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Tag Archives: manga

The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend Manga Review

4 / 5 / 234 / 5 / 23

When you’re a butch lesbian that’s attracted to other butch lesbians, it can be hard enough to find a girlfriend, but for Meiri Hiranishi, an awkward otaku college student with no dating experience, things seem near impossible!

Meiri Hiranishi’s debut manga, The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend, is an autobiographical story based on comics she posted over the years to her Twitter, Webtoon, and Tapas. Meiri is a Japanese woman living in the US who longs to find a hot, short-haired girlfriend à la shojo anime heroines such as Sailor Uranus, but her awkward attempts at finding love all end in failure. That is, until she travels to Japan for the summer and meets Ash, an American teaching English in Japan.

The pair share a whirlwind month-long romance until Meiri has to return to the US to finish college, but their long distance relationship ends abruptly when Ash breaks things off. Unable to move on, Meiri struggles to try to win Ash back and find happiness for four long years.

Perhaps a more appropriate title for this manga would be “The Girl That Can’t Keep a Girlfriend,” since the majority of the story focuses on Meiri’s relationship with Ash from their initial meeting, tentative flirting, and declarations of love over the span of one month to their breakup and Meiri’s broken heart.

via Meiri’s Twitter (a near identical page appears in the manga)

The initial couple of chapters focus on introducing Meiri and her tastes in women, establishing herself as a shy, insecure otaku, which fit with her depiction as a round, goofy caricature (whereas all of her love interests look straight out of shojo manga). Her embarrassing attempts to get a girlfriend, such as when she tries to go femme in order to win a butch woman over, make it clear that she grapples with her own self-worth and feels the need to change herself to appeal to others.

While there’s a lot of sweetness and fun interactions throughout the story, particularly when Meiri meets and starts dating Ash, the core issues she deals with as a lesbian woman struggling to find love and self-worth will tug at your heartstrings, whether you can directly relate to her problems or not.

Still, it’s all dealt with a witty sense of humor and self-awareness that keeps things from feeling too heavy. It’s also worth noting that Meiri wrote the entire English script herself, and her language feels right at home to someone active on the internet in 2023.

The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend is a look at the life and relationships of a single woman, and the stakes may feel comparatively low to some, but in a world where we need more of all kinds of queer stories, from the happy to the sad, extraordinary to mundane, it is well worth the read. I particularly appreciated the evolution of Meiri’s perception of herself over the course of the manga and seeing her finally get to the light at the end of the tunnel. I look forward to reading more of Meiri Hiranishi’s work in the future!

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Interview with UNICO: AWAKENING Writer Samuel Sattin

5 / 7 / 225 / 6 / 22

The classic Osamu Tezuka manga Unico, originally published in Sanrio’s shojo manga magazine Lyrica in the 1970s, is being reimagined as a full-color manga titled UNICO: AWAKENING (ユニコ: 目覚めのおはなし)! The new 162-page manga launched on Kickstarter this week, and was fully funded within 24 hours, meaning anyone can back the project while it’s active to receive a copy of UNICO: AWAKENING when it’s published, in either English or Japanese! Plus, artists from around the world have come together to produce exclusive prints and limited edition collectibles from a picture book to a fashion lookbook.

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Chic Pixel’s Favorite Media of 2018

3 / 31 / 193 / 31 / 19

Now that we’re a third of the way through 2019, it may seem silly to still be looking back at 2018. But the truth is, there’s so much great media from 2018 that I’m still catching up!

While I probably won’t ever be completely caught up on all the games I want to play, manga I want to read, and anime I want to watch, I feel that at this point I’ve been able to sample the 2018 releases I was most interested in and deliver a list of my favorite media from the year.

So, if you’re looking for some new media to check out, read on to see what I found most memorable from 2018!

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Moyoco Anno 2019 Calendar

1 / 24 / 19

Moyoco Anno 2019 calendar

This is my first year purchasing a calendar by manga artist Moyoco Anno (Sakuran, Sugar Sugar Rune), so I couldn’t miss the opportunity to share! I don’t know how long Moyoco Anno has been selling limited run calendars in Japan, but I’ve been pining for one for a couple of years.

For 2019, I decided to get the wall-mounted calendar design featuring characters in kimono, which was 3,500 yen (approximately $35) with free shipping within Japan and limited to only 1000 units. At the time of this post, there are still some available, but keep in mind that you’ll need a forwarding service if you don’t live in Japan.

The calendar is a traditional style where you rip the pages off every month instead of flipping it, which is a bit daunting, so all the more reason to take a few pictures beforehand!

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20 Holiday Gift Ideas for Video Game and Manga Fans

11 / 19 / 1811 / 29 / 18

20 Holiday Gift Ideas for Video Game and Manga Fans

It’s that time of year… The time of year for gingerbread lattes, festive music, and holiday gift guides! I love doing yearly Chic Pixel gift guides because it gives me a chance to share a wide range of fun options for anyone looking for a unique gift for a nerdy friend. Each year I theme my guide slightly differently, and this year I decided to go for manga and video game-related picks!

