I continue to enjoy Eromanga Sensei, a fun harem anime that tells the story of light novel writer Masamune Izumi who finds himself at the center of a harem comprised of a perverted classmate named Megumi, a tsundere novelist named Elf, a Kuroneko clone named Muramasa, and his not-related-by-blood younger sister, who happens to be a genius illustrator of 18+ light novels. While it can be fashionable for fans to engage in “harem-bashing,” insisting that they don’t like shows that follow predictable patterns — as if the magical girl, sentai, and SAO-derived “modern Japanese youth finds himself in a fantasy world where his convenient knowledge of the genre gives him an advantage” genres weren’t all taking cues from past works — I am enjoying the story, characters and high production values (and yes, the ecchi fanart). It’s fun to try and figure out what the “first” harem anime was. Was it the classic Urusei Yatsura (1981), or Ranma 1/2 (1989), or perhaps Tenchi Muyo (1992)? My personal theory is that it was the 1000 year old Tale of Genji, a story about the many loves of the playboy son of a fictional Japanese emperor.
I’m enjoying my time here in San Diego with Mrs. J-List, as the two of us sample restaurants downtown and in Little Italy and visit museums in Balboa Park. Although I’m from San Diego, I like to pretend I’m a tourist in my own city, browsing sightseeing websites to see what interesting things I don’t already know about, like the bicycle and kayak tour of La Jolla I dragged my kids to, or a 100 year old suspension bridge we found today. When I told my wife about two “salt mountains” south of San Diego — the South Bay Salt Works, which dates back all the way to 1869 — she wanted to go. I told her it wasn’t far, just 18 km / 11 miles, a quick dash down the freeway. “That’s not far? In Japan it would take 30-40 minutes to get there at least.” Japan, of course, is a country where expressways are rare, only used when we drive to Tokyo or some other city, and costing $5-$25 per trip. In California, it’s not odd to travel 50 miles or more just going to a shopping center then running some errands.
J-List customers love our J-List Box monthly boxes, with awesome Japanese snacks, toys and “ecchi” products, handpicked by our staff for you each month. We really love the deluxe J-List Box for this month, which has 14+ amazing snacks for you, incl. a Bearded Papa cream puff drink. I wish I were drinking it right now! All J-List Box boxes are limited in stock, so order yours now!
