The Student News Site of The American School in Japan

HANABI

The Student News Site of The American School in Japan

HANABI

The Student News Site of The American School in Japan

HANABI

An Oscar Joke Reveals a Hollywood Weight-Loss Drug Craze

An Oscar Joke Reveals a Hollywood Weight-Loss Drug Craze

Article by Arnab Karmokar, Writer April 4, 2023

During his opening monologue at the recent 95th annual Academy Awards, host Jimmy Kimmel sparked amusement from viewers with a joke about the rumored widespread use of the diabetes drug Ozempic among Hollywood...

Black History in Media

Black History in Media

Article by Sam Quade, Writer March 10, 2023

Although Black History Month has ended, a look back on recent events can be enlightening. The Black Lives Matter movement, ignited by the unjust murder of George Floyd in 2020 and similar instances of...

Pulled from DreamWorks Website

Confronting Mortality in a Children’s Movie

Article by Ren Topping, Editor-in-chief March 8, 2023

Puss in Boots appears to be an utterly playful character. The boot-wearing, rapier-touting, Spanish-speaking anthropomorphic orange tabby was initially a side character in Shrek 2 (2004). He would seem...

A Disney Princess for Black History Month

A Disney Princess for Black History Month

Article by Gigi Isenberg, Writer February 24, 2023

A Disney Princess for Black History Month During Black History Month, we recognize what African-Americans have gone through throughout history. We learn and talk about the most famous Black people who...

RRR: An Overlooked Blockbuster

RRR: An Overlooked Blockbuster

Article by Arnab Karmokar, Writer February 15, 2023

RRR (2022), directed by S.S. Rajamouli, has created a worldwide sensation, breaking box office records and receiving positive reviews. It is set in British-ruled India in the 1920s and features fictionalized...

The Case Against Kevin McCallister from Home Alone

The Case Against Kevin McCallister from Home Alone

Article by Aaryan Kumar, Writer February 13, 2023

This article contains spoilers for the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Every year, around the holiday season, I pop a Home Alone DVD into my dusty DVD player and enjoy Kevin McCallister’s...

Image credits to Warner Bros. Pictures

The Morality of The Dark Knight

Article by Joseph Barboriak, Writer June 8, 2022

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for the movie The Dark Knight Directed by Christopher Nolan, the second installment of his Batman series was released on August 2, 2008. In The Dark...

Generation Z, Go Watch “A Ghost Story”

Generation Z, Go Watch “A Ghost Story”

Article by Momo Horii, Writer October 8, 2021

Famous directors are often predictable. With Martin Scorsese, we expect macho posturing films or sweet coming-of-age movies about a lanky boy. Turn to Quentin Tarantino for the nonlinear storylines, quick-paced...

A Grand Visualization of Frank Herbert’s 1965 Sci-fi classic Dune

A Grand Visualization of Frank Herbert’s 1965 Sci-fi classic Dune

Article by Ren Topping, Editor-in-chief September 1, 2021

Adapting Frank Herbert’s Dune for the screen might seem like an impossible task. The novel, which is nearly 200,000 words, is packed with futuristic technology, interstellar politics, multiple religions,...

The Endurance of Forrest Gump

The Endurance of Forrest Gump

Article by Anna Armstrong December 7, 2020

Forrest Gump, a 1986 novel by Winston Groom later adapted into a movie, is a story about a man with a low IQ finding himself in the center of many major historical events. To name a few of his feats,...

On Revisiting Old Favorites

On Revisiting Old Favorites

Article by Maia Macek, Writer April 12, 2020

With distance learning scheduled through the end of the year, we students suddenly have more time to sleep in, maybe work on a few projects, and―yes―watch TV. Being apart from our friends and motivating...

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

ASIJ Reacts to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Article by Maia Macek, Writer April 6, 2020

The first day back from winter break and the library was buzzing with all sorts of opinions on the latest and final Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the...

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