Cool Products Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Newtype Mar 2011 The brand new issue of Newtype is here, the definitive anime and 2D culture magazine for fans. Packed with extras like clear files from Type-Moon and A Certain Magical Index along with extra-large posters, and with all the latest anime news and features, this is another great issue you'll love. View products »
	Dragon Age Mar 2011 Dragon Age is the manga magazine with Full Metal Panic, Highschool of the Dead, Is This a Zombie? and more - cute figure extra with this issue!
	Nanoha Figure In Stock Enjoy an awesome Nanoha figure from the movie, plus the Black Rock Shooter Dead Master Figma. We like very much.
	Japanese Prefecture, Hiragana Learning Sheets Learn your Japanese geography and phonetic kana characters with the help of these durable waterproof 'bath sheets' for your shower walls.
	Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls Official Artbook The sexy uncensored artbook for the super fanservicey Samurai Girls anime is here! Check it out on the J-List side for all the juicy details.
	New Queen's Gate Books for Preorder Speaking of Samurai Girls, Yukimura Sanada is coming to Queen's Gate combat artbooks, along with Ivy from Soul Caliber! Preorders open.
	CATHERINE for PS3, In Stock! Enter a world of seduction from the makers of Shin Megami Tensei/Persona. Can you resolve Vincent's horrific nightmares? This most epic of games is in stock now, and compatible with PS3s from all over the world! View products »
	Macross Frontier Movie, Other Anime Blu-Ray Enjoy the Macross Frontier movie w/the awesome PS3 trial game free. Also, the Fate/stay night movie and Disappearance of Haruhi are restocked.
	Restocked PSP Anime Games We've got PSP anime games restocked, too, including the AKB48 dating-sim, A Certain Magical Index and the new Macross PSP game.
	Onegai Nyanko Plush Cat Keychains The most adorable plush keychains we've ever seen, cute kittens posed in an onegai or "please" position just begging you to take them home and into your arms. You'll want to pet them again and again! View products »
	USAPANDA Back Wash Sponge ~ Long Type Is it a rabbit (usagi) or a panda?! The Usapanda is a whimsical combination of both, and is here in comfortable sponge shape for you.
	Get Clean with the Power of Charcoal Charcoal (sumi in Japanese) get things clean, and we've restocked our most popular face and skin products from Japan.
	Leg Warmer Pon Pon, Gothic Lolita Dresses The winter season means cute clothes and fashions that combine warmth and style. These awesome items are in stock now!
	Stripe Pantsu Restocked What can we say? The meme of anime character wearing striped panties (called shimapan in Japanese) is awesome. Big restocking today.
	SCOPE NODE, Other Elecom Items One of the most ergonomic computing devices ever produced is this epic mouse from Elecom, and that's just the beginning of their lineup here in stock!
	Electric Rainbow Umbrella (Blade Runner Style) J-List is your #1 place to come when looking for rare and bizarre umbrellas from Japan. Today we're posting a "Blade Runner" style light-up umbrella.
	Fun Bath Products Restocked Items for your bath restocked, including Ginger and Hot Pepper Bath Powder, "Bath King" fizzing bath tablets (which I love), and...Handy Toilet?
	DECOLE Manmaru Frog Mug Cup & Spoon  Fresh stock of those "OMG that's cute!" frog and panda coffee cups with matching ceramic spoons. Kawaii Japan is kawaii!
	Today's New Japanese Snacks If you order "shoe (shu) cream" in Japan, you'll get a very delicious cream puff filled with delicious "chou a la creme," like the green tea cookies we've got today. Also, we have Double Cream Royal Cake Toppo, plus amazing Ume flavord corn snacks from FritoLay Japan...? View products »
	Restocked Japanese Snacks & Gum Lotte "No Time" gum that brushes your teeth for you, Meiji 100% Juice Gummy, Wata Pachi cotton candy w/pop rocks in it, Rich Chocolate, and Crunky!
	Deluxe Kyoto Green Tea ~ SENCHA Delicious green tea straight from the historical capital of Japan! Several popular varieties restocked.
	Totoro & Jiji the Cat Bento We love Totoro and we love Bento, so why not bring them together? We've restocked several of our Ghibli-themed bento boxes and related items today. I especially like the Totoro thermos bottle and Jiji the Cat Thermal Bento Box. View products »
	Traditional Bento Boxes Restocked, Too Enjoy the stylish Men's Gold and Silver Hemp Pattern bento box, plus the "Nonbiri" (relaxing) Hiragana Man bento.
	Awesome 'Onigiri' Style Bento Boxes We have also restocked some onigiri bento boxes which hold rice balls in a very cute way. Click to see the restocked items.
	Stainless Rabbit Rice Mold Sculpt your rice into fun and fanciful shapes for serving with these easy-to-use molds! Great for bento or any other mealtime.
	Hello Kitty Stuff Restocked Say no to boring square-shaped sandwiches and yes to kawaii Hello Kitty shaped ones.
	Japanese Calligraphy Shirt 'I Love Alcohol' J-List sells fun T-shirts with kanji messages on them, like "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend." or this one, celebrating alcohol in all its forms.
	Restocked Japanese Pens, Erasers See popular Japanese erasers restocked, including Kado-Keshi, with so many rubbing corners you won't believe it. More Japanese pens, too.
	Nendoroid Plush *Preorder* A super-kawaii Dead Master Nendoroid plush from Black Rock Shooter, and Youmu Nendoroid figure from Touhou. Preorders open!
	Sora Kasuga Figure, Monster Hunter Toys Sora from Yosuga no Sora and Monster Hunter Airu (Airou) figures in Hunter armor - great new figures for preorder today!
	Riku ~ Riku Yamaguchi Riku Yamaguchi is the sister of AKB48 star-turned-AV professional Rico Yamaguchi, and this debut nude photobook shows she's just as beautiful.
	New Ero Doujinshi New doujinshi in today from Angel Beats (Yuri!) and Highschool of the Dead (Saeko!) that we think you'll love - limited quantities available. View products »
	Restocked Naughty Artbooks from Japan Artbooks from Nitroplus's Muramasa, Battle Goddess Verita, Queen's Blade and more. Click to see them all.
	High School of the Dead Secret Box The hugely popular HOTD Secret Box sold so fast it ran out of stock, but we were able to get a few more. We recommend you grab it now though.
	Extreme Impact ~ Samurai Girls Parody Toy A new novelty toy that's based off both Hakufu from Ikkitousen (Battle Vixens) and the new Samurai Girls (Hyakka Ryouran) anime, this is sure to get you in the spirit for all sorts of naughtiness with two holes included in one. Great stress relief from Japan! View products »
	Dungeon Crusaderz 2 A new import game in our lineup of Japanese language eroge, and a great dungeon crawling RPG packed with sexy scenes!
	Bible Black, The Game If you want to have a really outstanding eroge experience, you can't do much better than Bible Black. This legendary game is finally back in stock.
	Demonbane *preorder* One of the most epic eroge ever is coming in English, the Cthulhu-mythos title Demonbane. It's coming soon -- will you preorder your copy? (It really is coming soon...trust us)

