I’m back on my usual shenanigans with another manga that I picked up purely due to my own preferences that only a select few will care about. Being completely honest; I actually forgot this m…
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Arabashi – Sake Spirits with Soul – Final Thoughts
Back in December of 2020, I reviewed the first volume of this series. You can read that here. Afterwards, I largely forgot this series was still publishing. I’d…
Tensuian Miki: A Solid Izakaya with Excellent Sake
Tensuian Miki (呑酔庵 味季) specializes in mizutaki and other cuisine using fresh, local chicken (including chicken sashimi). The nihonshu (Japanese sake) menu boasts a regularly updated, diverse, fasci…
Manga: Alpi the Soul Sender
By Shelley Pallis. Alpi is a wandering exorcist (or “Soul Sender”), although she is not very good at it. She has only taken on the dangerous job in…


A Manga About The Man Who Sold His Soul.
Me and the Devil Blues. Let's talk about it. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/maskedasura Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/masked_asura Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_masked_asura/?igshid=OGQ2MjdiOTE%3D ► "Copyright Disclaimer, Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use'…


Tree Spirits Grass Spirits
Tree Spirits Grass Spirits collects twenty-one autobiographical stories about plants by the celebrated Japanese-American poet Hiromi Ito. As translator Jon L Pitt explains in the preface, these sto…
Soto sake
Expensive but … I grade sake by its aroma. The stronger its aroma, the better. I also take its price into grading. If something is way too expensive,…


Books & Sake
「高円寺古本酒場ものがたり」狩野俊 Story of Koenji Books & Sake, by Suguru Karino The “Story of Koenji Books & Sake” is Suguru Karino’s account of how he started a bookstore and…
Books & Sake
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A Poet Bares His Soul: EyeQ Talks With Anime Herald
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TenPuru - Episode 1 - Kiki Sleeps with Sake Bottle
Kiki, and her sake bottles, are some of the temptations for fleshly appetites at a Buddhist temple. Not so fair, right? TenPuru - Episode 1
Auto-tagged Dragon Ball, TenPuru, The Legendary Hero is Dead!


In/Spectre (Volume 1) – Kindred Spirits
Kotoko Iwanaga is the God of Wisdom to the yokai and spirits. She solves their disputes and offers guidance. However, they are concerned about a boy Kotoko is…
Auto-tagged In/Spectre


With a lot of Heart – 20-Year-Old Soul (movie review)
This is one of my most highly anticipated films of the year. The true story of an incredibly talented, but gone too soon trombonist and composer Asano Taigi.…


Finding Tokyo’s soul in sento
「メゾン刻の湯」 小野美由紀, 2018 Maison Toki no Yu, by Miyuki Ono, 2018 In my quest for books set at sento or onsen, I ran across 「メゾン刻の湯」by Miyuki Ono. When Ono…
Finding Tokyo’s soul in sento
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The Soul of a Story
How do we deal with “products of their time,” stories we love, with their problematic elements that can teach us the wrong message, even when we just want…
Auto-tagged exception, PSYCHO-PASS


Interview with Masami Obari – Robot Soul Edition
Hello and welcome to another post. I know for a while people have been asking me for another Masami Obari post so I thought I’d write one about…
Sakura Muromachi Sake
Supposedly sakura aroma. I grade sake by its aroma. The stronger its aroma, the better. I also take its price into grading. If something is way too expensive,…
Nigori Aladdin Sake
Aladdin? I grade sake by its aroma. The stronger its aroma, the better. I also take its price into grading. If something is way too expensive, that’s going…
Hakutsuru Junmai Sake
Not bad for 11 bucks. I grade sake by its aroma. The stronger its aroma, the better. I also take its price into grading. If something is way…
Pure Dawn Sake
A nice name. I grade sake by its aroma. The stronger its aroma, the better. I also take its price into grading. If something is way too expensive,…
Sake no Hosomichi
A manga about an everyday salary man who loves drinking and eating. Continue reading →
Gekkeikan Junmai Sake
More of the same. This is one of the cheapest sake you can find in Ontario. Costing just 10 bucks for a 750ml bottle, this is in fact…
Ozeki Junmai Sake
Well, this one sucks. I grade sake by its aroma. The stronger its aroma, the better. I also take its price into grading. If something is way too…


