Cool Products: Bible Black Figure, Ninja Boots, Evangelion Figures!

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.

	Asuka Langley Witch Figure -- Neon Genesis Evangelion EX Sweet Witches Figure. Famous Japanese artist Okama has created this great figure, a remix of Asuka from Evangelion as a witch. She's so cute as she tries to stay on her broom, losing her hat and accidentally showing the contents of her skirt in the process.
	Rei Ayanami Witch Figure -- Neon Genesis Evangelion EX Sweet Witches Figure. Okama's version of Rei as a magical witch is also very cute, as she rides her broom sidesaddle and talks to her cute black cat.
	Totoro Retro Bus ~ Tomica Limited Collection *Preorder*. Here's a really esoteric item for the Studio Ghibli collector: a gorgeous die-cast replica of the old Showa-era bus that the family's father arrives on in the scene at the but stop. There's quite a lot of nostalgia for these old buses, and creating a toy version of the bus from Totoro is just fabulous. Preorder it now.
	Kiki & Tombo Propeller Bicycle ~ Tomica Limited Collection. Also, the fantastic Tomica figure of Kiki and Tombo on the propellor bicycle he built is in stock. A really special item for Studio Ghibli collectors.
	Watering Kiss Mint Gum, Meiji Pine Up! We can never resist selling Japanese snacks with funny names, and both Meiji's Pine Up! sweet candies (with real pineapple pulp inside) and the Gatorgum-like Watering Kiss Mint gum fit the bill.
	Piko Piko Hammer. Quick show of hands, who has seen Beat Takashi beating guests over the heads with this squeaking hammer? Now you can own one of these painless joke items yourself.
	Practical Japanese: Your Guide to Speaking Japanese Quickly and Effortlessly in a Few Hours. Here's a no-nonsense book to help you get a jump on learning Japanese. It breaks vocabulary down into chunks to make them easier to remember, and presents visual pictures too.
	KEN-DAMA ~ Traditional Ball Game Pen. In the "how cool is this?" section today we have a pen that has a real Kendama ball on the end for playing the famous Japanese traditional game in between taking notes at work or school.
	80's Classic Hello Kitty Built-in Chopsticks Bento Box. Gorgeous retro styling on this bento box featuring Hello Kitty from the 1980s, with everything you need for a great bento experience: base section for rice, middle section for the okazu (that which you eat with your rice, i.e. your main course) and chopstick, built right in!
	100 Tough Questions for Japan ~ Bilingual Book. We're big fans of the "bilingual books" that present content in both English and Japanese, great because you can compare the two and learn from both sides. This is a cook that asks 100 difficult questions about why Japan is the way it is.
	Lacquer-style Square Sake Cup with KANJI. Gorgeous square cup for drinking sake, restocked today. It's got the character for "happiness" on it.
	Genuine Tabi (Ninja Shoes). Remember that J-List stocks thousands of rare and fun items from Japan. One of the most bizarre are the "Tabi" split-toe boots that we carry that were worn by ninjas in ancient Japan.
	Chua Churam Figure by Alter ~ Chu Chu Idol *Preorder*. A fantastic new figure from Chu Chu Idol, a popular "H" game in Japan about a vampire who become a JPOP idol. (She sucks the blood of her manager to get power.) Preorder it now.
	Restocked Studio Ghibli DVDs. One of the best reasons we can think of to use a region free DVD player like our HDMI-compliant upscaling RJ-1000 is to watch the great region 2 DVDs that come from Japan. Today we've restocked the official Miyazaki-approved releases of Princess Mononoke, the highly recommended Ocean Waves, and the newest film Tales from Earthsea.
	DX Totoro Cushion Every day is better with Totoro in it, and we've restocked the Totoro plush cushions that will improve any room they're in.
	Pentel Handy Line S - 5 color set ~ Click Guard Marker. You know that we love Japanese pens around here, and so do our customers. Here's a set of five highlighting markers in Pentel's Handy Line S series, which are cool because they're "knock type" pens, which means they don't have caps, with the pen part living inside the pen just like a ball-point.
	Various Snack Items from Japan. Finally, some fabulous restocked Japanese snacks, including Green Tea and Milk Chocolate Meltykiss (!), Choco Ball in basic Caramel flavor, an elegant chocolate snack from Bourbon, and Chocolate Banana Parfait flavored Hi-Chew. Yum!
	Dengeki Hime Dec 2007. One of the best "H game" oriented magazines we sell on J-List, it focuses on the beautiful female characters in these games, hence the title "Hime" (princess). Fab new issue, with a separate art book for ToHeart Another Days, posters and more.
	HONOKA Maximum (Limited Edition) -- Honoka. Search all you like, but you'll have a hard time finding a more beautiful woman from Japan than Honoka, who looks fabulous in this double-sized limited edition photobook. The elegant and all-natural photos are just amazing, and we've never seen art and photography come together as well as this.
	New Manga Volumes Posted. The Japanese are not shy about making "ero" parodies of famous anime characters, and if you love the girls from Lucky Star you're going to want to pick up the new Ero Star. Also, see the new Enjoy Milky Heaven by Pon Takahanada, with 11 great stories of "H" including something called "Couch Potato Lovers."
	Kurumi Imari 1/8 Cast-Off Figure School Uniform ver. ~ Bible Black. Then feast your eyes on this gorgeous Bible Black figure of Kurumi-chan that we've just gotten in stock. The figure is totally cast-off-able, allowing you to remove her clothes and choose how you want to display her. Muhahaha!
	"Sex Style" Sake Bottle & Two Cups. You probably know about our wacky coffee cups and other items that demonstrate the traditional 48 positions. The newest release in the series are these incredible sake bottle and cup sets, which come in gorgeous boxes suitable for displaying, if that's where your tastes lie. Available in Frog, Panda and Skeleton versions!

