Traveling to Japan: Japanese Money & “How Much is this?”

Hello Everyone! Finally another blog post on Japanese Language/ Culture. This time, I am going to teach you how to ask how much something is in Japanese, as well as how to understand the response - Keep this guide handy if you’re traveling to Japan anytime soon, it will be quite useful!

First things first, when you hold something up and want to ask the shop keeper, “How much is this?” here is what you say:

これ　は　いくら　ですか?  Or “Kore Wa Ikura Des Ka?” 

** In case you are unfamiliar with how the Japanese pronounce the English alphabet, here is a more phonetic spelling for you “Co-ray  wa  Ee-coo-ra des Kah?” **


Congratulations! Now you can ask anyone how much something is. However, when they respond, you may notice they don’t say how much “Yen” it is, but rather how much “En.” That’s right, we westerners just refer to their money system as yen, but really there is no “Y,” it’s just En. 

Another random Fun Fact! I thought in Japan they referred to their country as Japan like we do, but it’s actually “日本” or “Nihon.” Really surprised me when I first found out.

Now, rather than teaching you the whole numbers system and how it works just to know the clerks response, I will teach you numbers 1-9 and the word for “1,000.” This should cover most of your bases for 90% of what you will buy.

1. “Ichi” 
2. “Ni”
3. “San”
4. Can be said as “shi” or “yon”
5. “Go”
6. “Roku”
7. Can be said as “ShiChi” or “Nana”
8. “Hachi”
9. Can be said as “Que” or “Ku”
10. “Jew”
1,000. “Sen”

Now, the formula is the same as English. So for Two Thousand, you just say the Japanese word for Two and the Japanese word for Thousand, so as you probably have guessed, if something is 2,000 yen, it will be said as “Ni Sen En.” Just put the pieces of the puzzle together. Additionally, If you are wondering why there are two ways of saying some of the numbers.. Well, so am I. That’s kind of just the way it is. Sorry!

Moving on to reading written tags on items or signs. Luckily for you, even though there are kanji characters for each number and they are spoken differently than in English, they are actually written in English. So a price tag will (99% of the time) say something like “5,000¥.” 

Therefore, all that’s left to learn is the conversion rate, and a trick for quick calculating in your head! So for most accurate results, multiply 5,000 by .0083, which comes out to $41.50 USD. However, the trick is, if you don't have a calculator on hand, move the decimal twice. It will be just slightly less than that number. So for 5,000 yen, it’s just a little less than $50 bucks. 

Lastly, It's important to know that Japan is still very much a cash society, so don't expect everyone to accept your card! More side notes, the after-tax price is what you see displayed. In Japan, it is required to show the tax-inclusive price. So don't worry about trying to add that in. It's a flat 8% if you're wondering, which will be increased to 10% in April of 2017.

There you have it, now you can ask how much something is, and know the response for anything between $10 - $90 USD. Don’t forget to say “Arigato Gozaimas!”

Shuffle! Anime Review

SHUFFLE! SCORE: 8.5

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

It's actually rather quite difficult to say what Shuffle! is actually about. It's one of those shows that episode after episode, you really don't see what's coming and just have to be along for the ride! I will say the obvious about it, it's ecchi at times and a classic Harem anime in which all of the girls magically love the main male protagonist, and it is basically his destiny to have story archs with each of these girls. There was a bit of a unique twist to this show though, in the world that our main character Rin lives in, gods and demons live among the humans. However, the odd part about this is, that this isn't really even a focal point. It's just kind of the way it is. The show starts out as a happy-go-lucky show about adorable girls infatuated with the average but sweet male protagonist, but slowly transitions into a dramatic romance series with an intensely dark side to it. I can promise you this, by around episode 18 or 19, you won't know what the hell just happened.

PROS

As I touched on in the intro, Shuffle! has the element of surprise on its side. It's not done in the typical shocking way, but rather, it's just very unexpected. This is something truly enjoyable about the series, and not to be overlooked. It's honesty what made me want to keep watching the show, since harems aren't super interesting for girls to watch normally.

