Reviews of manga, anime and japanese culture in general
{ Monthly Archives }
Speaking of MacArthur, here's an ad for a Takarazuka production about him that I saw. Bet you've never imaged anything like this ^_^ Takarazuka is the all-female production company started in response to Kabuki being all male.
 | The Legend of Zelda Hour Glass of Phantom Soundrop Full Set of 6. The Soundrop keychains are great, an electronic keychain with a button and speaker that emit a loud, clear sound or spoken phrase when you hit the button. Here's a killer item, the Legend of Zelda Soundrop series, featuring all the sounds from the popular game. |
 | Replicant vol. 31 Winter 2008. One of the best sources for seriously drool-worthy pictures of the best anime figures ever made, Replicant is a perfect-bound all-color magazine we can't recommend highly enough. Includes a pull-out poster of an upcoming Shunya Yamashita figure. |
 | Wasabi Doritos. It's a rare product that can actually bring tears to my eyes, and in the case of the new limited-edition Wasabi Doritos it's coming from the strong hot taste of the wasabi baked into the chips. Highly recommended for wasabi aficionados as well as collectors of rare items from Japan! |
 | Other Delicious Japanese Snacks. Discover the mystery of what the Japanese call melon-pan or "melon bread," a round bread that doesn't taste like a melon, although it looks like one. This is the newest flavor of Bakery Flat Style Pretz! Then get in on Japan's mango boom with these delicious mango & orange treats, loaded with collagen. |
 | Seifuku Danshi - Young Men in Uniform. Here's an innovative photobook that captures dozens of ikemen (EE-keh-men), or good-looking guys with handsome faces, in various uniforms, from waiter to chauffeur to policeman and even the guy who bags your food at the Lawson convenience store. |
 | Shakugan no Shana 1/8 Figure Candy Bikini ver. We love the gorgeous figures from Shakugan no Shana, an anime series that was character designed by Ito Noizi, who brought us Haruhi Suzumiya. Love the pose, and love the samurai sword. |
 | Hello Kitty Drawing Board. Wow, this is fantastic -- a fun magnetic drawing board for kids that lets them create art then start over by flushing the image with the eraser lever. A really fun item from Japan. |
 | DORAEMON and My Melody Clear File Document Protectors. Protect your documents the kawaii way with these plastic "clear file" pockets that store all your important papers without letting them get damaged. Plus they're darned cute. |
 | Domokun Mimobot USB 2.0 Flash Drive ~ Ninja 2GB. There are USB flash drives, and then there are the cool Domo-kun flash drives that give you 1, 2 or 4 GB of storage in a great Domo-shaped package. We've restocked several of these, including the 2 GB "Ninja Domo" that's just too cool. |
 | Japan Underground vol. 1-3. The popular photobook series Japan Underground has been restocked. If you're looking to see a side of Tokyo you've never imagined, this is for you. All volumes are in stock now! |
 | FUROSHIKI ~ Japanese Chirimen Kimono Patterned Multi Cloth. A furoshiki is an innovative Japanese cloth that can be used in several ways. First, you can wrap items in it for easy carrying, and this has been done in Japan for centuries. Also, it's a beautifully printed chirimen cloth that can be used as a scarf to add color to any outfit. Two different varieties posted today. |
 | DX Genuine Lacquered 2 tier Bento Box with Butterfly motif. You already know that J-List has the best selection of bento boxes anywhere. Now we're adding a gorgeous new bento made of real lacquered wood, for an incredible feel and look. Yet it's still very functional, with separate interior sections that are easily washable, plus it's fully microwavable. |
 | Naruto Anbu Mask . The Anbu Masks from Naruto have been a hugely popular item with J-List customers, hand assembled and using the best materials. The masks are very thick, too, hard injected plastic as opposed to the thin material in masks we had for Halloween when we were kids. These are back in stock in San Diego. |
 | Writing Katakana ~ An Introductory Japanese Language Workbook. Start learning Japanese today with this great textbook that teaches you katakana, the writing system used for writing foreign names and loan words like "amenity communicator." We're also restocking the Bilingual Atlas of Tokyo and a great book on Bonsai. |