"Wii" Want You To See the J-List Team, and Know Our Prefecture

Want to see the J-List team? We've updated the About J-List page to show all of our current staff, as well as some nice images from our home prefecture of Gunma to help you understand the kind of place we live in. We think that being able to see the Japanese and American staff members you'll interact with when you order from our site will add a new dimension and help bring you closer to J-List. "Wii" think you'll like the new page!

Part of Peter's Unified Theory of Japan is that America is a country of idealists while Japanese are generally pragmatists. In many areas of society, Americans seem to reach for the stars, trying to attain great goals like total equality between the sexes and different races, holding down taxes down while guiding democracy all over the world, including Iraq. Japanese, on the other hand, seem to have a national joshiki, a "common sense" that all Japanese tend to share, which tends towards more realistic goals. While there are laws against sexual discrimination or harassment in the workplace, the roles of men and women are more clearly defined in Japan. For a family to be happy, the husband should be the daikoku-bashira (lit. "big black pillar") that supports the house financially, and so, the number of women who desire high-paying careers is much lower here than in the West. Kids should go to school to receive an education that makes them feel that they're a part of the larger society, and so there is no homeschooling in Japan. The ultimate pragmatic slogan in Japan is one you can hear quite often: sho ga nai, or "it can't be helped, so I guess I'll just do nothing." To be honest, it's kind of refreshing living in a society that admits that there are things beyond its ability to change. What do you think?

Oh, and if you find you don't have enough common sense, there's a DS game to help you out. Just ten minutes a day!

My First Impressions on Japan, Incl. "Fancy Shop" and "Viking"

You never forget your first impressions of something. Although it was seventeen years ago, I still vividly remember my arrival in Japan, and how strange everything looked to me. Beyond the obvious "my, what a lot of Japanese people there are here!" thoughts that sprang into my mind or thinking that every house was a beautiful temple just because it had ornate kawara roof tiles on it, I remember not being able to take my eyes off the many vending machine I saw all around me, which were so clean and brightly lit. I'd prepared myself for difficulties in using Japanese to communicate, but I didn't bet on my English coming up short -- and yet there seemed to be all kinds of English words that I couldn't understand, like "fancy shop," which I now know is a shop that sells cute things like Sanrio toys and stationery; or "viking," which has come to mean an all-you-can-eat buffet. But just like the Japanese proverb sumeba, miyako translatable as "if you live in a place, it will eventually become like the capital city to you" -- or "home is where you hang your hat," as we gaijin say -- people can adapt to anything. Before I knew it, I'd not only gotten used to thinking of my strange life in Japan as "normal," I'd even experience reverse culture shock when I went back to the States.

