Really Good Products Friday, January 25, 2008

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Shana Figure Cat Girl ver. ~ Shakugan no Shana. For fans of Shakugan no Shana, or Shana of the Blazing Eyes, we've gotten in another awesome pre-painted figure: Shana as a "cat girl," lying on a luxurious cloth with her hair flowing all around her. Designed by the Haruhi Suzumiya designer.
	Ai Enma Figure from Hell Girl. This is from Hell Girl (Jigoku Shojo), kind of a Reverse Fantasy Island where you can send anyone you hate to hell by accessing a website at exactly 12:00. "We will take revenge on your behalf." This preorder figure has come in and is now in stock.
	Kino 1/8 Figure ~ Kino's Journey the Beautiful World. A fabulous figure based on a series of Light Novels from Japan, this is a really awesome figure that had been posted for preorder but has come in now. Check out the way the plastic "smoke" from her gun winds around her.
	Kamikaze Combat Machine Miniature Series. Hmm, speaking of "WTF" (see above) we've got a fascinating line of toys detailing the various "Special Attack" (kamikaze) weapons they used during World War II, which in many cases were built for the final defense of the Japanese islands against an attack that never happened. A fascinating set of toys and it's really amazing to be a company founded by an American in Japan selling a made-in-Japan toy line of kamikaze toys.
	Tamaki Mukousaka 1/7 Cast-Off0?Figure. The gorgeous Tamaki Mukousaka ToHeart 2 figure has come in, too, and it's great one, with super detailing, especially that flowing, long hair. Her uniform can be cast off, too.
	New Strawberry Shortcake Pocky, Other Snacks. Today we're posting the "uber-Pocky," Strawberry Shortcake flavor, which is essentially a cake decorated on a Pocky stick -- yum! Also, see a cool set of five candy treats from Meiji that have been loved by the Japanese for years.
	Mag-nup Board ~ Stylish Magnet Board. We've gotten in two new colors of the Mag-nup Board, a really cool concept in messaging since it features all the benefits of a cork message board, but it works with magnets, too. Never forget anything with this cool item from Japan. Great for fans of "Safety & Simple Design."
	Domokun Mimobot USB 2.0 Flash Drive. J-List carries more Domo-kun products than you can shake a stick at, from T-shirts to hoodies to cool plush toys. We've restocked our USB 2.0 USB Flash Drives, which give you 1, 2 or 4 GB of storage in a cute, Domo shaped package. A dynamite item!
	J-List T-Shirt Free Shipping Sale. Just a reminder that we're having the first-ever Free Shipping Sale on our close-out T-shirts. Not only is it the last chance you have to get some of our popular shirt designs, from the cute Mona Neko from the Japanese BBS 2ch to our cool Yokozuna T-shirt and more, but you get free shipping (or half price shipping for international customers). We've updated all sizes and have added some more shirts to the sale. But hurry, as sizes are limited.
	Animal ONIGIRI Bento Box ~ Frog. Japan's famous culture of bento, or attractive looking boxed lunches, is really catching on all over the world. Here's a fantastic new bento box that's designed to hold onigiri (triangle shaped rice balls) in the top section and the rest of your lunch in the bottom. Part of the Nikyoro series.
	Hello Kitty Band-aid & Case -- 7pcs. Life is too short to carry boring generic band-aids. If you have a cut, it's much better to treat it with cute Hello Kitty bandages from Sanrio! Here's a refillable plastic carrying case and seven band-aids for fans of "Kitty-chan" (as she's called in Japan).
	Kimono Hime 7 ~ Sunny Days. Then enjoy a special new issue of Kimono Hime (Kimono Princess), with gorgeous pictures of traditional kimono culture from Japan. Features a special focus on kimonos for Coming of Age Day, weddings and the Shichigosan ("7, 5, 3") ceremonies for kids.
	Various Traditional Items from Japan. Today's restocked traditional products include the White Feng Shui Lucky Cat Coin Bank, a cool Compact Mirror with chirimen (kimono fabric) on the back, and for those who can't decide between a Lucky Cat or a Daruma, a combination that includes both. Cool!
	Respecting the Ancestors Buddhist Incense Set. Here's a special item for anyone curious about Japan's special form of Buddhism. It's a set that includes everything you need to do haka-mairi (ha-kah MAH-ee-ri), or visiting the grave of a loved one, including Buddhist candles and two sets of incense.
	Buddha vol.1 -- Buddhism Statue Collection. We've restocked the really cool Buddhism Statue Collection trading figure series, which are detailed replicas of famous statues you can visit in Japan. Available as full sets or random individuals.
	Jitte & Katana Display Set Up your ninja cred with this cool miniature katana (Japanese sword) and matching jitte (pronounced JIT-teh), a defensive weapon used by ninjas.
	Bleach Soul Reapers Costume ~ L Size *Preorder*. Attention Bleach fans: now you can own a mighty cool item, a full official Soul Reaper costume from the show. This is an officially licensed costume made to resemble the popular anime in every way. Scheduled to be release in April.
	COPIC Comic Maker ~ Double Marker with 12 Basic Colors for MANGA Drawing . Here's a serious set of pens for creating manga art, double-tipped Comic Marker pens by the famous Copic. With vibrant colors specially chosen for making beautiful art, this is a set serious artists will want to own.
	Super OL Premium vol. 01 -- Office Lady Super Premium. Japan has a fascination with something known as OLs, which means Office Ladies, extremely gorgeous women in professional dress. Enjoy this great magazine + 150 minute DVD that explores this genre from Japan.
	Problem Free Me -- Mei Kurokawa. The lovely Mei-chan looks fabulous in this photobook, which is loaded with pictures of the model relaxing in a really old Japanese house -- awesome imagery.
	New Manga Volumes. Today's new "ero" manga are both excellent. First enjoy Uekano Days, or Older Girlfriend Days, with stories of red-hot girls including futanari, then see the collection of gorgeous stories by Ryuji Ohtori called Increment RO.
	Restocked Manga. Today's restocked manga works include Lay Your Worries On Me, Married Woman's Disgrace, Take on Me, Condensed Milky, and the gorgeous comic by Oh Great!, the creator of Tenjo Tenge.
	Yulia Nova DVDs. We've restocked nearly a dozen fantastic DVD releases by Yulia Nova, the Russian zenra idol who has become such a popular icon in Japan and on the Internet. Enjoy Yulia's beautiful body in the restocked DVD titles today.

