Site Review: J-lIST

By: AnimeGirl

     Has anyone read J-List’s posts? or are you on their mailing list?  If not, I recommend that you do read their posts for it gives you a little insight on Japan from Peter Payne’s, owner of J-List, point of view. He often writes about his experiences as a resident in Japan and the on- going things there. It’s interesting to hear of someone living in Japan regardless of where you are from since the culture itself can be difficult to get accustom to.

     J-List Sells a lot of cute and interesting things from over there, even snacks! We have purchased from them the Japan i-Tunes card. We have yet to purchase other things they offer, as for snacks we already buy from a store nearby, Tate’s Comics, of course J-List has a vast selection but its good to know we have something nearby to satisfy our cravings at anytime! 

        Among the interesting posts, there are a few that has cool information that foreigners  normally wouldn’t know about. For example, Vending machines accepts large bills ( 8,937 JPY/ $100 USD), Construction signs saying they are sorry for the inconvenience of the work being done, Different flavored snacks and drinks like aloe yogurt or milk-bread, and so on.

      One of the reasons why I enjoy reading his posts is because his insights on Japan makes you feel a bit closer to the culture knowing that the experiences and info. you are reading comes from someone who lives there versus looking to read the news or wiki information on-line. So give it a read or two if your curious!

(Review) Ubel Blatt

By: MangaGirl

By: Shiono Etorouji

Genre: Action, Adult, Adventure, Ecchi, Fantasy, Mature, Seinen.

Status: Ongoing

Review:

Ubel Blatt is the name of the Manga that I am currently following; You are probably wondering what in the world does “Ubel Blatt” mean? Well, it means Evil Blade, its connected to Koinzell who is the main character of the story. Koinzell is on a mission,  he wants revenge on the seven people that took his life. How can he get revenge if he died? Well, Koinzell is not just a kid like he appears in the picture above, he died 20 years before the Manga starts, when he was 16 years old. He was famous during that time because he was able to acquire the title of  “Blade Master”. He could see someone perform an attack and be able to imitate it right away. Because of his skills he was chosen for a special mission along with 10 other people. Unfortunately, seven of the warriors were too afraid to finish the mission, but four of the warriors completed the mission. The other seven warriors waited for the four warriors to return and together they killed the four heroes.

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Japanese Make-up Tutorial

By: MusicGirl

     Cool Japanese make-up tutorial by Catalina. In this video she demonstrates how to apply a “Japanese” look. Be cautious of the fire used on the eyelash curlers and don’t get burned!    Check her out on her sites http://www.youtube.com/user/cl2425 and http://www.cl2425.com/.

Pick up a Japanese Boy/Girl

By: MangaGirl

Have you been thinking about going to Japan and are wondering how you’re going to meet someone there? Well, if you’re interested in picking up a Japanese girl, this site says that Japanese girls love “high-tech gadgets” so its best to approach a girl that is carrying a cell phone, and then say: “Excuse me, could you tell me what kind of phone you have? I need to buy a birthday gift for a friend of mine, and I know she’d love a new cell phone. Yours looks really cool." Japanese girls love to take pictures, so with that you can start a conversation and eventually ask her out on a date!

If you want to know how to pick up a Japanese guy go here. I was surprised to find out that Japanese guys are really shy. So, if you think you’re going to go there and the guys will swarm you just because you’re a “foreigner” your in for a huge disappointment. The article even says; “In fact foreign women are among the loneliest of people in Japan.” Looks like its the girls job to go after that cute guy you see while walking around Japan.  Such a hard job! If you want more tips visit the two links for the entire article, and good luck!

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Darker than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini

By: AnimeGirl

   Review:  Hei comes back for a second season with a different goal, working for a different agency, striped of his powers, looking his worst and looking after a girl on the run from the FSB and the MIAC Bureau’s as well. Yin is not really seen until later episodes, the Japanese government and section 3 captured her and they call her Izanami, she is kept sedated in a containment box.

    This season’s story mainly revolves around Suō Pavlichenko, a thirteen year old girl who is separated from her father, Dr. Mikhail and brother, Shion, after one of the bureaus raided their house in search for her brother.  Suō later meets Hei and July, all three head to Tokyo together, while she is in search of her mother and Hei is following leads on to where Yin might be kept. Suō  starts to like Hei and July starts to like Suō. ( for some reason I find that funny and odd). When Suō becomes aware of her contractor ability she starts training with Hei and July.

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Artist Ayumi Hamasaki

By: MusicGirl

     Ayumi Hamasaki, a Japanese Singer-Songwriter, Record Producer and Actress. Born and raised in Fukuoka,Japan. At the age of 14 she moved to Tokyo to pursue a career in Entertainment. Expanding her musical style from Trance to Rock as well as Electronic and Pop, using different instruments such as piano,orchestra,gospel choirs,traditional Japanese and Chinese strings,guitars,music boxes,etc… Her lyrics are focused on her feelings and experiences. Ayumi also won a Japan Gold Disc Award for “Best New Artist of the Year”. As of 2009 Hamasaki continues to work in the studio.

Funny Japanese Videos

By: AnimeGirl

Funny video commercial on how to lower High Blood pressure:

A short video clip on a Japanese show, very funny!!

Funky old commercial on DS:

Latest Japanese Fashion

By: MusicGirl

Ever wonder about all the different types of Japanese Fashion? Want to know what’s new for 2010? Well check out the video below for starters! Some of the dresses and shoes are actually cute…

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Game Review – Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories

By: MangaGirl

Rating:

Story:	Gameplay:

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, is a game that i was excited to play and yet why did it take me months to finish the game? I suppose its because i played KH1 and KH2 before this one, so my expectations were too high. The entire game is basically fighting heartless (its all that you do in each world) to collect cards to fight and cards to open doors, in each world you open three doors so that you can see cut scenes and fight the final boss. You repeat this in each world that you already visited in KH1, there really wasn’t any new worlds, since the point of this game is to delve into Sora’s Memory, as the name of the game basically says.

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Game Review – Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

By: MangaGirl

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, is the new release for Kingdom Hearts series. The game is for the nintendo DS and it is an action role playing game. The main character for this game is Roxas, the second main character, from Kingdom Hearts 2. Roxas is a Special Nobody, and I was glad that this game was centered on him. I found the plot to be very interesting, because I didn’t feel like I got to know Roxas enough in Kingdom Hearts 2, but in this game you will find out how he ultimately joins the Organization XIII, and learn more about the Organization at the same time. This story takes place during Kingdom hearts: Chain of Memories, and the beginning of Kingdom Hearts 2.

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