Month: November 2016

  • Pizzicato Five Discography: 1991-1993

    David‘s second Pizzicato Five review post is now up, covering the years 1991 to 1993, which is an important period, since it’s when Maki Nomiya enters the picture. Arguably the best P5 album was released during this period, at least according to David (Bossa Nova 2001).

  • Rez Retrospective

    As part of the vinyl release of the Rez Infinite soundtrack, you get a beautifully produced book — without having seen it, I just know it’s beautiful because it was designed by Cory Schmitz — and Polygon is sharing a long excerpt to read. Some great reading on a great creator.

  • Preview of 2017 Winter Anime

    Although I’m still pretty busy watching the series that I mentioned being interested in my 2016 fall anime post, I’m already curious and excited to see what’s coming up next. Thankfully, AniChart already has a pretty good look at what we can expect to see during the 2017 winter season, and here’s what I’m already thinking…

  • Pizzicato Five Discography: 1985-1991

    Following yesterday’s intro post, the first proper part of David‘s review of the entire Pizzicato Five discography is up on Neojaponisme, covering the “pre-canon” era that runs from 1985 to 1991. I’m with David here (as you’ll see through his scores), this is definitely my least favorite period of P5’s output, and I never spent much time…

  • It’s a Sony

    I love my buddy Sam‘s monthly “Tokyo Thrift” column over at The Verge — in which he uncovers classic Japanese electronics — and he ends 2016 in style with a massive look at the current “It’s a Sony” exhibition at the soon-to-be-gone Sony building in Ginza (it will be replaced by a park). Take a…

  • Famicom Stationery

    Accompanying the super nostalgic hype for the Famicom in Japan right now (mirroring what’s happening here in the west for the NES Classic Edition), San-Ei is about to release (out on December 23) a fantastic collection of Famicom-inspired stationery, as well as a tote bag. I want it all. You can already pre-order all items through…

  • The Grand Tour

    There was a time when I really liked watching Top Gear. And then, as the seasons went on, I started getting pretty tired of Clarkson’s nationalist and sexist remarks – meant as jokes, but not funny – and then after he did the thing that got him fired, I was pretty much over this ass.…

  • 11.22.63

    This came out earlier this year, but it’s just been added to Hulu Japan, and so we watched the first episode today (which is the only episode available, as they’ll be releasing them weekly). Based on that first episode alone, it’s hard to tell if this is going to good or not (I’ve avoided reading…

  • Jason Bourne

    I’m a huge Bond fan, but I do quite like the Bourne movies too, and so was pretty excited to see this latest one, especially since it sees the return of Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass (as director). It did take me a while to get into it, and I was really weirded out by…

  • Aim for the Ace!

    You may remember that a few weeks ago I shared a really great primer on 80s anime. Since I’ve been enjoying dipping back into some of those old series, I decided to go one step further and try following that complete primer, going through everything that is recommended. Since it sticks to movies and OVAs,…