Japan, Chocolate and Obligation

Today is Valentine's Day, a day when males in Japan look forward to receiving chocolate from girlfriends, wives, daughters, etc. There are two kinds of chocolate, of course, honmei choco or chocolate received from someone who really cares for you, and giri choco or "obligation" chocolate, from someone who feels obligated to give you chocolate, such as a female co-workers, students etc. For the past two years, Valentine's Day has fallen in a weekend, which is the Kiss of Death to a chocolate industry that depends on Japan's millions of OLs ("office ladies," e.g. female office workers) to buy chocolate for their bosses and other male co-workers. Since this year February 14th falls on a Monday, the TV news was reporting that sales of chocolates were strong this year, which makes us happy on behalf of Japan's men. Remember that J-List still has a ton of outstanding Japanese chocolate in stock, although it will be removed from the site as summer nears. So order some now!

We hope you have a warm and delicious Valentine's Day!

All Your Internet Memes Are Belong To Us

Tuesday is an auspicious day for the Web: the 10th anniversary of the "All Your Base are Belong To Us" video that spread like wildfire across the Interwebs a decade ago. (The meme existed before this point, but Feb. 15, 2001 is the day the infamous Flash video was released, marking its emergence as a global explosion of weirdness culminating in a call from your Mom asking what "All Your Base" meant.) A line of especially bad English from the 1989 game Zero Wing released for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis console, the phrase was sampled and put to music, and was turned into an Internet phenomenon by various sites including the Something Awful forums. It was most people's first introduction to the now-familiar concept of the "Internet meme," which describes an image, video, joke or other concept that spreads quickly through the frictionless tubes of the Internet. Now these memes are a daily occurrence, from Giga Pudding to Popin' Cooking DIY Sushi Candy to spinning leeks and jokes about numbers being "over 9000," and it's hard to remember that there was once a simpler time when pictures of cats did not rule our world.

