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Greetings From J-List

5/25/2012

I often think the themes in anime and games must be potentially confusing to some viewers, even when everything is translated into English. In Japan students are strictly segregated by year and class, which creates various social barriers between different groups of students, and I sometimes wonder if concepts like senpai and kohai (senior/junior in a school or organization) are difficult for fans to figure out at first. My own high school in San Diego was very different from Japan, going from 8th grade to 12th grade, with students from different years studying together in some classes like Spanish 101, something that would be unthinkable here. The way names work in Japan is also potentially confusing. In a scene from the upcoming eroge School Days, Kotonoha Katsura starts dating a boy named Makoto Itou. At first they call each other by their family names, e.g. Katsura and Itou-kun, a more-or-less neutral way to refer to a classmate by name. Kotonoha becomes jealous when Makoto calls another girl (Sekai) by her first name, implying a closeness that Kotonoha doesn't yet share with her own boyfriend.


Kotonoha was jealous Makoto called another girl by her first name; happy Geek Pride Day, everyone!

Today is Geek Pride Day, a special day for all of us to celebrate the nerdier side of life, from AD&D to Firefly to action figure collecting to anime and manga. Being a geek means embracing what you're passionate about whether it's seen as socially "cool" or not, and keeping a part of your childhood close to your heart even after you've grown up. As I type these words in the office I share with 400+ Star Wars figures, I can certainly say the last couple decades have been great for those of us with less socially-acceptable hobbies, and the joy of being able to pursue one's passions no matter how nerdy they are is wonderful. I've been a geek all my life (I even won second place at the science fair in high school) and I never thought it was such a bad thing to be, though I once caused offense when I mis-read a college student's GREEK WEEK T-shirt as GEEK WEEK, though I couldn't understand what the guy was upset about. May 25th is also the 35th anniversary of the opening of a little film called Star Wars, which along with Japan is one of two great influences on my life. Happy Geek Pride Day!

If you've read a few novels by James Clavell, you might come away with the impression that Japanese are highly motivated by family honor and would gladly commit seppuku to save face and avoid shame to their ancestors. While these concepts don't have much real play in Japanese life, one that does is giri, translated as "social obligation." If you receive a gift, you're expected to give an o-kaeshi (a return gift) that's equal to half the value of the original...this is why chocolate companies created White Day on March 14th, a day for men who received chocolates from females on Valentine's Day to return the favor. If you get invited to a Japanese wedding you're expected to bring a cash gift of $200 or more, but don't worry -- when you get married that couple will be obligated to attend your wedding, giving you back your $200, so no one has lost anything. The other day I went to the dentist to get a crown replaced so I could finally stop making Haganai jokes, and the wife of my dentist took me aside to ask me if I could find an English teacher for her. I didn't know of any good candidates and tried to decline her request, but she pressed a bag full of toothbrushes, dental floss and free samples of gum into my hands...and now I have a giri obligation to find someone to teach her English.

As you know we're very dedicated to fans of English eroge visual novels, and this week we've announced the epic School Days Deluxe Collector's Edition as well as shipping the legendary Koihime Musou game with fully restored vocal track. Now we have even more good news: we're announcing the availability of two great eroge titles. First there's a great deluxe version of DearDrops, a great story of music, love and rock n' roll, followed by Harem Party, about a harem of fantasy game characters who pop out of a game and into the real world, with sexy results. Both titles will be in great package form with extras, and will be fully DRM free!

Today's New & Restocked Items

Dragon Age June 2012

Dragon Age June 2012

The super thick manga magazine with all the great comics based on the stories and anime you love! From High School DxD, GOSICK, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka and more. This issue is a great one with 800+ pages with a free KoreZon premium booklet. VIEW PRODUCTS

Mikakuto Shigekix Pirate Magical Fruit (Set of 3)

Delicious New Japanese Snacks for you to Try

Delicious snacks from Japan, starting with the super awesome Shigekix "super tart hard gummy" which is one of my favorites because you can take all day to eat a pack. It's fun to eat the super tart candy and give it to friends without warning them what it is. Also posted, new flavors of Hi-Chew from Morinaga! VIEW PRODUCTS

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ Products

Dripping Sweat Sex -- Nana Ogura

Finally Today's Restocked DVD & Blu-ray Releases

Enjoy the amazing Nana Ogura's Dripping Sweat "H" (oo, she has the tan lines thing going on her body), plus Dreamy Harem Life and Orgy Party Semen 100 Times, the School Lesbian and Girls Love series, Nana Ogura's 3D release, Kyoko Maeda's Lost Virgin Debut, plus "H" anime titles. VIEW PRODUCTS