All about the Japanese word "Gambaru" (do your best)

One word that comes up in anime a lot is gambaru (gahn-BAH-roo, alternately written ganbaru, in Japanese 頑張る), a happy, cheerful term which means to do one's best, to work hard, to give one's all and so on. It's usually heard in its formal form gambarimasu (gahn-bah-ri-mass, "[I will] do my best!"), or else as a request, e.g. gambatte or gambatte kudasai (gahn-BAH-tay koo-da-sai, "please try hard!"), or alternatively in its "command" form, gambare! (gahn-BAH-ray, "Do your best!"). If you want to learn some phrases to surprise Japanese people with, these are good places to start, since everyone will react positively to them. In a country that embraces hard work and diligence as much as Japan, it's not surprising that this term is used on an almost daily basis in many different situations. Japanese salarymen are expected to gambaru at work, while their kids gambaru in their studies at school, and the sick must do the same while they work to get over their illness. As long as a person is giving his all, he's got the seal of approval from Japanese society in general.

This is a minor hit by that gorgeous singing star Noriko Sakai from the 80s. Writing about the word gambaru has put the song (which is called Guanbare!, a cute translate of gambare!) thoroughly into my head, so I'll put it into yours now. This has always been one of my favorite JPOP songs. 

I've always thought this song would make a great music video for Aim for the Top: Gunbuster. Do you agree?

What Happens to Foreigners who Live in Japan Too Long

Strange things can happen to foreigners who live in Japan for too long. They might watch TV while drinking beer and eating shredded, dried squid as a snack without thinking about how odd it would look to their friends back home, or start bowing to people while talking on the phone. They'll probably think nothing of a grown man riding a bicycle with a basket on the front and a little bell on the handlebars that makes a lovely ding! sound. If from the U.S., they'll probably only know their shoe size and weight in the Japanese (Metric) system. (When I was in California last month I actually kept my iPhone's weather widget set to degrees Celsius, which is unheard of for an American.) Carried to the extreme, being in Japan for too long can even change your personality. There's a legendary gaijin living in our prefecture who came here from the States during the Vietnam War and forgot to leave. When some English teachers formed a basketball team, he volunteered to coach, but it didn't work out very well. It turns out that the guy had been mellowed out by Japan's extremely non-confrontational, cooperative society so much that he was unable to motivate the players as a coach should, threatening to kick their sorry asses off the team if they didn't shape up and play better, and so on.

