クールジャパン

私は日本へりょ行に行ったことがあります。去年の五月にテストをして、キャンパスからシカゴへひこうきにのりに行きました。それからひこうきで行くのは十二時間ぐらいかかったけど、ぜんぶ寝たんで、大へんじゃなかったです。だが、なりたくうこう（airport)はぜったい！！！あそこにエアコンがなかったから、気温は百度だったでしょう！私はミシシッピに住んでいるけど、なりたはとてもとても暑かったと思います。旅行のことの中で、それだけきらいでした。それから、私と彼女は東京に一週間いました。てらやじんじゃ見たりはくぶつかんに行ったり日本のビールをたくさん飲んだり（えっと、私だけね）しました。東京の電車の中では山手線が一番好きだけど、日本のぜんぶの中では新幹線が一番好きな電車でした。新幹線で京都にも広島にも行きました。二週間後、東京にもどって、バスではこねに旅行をしました。その時に旅館に泊まって、とても面白かったです。あそこで私たちはりっぱな晩ごはんを食べました。私はジェットコースターがあまり好きじゃないけど、彼女は大好きだから、一日後富士急ハイランドのゆうえんちに出かけました。でも、天気はよくなったから、富士山は見えていました。だから、それもたのしかったです。そのあと、東京にもどって、アメリカに帰りました。第二日本旅行はいつかな。。。もどりたいです！

フューチャーウォー198X年 is an animated film about a fictitious World War III that erupts near the end of the Cold War. After American scientists develop a prototype orbital laser defense system to shoot down incoming Soviet ICBMs, the Russians kidnap the lead researcher, but the President orders US warplanes to sink the submarine carrying him with a nuclear torpedo before it can return to Soviet waters. The Russian military chiefs demand a counter-attack, but the Premier decides not to do anything. The next year however, a Soviet pilot flying their newest, most advanced fighter jet forces a landing at a NATO airbase in West Germany and declares that he is defecting. In order to prevent NATO from studying the plane's technology, the Russians invade West Germany with hopes of recapturing the plane, so the terror-struck American troops on the base retaliate using tactical nuclear weapons without orders, thus triggering nuclear war. As I watched, I noticed that even the Americans themselves...

This drama is a Japanese dubbing of a 2010 Chinese TV adaptation of the classic 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I finished watching the original Chinese dub sometime last semester, so I was pleased to find that there was also a Japanese version I could study for the rest of the quarantine. This particular video clip covers scenes from episodes 3 and 4 when Liu Bei and his sworn brothers join Yuan Shao's alliance against the tyrannous prime minister Dong Zhuo. Having watched the episode almost a year ago did not help me as much as I thought it would. Much like the Nobunaga NHK drama I posted before, the older style spoken here is very difficult to understand, especially since many words and names are being imported from Chinese. Also, I could tell that the Japanese subtitles didn't quite match what the characters were actually saying, but there were still a few lines whose meanings I could reasonably guess. At 2:10, Zhang Fei gives his brother an ultimatu...

Thanks to the quarantine boredom, my younger brothers and I have started getting back into some of our older hobbies and games, including airsoft. Originating in Japan in the 1970s as サバイバルゲーム, airsoft (エアソフト) is a game in which players shoot plastic pellets called BBs at each other using imitation firearm replicas. While I was watching videos about a certain airsoft gun, I found this Japanese review in the recommended section in which user マック堺 compares two replicas made by rival companies 東京マルイ and ウエスタンアームズ. マック堺さん uses many technical terms to describe the inner-workings and mechanical parts of the replicas, so much of the video's vocabulary is lost on me. However, seeing as the video is a comparison between two products, words and phrases like "どちら" and "Xの方" are commonplace, and マック堺さん also expresses his uncertainty in deciding which replica is better in any given respect by frequently phrasing his comparisons as "Xの方がYより...と思います."