Japan's Food Problem and a Possible Solution?

Last time I talked about some of the interesting discussions I've seen on Japanese TV shows, even about subjects that one might think would be difficult to debate openly. One of the topics on the "If I Were Prime Minister" show recently was whether Japan should try to be more self-sufficient in light of the food poisoning scare involving frozen Chinese gyoza dumplings that had been tainted with fertilizer. Although everyone thinks of Japan as an industrial powerhouse, its economy is quite geared towards agriculture, with fields squeezing out a crop of rice and of wheat per field per year, or growing other things like grapes or sweet potatoes or those delightful apple-pears. However, with a population half the size of the U.S. crammed into 1/25th the area, it's pretty much impossible for Japan to feed itself. The country is only able to produce 39% of its own food as measured in calories, and thus relies heavily on imports from the U.S., Australia, China and so on. Japan is so dependent on outside countries for its food that trends on the other side of the world can easily affect it, like Canada and Brazil moving away from producing soybeans and towards growing crops for biofuel, which hurts Japan's traditional foods like tofu, natto and miso soup. And yet, Japan's agricultural system is still built around small units, "mom and pop" farms in which the husband often works a normal job to make ends meet, or extremely small companies often operating with limited resources -- basically, the exact opposite of the mammoth agro-business firms you find in the U.S. It occurred to me that one answer to Japan's food quandary might be to take steps to allow more land to be managed by larger companies who would bring greater efficiency and increase production. For some cultural reason that is incomprehensible to me, this doesn't seem like a solution that has occurred to the Japanese, which of course might be for the better, of course, in the end.

Cool Products: Fate/Stay Night, new Bento, Queen's Blade and More

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.