More thoughts on the LOLification of English and strange Japanese Internet slang

As the Internet Age marches on, the ongoing LOLification of my native language often has me saying WTF? even though the picture of that kitten that made the cookie but eated it did have me ROTFL. Japanese Internet users love to invent slang words, too, and venturing onto the legendary BBS 2ch (pronounced ni-channel) to check out all the l33t-speak can really get confusing fast. 2-channelers love to use strange words like nin-shin (妊娠）, which usually means "pregnant" but has come to refer to Nintendo fanboys for some reason; gugure (ググれ), a morphing of Google as a Japanese verb meaning "look it up on Google, fool!"; or wwwww, which is laughing, just as zzzzz represents sleeping. Just as Japanese uses many words imported from English, some foreign-derived slang terms include kopi-pe (koh-pi-peh, meaning "copy & paste") or su-re (soo-REH, スレ、from the Japanese pronunciation of the word "thread"). Many words embraced by internet users here are abbreviations of Japanese phrases with the vowels removed, which allows them to be input quickly even when using Japanese input software. Two examples are KTKR (short for kita-kore キタコレ, meaning "Yes, this is it, baby!") or WKTK (wakuwaku-tekateka ワクワクテカテカ, meaning "I really can't wait for that to happen, I'm on pins and needles"). Just as popular U.S.-based BBS 4chan has its /b/tards, 2ch has a sub-group known as the VIPPERS, who evolve even more bizarre net lingo to wrap themselves in.

