DVD Review: Ben-To Complete Series Collection

It’s not just dinner, it’s a matter of victory!

Ben-to is originally a Japanese light novel series written by Asaura, with illustrations by Kaito Shibano. Shueisha published 15 novels from February 2008 to February 2014. Shibano also illustrates three manga adaptations, and a fourth manga is drawn by Sankaku Head. The name literally is to mirror the word Bento box but adding that ‘-‘ makes it a lot more easier to Google against all those tasty packed lunch photos online.

After the success from the light novel it was adapted into a 12-episode anime TV series  You follow protagonist Sato Yo who is a

Book Review: The Thief By Fuminori Nakamura

Translated by Satoku Izumo and Stephen Coates.

Nishimura is a seasoned pickpocket, weaving through Tokyo’s crowded streets, in search of potential targets. He has no family, no friends, no connections… But he does have a past, which finally catches up with him when his old partner-in-crime reappears and offers him a job he can’t refuse. Suddenly, Nishimura finds himself caught in a web so tangled and intricate that even he might not be able to escape.

When seen on the bookshelf the cover of black printed letters on bright yellow jumps out so it’s impossible to miss. The effect it has is perfect, and

Book Review: From The Fatherland, With Love By Ryu Murakami

A major new novel by the critically acclaimed author of Coin Locker Babies!

In a possible worst-case scenario, Murakami has plunged Japan into despair as North Korea has made its move to attack and take over Fukuoka, holding the people hostage. The North Korean government plots to invade and start with three plans of action; one consisting of nine commandos sneaking into Japan to occupy certain areas, two happens two hours later with a drop of four SOF air companies who will take over the beachhead, while three has a hundred and twenty thousand troops landing on Hakata Bay, and the name of the operation is From the Fatherland, with

Book Announcement: From The Fatherland, With Love by Ryu Murakami

The ‘other’ Murakami – major new novel coming in May!

While British readers will have to wait until at least 2014 for Haruki Murakami’s new book, Pushkin Press are thrilled to announce the publication of RYU Murakami’s major new novel From the Fatherland, with Love. You may not have heard of ‘the other Murakami’, but he deserves the huge acclaim he already commands in Japan. 

From the Fatherland, with Love (May 2013) is an explosively controversial thriller set in an imagined present where Japan’s economy has

DVD Review: Kiddy Grade – The Complete Series Collection

A surprisingly rich and intriguing series with a cast of interesting characters!

Based on the Tomohiko Aoki light novel of the same name, Kiddy Grade originally ran between 2002 and 2003. Previous reviews of this series have been mixed, often due to reviewers only critiquing early episodes rather than the series as a whole. Though the narrative of the entire series is a slow burn, it rewards patience. 

The twenty four episode series is based in a scientifically advanced future in which the human race has expanded and colonised a

DVD Review: Welcome To The NHK

Have your obsessions taken over your reality?

Based on the popular Japanese novel by Tatsuhiko Takimoto (Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge) and its subsequent manga adaptation written by Takimoto and illustrated by Kendi Oiwa (Goth; Tsukumo Happy Soul), Welcome To The N.H.K. is a 24- episode anime series produced by Gonzo and directed by Yusuke Yamamoto (Aquarion Evol; Sakura Taisen: Le Nouveau Paris).

Sato Tatsuhiro is a 20-something NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training), a miserable failure, and a reclusive loner suffering from