	Fate Fantasm Box 1 ~ Illya to Yukai na Nakamatachi. Here's a gorgeous item for Fate/Stay Night fans, an artbook with all-original images of the characters along with a deck of cards and some cool figures. Highly recommended for Fate fans.
	Evangelion EVA-01 and EVA-00 -- High Complete Model Progressive. One of the coolest Evangelion toys is the High Complete Model Progressive series, which features tons of additional weapons and other parts you can play with. Enjoy the EVA-00 and EVA-01, posted to the site today.
	80's Classic Hello Kitty Vanity Case - Red or White. Here's a great all-purpose Hello Kitty case that can be used as a bag to carry your important stuff, or even as your daily purse. Features great retro 80s Kitty-chan styling. Available in red or white because, well, this is Japan and all.
	Glico Marble Pocky -- Half-Bitter Caramel Chocolate. It's Pocky time at J-List again. The newest flavor is really good, tasty caramel intertwined with half-sweet chocolate, a combination that just melts in the mouth. Available by the shrinkwrapped case, too.
	Other Delicious Japanese Snacks. We've got other fun snacks from Japan too. First try Meiji's fabulous Gummy Choco, strawberry flavored gummy with chocolate around it, a great idea. Also, Copan ("little bread") now comes in tasty Maple Sugar flavor. Buono!
	Single-use Bento Cup Circle Shaped ~ Winter and Fall. A great way to separate the foods inside your bento box so they don't run together are these single-use paper bento cups, which also add color and make your bento more beautiful. Enjoy these newly posted items.
	Tokyo File Style: A Shopping Guide. Planning a trip to Japan? This excellent shopping guide will help you make the most of your trip by mapping out all the best shops for you to hit. From famous locations like Shinjuku and Shibuya to the otaku haven Akihabara, it's a winner.
	TAKE-TOMOBO ~ Japanese Retro Toy Bamboo flying Propeller. Although Leonardo Da Vinci was the first to bring the idea of a helicopter to the West, "TAKE-TOMBO" (lit. bamboo dragonflies) have been popular children's toys for more than 2000 years in China and Japan. Here is a set of two fun propellers that will fly high in the sky.
	Restocked Traditional Items. Wow, these are some really beautiful items. See our Asakusa T-shirt (Blue Dragon) that's made in Japan, our Pink Lucky Cat Family Coin Bank that promises to bring you luck in love, a Noren door curtain to add some privacy to any home and a fabulous wooden Kokeshi doll for Spring.
	Cinnamoroll HIRAGANA Learning Book with HIRAGANA Chart. Here's a fun item: a Cinnamoroll notebook that teaches you the hiragana writing system, with space to trace characters then write them yourself. You can also color the pictures.
	Books on Sake, Traditional Japanese Sweets. See fresh stock of our great Book of Sake: a Connoisseur's Guide, a fabulous book that teaches you all about Japan's most famous drink. Also, Love Love Sweets, a great book that teaches you about wagashi, the traditional sweets of Japan.
	Neon Genesis Evangelion Stamp Set *Rare Limited Edition*. J-List has lots of things you can't find anywhere else. This is just a reminder to let you know that our stock of the Evangelion stamp set is getting low, so if you want to pick up a sheet of these great stamps, now is a good time.
	Mogmo Kun -- Red ~ USB Memory Case. We've also restocked some popular products from Elecom, that fine maker of computer peripherals from Japan, including Mogmo Kun, the cute plush keychain who will securely hold your USB flash drive and keep it from getting lost. The outside surface is soft, too, for cleaning your cell phone screen.
	Japanese T-shirt "Rated H." For whatever reason, the letter "H" has come to represent anything to do with what goes on between two people in private. The universal euphemism for the act is H suru or "to do H," and if a man or woman is a bit on the perverted side, they might be called ecchi! (that is, the letter H said with a Japanese accent). Our "Rated H" T-shirts have been extremely popular ever since we brought them out, and now they're our "Wacky Japanese T-shirts of the Month," available for a special price this month only.
	Naruto Notebook, Japanese Pens. Naruto fans, our popular notebook has been restocked, so get them while they're available. We've also restocked the Zebra Sarasa Ball Point Pen set in pastel colors,.
	Meccha -- Natsumi Kamata. Natsumi-chan is an elegant bikini idol who really shines in her first-ever photobook release. From sexy poses on the beach to to shots that capture the girl's genki (energetic spirit), this one is a winner.
	Dengeki Moeoh April 2008. While you're deciding whether to start a subscription to this awesome magazine about beautiful anime girls, here's the newest issue, filled with glossy full-page pictures for you to gaze at, as well as information on the latest games, anime series and more. This issue give you a fabulous 2008 calendar for free with the sexiest anime girls.
	New Manga Volumes. Got some great new manga for you today, including a gorgeous new doujinshi anthology collection featuring Haruhi Suzumiya, Fate/Stay Night and more. Also, I am an Office Lady, a fascinating manga exploring Japan's fascination with "OL's."
	Hitomi - My Stepsister. The popular dating-sim game Hitomi My Stepsister of the "Game of the Month" for March, available at a special price. When your father remarries, suddenly you find yourself with a sweet, pure younger sister. You must possess her!
	Queen's Blade vol. 13 ~ Nix (Nikusu). Get ready for one of the most popular characters in the line of book-based RPGs called Queen's Blade, which is incredibly popular in Japan right now. This is Nix (Nikusu), a peasant girl who found a magic staff that allowed her to fight in the Queen's Blade tournament. Gorgeous hardcover artbook that will be a treasured part of your collection.
	Shunga Sake Cups, "Sex Style" Items. One of my favorite products is the set of sake cups that feature shunga, the naughty traditional art images from the Edo Period. Also, check out the Sex Style series, which presents the 48 traditional positions in Japan on coffee cups and other fun items, acted out by cute animals.
	If You Could Use Hypnotism... Soft on Demand's fun "If you could..." series continues. In this DVD release, they explore what men might do if they could perform hypnotism on all the hot OLs (office ladies) at work, and the fun we'd have. Ahem. I mean they'd have, of course.

Are You a "Going My Way" Person?

One of my favorite words of Japanese is actually wasei eigo or "made-in-Japan English." It's the phrase "going my way," and it refers to people who live life in their one way without being overly concerned with society all around them, free to ignore social rules as they choose. As with the word "my pace," it's used as a fixed phrase no matter what the subject is, which makes for some strange sentences like, "That person over there is really 'going my way.'" Another word that changes when imported into Japanese is "free." While the term most often has to do with absense of cost in English, in Japanese it's more about freedom of choice, so a "free ticket" here would be a ticket that let you go on any attraction rather than one that didn't cost you anything. A shirt that says "free size" will supposedly fit anyone (although large gaijin like me know better), and when a Japanese person goes to sell something at a flea market, in his mind he's really going to a "free market" where anything can be bought or sold freely. Are you an "about" person? The Japanese use this English preposition as an adjective meaning vague or imprecise. Messing up English can be fun!