Today's Cool Products Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Figure Maniacs vol. 25. Figure Maniacs is a great magazine because it presents page after glorious page of Japan's best pre-painted PVC anime figures. This issue focuses on all the latest figures from ToHeart 2, Ikki Tousen/Dragon Destiny, Zero no Tsukaima, Eva and more. Watch as the history of anime figures in Japan is recorded in these pages.
	Shana Figure Secret ver. A gorgeous new figure for fans of Shakugan no Shana, or Shana of the Blazing Eyes, designed by Noizi Ito who also did the popular Haruhi Suzumiya characters. Gorgeous imagery in three dimensions!
	Mario Action Plush. If-a you like-a that-a famous-a game company from Japan, we think-a this-a plush Mario toy, which is-a very large, standing a full 12" tall. The perfect-a rebel icon to keep on display at work, to keep-a in touch with-a the rebel inside-a you!
	Japanese Snacks: Meiji Petit Assortment. For fans of J-List's Japanese snacks, here's a cool new suggestion: a pack of five boxes of the most famous classic chocolate snacks from Meiji, including Choco Baby, chocolate-and-strawberry Apollo, Coffeebeat chocolate coffee beans and more.
	Hi-Chew -- Strawberry Yogurt. Also, enjoy other delicious Japanese snacks, including Meiji Rich Mikan chocolate, made with Mandarin oranges (also known as satsuma in some countries), and Strawberry Yogurt Hi-Chew soft candies. Delicious!
	J-List T-Shirt Free Shipping Sale. Remember, this month we're giving free shipping (half price shipping for international) on some of the cool and wacky J-List T-shirts we're retiring to make room for new designs. Browse our selection now before you size is gone.
	Dengeki Maoh Feb 2008. We have the new issue of Dengeki Maoh for you, a gorgeous manga that gives you nearly 600 pages of the best comic works in Japan right now, including 20+ pages of gorgeous color and lots of fun free stuff inside.
	Sanrio Character Encyclopedia ~ Giftbook 28. This is a really special item for anyone who's ever collected Sanrio's cute character items: a small book that lists *every* Sanrio character ever released, from minor characters like the Waffle Kids to the most famous, like Bad Batz-Maru and all the Hello Kitty variations over the years. Really cool!
	Mamegoma Toilet Paper Roll Holder. This is a cute plus cover for a standard roll of toilet paper, a way to add a touch of kawaii to your bathroom. These are back in stock. Only slightly scary!
	Mononofu Shinsen-Gumi Swords Collection. J-List carries the outstanding Mononofu Samurai Swords replicas, which are perfectly detailed and which feature blades made of real metal (!). In addition to the full sets of this series, we're posting random individual sword sets for anyone wanting to check out these extremely detailed toys.
	SHODO ~ Natural Stone Mini Calligraphy Set. Shodo, or Japanese brush calligraphy, is a famous traditional art form that you can try with this set that includes everything you need -- telescoping brush, sumi ink and a stone to hold the ink that you will write with. Back in stock!
	Japanese For Busy People 1 ~ Kana ver. One of the most popular Japanese textbooks over the past decade has been republished in a new "Kana version" that eschews all Romanized Japanese and requires the reader to learn the language using Hiragana, katakana and kanji, the method I recommend since it helps you read better and faster and also greatly improves your accent when speaking. Both volumes I & II are now in stock.
	Lelouch Lamperouge Action Figure Figma BP ~ Code Geass *Preorder*. Code Geass is a really popular anime that's kicking butt in the marketplace in Japan right now. Here's a really cool figure of Lelouch Lamperouge that you can preorder now.
	iTunes Japan Music Card, Elecom Items. Just a reminder that J-List carries the popular pre-paid iTunes Japan Music Cards that let you buy Japanese music and play it on PC or Mac with iTunes or any iPod. It even works with the online iTunes store and iPhone / iPod Touch. Restocked today!
	Sun-Star Paper StitchLock Zn. For people who dislike refilling staples or just want a unique way of keeping documents together, we've restocked our deluxe StitchLock Zn, which is extremely solid and heavy, and beautiful to look at. Never use staples again, thanks to this really elegant device. The Zn stands for Zinc.
	EX DVD Jan 2008 ~ Exciting DVD Jan 2008. A great magazine featuring a selection of extremely beautiful JAV idols, from Rei Amami to Amai Mitsu and many more. Comes with a *6 hour* DVD of material for you to enjoy in addition to the magazine.
	Chinkame 1997-2007 BEST! The "Chinkame" (chin-KAH-meh) photobook series is fabulous because it captures the female form in pictures so stylish and so elegant, it's marketed largely to female readers here in Japan. We just love the photographs in this deluxe issue, which brings you the best of ten years of the photographic style we've come to call "Japanese Girls in Underoos."
	Fate/Stay Night Visual Story. Fate/Stay Night is, of course, one of the most famous anime series that was originally based on an "H" game, and here's the awesome Visual Story, that shows all the scenes from the game that you might have missed. Back in stock!
	Frog *Sex Style* Yunomi Set for Couple -- Green Tea Cup. Here's a unique item: a set of two traditional Japanese yunomi (green tea cups) that illustrate the 48 traditional, er, positions known to the Japanese and their names, illustrated by cute little frogs.
	Nuki Max 20 Times!! -- Mihiro. We've loved Mihiro ever since her early days appearing in photobooks and magazine, thrilling as she took the plunge into the JAV world. Enjoy this 4 hour collection featuring 20 of her best-ever "H" performances of this super-star.

Learning Japanese can be easy. No, really!

With a sentence structure and grammar unlike anything used in the West along with three different writing systems, learning the Japanese language can certainly be challenging. Then again, there are times when Japanese learners get off easy. First, there are whole swaths of words that are simple to learn, thanks to the way kanji words can be appended to the ends of other words. If you need to specify a language, just add the kanji for language (go) the end of a country name, resulting in France-go, Russia-go and so on. Similarly, nationality can be specified by sticking the character for "person" (jin, pronounced "jean") on the end of a country name, for example America-jin, Nihon-jin. When the Japanese adopted the Western calendar during the Meiji Era, they wisely named January ichi-gatsu (1-month), February ni-gatsu (2-month) and so on -- much easier than using the old esoteric names from the Edo Period. One of the most difficult areas of English for Japanese to learn are verb tenses like past perfect and present progressive, but I'm happy to report that none of these structures exist in Japanese, something bilingual foreigners are thankful for every day. Similarly, Japanese is not a tonal language like Chinese or Vietnamese, making it much easier for English speakers to pronounce. There are some difficult patches in the language, of course, including concepts like "sister" which get split into two, oneesan (older sister) and imouto (younger sister). When I'm talking about something my friend's sister did, my brain isn't used to filing away the age of the girl relative to her male sibling, and it can be difficult to pull that information out on the fly while speaking quickly.

