Not always the research itself, definitely the fruits.
One of the nagging questions that fan writers will occasionally bring up about Season One of Sailor Moon is, "How, with real estate prices in Tokyo being what they are, does the Dark Kingdom manage to open so many shops so quickly?"
The answer, it turns out, is easily enough found when you go looking. Japan was in the middle of a nasty recession in 1992. Just like the recent recession here in the US, businesses closed and property values dropped like a rock. There would be closed, empty shops all up and down the market district in Azabu-juban. If the Dark Kingdom is being aboveboard about it, they just have to do a short-term rental of a shop (like those ephemeral Halloween stores that show up in September and are gone by November 1). And if they're not bothering to be aboveboard, they just break a shop open and move right in, and mind-whammy any real estate agent who comes by and complains.
The sad thing is that it took me until this week to connect the recession to the Dark Kingdom shops.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
One of the nagging questions that fan writers will occasionally bring up about Season One of Sailor Moon is, "How, with real estate prices in Tokyo being what they are, does the Dark Kingdom manage to open so many shops so quickly?"
The answer, it turns out, is easily enough found when you go looking. Japan was in the middle of a nasty recession in 1992. Just like the recent recession here in the US, businesses closed and property values dropped like a rock. There would be closed, empty shops all up and down the market district in Azabu-juban. If the Dark Kingdom is being aboveboard about it, they just have to do a short-term rental of a shop (like those ephemeral Halloween stores that show up in September and are gone by November 1). And if they're not bothering to be aboveboard, they just break a shop open and move right in, and mind-whammy any real estate agent who comes by and complains.
The sad thing is that it took me until this week to connect the recession to the Dark Kingdom shops.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.