Open Discussion on Japanese Television, with Bakusho Mondai

I've often been impressed with the open nature of discussion I've seen on Japanese television, with several shows that really present opinions to viewers in innovative ways. One is a show called If I Were Prime Minister, which features the popular comedian Hikari Ota of the comedy duo Bakusho Mondai as he throws out topics to a panel of guests that include actors, writers and real sitting politicians. They never pull punches as they lambaste a panel of Finance Ministry employees over the lost pension payment scandal (while letting the employees tell their side of the issue), or call in doctors to discuss issues like the rise in hospital deaths due to doctor error. Considering what a peaceful country Japan is, you'd think that it'd be difficult to have a real public debate over the issue of whether Japan should Japan arm itself with nuclear weapons in response to threats from North Korea, yet that episode was lively, with all participants expressing their views despite the special nature of the topic in a country that's experienced two atomic bombings. Another show that's quite interesting is Live Debate Until Morning, a late-night show in which top-ranking politicians and members of the current cabinet will gather to discuss issues on live television until 4 am while millions watch. Since the show is so popular, every major politician makes sure to be included, and smaller parties are all invited to participate in the discussions, which keeps things from begin pulled unfairly in any one direction.

 

All About "Mascot Characters" in Japan, and Nara's Ugly Buddha

One thing about the Japanese: they love kawaii, or cute, and this often takes the form of "mascot characters" who promote everything from sporting events to public television and even Japan's military. They have mascots in the U.S., too, of course -- I remember doing my homework while sitting on the grass next to the statue of Monty Montezuma at SDSU -- but the Japanese really take it to a new level. One area where you often see these cute characters is government-affiliated organizations, which use them to soften their image with their constituents. Some publically-created mascots include Narita-chan, the official character of the Narita International Airport, the Noppon Brothers, who raise awareness of Tokyo Tower, and the cute uniform-wearing horse characters that are the public face of the Gunma Prefectural Police. Companies often create cute characters to help sell their products, like Kyoro-chan, the little round bird that's been promoting Morinaga's Choco Ball line of tasty snacks for forty years. Sometimes making cute characters to promote your cause can have the opposite effect, which the city of Nara found out recently. As part of an upcoming $95 million celebration commemorating the founding of Japan's first capital 1300 years ago, the city commissioned a new character that's basically a cross between a deer and an image of Buddha, since Nara is famous for these two things (the city is home to the largest bronze status of Buddha in Japan). But there've been widespread complaints that the character is ugly and an insult to Buddhists, as well as a big waste of taxpayer money. What do you think?

Cool Products: Lucky Star Figures, Gurren Lagann art book, Miku Hatsune "Ero" Parody

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.