The truth behind "Omiai" (Arranged Marriages)

When I was growing up, I remember thinking that they had arranged marriages in Japan, probably something I got from watching the episode of Happy Days where Arnold gets married in a traditional Shinto ceremony. In reality, the Japanese custom of omiai (easily remembered as "oh, me eye!") is more like an "arranged meeting," a kind of formal get-together between prospective partners, usually organized by busybody aunts who can't stand the thought of their being any single people around them. Omiai can take place with all family members in attendance, or just the prospective couple. Interestingly, you're supposed to bring a Japanese resume form on which you can record your school and work background as well as interests (horseback riding and tea ceremony are recommended hobbies for prospective brides), just like applying for a job, which strikes me as a little odd. If the young people hit it off, they'll go out on more conventional dates to see where things lead. Before my wife met me, she had had omiai with a few men, including the son of a sake distributor that her parents have a business relationship with, hence she couldn't refuse. Fortunately for me, all of the men were quite bowled over by her extensive travels and ability to speak English, and she was still available when I came along.

Learning about the subtleties of Japan through children's programming

Living in Japan can bring you into contact with concepts that may be difficult to wrap your mind around. While Sesame Street has been shown here for years, it really never got that much traction; a much more popular childrens show is the NHK program Okaasan to Issho ("With Mother"), which has been broadcast non-stop since 1959. The show is divided into sections that feature different songs for kids to sing, presumably with their mother, although I would join in despite the title of the show. One song teaches kids "AIUEO" and the beginnings of the hiragana sound system, while another is the Pajama Song, which celebrates toddlers being able to put their pajamas on all by themselves, quite an achievement when you're that small. I've found it interesting to observe the little cultural differences between the show, which is watched by practically every child age 0-5 in Japan, and what I remember watching from my own youth. The show is always hosted by a Singing Older Sister and Singing Older Brother, who lead the kids through the various songs in each section. One day I noticed that the Older Brother host always spoke informal Japanese (早くなるぞ！） while the Older Sister spoke politely　（早くなりますよ！）, a bit of subtle role model-building for the kids to watch and imitate. When I asked my wife about it, I got a blank stare -- apparently no Japanese person could have noticed such a tiny cultural difference.

This video is the Dango Sankyodai, or the Three Dango Brothers, the story of three little dumplings who live on a stick that was shown on the With Mother show and became a national obsession a few years ago. At the top is the Oldest Son, on the bottom is the Third Son, in the middle is the Second Son, Dango Sankyodai. Dango, dango, dango, dango, danso sankyodai. Warning: this song WILL invade your brain and never leave!