Feb. 15 is the 10th anniversary of "All Your Base."

Japan [hearts] England

Being an American in Japan has been a good opportunity to learn more about...England. Yes, Japan has always had a special affinity for the British Isles, no doubt perceiving themselves as a mirror version of the U.K. in Asia, and some aspects of Japan that seem strange to us Yanks actually come from Great Britain. Japan chose to import much in the way of technology and institutions from the home of Shakespeare, including creating a British-style Parliament and cloning Britain's postal system and the BBC (a.k.a. NHK). Japan has a "3 o'clock tea time" tradition borrowed from the U.K., they drive on the left side of the road, and they use terms like "saloon" for a sedan, "dust box" for a trash can and pantsu for underwear. But Japan's greatest homage to England can be heard in any school classroom, or any anime series set in a school. When the school bell rings indicating the start of class in Japan, it's a replica of the chimes of Big Ben.

Japan has long had a special connection with Great Britain.

J-List T-Shirt Update

Ever since we brought out our first "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" T-shirt more than a decade ago, J-List has carried a fun line of original anime and kanji T-shirts for otakus and Japanophiles to wear. Some of our favorites include the K-On! "Moe Warring" shirt that lets you know that too much moe can lead to social awkwardness, our tribute to the most faithful dog in Japan, and our new Twitter "Fail Whale" Space Battleship Yamato parody. Click here to see the most popular J-List T-shirts, hoodies and hats.

