Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Viva la Revolution!



Alright! Look at how consistent I am in updating my blog! It helps that I have a class that keeps me finishing work too.
This week we chose the theme "Revolutionary Rodents." I wasn't entirely sure what to do with it, except that I definitely needed to draw a mouse of some kind in a coat and waistcoat. But I wasn't sure how to incorporate him into the theme.
Then I watched a delightfully well edited The Last Samurai and had my excuse to use him! The movie takes place during Ta-Da! The Meiji revolution. Perfect!
For those of you unfamiliar with Japanese history and the Samurai X/Rouroni Kenshin Manga/Anime, the Meiji revolution was a particularly turbulent time in Japanese history when a group of insurgents overthrew the existing shogunate (Government by Sho-gun, aka Guy with big sword and crazy armor) to place the emperor back on the throne. The idea was that the emperor would get back to the traditional work of being the spiritual head of the country and allow his loyal advisors to take care of the more mundane work of running the country. A major characteristic of this time was the encroachment of western ideals into Japan, the fall of the traditional feudal system, and the disappearance of Bushido(Samurai) culture. Hence, The Last Samurai.
I actually studied that for fun. There may be something wrong with me.

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