 | Various Reposted Items. We discovered that some items had been flagged so that they weren't appearing on the JBOX.com PG site, only the J-List site. These include the oh-so-cute Relax Bear bobbleheads and the "Kamikaze" collection of vehicles used by the Japanese during World War II, great for collectors. |
 | Melissa Selafi Nendoroid Figure *Preorder*. Check out this cool Nendoroid figure of Melissa Seraphy from the game Wagamama Capricco, no doubt one of the most original toys in this innovative toy line. Pumpkins rock! |
 | Restocked Kompeito, Sakura Kit Kat, and More. Restocked snacks include Hello Kitty Strawberry Pretzel (very Pocky-like), Meiji Coffee Beat, Kompeito traditional candy as seen in Spirited Away, and the very popular Strawberry Kit Kat and Sakura Kit Kat "Lucky Little." |
 | Ichikawa San -- Yui Ichikawa. We love hardcover photobooks like this because the quality is so high, with page after delicious page of gorgeous photography for you. This is a great photobook for fans of Yui Ichikawa, the legendary swimsuit idol and all-around pretty girl from Japan. |
 | Angel and Demon Visual Fanbook ~ Tenshi and Akuma. A great artbook filled with beautiful images of gorgeous female characters in the form of tenshi (angels) and akuma (demons). Which will you choose? |
 | Queen's Blade vol. 11 ~ Nanael. Got a new Queen's Blade artbook for you today, this one being the gorgeous character Nanael. Do battle with the other characters in the popular book-based combat RPG, or just enjoy the 64 pages of fabulous glossy art. |
 | Kanu (Aisha) 1/8 Figure *Preorder*. Here's a gorgeous figure of Kanu, aka Aisha, from the legendary "H" game and anime Koihime, also known as Mystical Princess. This is the character Kanu, one of the most popular from the series. A fantastic "ero" figure that can be totally cast off. |
 | Jukujo Sports Instructor 3 -- Midori Takase. The female body builder Midori Takase has won many fans, and nothing seems to be able to stop her from clawing her way to the top of the JAV indies mountain of popularity. Enjoy her new release, featuring her amazing feats of strength and "ero." |
I went to the dentist the other day to get my teeth checked. Normally, it's a ten minute drive, but I ran into no less than five teams of men digging up the road between the J-List office and my destination. It's all part of living in Japan, of course: the end-of-year road work, when government agencies hurry to use up their budgets before the Japanese fiscal year ends March 31. Japan is a country that's addicted to construction, and by law all car- and gasoline-related taxes must be used to build roads and only roads, even if there are other priorities. As a result, March always marks a huge increase in road work throughout the country, despite there being no actual benefit to anyone. Because roads are usually more narrow in Japan than in the U.S., it's common for construction areas to employ one or two "road guides" whose job it is to guide cars safely around the site, holding a flashlight to indicate whether it's okay to go or if you need to wait for a car coming from the opposite direction to go past. The only thing you can say about roads in Japan is that they are well maintained -- I do believe I've never hit a single pothole on a Japanese road.
The Japanese, of course, use a lot of English in their daily lives, even if serves mainly as a decoration, like a businessman showing his intelligence by peppering his speech with haughty-sounding katakana words like "compliance" "collaboration" or "initiative," the reverse version of American businessmen using trendy Japanese buzzwords. But because the Japanese have a limited phonetic range compared to English, and because words have been brought in over a space of many years, English words are sometimes imported "wrong," at least as far as my Californian-American English ear is concerned. The other day I asked my wife to get some yogurt from the refrigerator for me, specifying that I wanted the "Bio Yogurt" that was there. Since I was speaking Japanese, I said the word "bio" with its Japanese pronunciation of "be-oh," and this gave me a little shiver of weirdness since it's not said that way in my native tongue. Some other English words that are often changed compared to American English include "micro," which is pronounced "mii-cro" about half the time; energy, which sounds like "eh-neh-ru-GEE" with a hard "G"; and cocoa and aloe, both of which get their final silent syllables pronounced. There's nothing for it but to get used to these alternate pronunciations, and it's really not that hard -- before I know it I'm talking funny in English.