Cool Products Monday, February 14, 2011

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Dengeki Comic Daioh Mar 2011 The premiere moe manga magazine is back in its latest issue, packed with dozens of popular titles including a feature on A Certain Scientific Railgun and A Certain Magical Index II, Ef: a Fairytale of the Two, Gurren Lagann, Gunslinger Girl, Toradora, Yotsubato, and more. Your one stop for all the best bishoujo manga! View products »
	Hobby Japan Mar 2011 Whether you're into plamo Gundam kits, hot PVC figures, cinema characters or military models, Hobby Japan will fuel your inner collector!
	egg Mar 2011 A brand new issue of the glamorous Tokyo fashion magazine for young women, this issue features "eye makeup for lovers" and much more.
	Axis Powers Hetalia Mascot Key Chain Set of 6 A great chance to show your enthusiasm for the adorable personifications of the 20th century's historical political powers! This set contains six major characters from the "Hetalia" comedy manga, including Japan, England, Switzerland, Italy, Belarus, and Prussia. View products »
	Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls 03 (Blu-ray Disc) Join the heroes of feudal Japan in updated reincarnations as sexy bishoujo fighters! An extras-packed Blu-ray extravaganza.
	New Queen's Blade Rebellion Artbooks In Stock We love Queen's Blade, and have two new artbooks for you to check out. Enjoy Pirate Captain Liliana plus the gorgeous warrior Branwen.
	Valkyria Chronicles 3 The latest and most intricate installment of the fictional European war saga that puts tactics and real time battle together for epic gameplay on your PSP!
	Touhou Games Restocked The doujin shoot'em'up craze that gripped Japan's 2D fans by storm is back! Now you can play the original, authorized versions of Touhou games!
	GATSBY ~ Men's Hair Wax / Spiky Edge If you're an "herbivore man," see fresh stock of the GATSBY hair wax, in "Spiky Edge" "Air Rise" and "Grunge Mat."
	Panasonic Doltz Sonic Tooth Brush High powered electric toothbrush technology, on the go! So awesome, it could only be called "Doltz"!
	Moco Moco Warm Pants to Keep you Warm in Winter A haramaki is a wrap for your abdomen to keep you warm in winter. This toasty warm underwear for women is restocked today.
	Haru Kairo Japanese Warm Pad Regular Size One great way to stay warm in Japan's cold winter are kairo, the amazing heating pads that stay warm for up to 12 hours. Restocked today.
	Cute Dog Chopsticks Rests Waa, kawaii!! is the reaction you're sure to have when you see these adorable porcelain dogs laying out ready to happily serve as a rest for your chopsticks. We don't think there's ever been a cuter chopsticks rest made - yes, in the history of the planet. View products »
	DX Men's Chopsticks ~ Dragon The spirit of the dragon is proclaimed boldly through these deluxe emblazoned chopsticks, beautifully carved, adult-size and reusable.
	Bleach 3D Oppai Mouse Pads In Stock! Rangiku and Yoruichi have never looked as sexy as on these 3D contoured ergonomic mousepads - show your love for these Bleach ladies today!
	Restocked Totoro & Ghibli Products We have a nice restocking of fun Totoro plush toys, incl. the Totoro no Sanpo "walking" toys, Totoro Wall Pockets and Jiji Money Pouch.
	Sushi Kanji Green Tea Cup When you enjoy good sushi, it's fun to drink green tea out of a yunomi (green tea tea cup) that has all the fish kanji on the side. Here is a nice one.
	New Japanese Snacks Enjoy Ume flavored Suppa Mucho potato snacks, Fresh Cream Milky Candy from Hokkaido, plus amazing gum from "Glamatic" Lotte that makes your breath fresh through the magic of Acerola. View products »
	Popin' Cookin' DIY Sushi Candy One Internet meme we've been watching closely is this "do it yourself" sushi candy (click to see the YouTube video embedded). It's fun and delicious!
	Restocked Snacks, Too We have restocked snacks too, including Fortune Telling Gum, traditional Neri Ame candy, Fruit Mentos, Sushi Gummy and British Royal Milk Tea.
	'Honoka' Sakura & Rabbit Bento Box Sets See fresh stock of the popular "Honoka" bento boxes with sakura petals and usagi *rabbits) printed on the tops. I love these.
	Restocked Random Items for your Kitchen Enjoy the Ramen Microwave Bowl which makes cooking noodles super fast, plus Miso Soup Bowl w/Lid, Nori Punch and our Oil Brush for Takoyaki.
	Restocked Bento Accessories Add some "deco" (decoration) to your bento life with the Deco Bento Sets we restocked today, plus those cute soy sauce bottles for bento.
	Restocked Japanese Sandwich Makers, More Tell someone you love them with this awesome heart-shaped sandwich cutter, which "seals" your sandwich for you at the same time.
	Kanji Drill Workbooks, Vocabulary Flashcards Support all your Japanese studying needs with these handy kanji work books. Study cards for vocabulary are also restocked.
	One Piece Pens & More See fresh of the One Piece pens that have interesting fragrances when you write with them. Also, the Zebra Sarasa 0.5 Ball Point Pen & Zebra TECT pencil.
	Japanese Beautiful High School Girls See some great restocked photobooks, like the recent release from Yoichi Watanabe documenting Japan's vibrant female high school girls.
	Miniature Lucky Cat Figures, More See fresh stock of the Lucky Cat ceramic figurines w/kanji messages on them, a "Ninja" ear cleaner, washi traditional dolls and more.
	Manaka Takamine Figure ~ Love Plus *Preorder* Manaka SUKI da yo~! Proclaiming your love for Manaka has never been more tempting than with this new 'beach queens' figure from Wave!
	Houmei, Chris Makise Figures *Preorder* See also new figure preorders for Taka Tony's Houmei from Shining Wind, and Chris Makise from Nitroplus/5pb 'science novel' Steins Gate.
	Panty & Stocking Rubber Strap Collection *Preorder* All the major characters from irreverent Gainax anime sensation Panty & Stocking are here in rubber strap form, durable charms for your keys or phone. We're huge fans of this show, and are glad to see some really cool products coming down the pipe for it. View products »
	FEMALE BODY POSE LAB 1 An 'artbook' worthy of the name, this collection of beautiful photographs is wonderful for any collector, or for an artist to use for figure studies.
	Restocked Stress Toys for Men The "Snow Moon Flower 3 Sisters" set is back in stock today, along with One Piece parody toys "Love Piece" onahole toys. Amazing.
	Love Body Aki Costumes Restocked Inflatable dolls are also a popular category of stress toy at J-List, especially the Love Body Aki series. See fresh stock of the outfits, too!
	Awesome Eroge for Winter, Too There are English-translated eroge for every season, including winter. Like Snow Drop, a great story of romance with girls at a ski resort!
	Osananajimi to Dokyusei ~ MARUTA Vol. 1 The story of Maruta's super-sexy eromanga "the classmate and the childhood friend" comes to limited edition eroanime release! A truly amazing new release that's shipped in a large special box. View products »