Halcali is an all female pop and hip-hop duo from Tokyo. Halca and Yucali have excellent harmony but are too “bubblegum” for my taste. Their album Halcali Bacon was the first album from an all female group to top Japan’s Oricon charts. The duo is remarkably flexible; they have been able to change with the…
Hibiki’s Magic
This is a guest post written by Mallory Thompson. Hibiki’s Magic is like eating a cupcake, topped with pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles accompanied by a cool glass of milk. Hibiki is a magician who is terrible at magic, which is rather generic in the world of manga. Hibiki is one of those characters who…
Alice in the Country of Hearts
This is a guest post written by Mallory Thompson. How would you like to play a game? Alice has been kidnapped and brought to Wonderland against her will. The only way she can go home is to play a game she doesn’t know the rules to. To top it off, the inhabitants of Wonderland have…
Pale Cocoon
If we lost our written memory would we remember our history? Pale Cocoon is a 23 minute OVA about a boy who reconstructs data from the archives. He is interested in what Earth used to look like on the surface, before he and his people built cities deep underground. One of the files he reconstructs…
High and Mighty Color
High and Mighty Color started as a Metallica cover band and worked their way up to fame until they broke apart in 2010. Honestly, I didn’t know Japan had Metallica cover bands. The band started in Okinawa like many other bands. American and Japanese music traditions mix and swirl on that island apparently. (Perhaps to…
Cosplay Finds
There are a lot of cosplay pics on the net. Some are good; some not so much. Here are a few cool ones I have found recently. While I wouldn’t cosplay myself, I think it’s cool just how detailed and exact people can get with the costumes. Some are bought from boutiques but most cosplayers…