Magazines from Japan
Some time ago I started buying NEO, the only magazine in the UK that looks at anime. As I’ve read it, I’ve noticed that what it provides has grown pretty poor. I think it’s fine for someone that only watches anime that is launched in the UK or maybe watches some Asian films, but not for the otaku out there in the UK who watch more English Sub than Dub. They have started to breach on some stuff in Japan, Madoka Magica appeared in there, which I was impressed with, but the stuff they normally pick up is the ones from streaming sites, and those animes aren’t always the best of the crop.
They also have their fan service hall of shame and “What’s rot in the land of the Rising Sun”. These will always be a show that has some panty shots and they don’t care how good it is. Haruhi has been in there, Ro-Kyu-Bu!, Mayo Chiki, Strike Witches (which they then rated with a good amount of stars), and others, and I always think that most of them are good animes, but you don’t like them because of panties? Someone needs to learn about the world of anime a bit more if you think you’ll be seeing none of that in them.
So in my curiosity I ordered a Dengeki G and Nyantype from Japan. I can’t read Japanese, I can make out the odd phrase in anime but reading kanji is a totally different concept again, but I thought there’s no harm in having a look. When I got them I was firstly surprised by the sheer size of the magazines, Dengeki G is 4 times thicker than NEO. I knew that there was more material but the sheer amount was huge.
I browsed through Nyantype to start. Which comes with an array of posters each issue, all in at least A3 size. The posters are great, I’m never going to remove them in fear I’ll damage them, but I still pull them out to look at. I also had a quick look at the articles, which I was actually able to comprehend some bits from, bits is the key word though. The articles covered current anime, and caused me to pick some up. Near the back there’s info on upcoming anime, products and games. Now the key here is that the type of product is in English. From this I can actually work out some of the stuff. Nyantype is where I learnt that the Familiar of Zero is finally getting a season 4, and that Index has a movie in production. It also has upcoming figures, and BD/DVD release dates, very important to someone that gets them.
Manga wise, currently you have Mayo Mayo, a spin off of Mayo Chiki (which I can’t find online anywhere), and Strike Witches, as well as others. Both are nice to look at, but I wish I could read them.
Next is Dengeki G. Dengeki’s stuff is awesome in my opinion. As I said, the size of G is huge, yes 50% of that can be manga which I can’t read, but that’s still a lot of stuff for me to go through. Dengeki G looks more at Eroge and games, which is a great contrast to Nyantype. The articles have great pictures to go through, and I’ve been visiting the websites of a lot of the stuff I’ve seen in there, with the aid of Google translate. The manga in there is all the one’s I’d collect if I could as well. Ro-kyu-bu, Oreimo (well orekouhei lol), Angel Beats, Denpa, etc, so I have fun going through them. I’ve also started reading a scanlated version online while having the magazine so I can enjoy it more, lol.
There’s normally one poster in G at the front, but the material inside makes up for that. The images for the games and anime are always cute, and I find I flick through on quite a few occasions. The eroge section is probably my favourite and makes me want to import some of the games. Maybe I should, if I can find some patches for them.
Dengeki does more than one magazine, and the other I currently get is Moeoh. If the title doesn’t give it away, this one is dedicated to moe. To be honest it’s more like an artbook than an anime magazine. There are articles and manga but the pictures are what I buy it for. The pictures are obviously moe, and there’s an abundance of catgirls, or animal eared girls, which is my favourite type of anime girl, they so cute! ^_^ You also have some eechi manga, and currently a 4komo version of Ro-Kyu-Bu!, which looks hilarious and I need it translated, lol. There also appears to be some kind of Light Novel for Ro-Kyu-bu! in it but I’m not too sure. Rewrite has the same thing in G.
If your a fan of moe then this is a must purchase if your considered getting a magazine from Japan. Hopefully the pictures will convince you.
I’ve also ordered Dengeki Hime, which is a hentai magazine. Not sure what this one’ll be like but I’ll make a comment here when I get it.
For now, enjoy the pictures I’ve included of some of the magazines and the freebies that come with them.
Larnu~
