Haiyore! Nyaruko-san and Haganai.
10. I am trying to write a novel.
11. This is Year II of My Time of Getting Things Done.

Lynn’s questions (I have to pick one from the options)

1. Beer or Wine – Wine – I’m not a big drinker. I usually opt for pineapple/apple juice. I only drink on certain festive occasions.
2. Dogs or Cats – Cats. I currently have a black cat. I love the anime film The Cat Returns. I like the song Cats on Mars. Cats are cool plus Japan has awesome haunted cats. Bakeneko! Watch the film Kuroneko for an idea! 

3. Fantasy or Sci Fi – I grew up on both but my adolescence was spent watching horror and sci-fi like The Thing, Alien, Akira, Patlabor, Blade Runner, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise, Orguss 2. These films had complex stories with complicated and intricately layered themes that go beyond what fantasy offers. Or the fantasy I’ve read at least… 
4. Book or Film – This was a tough choice. I love books but I love films even more. That’s why I’m a cineblogger! Sometimes a film doesn’t measure up to the book and other times it improves on it and adds so much. Nothing beats the feelings I have when watching brilliant films and then discussing them in detail with people (real or on the internet).
5. Star Wars or Star Trek – I don’t particularly like either but I’ll settle for Star Wars – better designs – Storm Troopers look cool.
6. Batman or Superman – Batman. What I like about Batman is that he is mortal and his psychology is far more complex. Superman is too perfect.
7. Anime or Manga – GODDAMN IT! Why Lynn???? Okay, anime. As much as I like reading manga, watching anime is more enjoyable. As soon as I finish work and get home I sit down with something to eat and watch anime. Anime can also be better than the manga. Anybody who has read Ghost in the Shell will attest to that.

8. Gaiman or Tolkien – Gaiman. I have read Sandman, Neverwhere, Anansi Boys and I liked them a lot. Gaiman also wrote one of the better episodes of Doctor Who – The Doctor’s Wife. I think it’s because Tolkein is pure fantasy while Gaiman can do magical realism which I prefer.
9. Reading or Music – Reading. I don’t listen to music these days unless I am writing at the same time. I can read a magazine or a book at the drop of the hat and regularly carry one around with me.
10. Chocolate or Cheese – Cheese. 
11. Morning or Night – I used to be quite a night owl – staying up until 2 in the morning watching anime and films but I always felt like a wreck the next day and after a while of doing this I resolved to go to bed early. I wake up early and get a lot done whether it’s reading, writing (kana practice/film reviews). Im all about getting a Positive Morning (the name of an anime theme tune I looove – spoilers!).

That would be that but I saw some of the questions that Lynn was posed and liked a few so here are mine.

1. What was the book that got you into reading? Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami. I was a prolific reader as a child but during high school I stopped reading books and just read video game magazines, played video games and watched films. Then I read Sputnik Sweetheart and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and felt like I was reading something identifiable, exciting, cool and inspiring and relevant to me.
2. What is your favorite fantasy movie? Does everything by Studio Ghibli count? If I had to pick one then it would be Spirited Away. My first Ghibli film, one of my greatest cinema experience. I love, love, love, love it. I even get emotional at the same moments. If you want magical realism with deep characters and Japanese mythology and a fantastic emotional core with its central character’s journey into maturity then watch this film.
3. What was your last author crush (as in Oh my God, I need to buy everything this person has ever written)? Haruki Murakami when I was in high school I read Sputnik Sweetheart and I was made a fan forever. I’ve read nearly every book he has written. I wish I could write like him ;_;
4. What book would you give to your younger self and why?  Japanese for Busy People 1,2 and 3 so I could improve my Japanese and pass my tests with ease!
5. Name a fictional character you’d like to trade bodies with for a while.  Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell. I’d want to experience being able to transfer for consciousness/mind/soul around electronic devices. And I’d like to terrorise people while invisible.
6. If your life had a theme song, what would it be?  The opening theme to Hataraku Maou-sama. I’ve had it on repeat and the lyrics fit my new trajectory in life.