Today Jlist newsletter: GREETINGS FROM J-LIST! Monday, February 17, 2014 When the Tokyo area got 11 inches (27 cm) of snow last week, the most seen in Japans capital in 20 years, we were all amazed and a little inconvenienced. Then over the weekend we got another snowstorm which was much worse, dumping an unbelievable 31 inches (81 cm) of snow on J-Lists home prefecture of Gunma, and 44 inches (114 cm) on Yamanashi Prefecture near Mt. Fuji, the highest levels seen in 120 years. Winters on the Kanto plain are usually cold and windy, and snow is rare thanks to the Japan Alps, which act as a barrier between us and the weather blowing in from Siberia. Virtually everything in this corner of Japan ground to a halt with the new snow, with all major roads and train lines closing. The timing of the storm was especially bad because Saturday was Entrance Exam day for several of Japans most famous universities, which added to the stress of the poor students taking the most important tests of their lives. Unfortunately the snow is going to slow J-List up a little, since were still digging our parking lot out so the post office can get to our door and pick up outgoing packages. Thanks for your understanding! Some genki and pantsu for Sendai; some days theres nothing to do but make a giant snow Totoro. One of the big trends in Japan these days is anime series about idols, and shows like IdolMaster, Love Live! School Idol Project, AKB0048, White Album, and Dog Days all revolve around fictional idols who are often only slightly less real then the girls in Japans idol groups like AKB48. The newest idol show is the currently running Wake Up Girls! I like the show because of its more realistic (and less moe) character designs, plus, lets be honest, the pantsu. I also like the show because its based in Sendai, the vibrant Japanese city in Japans Tohoku region which was the scene of so much sadness after the powerful earthquake and tsunamis of March 11, 2011. The anime is very much intended to cheer up the Tohoku region and encourage fans to visit by talking about delicious local foods and showing lots of 聖地 seichi (holy lands e.g. real-life locations) that fans might want to visit. The reality of what Tohoku has been through is definitely a part of the show: one of the girls is from Ishinomaki, the coastal city that experienced a desperately high death toll during the tsunamis, and she still lives in the temporary housing that was erected after the disaster. Sendai was founded in 1600 by one of the most famous samurai lords in Japans history: Date Masamune< /a>, a one-eyed warlord who, among other things, provided the inspiration for Darth Vader. While the Wake Up Girls! anime may have been made to bring genki (happiness, good cheer) to the Sendai area, Im thinking theyre feeling pretty genki already, thanks to the spectacular performance by Sendai-native Yuzuru Hanyu, who took the gold for mens free skate at the Sochi Olympics. Yuzuru-kun, whos been skating since the age of 4, is quite a colorful character. Hes a huge fan of Winnie the Pooh, and all through his career hes never failed to bring his favorite plush Pooh-san (as the character is known in Japan) to his competitions, which became his trademark. His faithful friend was nowhere to be seen at the Sochi Olympics, however, as he was asked not to bring it because Disney is not an official Olympic sponsor. Among other things, Yuzuru-kun us quite a dashing lad, and hes got a huge following by fujoshi all around the Internet, including thousands of female Chinese fans who create steamy doujinshi about him. Weve got some excellent news for you today: Steins;Gate is finally gone Golden Master and is on its way to the duplicators for printing. The shipping date for the Limited Edition of the game is March 31st, so if you want to secure your copy, make sure you preorder soon to avoid it selling out too early. Weve got more good news, the announcement of the Steins;Gate Standard Edition, which you can also preorder, for shipping on April 30th. Steins;Gate is one of the most legendary visual novels ever made, a fascinating story of hardcore science and time travel, and were immensely glad to be bringing this game to everyone. The game will be shipping 100% DRM free, and the Limited Edition comes with a download code for free, so you can be playing the game while you wait for the package edition to arrive.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 04:31:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015