Kyoto Animation (KyoAni for short) is an animation studio founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Hideaki and Yoko Hatta. For their first two decades as a company, they mostly did contract work on shows like Inuyasha and Tenchi Universe. In … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (July 24th, 2019)

O Maidens in Your Savage Season is a manga series by veteran screenwriter Mari Okada. The romantic dramedy tells the story of five teenage girls in a high school literature club who navigate romantic entanglements and come to terms with … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (July 17th, 2019)

Astra Lost in Space is a manga series by Kenta Shinohara about a group of high school students in the future who become stranded in space, discover an abandoned spaceship, and have to find their way home. An anime series … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (July 10th, 2019)

The new summer anime season is almost upon us, and it’s time to do a short preview! For a full list of what’s premiering, please consult AniChart. Here are my highlights: 7 Seeds. After a delay, this post-apocalyptic show finally … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (July 3rd, 2019)

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a mecha anime series written and directed by Hideaki Anno. It is widely considered to be a classic of the genre and is credited with fuelling the worldwide anime boom. Its influence is still felt on … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (June 26th, 2019)

Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan is an anime series written by Mari Okada and directed by Shinji Higuchi and Hiroshi Kobayashi for Studio Bones. It tells the story of the titular Hisone, a pilot for the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force. … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (June 19th, 2019)

Masaaki Yuasa is an animator and director who is known for directing the films Mind Game, The Night Is Short Walk on Girl, Lu Over the Wall, and the upcoming Ride Your Wave. His newest film, Inu-oh, about the legendary … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (June 12th, 2019)

We Never Learn, also known as Bokuben, is a shōnen manga series about a boy who tutors three high school girls who all have proficiencies in different subjects in an attempt to get a college scholarship. An anime series based … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (June 5th, 2019)

Ao-chan Can’t Study is an ecchi comedy manga series about a studious tsundere high school girl who has a crush on her handsome classmate but also has doubts about the purity of his intentions. Moreover, her father is a famous … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 22nd, 2019)

Hey folks! Welcome to your weekly Japanese pop culture thread! Ramen. Savoury broth. Fresh veggies. Juicy meat. Flavourful seasonings. And perhaps most importantly, bouncy, chewy noodles. Over at Mothership sister site The Takeout, Mike Satinover has an article about what … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 15th, 2019)

Hey folks! Welcome to this week’s Japanese pop culture thread. Rilakkuma and Kaoru is a stop-motion animation series that debuted on Netflix last month. It follows the daily life of Kaoru, an office worker living in Japan, and Rilakkuma, a … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 8th, 2019)

It’s the first day of May, and it’s beautiful and sunny outside, so what better time is there to talk about the night-time urban fantasy manga series Midnight Occult Civil Servants? Everyone knows that government jobs are super-exciting, but they … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 1st, 2019)

Sarazanmai is the latest work from the twisted mind of Penguindrum creator Kunihiko Ikuhara. This anime series is a magical boy story that tells the tale of three delinquent middle-schoolers who get transformed into kappas. The series is currently available … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 24th, 2019)

Fruits Basket is a shōjo manga series about an orphan girl who goes to live with some of her male classmates, only to discover that they’re possessed by animals of the Chinese zodiac. It is one of the best-selling manga … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 17th, 2019)

Carole & Tuesday is the new anime series from Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo mastermind Shinichirō Watanabe. Set in a future where humans have colonized Mars, it tells the story of two girls from very different backgrounds who meet and … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 10th, 2019)

The spring anime season is now upon us, and more so than past seasons, it looks to be chock-full of sequels and remakes, like Bungo Stray Dogs 3.a(featured in the header image), Attack on Titan 3 Part 2, and a … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 3rd, 2019)

Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka is a Japanese seinen manga series about a group of magical girls that must resume the fight against a violent race of beasts called the Disas three years after an earlier, bloody war with them. An … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (March 27th, 2019)

Girly Air Force is a light novel series about an invasion by a mysterious group of combatants known as the Zai and the technology used to repel their assault: a force of female android air force pilots known as Anima, … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (March 20th, 2019)

Run with the Wind is a novel by Shion Miura about a group of Kansei University students who train to run the Hakone Ekiden, a 200 km relay marathon held annually in January. It has been adapted into a live-action … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (March 13th, 2019)

Hi folks. Apologies for the delay in getting this thread up. The Price of Smiles is a currently airing anime series about the young princess of a kingdom known as Soleil. Orphaned at a young age, she’s thrust into a … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (March 6th, 2019)