Category: Awareness
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Love Hina Christmas Special: A Tale of Romance, Growth, and Brain Health
Read more: Love Hina Christmas Special: A Tale of Romance, Growth, and Brain HealthToday is Christmas Eve, and while Christmas is not a public holiday in Japan, the celebrations and marketing surrounding the occasion are surprisingly vibrant. In 2000, the Love Hina X’Mas Special: Silent Eve was released as a special OVA (Original Video Animation) to mark the festive season. This heartwarming episode brings back all the beloved…
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Understanding Mental Illness and Society: A Reflection on Change
Read more: Understanding Mental Illness and Society: A Reflection on ChangeI spent a few days with my dad, who lives in France. Ever since I was a kid, I always thought of my dad as someone different and weird, but I never saw him as someone mentally sick or someone who might need help from a psychiatrist. I believed he wasn’t trying his best to…
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The Unconquerable Spirit: Lessons from Invictus
Read more: The Unconquerable Spirit: Lessons from InvictusToday’s tale reflects on a movie I watched during my flight back to Japan. Invictus, released in 2009, is directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby team. The story is based on John Carlin’s 2008 book, Playing the…
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Rediscovering Nature and Harmony: Lessons from Princess Mononoke
Read more: Rediscovering Nature and Harmony: Lessons from Princess MononokeI just realized that this marks my 100th post on Instagram, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to share something close to my heart. During my first year of high school in France, I watched Princess Mononoke (1997) in the movie theater. It was the first Studio Ghibli film I encountered, as…
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How a Manga, a Middle School Friendship, and a Global Perspective Shaped My Vision
Read more: How a Manga, a Middle School Friendship, and a Global Perspective Shaped My VisionMy short trip to Paris to visit my dad also gave me the chance to reconnect with my best friend from middle school. We met at a prestigious middle school in Paris, located near the Eiffel Tower, surrounded by stereotypically wealthy French students. He comes from Algerian ancestry, and I am of Chinese descent, which…
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Kickboxer, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the Power of Awareness
Read more: Kickboxer, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the Power of AwarenessI met a good friend recently, someone I’ve known since we both joined the same IT course 12 years ago. He’s not just a friend but also a martial arts champion of France, which immediately brought to mind a movie I loved as a child: Kickboxer, directed by David Worth and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.…
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Exploring Cultural Perspectives in “The Cat Returns”
Read more: Exploring Cultural Perspectives in “The Cat Returns”I met some friends from high school yesterday, and it reminded me of the time we watched The Cat Returns, a Studio Ghibli movie, together in theaters. Back then, I didn’t know any Japanese, but I noticed something fascinating: the English and French titles of the movie were not literal translations of the original Japanese…
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Unlocking the Mind: The Interplay of Mental Illness, Music, and Brain Health
Read more: Unlocking the Mind: The Interplay of Mental Illness, Music, and Brain HealthToday, I wanted to delve into the sixth song of the album Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, released by Dream Theater in 2002. It’s actually a 42-minute epic divided into eight distinct parts. I listened to Dream Theater quite a lot in my 20s, and this particular song holds a special place in my heart.…
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“2001: A Space Odyssey” and the Future of Humanity: Reflections on Consciousness, AI, and Global Unity
Read more: “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the Future of Humanity: Reflections on Consciousness, AI, and Global UnityI recently watched 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick during a flight to Paris to visit my father. Despite its iconic status, I had never seen it before. My only prior knowledge was the use of Richard Strauss’s famous classical piece, “Also Sprach Zarathustra.” Watching this masterpiece for the first time, I was struck…
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Chihayafuru: A Tale of Friendship, Growth, and Brain-Boosting Lessons
Read more: Chihayafuru: A Tale of Friendship, Growth, and Brain-Boosting LessonsWe recently watched the live-action movie series Chihayafuru (a trilogy) with my wife. She asked me if I had heard of Carta before seeing it. Surprisingly, I hadn’t even come across the name. Carta is a Japanese game where two participants duel on a tatami floor, aiming to be faster than their opponent in finding…