At 07:39 AM 8/15/97 -0400, Robyn, Duke of Amber wrote:
     

                       In My Mind's Eye.

I'd like to blame a couple of things for this.
 Ryo Mourakami's "Almost Transparent Blue" and "Tokyo Decadence"
as well as the film "In the Realm of the Sences."
  along with "The White Serpent" (story) and "Ugetsu" (movie)
          and finally  "Japan's Sex Trade" by Peter Constantine.

  I read the above and the thought popped into my mind about Suds-kun doing
"The Trial" (how's it coming, Shaun?) in a manner like "Rashamon", where
the judges have to deal with each witness' distinctive version of truth.
That thought reminded me that Star Wars was influenced by the Kurosawa
film, "The Hidden Fortress".  That thought leads me to pose the following
questions to the FFML.

  How much are the FFML authors influenced by Japanese non-anime cinema?
How does it affect your writing, e.g. plot development, characters, writing
style, whatever.  Did you watch Japanese movies before you became
interested in anime?  How does it influence your perception of Japanese
society?  How does it influence your interpretation of anime and manga?
What Japanese movies would you recommend to people either as leading to a
better understanding of anime or as influencing your writing. 

                                                                           dml