Normally I use this space to spotlight a band, video game, film, or anime series. This week, I’m going to do something a little different. Yesterday, news broke that AT&T had bought out the Chernin Group-owned portion of Otter Media, … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (August 8th, 2018)

Hello folks! Welcome to this week’s Japanese pop culture thread. This week, we’re spotlighting Asobi Asobase, a slice-of-life comedy manga series about three very stupid high school girls who get into ridiculous shenanigans. An anime series by Studio Lerche based … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (August 1st, 2018)

Hey folks! Welcome to this week’s JPopCult thread. I watched the debut film from director/screenwriter Mari Okada, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, earlier this week. It chronicles the life of a girl from a race of immortal beings as … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (July 25th, 2018)

Sorry for getting this up late, folks. Planet With is a new anime series that premiered a couple of weeks ago about an amnesiac boy getting involved in a bizarre conflict that he doesn’t understand. Saying anything more would spoil … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (July 18th, 2018)

Cells at Work! (Japanese: Hataraku Saibō) is a manga series whose characters are anthropomorphized cells of the human body. They face down threats from bacteria and other pathogens, represented as monsters. An anime series based on the manga started airing … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (July 11th, 2018)

What’s up, my fellow nerds? Since Canada Day just passed, and today is July 4th, I thought we’d pause to consider fireworks in anime. What are your favourite fireworks displays in anime series or movies? The header image is from … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (July 4th, 2018)

Sorry for putting this up late. The summer 2018 anime season starts next week, and it’s time to take a gander a what looks interesting: Aguu: Genius Dolls. (Aguu: Tensai Ningyou) I’m always down for fiction about how messed-up high … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (June 27th, 2018)

Video game industry exposition E3 took place last week, and though it’s mostly a showcase for the Western segment of the industry – Japan has Tokyo Game Show, after all – several Japanese developers had a presence there. Most notable … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (June 20th, 2018)

Hey Avocadoans! Welcome to this week’s JPC thread. Hinamatsuri is an ongoing manga series named after the Japanese doll festival. It follows the story of a yakuza member who has to take care of a mysterious girl with telekinetic powers … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (June 13th, 2018)

Hey folks! Welcome to this week’s Japanese pop culture thread. The Caligula Effect is a JRPG originally released for the PS Vita back in 2016 in Japan and 2017 in the West. A PS4 remake subtitled Overdose was released in … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 30th, 2018)

It’s time to shake your weeabooty and get down with the weekly Japanese pop culture thread! This week, we’re spotlighting the recently-released Batman Ninja, an anime film produced by Kamikaze Douga (curiously also the studio behind Pop Team Epic). It … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 23rd, 2018)

Digimon Adventure tri. is a series of six movies that serves as a sequel to the popular Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02 anime series that aired around the turn of the millennium. The fifth film in the series, Coexistence, … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 16th, 2018)

Hero Mama League is an upcoming crossover Super Sentai movie being released this Sunday in honour of Mother’s Day. It follows heroines from Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger, Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, and Mahou Sentai Magiranger as they try to balance crimefighting and parenthood. Here’s … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 9th, 2018)

Aggretsuko is a ten-episode anime series, produced by Fanworks for mascot company Sanrio, that premiered on Netflix a couple of weeks ago. It follows the life of Retsuko, a meek red panda who works in the accounting department of a … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 2nd, 2018)

Hey there, Austin Akihabara Freaks! It’s time for your weekly Japanese pop culture thread. This week, we’re spotlighting Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online, a light novel series written by Keiichi Sigsawa, spun off from the original SAO series. … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 25th, 2018)

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku is a josei webmanga series about a fujoshi and an otaku who are childhood friends, work at the same company, and start dating each other. Comedic hijinks ensue. An anime series based on the … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 18th, 2018)

Lupin III has been a mainstay of Japanese pop culture, beginning as a manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch back in the late sixties, before burgeoning into a cross-media franchise that has spawned several anime series, including the … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 11th, 2018)

Hello, and welcome to the Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread! This week, we’re spotlighting Magical Girl Ore, a new anime series that started airing a couple of weeks ago, based on a manga of the same name. It tells the … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 4th, 2018)

Sword Gai: The Animation, the fourth and final series* in Netflix’s March anime deluge, premiered last week, and by all appearances, it’s a shitshow. It might be good for a laugh (or future Rabbiting), though. So instead let’s talk about … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (March 28th, 2018)

ジェニーハイ (Genie High) is a J-rock supergroup composed of members from Wild Bomb, Tricot, Gesu no Kiwami Otome, and indigo La End. Their debut single,「片目で異常に恋してる」, which Google Translate tells me means “I Fall in Love Abnormally with One Eye,” was … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (March 21st, 2018)