In addition to that, I also really enjoyed the setting, character designs, and character growth in this anime. The setting of a normal everyday school that also happens to have gods and demons, was quite cool and it almost made it seem like this was a feasible thing. I actually liked how they down-played this aspect and focused on comedy, romance, and drama instead. Additionally, the character designs were top notch. All of the girls were super cute looking, and I wanted all of their clothes! You have Sia, the spunky and girly Princess to the Gods who is always hitting her father (king of the gods) over the head for saying stupid things and embarrassing her "Dad shut up!" Narine, the Princess of the Demon world, was also a fun character who couldn't cook anything other than an omelet, and makes Rin omelets all the time; she had a really interesting back story too! Then we have, Kaede, who has lived with Rin since her parents died and always cooks and cleans for him, and the reason why and her back story, blew my mind, it was really unexpected! Then, there is Asa, the sort of Yankee-ish girl who is good friends with Rin, but is always sick; again, when we find out why she is sick, that also will blow your mind. Then we have Primula (Rimu), my favorite girl! She is the loli type. She is a little bit younger than the rest, she's a demon, and a secret experiment in the demon world. She's just so kawaii! It is really surprising to see how much development each of the girls get even with only 24 episodes. The character development is seriously commendable, as all of the girls have inner conflicts resolved and change as people by the end.

I also want to add, that as the series continues, you can see why all of the girls like Rin so much. Once they get to Kaede's story arch, I really saw it. I thought, wow, this guy really is a great person. &They actually have him pick a girl! I gotta say, I was surprised.

Lastly, I appreciated the touches they gave the show that added production value and detail. For example, in between scenes on happy and fun episodes, there was an adorable little cat that shot a beam out of his hands, while on more dramatic episodes they had an ecchi/drama type scene divider. The music in this anime also stood out to me. It wasn't anything crazy, but the opening song and filler songs were all really nice. One of the elevator music type songs I even downloaded. It also goes without saying that the artwork was really good. I enjoyed the art style a lot and it was consistently good excluding the last episode's animation which I will get to in the cons. 

CONS

First off for the cons, this show was a tad bit all over the place. I couldn't decide whether I watched something light-hearted, or impossibly deep. Whether I watched a happy and cute show, or a dark and depressing show. It skipped around between the two, and it confused me. Pretty much the whole first half of the show is very fluffy, ecchi, cute, nice harem, and then BAM deep dark storyline ensues; then, it does a little tango between light and dark the rest of the way. It even has some lulls of boring, which is never good for an entertainment medium.

Next, I have a small problem with our leading man Rin. He is a bit clueless. It's almost irritating at times. He doesn't seem to even notice the way girls around him feel, aside from the girl he ends up choosing, which comes to the bigger problem - I didn't really like her all that much. She wasn't my favorite, and probably because she gets the least development. After he picks her and says he loves her, then she gets some development, but not really romantically with Rin, more inwardly. I just don't see how he fell in love with her so fast, when he spent so much more time with the other girls. Which leads me in to my next con.. All of the girls decide to continue to pine after him, even though he already chose one. What is that?! They don't get to move on with their lives? Irritating.

Lastly, I was sooooooooooooooo disappointed with the animation of the last episode. It's like all of the animation staff got sick, so amateurs did the whole thing. People would be talking without their lips moving. The art style was slightly less detailed and kind of had a different feel to it. It was a major let down.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All and all, this was a surprisingly good harem anime, with a unique take. I enjoyed myself watching it and would recommend it. It can get a bit dark towards the end, and sad, but if you like major drama, this show delivers! All said, taking it's shortcomings into account, I give Shuffle! an 8.5 out of 10! I'd say try it out, disclaiming you should be at least older than 16 and be alright with ecchi/harem style anime. It definitely is unique, and I haven't seen anything else like it.

NEW LET'S PLAY SERIES: Be My Princess

❤BE MY PRINCESS❤

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with my first series [Metro PD Close to You] and requesting more videos. Since Metro PD only has one or two more parts left, I have made the prologue video for a new play through series "Be My Princess." 

As an exchange student in Charles Kingdom, we are walking about to see the sights. Through a turn of events while walking the streets, we meet six royals.. except we have no idea they are royals until watching them descend the royal steps at a ball! After that, we have the choice to dance with one of these dashing princes. The prince on which we decide, will be the one that we carry out a story with. I have narrowed down the choices to either Prince Edward or Prince Wilfred - Cast your votes now!

