 Greetings from J-ListWednesday, March 10, 2010 Today is the 65th anniversary of the Great Tokyo Air Raid. On this day, 300 B-29 Superfortresses flying out of Guam dropped 2,000 tons of incendararies over the most densely-packed residential parts of Tokyo, causing 100,000 deaths, greater than from the individual atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nakasaki. It was a very sad event, the tragedy of which can be appreciated by watching the excellent Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies, which I plan to watch with my kids tonight as part of their dual American/Japanese heritage. Note that the Touhou character in the picture below is saying, "Lucky Strike!!" This is related to an odd Japanese urban legend that the iconic Lucky Strike cigarette logo is supposed to represent the mushroom cloud of Hiroshima as seen from above. (The logo actually dates from 1917.) Interestingly, this common belief doesn't stop Japanese smokers from reaching for the brand, nor do Japanese artists consider it odd to draw cute moe art of the B-29 Superfortress, which presumably caused so much pain to the Japanese.  
It speaks volumes that Japanese artists can create moe art like this; yuri themes are increasingly present in anime these days. Getting into anime means exposing yourself to a world of new ideas, some of which might be potentially confusing at first. Like the tendency for animators to create stories about characters whose gender is not entirely set in stone, such as female characters pretending to be male for some reason, Ranma-esque characters who actually change their gender, and even classical examples like Lady Oscar from The Rose of Versailles, raised as a swordsman although she's a girl. One of hallmarks of 90s anime series like Evangelion or Gundam Wing was adding a strong yaoi element to the story, creating tension between male characters and exploiting the drama and comedy generated from that tension to bring in more fans. These days, it seems that anime with strong themes of yuri -- stories about girls infatuated with other girls -- have really taken over, with just about every mainstream show featuring these themes on some level. It's hard to say when the "yuri tipping point" was -- Maria is Watching Over Us, perhaps? -- but the seeds were planted back when fans started noticing something funny about Haruka and Michiru from Sailor Moon. The Academy Awards ceremony is closely followed in Japan, where it's kind of a combination of the Kohaku Red-and-White music pageant held each New Year's Eve and the most important English lesson ever, as Japanese fans try to understand the words of their favorite stars directly. While my wife and I were watching this year's show, she remarked, "Everyone is saying such nice things about everyone else. Japanese people could never do that. We're not good at praising others." Her observation seemed to be an accurate one: for some reason in Japan, no matter how respected an individual might be in his community, there'll be a tendency for some people to want to tear him down, perhaps for the crime of rising above everyone else. You see this most acutely in politics -- the moment a new Prime Minister arrives on the scene, everyone starts actively working for his downfall -- but even in less visible situations, there's an odd tradition of Japanese refusing to unanimously unite behind a single individual, even if it's just for one night.    
J-List carries dozens of fun products for fans of Queen's Blade, the popular anime series which started out as a book-based RPG called the Lost Worlds battle system. In addition to the awesome Queen's Blade artbooks -- and the sister publication Queen's Gate, with female fighters from other games, we carry dozens of figures from the series, including some with clothes that can be *ahem* "cast off." Another product I like a lot is the Queen's Blade Spiral Chaos game for PSP, a superb fighting game with all characters as well as the patented patented "Armor Damage System" which causes their clothes to fly off when they take damage.
