Gurren Lagann Finale

I could never watch another anime title ever again, and I think after this, I'd be ok with it.

(Full review coming soon)

Abe leaves the PM office

In a move that many of us can probably claim to have seen coming from several miles away, Japan's current Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo, has announced his plans to resign from office. Copious amounts of scandal in his cabinet, an approval rating that could be described as dismal at best, and let's not forget about Agriculture Minister Matsuoka. It's been far from a successful year for Abe.
I won't try to feign being extremely versed in Japanese politics outside of the activities of the PM's office, but from what I have seen, Abe just has lacked a certain amount of gumption needed for the position.
For a few years now, I've been getting the English version of the weekly e-mail magazine from the PM office, and comparitively, I always felt as if there was a lack of a connection in the topics discussed in Abe's comments when compared to those of his predecessor, Koizumi. Whereas Koizumi tended to discuss matters that seemed closer to the hearts and minds of the populace, Abe's seemed to have much broader strokes, looking at the nation as a solid group, and avoided showing an interest in what different members of the nation were doing in different areas. Still one of the more prominent memories I have of TV advertisements from my semester in Japan was during the September 2005 snap election is of Koizumi coming on and reminding people the importance of going out to vote.
With Abe stepping out, it will be interesting to watch and see who comes in next and what sort of leadership they will bring.