So far we are all tied up, comment here, on the video, or on my G+ post to change the score! <3

Uta no Prince Sama – Serious Love 1000% Anime Review

Uta no Prince Sama – Serious Love 1000% Score: 7.0

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

Uta no Prince Sama was announced to have a 4^th season recently, so I figured it must be a pretty good reverse harem to get so many seasons! So, I watched the first season over the weekend and will give you my thoughts. I think it is a good reverse harem/ shoujo; it’s poppy and fun. The animation is bright and great for both romance and comedy elements of the story. However, the story line wasn’t at all what I was expecting from the title! I was expecting to see some Princes and a Princess, but wasn’t too disappointed to find out it was about students in a school for Pop Idols & Composers. The concept is interesting enough, though the story line be somewhat typical and unimaginative.

A young girl with striking yellow eyes has played the piano since a young age with her Grandmother. One day, she visits the busy streets of Tokyo; distressed and disheveled from all of the noise, a single voice seemingly calls out to her from the mega-tron above - Hayato. The famous Idol sings so beautifully, that she is touched and determined to compose music for him one day. Now college age, she decides to take a chance, and apply to a prestigious Idol & Composer school to fulfill this dream. Although she is late to her admissions test, several handsome young Idol-to-be’s plead her case to the guards, as they saw her helping a young girl on her way. With such a noble reason for her tardiness, she gains access, passes the test, and her new life begins!

PROS

The first thing I noticed, in a positive light, about this anime was the animation. It’s very bright and poppy, which fits the theme and premise perfectly. Then, it throws in comic relief animation changes for good measure. Additionally, the setting sucks you in; they were very smart about this. Since this is a shoujo, they clearly play on the fact that most girls dream about being near idols and going to fancy schools. Once they’ve established the brilliant dreamland, they suck you in further with quirky and fun characters. Typically, in a reverse harem or even a standard harem, the main character has a very typical personality, while in contrast, all of the counterparts she meets are very lively and unique – Uta no Price Sama is no exception. The guys all have dynamic personalities that draw you to them. For example, one of them loves cute things and drinking tea, but when you remove his glasses he turns in to a hardcore rage monster! In addition, side characters, such as the President of the school, also have fun and unique characteristics. The President has a very boisterous and slapstick personality, and they also had a teacher who is a cross-dressing popular idol. All of this made for an entertaining environment.

The show had a light-hearted feel about it that made for easy viewing and a good casual watch. They built bonds with each of the characters well, and I truly did feel like they were all good friends. By the end, you do care about the well-being of the characters, which says good things for the character development. Lastly, the opening and ending themes were well-done and catchy.

CONS

One of the major cons that I have for this show is the music. I know, I just said I liked the opening and ending themes! They were good, but as you would imagine from a show about Idols and composers, there was a lot more to the musical score than that. Sometimes the music was boring or unlikable, which is not good for a show revolving around musical performances. There were times that I felt “wowed” by the animated performances, but more often than not, it was lack luster.

Another con for me kind of starts to spill over to the second season (which I have only seen 3 episodes of) so I can't count it too much towards the total score. However, towards the end of season 1, a magical god of music “Cecil” appears to Haruka in a dream-like state. It was weird, and didn’t fit with the show in my opinion. I could forgive it, except he ends up becoming a main character in season 2… and I really just don't like him. I’ll leave it at that.

Lastly, I was disappointed in the fact that Haruka doesn’t pick a guy. I have no idea if she does in later seasons (I hope so!), but there was this point where you really thought she would have to make a choice (I was rooting for Hayato or the red haired guy whose name I forget) and she just doesn’t. Instead it’s a happy dream-land, I pick all of you, kind of end. What’s worse, this is a game based anime. In the game, you would pick someone, so I feel like she should have to in the anime. This happened in brothers conflict as well, which irritated me so much!

FINAL THOUGHTS

All in all, I did enjoy myself when watching Uta no Prince Sama. Additionally, I have to think about the fact that this may be intended for a younger audience, which explains most of its downfalls. Therefore I have awarded Uta no Prince Sama – Serious Love 1000% a score of 7 out 10! Not bad at all really, but you would get the most enjoyment, I think, if you are a younger girl who fangirls over idols. (:

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions - Heart Throb: Anime Review

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions - Heart Throb Score: 6.8

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

 

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions - Heart Throb, is the second season of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, which I reviewed last week [click to view]. The story follows the same characters as they go into their next year of high school and discover themselves further while forming stronger bonds. By a turn of events, Rikka ends up moving in with Yuta and his sister. Due to this, her upstairs apartment becomes up for sale, and who will move in? None other than the girl (never mentioned in season 1) that got Yuta into Chunibyo a few years ago. She, of course, used to be in love with Yuta, but gave it up so that she could keep her powers as the Magical Devil Girl! Wahahaha. The story line takes the exact path that you would imagine in your mind: love triangle. Honestly, this really disappointed me; however, not enough so that it completely killed the show. I still enjoyed it because I already loved the characters from season one.