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Fall in Love with Love with Pocky

5 / 23 / 185 / 23 / 18

Love with Pocky Chic Pixel banner

When Glico announced back in December that they were doing a Pocky gijinka campaign where the different flavors would be transformed into handsome guys voiced by famous voice actors, I knew I had to get my hands on some. Luckily, @everydayfoxlife was kind enough to hunt down a few boxes for me! Later, I ended up finding the regular and heartful Pocky flavors here in Australia, so I picked up a couple more for good measure.

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Chic Pixel’s Ultimate Guide to Blogging Part 1: Getting Started

2 / 7 / 17

Chic Pixel's Ultimate Guide to Blogging Part 1 Getting Started

Welcome to the first part in my new series for February, Chic Pixel’s Ultimate Guide to Blogging! I’ve been blogging under the Chic Pixel name for 6 years now. Hopefully, by sharing the things I’ve learned during that time, I can help those of you looking to start your own blog or get more out of the one you currently have!

This week’s post is focused more on starting up a new blog, but if you already have one and are looking to narrow your content and audience, I highly suggest skipping to the “Finding Your Niche” section. If you have any questions about the topics I cover in this post, feel free to drop me a comment and I’ll be happy to chat! Topics such as figuring out what to write about, motivation, social media, and monetization will be covered in following weeks, so don’t forget to check back every Tuesday!

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Name: Anne Lee
Birthday: December 13
Fav food: Mochi

Chic Pixel is where I write about my favorite aspects of Japanese pop culture, with a focus on the cute and nerdy! Read More >

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Check out these super cute Sanrio blind boxes I go Check out these super cute Sanrio blind boxes I got from Miniso! Which one do you like best? ✨
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Music: In Full Bloom / Flehmann
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#kawaiiaesthetic #kawaiiness #kawaiioftheday #sanrio #sanriocore #sanriocharacters #kuromi #miniso #minisolife #blindbox #blindboxopening #blindboxes #cuteaesthetic #pinkaesthetic #pinkgirl #kawaiihaul #cutefinds #toyunboxing #sanrioaesthetic #kawaiicute
Hello 2023! 💖💖 And hello IG! You’ve probab Hello 2023! 💖💖 And hello IG! You’ve probably seen me in stories but it sure has been a while since I posted on the feed 🥲 check these adorable chocolates @mayhaps.bella got me in Belgium! 🍫🍫 2023 goal is to share more because I love to take fun pics interact with you all! And less worrying about the pressure to post videos unless I feel like it haha 😆 what’s one fun thing you’re looking forward to in the rest of January? 
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#nerdyflatlay #hobonichitecho #hobonichi #hobonichiweeks #hobonichi2023 #kawaiiness #kawaiioftheday #kawaiiaesthetic #cutekeychain #airpodscase #cuteaesthetic #kawaiistyle #ladygamer #gamergirlsofinstagram #gamersofaus #8bitdo #cutestyle #gamingfolk
How cute are the contents of the Moonlight Magic 🌙 Hello Kitty and Friends @bokksu box? I love the pouch and coin purse designs! Whenever I get one of these snack boxes, I  dole out the snacks over a week or two for maximum enjoyment 😋 I can't wait to try the pudding mochi especially! #gifted
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#hellokitty #hellokittyandfriends #hellokittyaddict #sanriolover #sanriocharacters #sanrio #sanriocore #sanrioasthetic #japanesecandy #japanesesnacks #snackbox #bokksu
I've been wanting to try trading card deco since I I've been wanting to try trading card deco since I saw @bunnycartoon share her amazing designs! For my first attempt I had to bling up this perfect retro Super Mario Bros. movie card 🍄 Ready to add stickers to every card I own now 😝 
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#toploaderdeco #toploader  #supermario #supermariobros #supermariobrosmovie #nintendogram #nintendofan #tradingcards #stickerdeco #stickerporn #mariobros #mariogames
I caved and bought the Splatoon 3 OLED Switch! It’s so pretty 😍😍 If you like to play in handheld mode, the OLED screen is a huge improvement!!
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#splatoon3 #splatoon #nintendoswitch #nintendoswitcholed #ninstagram #nintendogram #inkling #divoom #ladygamer #gamergirlsofinstagram #gamersofaus #figma #figmaphotography #geekgirl #nintendofan #splatooninkling #inkling #joycons #handheldgaming #handheldgamer #nintendoworld
How cute is this Keroppi water bottle?! 🐸 You'r How cute is this Keroppi water bottle?! 🐸 You're meant to color on it with markers but I love the black and white look so I'm keeping it as is. Thank you so much for sending it and the Sanrio puzzle to me, @cozynamie! It came at a really tough time when I was going through separating with my husband of 12 years and it really lifted my spirits. I'm really grateful for all of the wonderful people I've met here on IG and am happy to have energy/motivation to post more again 💕
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#sanrio #sanrioaesthetic #sanriocore #keroppi #keroppilovers #sanriocharacters #kawaiiness #kawaiiaesthetic #kawaiilifestyle #kawaiilife #kawaiioftheday #nerdyflatlay #cuteaesthetic #pinkaesthetic #cutenessoverload #pinkgirl
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