I won't say this is required reading, as enough of it is either already apparent or to the point of gun-against-temple depressing, but it is worth a round of discussion.
So, before I haul off and make some profoundly intelligent statements that have the girls swooning and the men stroking their beards, who else has read this?
I'm not going to let this become a Hate On Japan thread; you can be critical as much as you please, but state your grounds or get ready to look dumb in front of everyone else.
EDIT: Y'all need to throw caution to the wind and speak what you feel either way about this. It's all cool.