PROS

What this season does, is give fans of season one a chance to see the characters they love interact again. The story line may be weak, but the characters are still strong. To go along with this, the character development in this season really shined. I actually, more than seeing Rikka and Yuta interact, enjoyed seeing the side characters develop in a much needed way, since they lacked a little in season one. They got a lot of development and attention in this season, which was super fun to watch! The character development was so strong in fact, that Sofia the Magical Devil Girl was even likable due to her development, even though she was already set up to be disliked due to the role she played.

Additionally, the animation stayed solid again; character designs were enhanced with some new outfits, which I appreciated. The comedy was still there, and at the same level as the first season. I can at least say a lot of the time I was laughing and enjoying myself throughout the season.

CONS

Unfortunately, this season suffered from a lame and basic plot line. If they wanted to add a new character, they should have made her another person who joined the club to add some more comedy and fun. I believe the focus of this season should have been furthering Rikka and Yuta’s relationship. They do try to make this a focal point, but by the end, the relationship is hardly furthered at all, so I don’t think it counts. Instead of this, they made Rikka basically a side character, and Sophia the Magical Devil Girl creates a love triangle that is obviously pointless from the beginning because Yuta only cares about Rikka. The whole thing is a major annoyance that cripples Rikka and Yuta from furthering their relationship in any way. It also creates a plethora of irritating mellow drama.

Lastly, I feel that the extra episode was really stupid. I didn’t like it at all, and it shattered my respect for Yuta. They should have made another Christmas episode that ended with a long awaited kiss. You’ll know what I mean if you see it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions: Heart-Throb is a chance for fans of the first season to enjoy interactions between the characters they love once again; however, I do think that it could have been left at the first season. I wish they would have added some of the character development of the side characters into the first season and made that season a little longer. The poorly done love-triangle and pointless last episode was a grave disappointment. Therefore, I can only award it a 6.8 out of 10. It’s okay, but don’t expect anything ground-shaking or inventive like the first season was.


Watched on: Dubs2go.net

Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie Anime Review

Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie Score: 9.0

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie or Bonjour Koiaji Patisserie, is a 24 episode series with episodes consisting of just 5 minutes in length aired completely online. The webisodes vibrantly animate the story of a girl named Sayuri who gets in to her dream pastry chef school Fleurir on a scholarship. The show follows her adventures with the friends, foes, and teachers she meets at the state-of-the-art school. Sayuri-san is greeted on her first day by a cute and competitive male classmate Ryo, as well as three heart-throb teachers Mitsuki-sama the Chocolate professor, Suzumi-sama the Japanese Pastries professor, and Gilbert the French Exchange professor.

This anime would be classified as a Shoujo with Reverse Harem, Comedy, and Romance qualifications as well. I would recommend this to the female viewer, or anyone who enjoys kawaii anime, of all ages. The show can easily be finished in one day, and is highly enjoyable!

PROS

Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie stands out to me most in animation. The colors are vibrant and sweet, which is perfect for a Shoujo. Since the episodes were short, I figured they must not have had a large production budget, which leads me to be even more impressed at the animation. It was truly stunning. I thought the way they wrote the “Lesson” number on a piece of decorating chocolate for each episode, and the way they crafted the logo with a sugary pastry feel was really well done! I certainly appreciate the details they captured in this anime.

Another pro for Bonjour Koiaji Patisserie are the characters. Not only did they have unique and bright designs, but they also had lively and dynamic personalities that all worked well together. Even with 5 minute episodes (4 minutes if you exclude the short intros and outros), the characters still shined, and I actually felt a connection between the group. Some anime with full length episodes and two seasons can’t get this right, so I give definite props. Speaking of, I would adore a second season of this anime! Seeing Sayuri-san actually working as a patisserie would be a great sequel.

Lastly, I really loved the cute Maros! They kind of reminded me of Dangos from Clannad. I love how they did a whole episode dedicated to them. This show was just all around sweet as can be!

