Natsumatsuri which have been part of the fabric of Japanese life for centuries and anime virtually since it started. Read more
Jul 16, 2023 • Subscribe
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LiA Bespoke Project: Honoriffic!
It's fair to say that honorifics play an outsized role in the Japanese language. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project – The Tournament Arc
When you've watches hundreds and hundreds of series like I have, how are you supposed to recall all of them on demand?


LiA Bespoke Project – Tying the Knot in Japan
As is so often the case, Japan's relationship with the spiritual is quite unique.


LiA Bespoke Project – New Year’s in Japan
Akemashite Omedettou. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project: Best of the 2000’s in Anime – Project Engage!
Let's get noughty. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project: Top 10 Mystery Anime
Yes, I know I didn't include that one. I'm just not that much of a fan.


LiA Bespoke Project: Best of the 2000’s in Anime
This project would be really interesting to take on. Read more
Protected: LiA Bespoke Project – The Chrysanthemum Taboo
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.


LiA Bespoke Project – Truth in Advertising: The Japanese Konbini
Finally, an institution that lives up to its name.


LiA Bespoke Project: Omake – Ranking Rumiko
I could easily have gone five deep just with Inuyasha.


LiA Bespoke Project – Hanko? You’re Welcome!
If you want quirky, Japan is the culture for you. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project: Yakyuu For You
It may be American’s national pastime, but baseball is more popular in Japan these days than it is in the U.S..


LiA Bespoke Project – Pachinko: Balls Out
You may think you know pachinko, but you probably don't know the full story. I sure don't.


LiA Bespoke Project: Dessert – The Perfect Dinner (and Companions)
The food and drink is important, but so is the company.


LiA Bespoke Project – Anime Pals From Around the World
Anime may be a Japanese medium, but its settings know no borders.


LiA Bespoke Project – Live-action Anime on Stage and Screen
Anime and manga has another side, little known in the West. Live-action animanga is a huge and lucrative industry in Japan.


LiA Bespoke Project : The Career of Toriyama Akira
Even if I never felt a personal connection to Toriyama Akira's fiction, I found myself strongly impacted by his passing.


LiA Bespoke Project : The Top 10 Sports Anime – Honorable Mention
LiA Bespoke is back. Once again the benefactor is the incredibly generous LiA MVP Nicc. And the commission this time is a straightforward one.


LiA Bespoke Project: Itadakimasu! – Japan’s Food Culture
The Japanese have certainly become quite sophisticated foodies, but it wasn’t always that way.


LiA Bespoke Project: Tying the Knot – Extra Marital Affairs
A series is about more than the protagonists.


LiA Bespoke Project: The 2000-2009 Anime Top 10 – Honorable Mention
Any Top 10 list is, by nature, highly personal. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project: Ayakashi, Mononoke, Youkai – What’s in a Name?
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LiA Bespoke Project: Tournament Arcs Overtime – Best Battles
As a companion piece to the main tournament arcs article, Nicc asked me to include some of my favorite battles from anime.


LiA Bespoke Project: Guardian Enzo’s Top 10 Manga
It goes without saying that this list was incredibly difficult to put together. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project: Guardian Enzo’s Top 10 Manga
The people have spoken. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project: The Tournament Arc Double-Overtime – The Olympics
You gotta love sports.


LiA Bespoke Project : The Top 5 College Anime (for Dark Flame Master)
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LiA Bespoke Project: Good Things Come in Small Packages – Top 5 Short Anime
This is a format anime can do extremely well.


LiA Bespoke Review and Project Announcement: Mouryou no Hako – 1-3
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LiA Bespoke Project: Guardian Enzo’s Top 10 Manga – #10
In many ways, this is the perfect sports manga. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project – A Crow by Any Other Name
They’re annoying - loud, garbage-strewing, pet-threatening - but we remain fascinated by such fiercely intelligent creatures living in our midst.


LiA Bespoke Project: Guardian Enzo’s Top 10 Manga List
The people have spoken. Read more


LiA Bespoke Project – Anime’s Top 5(ish) Product Placements
The recent overload of Suntory self-promotion in Bartender prompted a discussion of product placement in anime.


LiA Bespoke Project: Automatic For the People – The Japanese Vending Machine
Not all the legends are true, but the true ones are amazing enough.


LiA Bespoke Project: Hello, Goodbye – Anime’s Best First and Final Episodes – #5
The hardest thing about this topic is trying to remember - in this case, all the first and last episodes I’ve really loved.


LiA Bespoke Project : A BokuYaba Senryuu For Dark Flame Master
With 136 brilliant BokuYaba chapters in the books, how am I supposed to limit myself to 17 syllables and no spoilers?


LiA Bespoke Project: Short Subjects – Anime’s Best Vertically Challenged Characters
Let's complete the short trifecta.


LiA Bespoke Project: It’s a Rumic World – The Career of Takahashi Rumiko
When you’d almost universally referred to only by your given name, that’s a mark of high status indeed.


LiA Bespoke Project: Hello, Goodbye – Anime’s Best First and Final Episodes (Wrap-up)
As always, whenever one compiles a "best of" (or personal favorites) list, what's not on it draws as much attention as what is.


LiA Bespoke Project : That Niche (You Know the One I Mean) – Top 10
You've heard met talk about a certain "niche" on the schedule, and it's easier to give examples of it than to define it.
The Next 10 Years – LiA Now and in the Future (With Poll)
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Sword Art Online Summer Festival!
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Monogatari Off Season: Nademonogatari Anime Review: DoctorKev and Lia
A long time ago, I used to do deep dives into every Monogatari arc, ranting and raving about how much I adored the franchise. The talented…
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Life of Mariko in Kabukicho (2023) review [Camera Japan Festival]
Katayama and Uchida does not merely offer a glance at the relational drama that hides behind the neon-lit night-life and pleasure district, but also delivers a narrative that…


LiA Video Podcast #1 – Manga and Anime Reflections With Samu
It's always great chatting with this guy - feel free to listen in. Read more
“The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes” in competition at Annecy Film Festival
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