Today's Cool Products - Monday, January 21, 2008

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Comptiq Aug. 2007. Comptiq is the popular manga and anime magazine that focuses on super cute anime characters, from bishoujo games and anime to the most popular series on TV. Plus you get tons of free stuff, like the Lucky Star notebook and stickers in this issue. Since stock is always limited on these items, we recommend it as a subscription item.
	Rilakkuma Mug Cup w/Tea Strainer. Here's a great item for fans of Relax Bear, the popular character from San-X that wants us all to relax more. This is a tea cup that has a built-in strainer for enjoying loose tea of any kind. Really cute.
	Kit Kat -- Premium Japanese Strawberry Flavor. We're posting a delicious new flavor of Japan Kit Kat today, the new Strawberry for 2008. Also available by the case with a special discount, in case you're considering stocking up for Valentine's Day or just because it's a seasonal limited snack.
	Suntory Final Fantasy Premium PotionSet ~ Shinra Company version. The popular Final Fantasy potion set is back in stock! It comes in a large box, containing a gorgeous glass & metal potion that you can really drink, and a cool book. The potion bottle is refillable, too.
	Leifang 1/60?Figure ~ Dead or Alive Xtreme2. This is the lovely Leifang from the DOAX2 game for the Xbox 360. This is a "cast off" figure since you can remove her outer clothes to reveal her bathing suit underneath. A really cool item!
	Mag-nup Board ~ Stylish Wooden Magnet Board. Here's an innovative idea from Japan: a bulletin board that lets you secure notes to it via magnets! Despite its metal magnetic surface, it's covered by a warm and pleasant fabric like a traditional memo board. Can be used as a stand or hung on the wall, and works with any magnets! You'll never use normal cork boards again.
	Gunnm Another Stories Limited Edition ~ Gally Original Action Figure. When we got in the Gunnm Another Stories Limited Edition manga + figures, we thought we'd gotten enough for our customers, but we sold out in just a few days. We're happy to report that we've been able to get another few copies of this popular item, but don't delay since these are the last we can get.
	Toshio Asakuma Best Selection -- Full Set. Toshio Asakuma is a Japanese sculptor and toy creator famous for making dogs that act like humans, so realistic that you believe them to be perfect human. Yujin has released a great "best selection" of his most popular creations over the past ten years.
	KIE 2007 Autumn Issue vol. 17 ~ Kateigaho International. We've got a new issue of KIE, aka Kateigaho International Edition, the drop-dead gorgeous "Arts & Culture" magazine from Japan, which is loaded with photographs and images from Japan's cultural world. All in English!
	Egg Dec 2007. We've got another issue of Egg for you, the magazine of really cool Tokyo street culture and "kogals," the spoiled and ultrafashionable young girls from parts of the city like Shibuya and Harajuku. For fans of Black Urban Fashion, Japan style.
	Love-Earth DX Portable Own Chopsticks. Here's a great idea for all bento fans: a really nice high-end pair of chopsticks that screw together, allowing for the case to be half the length of a traditional chopstick case. Includes four chopstick segments that you screw together before using.
	VIE AU JAPON 12 ~ Nihon e toki Jiten 12. Parlez vous francais? Here's a really cool "bilingual book" from JTB that presents just about everything you need to know about Japan in a nice format, in French and Japanese.
	80's Hello Kitty Pencil Case. For old school Sanrio fans who miss the Hello Kitty designs of past years, we've gotten in a special item, a soft pencil case that will hold all your writing instruments that's decorated with the classic Hello Kitty imagery of the 1980s.
	3D Health Mask ~ 5pcs. The newest trend in Japanese health masks are "vertical" or 3D masks that have a spine to them, which helps create a space between the mask and your mouth for extra comfort. Used in Japan by sufferers of allergies and pollen as well as anyone with a cold, who wants to avoid giving their germs to others.
	SLICCI ~ Pentel New Stylish Gel Ink Pen 0.3mm -- Pink. The Japanese are extremely good at making meticulously small things, like this 0.3 mm gel pen in Pentel's SLICCI line. A great pen that glides over your paper in a pleasant way.
	DMM Aug 2007 with DVD (Region ALL). We're posting a new issue of DMM for you today, the #1 Japanese magazine covering the AV industry. This issue is very thick, with stars like Yua Aida, Noa, Akane Oozora and of course the lovely Mihiro. Includes a DVD, too.
	Rica -- Rica Imai photobook. Rica Imai is a popular Japanese model, who appears in her first-ever photobook for her fans. Features this Japanese angel posing in bikini and many other lovely shots.
	New "H "Manga For You. Today's new manga titles include the next awesome volume of The Diary of Purimu (Blue) by Nico-Pun Nise and Angel Comics that's loaded with gorgeous vampiric art, and Idol Magazine Chinami Chan, about a girl who will do anything for her school's soccer team (great story).
	Sweet Body ~ Happou Bijin Illustration. This collection of Happou Bijin's illustrations is not to be believed. So beautiful I can't take my eyes off the pages. Back in stock.
	Galulululu Limited 4 in 1 Box ~ Kogal Parody Box. The Japanese do like their parodies. Here's a boxed set featuring look-alikes of three "kogal" stars who formed a pop group called Gyaruru, including Gal Sone who I've talked about recently, Ami Tokito (for fans of girls with glasses) and Asami Abe (traditional tanned kogal). An outstanding item for fans of Tokyo urban girls!
	Zenra Athlete Battle. For fans of the "zenra" sports releases from Soft on Demand, here's a treat: a mind-blowing 6 hour release in which beautiful girls do battle in a very natural state. Will badminton beat volleyball? How about tennis vs. swimming? Will "zenra" martial arts beat them all? Don't miss this!