FAQs and Opinions by Curtis Hoffmann

The FAQs and opinion postings listed on this page were all written by Curtis Hoffmann. They were converted to HTML by Rob Kelk, and are being hosted here with Curtis' permission.

Life Imitating Art

"[A] number of things that are integral to Japanese life and culture that, if they haven't slipped into anime or manga already, are bound to do so eventually."

Cheats, Cliches, Cartoons, Anime...

Techniques used to save time and money when creating animation, and various common cliches used in Japanese animation.

The Care and Handling of Animation Cels

How to store and display animation cels, and tips on spotting forgeries.

Living in Japan, Version I

Tips on visiting Japan for pleasure or employment - approximately a decade old, but still gives a good overview of what to expect on your first visit to Japan.

Living in Japan, Version II

A longer version of the above FAQ, that goes into more detail on practically everything dealt with there.

Foods in anime and manga

A glossary of various foods that appear or are mentioned in anime and manga, plus recipes for Sukiyaki and Okonomiyaki.

Monsters and animal references

Japanese ghost stories and supernatural creatures.

The Neko-jin List

Various types of cat-people (and fox-people) in manga and anime. It's slightly outdated - it doesn't mention Merle from Escaflowne or Nuku-Nuku from All Purpose Cultural Cat-Girl Nuku-Nuku, for instance - but it's still a useful list.

A newer version of this FAQ, concentrating solely on anime nekojin, can be found here.

Care and feeding of Sake

Differences between types of sake, how to select one, and how to serve it.

Rotoscoping in anime

How it's done, and why it's rarely done properly.

Tentacles in Anime

Why so many hentai anime feature tentacles. For mature readers only. There are no images on the page.


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