I was planning on having my Akira analysis done before today, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like that is going to happen. I have been extremely busy in my personal life lately, but I saw that there was still significant traffic coming into my blog, so I decided that it would be best to give you guys an update so that you don't think that I have forgotten about you.
First and foremost, I do want to thank all of my regular readers from all over the world. It's great when I look at my statistics and see that people are coming in weekly to read my blog. I originally started this blog to help prevent writer's block, but that seemed like a corny reason to create a blog, much less for people to read it. I figured if I wrote about things that I enjoyed reading, maybe other people would enjoy hearing and reading about it. It's been a lot of fun, and I love looking back on books that I haven't thought of in years. The second reason that I started this blog was because I was just finishing up a rough draft for my first novel, which I have been working through editing for the past couple of months. Since people would probably want to check out some of my writing before they gave me their money for a novel, I figured this was the best way to accommodate them. Soon I'll be posting progress on where I am with the book, but those updates won't be coming until around the end of the year.
What has been preventing me from working more on this site is a number of things. First, my long time girlfriend and I are expecting our first child. I mistakenly figured since I was going to be taking time off work, it would be a great time to start the Akira project. Needless to say, the baby coming has put a hold on that for a little bit. But that doesn't mean that I haven't been working on the analysis. I have a nice fat Moleskine notebook full of great observations, and being able to reread one of my favorite novels of all time has been a treat by itself. I'm hoping this weekend to get part 1 posted, but no guarantees.
Other than that, I have been reading lots of Ookiku Furikabutte, a baseball manga that is better known here in the states as Big Windup. If you haven't read it, I would definitely check it out. Mihashi is one of my favorite characters from any manga, and I take great delight in watching him grow from a timid protagonist into a top notch pitcher. Character development like that can be hard to find in Japanese manga, where upskirt shots and violence drive a good amount of the market. If you ever wanted to know how a manga is created, Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba is a great read.
I will be starting a mailing list for my blog and book very shortly. If you want this blog directly sent to your email, drop me a line at adamlujan29@hotmail.com. This way, as soon as a new post is updated, it will appear in your mailbox as soon as it goes live here. It's a great way for you to be able to know exactly when something is posted here, that way you don't have to keep checking the page and wondering if something new has been written.
That's it for this time. I am glad that you all have been coming back for more content, and I will do my best to make sure that you guys get it. Take care, and treat each other well.
