New Writer Introduction

Hello great big blogosphere. It was a great honor and surprise when Yanki Mina accepted my application to become another writer for this wonderful blog. I hope I can bring something different to the mix of great things already here. I hope I can live up to the high standards of this wonderful bog.

It was suggested my first post serve as my introduction.

Hi! I'm Todd and I am quite new to being a wota. I'm older than most everyone reading this. I worked as an attorney for five years before heading back to grad school to work on a PhD in History. I've just finished my Master's degree and will be in grad school for a good deal more.

I've been a fan of Japanese dramas for about a year now. I absolutely love Maki Horikita and am trying to watch anything I can find her in. It was as a fan of dramas that I discovered Majisuka Gakuen, the drama staring AKB48 this past Spring break.

It was a whirlwind love affair with AKB48. Before I knew it I was spending more money than I probably should to attend Anime Expo and there I was at the meet and greet asking Akimoto Sayaka if she intended to use the military to seize power in Japan. I was blessedly fortunate more than I could possibly deserve and my experiences in LA meeting AKB48 and other wonderful fans of my favorite new obsession are among my most cherished of experiences.

I tend to take two approaches to my love of AKB48 and both stem from the fact that, while I love AKB48 and every part of them, I acknowledge that AKB48 is the most absurd creation in the universe. The first approach is to use irony to poke fun at this absurdity and my love for this absurdity. So if you ever think a post of mine is too insane to be true, I am probably trying (and failing) to be amusing.

The second approach I take is to take the subject of AKB48 and idols serious to the point where some might think I am being absurd deliberately. I am the whitest guy on the planet and find the differences in middle U.S. culture and Japanese culture to be fascinating. I have often tried to examine the philosophical, political, and economic implications of AKB48 in an effort to better understand Japan, the United States, and the human condition. I seriously think there are things to be learned about universal human conditions by examining the nature of AKB48. Hopefully I can get into some of that before I alienate everyone here and am politely asked to leave.

I've already gone on too long. I'll try to have something worth reading up before the end of this next weekend. I want to thank the others of this blog for their trust and this opportunity. I hope I do not let you down. Until later.