Hello and TGIF from Japan. We’re sixteen hours ahead of California, so we get to start our weekend a little early each week.
Just as I was typing the text of Wednesday’s update, Japan was gripped in a “busjack” drama. A mentally trouble 17-year old boy hijacked a bus with a kitchen knife, and held the passengers hostage for hours while police tried to talk the boy out of the bus. Not wanting to use violence against the boy, who is a minor, the police inadvertently let one of the passengers be killed. I’m no fan of violence, but the inability of the Japanese police to make the decision to use deadly force ended in the death of an innocent. It’s yet another embarrassing fiasco for Japan’s police, who have had a rough time of late. Other recent problems included a girl who was held hostage for nine years in an insane man’s house despite police investigations and searches in the area, and special rules whereby friends and family of police officers got out of paying some fines they owed.
On Raiha Shonen, the sister show to Denpa Shonen (which followed two men as they hitchhiked from the bottom of Africa to the top of Europe), a new project is underway: a hitchhiking journey to find the origin of men, or noodles (as in ra-men). Starting in Rome, two comedians are hitchhiking along the “noodle road” (their version of the silk road), talking with chefs to find exactly where noodles and pasta began. They’ve made their way to Turkey by now, as they continue on their zany quest.
The so-called “ILOVEYOU” virus is ravaging computers all over the world, and in Japan, too. We hope it’s not affecting your computers. J-List is proud to be a Macintosh-based company, with ten or so Macs backed up by a few PCs, so we’re relieved at times like this.
For tonight’s update, we’ve got some great items, including:
- First and foremost, we’re happy to announce that Legend of Fairies and Fairy Nights are shipping — a great two-part hentai game for Window and Macs, we’re sure you’ll love these great titles
- New magazines, including the popular Nippon Mini-Suka Club leg fetish magazine
- Also for leg fans, The Chair and Chirarism, an interesting photobook of beautiful, leggy women sitting in chairs, photographed from low angles
- Several back-in-stock photobook items, including more copies of Wonderful, Sally! and Sendo Emi’s “Tomadoi” (on the photobook pages)
- A half dozen excellent all-new manga, including Usagi, an erotic manga drawn by a female hentai manga illustrator
- For our Yaoi fans, Generous Kiss, a compilation of excellent yaoi material into one large manga volume
- Several new dojinshi single issues
- For fans of our nutty “hachimaki” headbands with funny slogans on them, with several wacky slogans (on the T-shirt & Costumes page)
- For fans of older ladies, an interesting gouka-bon format book on the high-end S&M photobook page
- Two new low-price DVDs — excellent offerings by Shiraishi Kotoko and Kuramochi Akane
- Various additions to the Anime & Toys page, including the last of the Bakuretsu Hunter (Sorceress Hunters) Tira Misu cold-cast figurines
- Finally, something my wife and I love carrying — great new Takara dolls, including three wonderful Jenny dolls, with a great Kimono Jenny item, and a new Kimono Licca-chan series doll, too. Licca and Jenny are the two most famous dolls in Japan. More demure and small-bodied than the buxom Barbie, they reflect the pretty values of Japanese young girls. (See the anime & toys page for these items).
Check out these great items!
