For Black Lagoon and kabuki fans

In episode 21 of Black Lagoon The Second Barrage Gin enters the Russian restaurant and says: "Souga's Sukeroku has come to play. Now where can I find Ikyu the Bearded?"

Ever wonder where that line came from?

Now you can know:

Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura (Sukeroku Flower of Edo) 助六由縁江戸桜

Utena returns

I have been doing a rather poor job of adding new recommended titles to my web site. On the whole this is not a problem as I avoid putting up works until the release is complete and has proven itself so the list is never current.

I have now re-added a title which I have removed years ago when it went out of print. I now again have entries for the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series and movie.

One for the ladies, and a few lads.

This week I have another entry for adults so if your parents are likely to object make sure they are out of the room you don't click the link.

This weeks Anime Companion Supplement entry is for an item found all around the world with varying degrees of social acceptance.

This week's entry is the :

harikata (dildo) 張形

Big crime, no arrests

This week I have an entry for one of the most famous crimes of the post WWII era. Part of the fun of the Anime Companion Project is that I can cover not only commonly seen in anime and manga but obscure to non-Japanese items but also the un-common.

This weeks entry is for:

San Oku En Jiken (300 million yen robbery) 三億円事件

By the way I strongly recommend the two books I list as my sources for this entry, plenty of other great stuff in those.

For easy transit around Tokyo

This week I have an Anime Companion Supplement entry for one of my favorite small things that make visiting Tokyo easier. This is a card that you add value to and use in mass transit and elsewhere. Similar cards such as the Translink system in the San Francisco Bay Area do exist in the US. Rather than go into detail here I refer you to the entry for:

Suica スイカ

I highly recommend getting one of these cards when visiting the Tokyo area, when your trip is over just keep the card as the value on it is stored for 10 years and you will need it again on future trips.