While many would associate Japan’s fascination with idol groups with the meteoric rise to popularity of AKB48 and the many other groups, anime, and games that have spun off from the concept s…
Dec 3, 2021 • Subscribe
More like this
Who Was Naoko Takeuchi Before Sailor Moon’s Debut?
Though it may sound a bit counter-intuitive, one of the things I love reading about most in interviews with Ms. Takeuchi is when she opens up about subjects…
Naoko to a T: An Analysis of Sailor Moon’s Creator’s Unique Signature
Naoko Takeuchi: a name — for readers of this blog at least — synonymous with love, justice, and unparalleled stories.But have you ever taken the time to actually look…
Shattering Boundaries: Sailor Moon’s Impact on my Queer Identity
As Sailor Moon Cosmos—the two-part cinematic finale to the Sailor Moon anime reboot that began with 2014's Sailor Moon Crystal—made its long-awaited debut
How Did Miyuu Sawai Feel About Playing PGSM’s Sailor Moon?
Ah… Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, the oft-overlooked cult classic of the Sailor Moon franchise– a status that’s certainly not helped by the fact that Toei does its best…
Wait a minute… how did I not become a 2D idol fan?!
I could be boring and give a very succinct answer. That would not make for an interesting post so as I do, let’s do a long-winded back story…
If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, VISUAL PRISON
How To Learn About Japanese Culture Through Anime
I was looking through my twitter feed when I suddenly remembered how a lot of people kept telling me that I know so much about Japanese culture and…
How did this happen?!
The Mysterious Force behind the YouTube Algorithm.
How Rachael Lillis Helped Ensure Pokémon’s Success
Rachael Lillis had a celebrated voice acting career and thanks to her work as Misty and Team Rocket's Jessie, she helped create Pokémon fans around the world.
How American Culture Influenced Anime?
There is a good reason why anime has become quite popular today as there are a lot of different high-quality animated shows produced by Japan. In that regard,…
How to Write a Sailor Moon Episode
Sailor Moon is the longest series I’ve ever watched, and the source I was using, for whatever reason, stopped supplying dubbed or subbed episodes after around #160, so…
Kiriyama Rei’s painful privilege to success
No friends, no family, and far beyond his competition in terms of skill; the peerless Kiriyama Rei was painfully alone. The struggle to overcome loneliness is one of…
How much did Norwegian Wood weigh?
In the newsletter this month I did a check-up on my kanji study. The prognosis? DOA. I haven’t done a serious kanji repetition for over a year now.…
Ask John: Why is Sailor Moon Such an Iconic Success?
Question: What makes Sailor Moon such an iconic global franchise among anime fans, despite other magical girl anime sharing similar traits such as action-oriented plots, drama, in-depth world-building…
How Was Sailor Moon Initially Marketed to Audiences?
Quick! Name another anime besides Sailor Moon that began airing in 1992!Pretty tough, huh? Well, that’s probably because out of the forty anime series to debut in 1992, only six…
How Japanese Culture Changed the Anime Tomboy
Have you ever though about anime tomboys. As n what tomboys are like in animes. Because it's very different from what we're used to.
How Did Shibuya and Shinjuku Stations Become So Hard to Navigate?
Why'd they have to go and make everything so complicated? A short history of how Shinjuku and Shibuya in Tokyo developed their bad reputations as Japan's most confusing…
Writing Prompt: How did you learn Japanese?
This was actually one that I just came up with myself, but I figured I’d frame this as a prompt anyways since it fits. I know that many…
How Did “Octopus” Become a Japanese Insult?
Did someone just call you an "octopus"? How "tako" became both a fish and an insult in Japanese (spoiler alert: it involves samurai).
How Did Bon Kurei Survive Impel Down?
It should be well-known by now that Bon Kurei didn’t die at the end of Impel Down, when he sacrificed himself to allow Luffy to escape. Instead, he…
Did they learn finally learn how to adapt Ito Junji? Uzumaki (2024)
After having posted about this series over a year ago in “Animation studios have learned nothing – regarding Ito Junji adaptations”. I can’t NOT follow up on Uzumaki…
Celebrate Sailor Moon’s 30th Anniversary with a five minute slideshow of ads for upcoming merchandise
As we posted about a couple of weeks ago, the Sailor Moon manga is 30 years old, as it was first published on December 28th 1991. The Sailor…
Do It Yourself!! Episode 8: Blueprint to Success
As we inch ever closer to the anticipated tree house construction we joined our heroines figuring out how to bring it all together.
In Defense of Hololive: Breaking Down the Standards of Idol Culture
Anyone hanging around the AniSphere as of late has probably noticed an uptick in the rise of discussions about Virtual YouTubers, AKA v-tubers, and their unavoidable presence on…
How Much Meat Did Denji Eat? || Chainsaw Man
#chainsawman Gamersupps code: HIDING https://gamersupps.gg/?ref=HIDING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HidinginPublic Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hiding_n_Public Chainsawman is a crazy manga. I'm going to answer a crazy question. With Denji and Makima, at the end of Chainsaw Man Part…
success is a myth
Our whole lives, we’re told “work hard and you’ll succeed.” But this is just a myth. Success is deadly. The idea of having a villain arc is thrown around…
Learning About the ‘Burikko’ Personality (And Its Presence in Seiyuu/Idol Culture)
A few months ago as I was living my normal life, watching subbed seiyuu videos on YouTube, I stumbled upon this one interesting clip that featured a couple…
How Did Zoro Lose His Eye in One Piece?
