The Holidays are nearly on us, but there’s still time for a new sale! From now through December 13th, we’re having an EMS Shipping Sale, with 50% off shipping for orders from Japan when you choose EMS! There’s still time to get your order by Christmas, so order figures, plush toys, snacks and “H” products now!
While some anime series impress us with their subtle character development and human drama, others get cracking and cut right to the fanservice. One such show that’s been quite titillating this season is Keijo: Hip Whip Girl, which tells the story of a fictional sport in which teams of girls balance on floating pylons and do battle using only their butts and boobs to try to knock each other into the water. The show combines the best elements of a well-rounded sports anime with tongue-on-cheek references to classic fighting anime, including Breast of the North Star and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Backside Works. I have something to get off my chest, actually: I’m often bummed by series that feature battles every episode, because they often substitute a lot of endless filler rather than focusing on “plot” and “backstory,” which leaves me feeling flat. Happily, Keijo has a firm and robust story that I can get behind.
It’s that time of year again, when we look back at the past year in Japan sum it up with a single kanji character, called Kanji of the Year. While some of us might think “dumpster fire” or “year of too many partings” when they think of 2016, sadly it’s difficult to represent these concepts in a single kanji character. Candidates this year included 選 sen (choice) to mark the landmark elections held in the U.K. and U.S., and 変 hen (change), since we’ve certainly seen many of those. The kanji that won out, though, was 金 kin, meaning gold, which represented the gold medals Japan won in Rio as well as the opulent fortune of Donald Trump. Previous kanji of the year have included 安 an (safety), referring to Prime Minister Abe’s hotly-debated security bill in 2015; 税 zei (tax), marking a consumption tax increase in 2014; 輪 wa (ring), signifying Japan’s joy at winning the 2020 Olympics for 2013; 命 inochi (life, specifically the preciousness of life) for 2006, a year when there were many suicides; and 絆 kizuna (bond, as in the bonds that tie us to one another) after the terrible trials of the earthquakes and tsunamis of 2011.
J-List’s EMS Half Price Shipping Sale is on, and through Dec. 13, you can get half off your shipping total by ordering $50 or more and choosing EMS shipping. But you have to hurry as there’s only two more days!
