Vibe Check #13 (August 2024)

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the 13th edition of our monthly vibe check! Where we talk anything about Japanese pop culture (such as anime and manga), Japanese culture (or anything dealing with Japan), or anything that's on the top of our heads that happened during the month of August. Hope you enjoy reading this month's vibe check!

Check #1: AniWave closure

Hearing that AniWave closed down has been a huge hit for anime fans, including myself. I remembered waking up in the afternoon getting the chance to watch the cool anime series and waiting for the latest episode to drop:

• BLUE LOCK
• Wind Breaker
• IGPX (Seasons 1 and 2)
• Chainsaw Man
• Kenka Dokugaku (Also known as Viral Hit)
• Oshi No Ko (entire first season and only the first episode of the second season)
• No Game No Life

There were a good amount of anime series that I wanted to watch from AniWave that I didn't get the chance to. Yeah the ads and popups can be annoying a lot, and I would have to change from Google Chrome to Opera to get it to fully work, but there were tons of anime that a lot of fans would love to see.

Although AniWave has stopped entirely, there are obviously other anime websites I can get the chance to. Yeah, the piracy situation is a tough situation, but having a community is basically what anime fans wanted. Having a group of people invest their times and spreading their opinions (healthy opinions) are the best feeling because you can have the same opinion of your favorite anime with someone else that's from a different part of the state, country, or even from another continent.

Would the piracy ends for anime fans? Obviously no, but I have a feeling there will be a good amount of websites that will be targeted the moment AniWave is out.

Check #2: Nintendo Museum

There was one time in middle of August that I was scrolling down Facebook and I saw there was a Nintendo Museum that's located in Kyoto that's going to be open.

As a person that always ask this question, "Why is it every time something cool happened in Japan, I am in my home country?" 

As much as I play Need for Speed and Forza Horizon, I was always a Nintendo fan. From the original Super Mario Bros that I played on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to now still having my Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch, I did play my fair share of Nintendo games.

It's going to be open to the public on October 2nd, 2024. It's mainly going to showcase how much Nintendo came so far from being a trading card game to Mario being their main mascot to being "loved(ish)" to people around the world (what I mean by loved is either hardcore fans or fans that are eery of their shenanigans). 

Let's just say as much as I want to go to Japan just for that, I have a huge feeling there will be tons and TONS of TikTok content showcasing the entire walkthrough of the entire museum.

Check #3: Japanese Live Channels on YouTube

Live channels are a hit and miss for YouTube. There will be live channels that you can sit down and watch the entire thing, there will be ones that are (at best) background music where you can relax or get some work done, and there will be live channels that are just.... automatically exit from the video.

For almost the second half of August, I have been watching and/or using live channels on YouTube that are dealing with Japanese culture. For the entire time, it's at best extremely peaceful to have for your house.

There were certain ones that are live POV of what Japan looks like. It's the best one I've ever encountered when it comes to live channel. I get to see what Japan looks like, and it becomes a lot more touching for people that are getting closer to Japan soon. The way you get to see your surroundings of neon lights, Japanese people going about their days (and there are times Japanese people saw the camera and having a good time), and just being in that moment.

The ones I usually use for background music is the live channels showcasing the far sight version of Japanese skyscrapers from popular cities such as Tokyo and Yokohama with lofi music in the background, live stream of Haneda airport, and even seeing the streets of Kabukicho (Kamurocho for Yakuza fans).

To me, watching the live channels about Japan is a great thing I can see from YouTube, and I recommend you give it a shot because it'll be a great feeling to have just something to motivate you to go to Japan one day.

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That's all the time for the August version for Vibe Check. Tune in the end of September to see what's going on for the entire month of September. Happy reading!