CONS

The only real con I have for this anime is, of course, its short length. Five minutes wasn’t enough! I understand if the budget was low, and to be honest, they made it work really well for the short screen time; however, we bonjour sweet love patisserie fans should at least get a second season since they had to make the first one so short! Any other con I could sort of even come up with for this anime was in relation to this fact, so I will leave it at that.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All in all, Sweet Love Patisserie is an excellent Shoujo/Reverse Harem short-style anime. I highly recommend it, and I really hope a season two comes soon! Additonally, this was made into a visual novel last Christmas, and if anyone knows how I can find it – Please let me know. I have tried searching in Japanese and in English, but to no avail. I have IOS. Anyways, this show rightfully deserves a 9 out of 10 – only lacking in run time.

Watched On: Gogoanime.TV

Brothers Conflict Anime Review

BROTHERS CONFLICT SCORE: 5.5

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

Brothers Conflict is a Reverse Harem Game-Based Series surrounding a girl named Ema (nickname "Chi") with a father who is often away traveling, so she is left alone with no family much of the time. Until.. One day she receives news that her father will be marrying a woman with thirteen sons! To make things even more unrealistic, eleven of them still live at home in a giant modern mansion while their mother and Ema's dad stay somewhere else and travel. So, rather than Ema staying in her dad's apartment, like she would if this was real life, she moves into the mansion with all eleven brothers and of course no parents around. She brings along her pet squirrel Juli, who can talk, and tries to protect her from the advances of her new brothers as Ema unsuspectingly tries to enjoy her new life with siblings. The show follows the brothers getting into conflicts with one another over their love for their new sister.

In order to enjoy the show, I'd say it's mandatory that you are a girl who is in the mood to watch a fluffy and unrealistic type of show. It has many faults, but I can't say that it wasn't okay to watch when your trying to fall asleep before bed or on a lazy Sunday morning with scones and tea. 

PROS

To start with, the animation is really nice. I enjoyed pretty much all of the character designs, backgrounds, house design, ect. Brains Base (the animation studio behind it) is known for this serene style of animating, which is perfect for shoujo anime. My favorite part about this series is, odd enough, the opening theme. The opening song Beloved X Survival was simply the right fit for this type of show and a great song in its own right I think. Another pro for Brothers Conflict were the two OVA episodes. The show consists of 13 episodes and two OVA's for Christmas and Valentine's Day. The Christmas Episode was fun to watch for me because I love themed episodes like that. 

Additionally, all of the brothers had unique and interesting personalities, hobbies, and quirks. They were dynamic characters/ arch types, and none of them were flat. Some of them, such as the one who cross-dresses, made for some really hilarious moments just by being in the scene.

Lastly, this show is just relaxing to watch. The music, animation, and voices all work together to create the perfect show for a lazy morning or late night. I liked watching the show for this reason, and that's where the real positive side of this show is.

CONS

Unfortunately, this show is clamored with flaws. For one, its plot. Wait, there isn't really a plot at all.. No storyline in sight! The episodes are just Chi's new brothers falling in love with her for no reason at all. Which I'm sure this concept would make some people uncomfortable as it is. This didn't really bother me too much because they aren't related in any way only by marriage, but I can see the moral failures clearly nonetheless. Either way, Ema/Chi's character design, personality, and everything is just boring, basic, and flat. There is no way that every single one of these guys who all have successful careers, dynamic personalities, and good looks would fall for her. It'd be believable if it was one of them, but all 13? 

In addition to Chi having no special talents or personality, she is a complete baka (idiot). She just allows all of the guys to flirt with her even though she doesn't like it, and she insists that after all of their declarations of love - they are all just family. She is always saying things like "It's so nice to have great brothers, we are a family." It's like she is completely blind to their advances. Which is so agitating. 

What's worse than all of that though, is the fact that she doesn't even pick one at the end. She doesn't develop a relationship with any one of the potentials. So therefore, the show ends up being a big waste of time. There is this one episode, where things start coming to a head and *SPOILER* her pet squirrel turns into a human in a dream-like reality, and they just brush it all under the rug. It goes nowhere. In the beginning of the show Chi is happy to have new siblings and insists there is nothing more, and it is the very same throughout and at the end of the show. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Brothers Conflict isn't a masterpiece or really worth the watch at all, but if you are a girl looking for a fluffy and relaxing reverse harem type of show - give it a go. Other than that, you probably won't like it. I did enjoy watching it while bored, but I realize the small audience it has, so I have graded it as such: 5.5 out of 10. I think the show's lack of direction and flat ending caused it to suffer.

watched on: gogoanime.tv