Not really related to 2D Jap subculture, but our Engineering Physics lecturer showed us a really cool video demonstrating several amazingly designed simple machines:
The lecturer played the video at the beginning of the 2 hour lecture, in the middle during the break and at the end of the lecture, and hell a lot of students stayed to finish watching it. Vocal response was incredible, ranging from “WHOA”s to laughing and even wild clapping. Really have to give it up to him for his efforts in making physics interesting.
To understand the video better, here’s a small Katakana lesson:
ピ – pi, タ – ta, ゴ – go, ラ – ra
These characters make up the first line of Katakana in the first picture way above: Pythagora
ス – su, イ – i, ッ – vowel extender (basically), チ – chi
When pronounced quickly, these characters sound like the English “switch”.
Pi (ピ) is often enlarged in the video, so look out for that character:
At first glance, I thought the video was a result of some Japanese University Physics club fooling around with Newtonian Mechanics. Turns out that it is actually part of some 15-min Japanese educational TV program. I’ve been through many educational programs as a kid, and I guess the Japanese really have it much more than us (Singaporans) in terms of providing creative thinking food for their kids. Provides some insight into how a supposedly educational anime for kids such as Denno Coil can attract an adult and even Otaku audience.
I guess this explains the allure of Japanese 2D subculture to some, and the repulsion of it to others. The Japanese are not afriad to try new things and push the limits of existing media, even in their educational TV shows. This will inevitably piss off conservatives though, and since conservative thought still dominates a considerable portion of the world (and most of my lecture group, in fact), the dissemination of subculture will remain an uphill battle.
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