	Gurren Lagann YOKO Portraits. Gurren Lagann is the awesome new robot anime from Gainax, creator of Evangelion, and the main character Yoko is quite the enigma. Enjoy this high quality photobook featuring tons of great illustrations of Yoko-chan.
	Fraulein Revoltech #003 Soryu Asuka Langley ~ Neon Genesis Evangelion *Preorder*. The excellent Fraulein Revoltech series continues, featuring Asuka from Evangelion, rendered in a beautiful and extremely flexible form that can be bent into any shape. Now in stock!
	HOKUTO NO KEN ~ Parody Comic Mini Memo Book. Want to know the latest craze in Japan? It might just be these "Mad Libs" style miniature manga books which feature pages with empty dialog boxes, allowing you to add your favorite (silly?) lines for the characters in Fist of the North Star. Also usable as a memo pad.
	Japan Mentos - Ume (Plum). At J-List, we live to bring you cool variations of products you may already know and love, like the Wasabi Doritos we posted on Friday. This is great limited edition Ume (OO-meh, Japanese plum) Mentos, sold only in Japan!
	Other Delicious Snacks. Today's other snacks both feature funny English on the package. First see Kaon, a delicious soft grape candy from Meiji: "A single bite and you'll feel the tender loving care that we put into KAON." Then you can "Relax Slowly with Relax Gum," a new herbal mint from from Lotte.
	Hello Kitty Japanese Zodiac Face Wrist Watch. This is an elegant Hello Kitty wristwatch that features the 12 animals of the traditional Chinese Zodiac (rat, monkey, etc.) with Hello Kitty wearing the cute costumes of the animals in question. Amazing what Sanrio can do to 3000 years of Chinese history, isn't it?
	Super Micro Kaleido Scope ~ Lucky Cat & ASAKUSA with SAKURA Charm. This is an amazing line of miniature kaleidoscopes that come on netsuke phone straps (use them on your phone, keys, camera, Nintendo DS, blah blah blah). Look through the end to see a beautiful image of Japan.
	Comfy -- Elecom Wrist Rest, Mouse Pad. We carry products from innovative computer peripheral maker Elecom, whose corporate slogan is "Around the PC." Today we're posting the excellent "Comfy" line of mouse pads and wrist supports that give your mouse hand the help it needs for you to get your work done. These are especially cool because they stick to your desk thanks to special polymers so they never move when you don't want them to.
	Restocked Hello Kitty USB Optical 3-button Mouse / Mousepad. The Hello Kitty optical 3-button mouse has been restocked, too. Comes with a really cute mousepad, and works with both Windows and Mac with no driver needed. This popular item is back in stock.
	Girlfriend Knee Pillow -- Black ~ Hiza Makura (EMS). You already know that J-List specializes in what we've come to call "Wacky Things from Japan," items you just can't believe you're looking at sometimes. From Hello Kitty Ice Cube Trays to this Girlfriend Knee Pillow, which gives you a place to lay your head after a hard day's work even if you don't have a girlfriend, it's all part of the fun of this place.
	Tsukasa Hiiragi Figure Miko costume "Nakayoshi Twins" ~ Lucky Star *Preorder* Lucky Star is one of the most popular anime series in the world right now, based on a 4-panel comic about four not-exactly-average high school girls. Here are two outstanding PVC figures of the twins Kagami and Tsukasa, wearing their Miko (Shinto Shrine Maiden) outfits for New Year's. Preorder now!
	KAREN Gold ~ Pentel Women's Stylish Jewel Ball Pointed Pen 0.5 mm / 3 colors. the KAREN Gold line of pens for women by Pentel are really nice, featuring tips that write in black, blue and red at your preference, with a nice 0.55 mm tip on each pen head. Also, these pens feature a cute crystal ball on the ends.
	Delusion Toy - Moso Yugi -- Kaori. One of the most beautiful women in Japan is Kaori, a fabulously elegant bikini idol whose photographs are so hot that objects around you might burst into flame without warning. Enjoy her popular hardcover photobook.
	Queen's Gate -- Iroha (Samurai Spirits) *Preorder *. The Queen's Gate series is a popular variation of the Queen's Blade line of book-based combat RPG, which uses famous characters from other shows rather than original females. This is Iroha from Samurai Spirits, and you're going to love all the artwork inside. Preorder now!
	Uncho Kanu 1/7 Figure LTD ver. ~ Dragon Destiny Figure. For fans of Ikki Tousen (aka Dragon Destiny), the hugely popular anime and manga that's essentially is a retelling of a famous Chinese historical tale using fighting high school girls in Tokyo, we've gotten the long-awaited Uncho Kanu "cast off" figure in stock. Because this is 1/7 scale, it's extra large and extra detailed, with everything you want to see right there. Very touchable.
	Mao Hanyu Love Pillow Cover ~ Miageta Sora ni Ochiteiku. There's no cooler way to show your cred as an anime fan than to have one of these life-sized dakimakura (hug pillows) in your room. This is the very "H" pillow of Mao Hanyu from a popular dating-sim game.
	Shirow Masamune's Jashin Hunter. If you're a fan of Ghost in the Shell creator Shirow Masamune, you really should consider picking up the Jashin Hunter novels (vol 1 & 2), illustrated by the master "H" artist.
	Cosploid -- Miyu Hoshino. You can't have something popular in Japan without someone making an "ero parody" of it, and that's what you get with the new Cosploid, a fun anime cosplay that parodies virtual idol Miku Hatsu as well as many other popular anime series, from Gurren Lagenn to Zero no Tsuikaima to Little Busters and more. Fantastic!