It’s been a while since I’ve done a Japanese snack subscription review! A while back I was contacted by Japan Crate to cover their service, and of course I happily obliged. I was particularly excited for this one because they offer a “mini,” “original,” and “premium” crate, allowing you to choose what box fits your needs and budget. Let’s see what’s inside!
Lauren Orsini of Otaku Journalist knows a thing or two about niche blogging and journalism. Not only does she run a successful blog of her own, but her work has been featured on sites such as CNN, Kotaku, and she’s published two books with tips on how to get into niche journalism. Now, her latest publication, 15 Worksheets to Plan, Build, and Bolster Your Niche Journalism Career in 15 Minutes or Less, offers concrete templates for beefing up your resume and taking your own brand of niche journalism to the next level.
Hello Kitty is as an iconic character as they come, and likely one that anyone with even a passing interest in Japan has a trinket or two of. As a wee young Anne, friends and family would always falling back on Hello Kitty items as the obvious gift choice for my Japan-obsessed self. Now, the billionaire international superstar Hello Kitty is the ripe old age of 40, and Viz Media has decided to celebrate the occasion with Hello Kitty, Hello 40: A 40th Anniversary Tribute.
Who doesn’t love visual novels? It seems like everyone is hot on the genre these days, with more and more titles being localized into English and events such as the International Love Ultimatum Jam making visual novels, particularly those of the romance variety, increasingly visible. There are even some folks who would like to take that love for visual novels one step further to make their own, which is where the recently-released engine TyranoBuilder comes in. Touting an easy to use interface, the engine has large shoes to fill considering its competition, Ren’Py, is available for free and has been the go-to engine for western visual novel developers for years. Does TyranoBuilder bring enough to the table to make it worth the $14.99 price tag, or does the sweet price of free reign supreme?
It’s been a long time since I last posted a video to my channel, but I’m so glad to be back in the swing of things! In my latest installment of Apricotsushi Reviews, I check out the famous Professor Layton Revoltech. It’s certainly a lot different to do a video review versus my usual written format, but it’s fun to change things up every once in a while. You may recall the Professor Layton Revoltech was featured in my February Ami Ami unboxing video as well as my DIY lightbox tutorial, but this is my first time actually covering the figure itself!
Unfortunately the lighting in my current apartment is not very good for these kinds of videos, but I think it turned out okay! I’d love to hear what people think of this sort of review video and if you’d like to see more like it (either of figures or other items). Please let me know either in the comments here, or on YouTube! Speaking of video content, you can also check me out (well, my voice and lack of gameplay skills) in the Splatoon episode of Asobee with Sarah and Roy. If you’ve got Splatoon fever like I do (and even if you don’t!), it’s definitely worth a watch.
Back in December of last year, I was thrilled to finally review the Sailor Moon Season 1, Set 1 Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack released by Viz Media with enhanced visuals, new dub, and additional bonus features. Now, season one of the iconic shojo anime finally comes to its conclusion in Set 2, containing episodes 24-46. While the release doesn’t fix the visual issues that plagued Set 1, however, the second half of the first season reminds me why I still adore Sailor Moon to this day.
Jlist is one of the go-to sites for Japanese snacks, anime/manga merchandise, video games, and more for folks living outside of Japan. It makes sense, then, that as Japanese snack subscription services have been popping up left and right over the past couple of years, Jlist would also jump on said bandwagon. Since I’m already a fan of the site, I knew I had to try out their snack subscription box for myself and see how it compares with the likes of OyatsuBox, Japanese Treats, and Candy Japan. Of course, I had to share my impressions!