Manga review, Halloween 2023 edition: Soul Eater
Not a horror manga by any means, but it oozes the spirit of Halloween like no other. Soul Eater (ソウルイーター Sōru ītā) “Massiv” vol. 1 (collects prologues 1-3…
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Manga Pages: Soul Eater Not! chapter 1
Ookubo Atsushi’s Soul Eater is one of my favorite manga, but it’s no secret that it’s gone downhill since entering the third major arc. Anime Kritik theorized that…
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A Conversation With Al’s Manga Blog
Oh my goodness, I got so much more response then I expected from that little announcement post. Thank you so much, everyone. These posts with my special guests…


DX Soul of Chogokin Mechagodzilla: A Celebration of a Triumph in Robot Kaiju
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Spirits of Action: Japanese Manga and Sports Online Talk
With COVID-19 still placing restriction on events the good people at Japan Foundation London have got a great range of talks and workshops a...


A review of Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul
This return to Made in Abyss took a while. Last year, I watched the first season of this fantasy adventure series that quickly turns into a fantasy horror…
Auto-tagged Made in Abyss, Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul
The Lost Soul Plot – The Manga Gold Standard?
There is no one shonen plot to rule them all, but there is a plot that has basically become a “gold standard” for shonen manga targeted at young…
Auto-tagged City Hunter
The Troubled Soul Plot – The Manga Gold Standard?
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Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul – It Can Work with Three
Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you’ve had a fun time watching what I was going to post next. Since I’ve filled this month with a lot of older…
Auto-tagged Made in Abyss, Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul


Holyland – A fighting manga with a different theme
Hey guys what is up welcome back to my blog I’m so thankful that you guys took the time out of your day to read my blog post.…


Windbreaker – A delinquent manga with a new spin
Hey guys what is up welcome back to my blog I’m so thankful that you guys took the time out of your day to read my blog post.…


Windbreaker – A delinquent manga with a new spin
Hey guys what is up welcome back to my blog I’m so thankful that you guys took the time out of your day to read my blog post.…


Holyland – A fighting manga with a different theme
Hey guys what is up welcome back to my blog I’m so thankful that you guys took the time out of your day to read my blog post.…


A-Yokai-A-Day: How the Power of Sake Overcame a Bakemono
October has arrived and Spooky Season is upon us! Welcome to another year's season of A-Yokai-A-Day! Every day this month I will translate, illustrate, and post one spooky…
Nigori Creme de Sake
Aye, I am reviewing sake. For the record, I am not a “professional” drinker. I don’t know whether there are professional drinkers. If there are, I ain’t one…
Izumi Nigori Junmai Sake
Hmmm…. I grade sake by its aroma. The stronger its aroma, the better. I also take its price into grading. If something is way too expensive, that’s going…
Wakatake Junmai Onikoroshi Sake
Errr…, salty? I grade sake by its aroma. The stronger its aroma, the better. I also take its price into grading. If something is way too expensive, that’s…
Kamoizumi Shusen Junmai Sake
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Junmai Ginjo Karahashi Sake
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Only Bad Spirits?
A friend of mine lent me several volumes of Mieruko-chan. I have not watched the 2021 anime, so my perspective on it is based on the manga. Miko…
Auto-tagged Mieruko-chan


Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari
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Auto-tagged Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari


Soul Eater
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Pixar’s Soul
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Wizard’s Soul deals a full hand of emotional dysfunction in the guise of a romcom / card game manga.


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Auto-tagged Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!
Hakkaisan Happo Nigori Sparkling Sake
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Murai Family Tanrei Junmai Sake
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