Today's New Items
|  Young Ace vol. 9 Gorgeous thick manga filled with the best and most interesting stories for you to read, this is Young Ace. Celebrating Evangelion with an fabulous free Eva manga and pencil board inside. View Product | |  Rilakkuma Dara Dara Fan Book Rilakkuma ("Relax bear") is the cute character from San-X who wants us all to slow down and take life a little less seriously, and this is his official fanbook. View Product | |  Kawaii Butterfly iPhone Case Japan is really embracing the iPhone in a big way, which is great news because it means cool iPhone stuff for us to grab for the site. Today's awesomeness: GothLoli/Ageha style iPhone cases in multiple colors. View Product |  Bee Kawaii Earphones Those darling bee-shaped earphones are back in stock, too. They're fully compatible with any music player you may have, and are cute as heck -- even the tube-shaped package they come in is kawaii. View Product | | | |  Fairly Life Miracle Days Have you ever wondered what life would be like in a world where inanimate objects have come to life with personalities of their own - as cute girls? Welcome to the world of Fairly Life. Other restocked games too: Nanoha, Lucky Star Net Idol Meister and TokiMemo 4. View Product | | | | | | | |  New Snacks from Japan Today's new snacks from Japan are a lot of fun. First there's Texas BBQ flavor Japanese Pringles in a cute can, plus Glico Strawberry Caramels and Meiji's "Hard Baked" almond chocolates. View Product | | | |  Rice Burger Maker Are you still making hamburgers using outdated bread buns? Upgrade to the rice burger with this fun item which presses rice into onigiri-like flattened shapes, which can be used to hold your meat. Yet another wacky item from J-List. View Product | | |  Restocked Bento Boxes Then see some other restocked bento boxes today, like the svelte Bitter & Milk Simple Bento Box Set in black, a great item for fans of traditional yet modern bento. View Product | | |  Hello Kitty Bento Accessories Also, life is just a little more fun when you're eating a hard boiled egg that's shaped like Hello Kitty. See fresh stock of the Hello Kitty Boiled Egg Shaper, plus the Vegetable Cutter and Onigiri Shaper. View Product | | |  Cup Noodle Mug Cup One of our hands-down coolest items for enjoying coffee at work would be our Cup Noodle mug cup, which is a perfect replica of a cup of ramen, except that this is made of ceramic and will hold your coffee. Back in stock today. View Product |  Ghibli Music Boxes J-List [hearts] Totoro, and today we're restocking the wooden bento boxes featuring Totoro and Jiji the Cat. Both open to hold your stuff so they will always be a treasure for you. View Product |  Tora Dora! 3 ~ Toradora 3 The best way to learn Japanese is to read it all the time, and what could be more fun than reading the new Toradora! manga, which has just been released. Features furigana to make the kanji easier to read. View Product |  Sakura Chopstick Gift Set, More Spring is the Season of the Sakura, and today we're posting the gorgeous sakura-themed "Omotenashi" gift set of chopsticks and small plates, plus a sakura holder for standard 500ml drink bottles. View Product |  Restocked Traditional Products At Japanese Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines it's customary to buy "omamori" or Japanese good luck charms, and we've gotten in the cute Hello Kitty variety. Also: Hello Kitty Kimono Magnets restocked, plus the kiseru tobacco pipe and Lucky Cat Lovers' Display. View Product | | | |  Restocked Japanese Pens, Wacky 3M Tape Restocked pens and other fun items, too, including the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Color Gel Ink Pen in "Sakura" color, the gorgeous KAREN Jewel Pen for women, and Scotch tape from 3M that's designed to look like a doughnut. View Product |  Restocked Japanese Snacks Finally, got a bunch of fun restocked Japanese snacks, including Calbee Jagabee, Glico Uranaikko Gum like those sticks you get at Shinto shrines, Kanro Seedless Ume Plums, Glico Thin Pretz, and Doraemon Gummy! View Product |
NSFW / 18+ Products.
| | | |  Hakudaku Fiancee ~ Milky White Fiancee This is a super ero manga that we just got in stock. Yutaka was an unpopular university student who couldn't get any girl to accept his love letters, but when he tried to burn them at a Shinto shrine, shrine maiden (Miko) thought they were for her and answered his prayers. View Product |  Yuri Hime Wild Rose vol. 5 Yuri themes are more popular than ever at J-List, and today we're posting the outstanding new issue of Yuri Hime Wild Rose, high are higher level of "girl meets girl" intensity. View Product |  New Ero Parody Doujinshi Doujinshi are a fun way to explore Japan's ero anime culture. Today we've got a great Pretty Cure book, plus for an all-color Ranma 1/2/Inuyasha/Touch book -- rock on, old school anime fans! View Product |  Restocked Manga Titles The Miss Wizard is a gorgeous H-manga series that's got it all...magic using, ecchi elves and great ero art. Also enjoy Fighting God Toy vol. 1, the Diary of Purimu and more. View Product |  'Futanari' H-Games Of the most common trends in PC dating-sim games, manga and AV is futanari, a word which means "the two, being one" and which describes girls who have male parts. The awesome Cat Girl Alliance explores these themes, as do Yin-Yang, Let's Meow Meow and other great titles. View Product | |  Amazing Massager, Lotion In Japanese, the word kokeshi is a traditional wooden doll, but it's also a slang term for something used for women to pleasure themselves, and we've got a great massager in this theme. Also, the most amazing lotion ever... View Product | | | | |  Ecstasy Lesbian Esthetic 9 This intoxicating title by AKNR features the esthetic services (in Japanese, esute) where women go to become more beautiful. A great concept from this excellent AV studio. View Product |  Restocked DVD Titles Finally, enjoy the awesome DVDs we have back on the site, including Micro Bikini Oily Dance, Hi-Vision Cosplay Collection, 108I Bomber Oppai, LADY x LADY 2 Years Anniversary Best, and more fun with Zenra Curling! View Product | |