How Zoro lost his eye in One Piece? - the theories and facts behind it, and the possible implications for his future.
How Did Luffy Get His Scars in One Piece?
Learn how Luffy got his scars on his chest and face in One Piece, and what they mean for his character and story.
Ep 49: Panty Scissors!! How Did Those Get There?
In This Episode, Xan Reviews Mysterious Girlfriend X ----more---- Besides the review, Xan talks about the Chapter 7 Bankrupcy of Central Park Meida as well as giving more information about…
How Did Women’s Empowerment Unfold in Japan in 2023?
From public failures to political strides, a wrap-up of the female experience in Japan, 2023.
What The Internet Did To Garfield
Garfield, Odie, and Jon are here. May God have mercy on us all. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Supereyepatchwolf Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/supereyepatchwolf Lets Fight a Boss Podcast: Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/lets-fight-a-boss/id1048483221?mt=2 Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/letsfightaboss Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCawXJIKUj2o_tFPMZ4xiXBw Other Super Eyepatch Wolf stuff Twitch:…
When pop culture meets culture war
Dragon Quest III HD-2D and the pitfalls of producing content in a polarized world
TheOASG Podcast Episode 168: How Did Talking About Tax-Filing Anime Girl Lead to That?!?
Two anti-social geniuses discuss the latest anime, manga, and weird industry news in It's Not My Fault TheOASG Podcast Is Not Popular!
Check & Mate: How the hell did Ali Hazelwood get me to love a chess romance!?
Hi friends, I hope you’re all doing well! Today I’m going to be discussing a book I recently binged: Ali Hazelwood’s Check & Mate! After my initial kerfuffle…
What Did I Just Watch: If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budukon I Would Die
Look, first of all, I’m not writing out that whole title again. From now on this show will be called My Favorite Pop Idol, and if the author,…
5 Ways to Discover Traditional Okinawa Culture
Sample unique music, food and martial arts in Japan’s southernmost prefecture
How Did Tomo and Jun Meet? Best Friend’s First Meeting!
Tomo-Chan is a Girl! Ep. 7 Review You know what I love seeing in TV shows? Extended flashbacks. They can reveal so much about a character’s backstory, what made…
Vivy #07 — Suffering From Success
Template template template template. Impressions: Apparently the fallout from watching a lunatic shoot himself last episode is that Vivy's had a complete mental breakdown, repressed/forgot everything, and…
Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku | Episode One: How to stand out 101.
Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku has also been an anime that I’ve had my eyes on too (currently writing about episode one after watching and writing about the first episode…
“Pop” Culture
This is one seriously deranged offering. This is a very binary show: either you like it a lot or you hate it a lot. You also need to…
Carnivore Culture
By Jeannette Ng. Beastars is the story of Legoshi, an achingly awkward wolf who struggles with his carnivore side as like many of his fellow classmates, he is…
Bonus Post: First Impressions of Sailor Moon Idol Group SG5
PREFACE: I know I don’t normally post on this day, but since this is just a short blurb, I’m doing it now. Think of it as a bonus!…
![Featured image for Wolf’s Rain – 9/10 [Misgivings/Moon’s Doom] – Throwback Thursday](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230324/1679679611.56065.88954.jpg)
Wolf’s Rain – 9/10 [Misgivings/Moon’s Doom] – Throwback Thursday
Welcome back everyone, to another week of Wolf’s Rain! This week see’s return of Blue and the Hunter, Darcia makes a new friend, and the gang has a…
Why ODDTAXI’s Opening Theme Is The Secret Sauce To Its Success
2021’s ODDTAXI is one of the most effective examples of an OP setting up tone, atmosphere, and story beats - even hiding the answers to its mystery in…
How to Seinfeld
I’m in The Japan Times with a look at how “Seinfeld” is being translated into Japanese: “These senbei are making me thirsty? How ‘Seinfeld’ sounds in Japanese.” “Seinfeld”…
How to Osaka
To be honest, I don’t know how yet. I’m still figuring it out. I got here three weeks ago and had 10 days before work to learn the…
How did you become so familiar with Japan? (Bonus Solo Episode)
Tony Vega is a writer, editor, and podcaster. He has lived in Japan as both a student and participant of the JET Programme. He possesses an M.A. in…
Tens and an eleven (how did Tokidoki Bosotto get ahead, anyway?)
Yuki and Kuze show off their scary looks. Tokidoki Bosotto 11 gets back to the story, well, after some cute “Kuze-kun’s sick so I have to go and…
Bakemonogatari, Dungeon People, Pseudo Harem, Nisemonogatari, SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary
Horimiya: They Did It! Why it Matters (And How It Doesn’t)
I’ve been dreading episode seven of Horimiya for weeks before it aired. Well, not episode seven exactly—I was anxious for whatever episode it would be where that happens,…
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train – Just How Much Money Did Ufotable Make?
2020's Demon Slayer: Mugen Train became the highest-grossing film in Japan of all time, but how much of that was shared with its anime studio, Ufotable?