The ever-busy Charles Tan has a new essay over on his blog - Essay: An Anime Fan's Take on Japanese Speculative Fiction.

Last week, Nick Mamatas posted a blog entry entitled Japanese SF and English-language original SF. It struck a chord in me because back before I was the "Philippine speculative fiction guy," I was trying to carve myself a niche in the anime/manga industry. I remember scouring local news, attending anime screenings, participating in cosplays, working in a manga shop, and even created a fanzine or two. Until a few weeks ago, I was even writing manga reviews for Comics Village.

While I used to be this big anime/manga geek, what I want to talk about is Japanese prose, specifically speculative fiction... - read the rest of the essay.