HESO is a free bilingual culture magazine that you can pick up around town (at these places). The current issue is #11, but this is the first I hear of it. I’ll try finding an issue soon. Yuki has an illustration in the current issue.

Looks like it’s suddenly going to be that much easier to follow new anime series that air here in Japan. GDH, parent company of Gonzo, are going to start releasing new series online (hosted on YouTube, Crunchyroll, and BOST) simultaneously with their Japanese TV air date, and including English subtitles. The first two series to be released this way are THE TOWER OF DRUAGA: THE AEGIS OF URUK (April 4) and BLASSREITER (April 5). Via Warren Ellis.

There’s a trailer out for the film KITE LIBERATOR, a sequel to Yasuomi Umetsu’s KITE. I’ve never seen the original film, but according to Imprint Talk, it caused a bit of a stir when it was originally released, back in 1998, getting censored or banned in a few countries. Umetsu was responsible for the visual effects of the AKIRA film.

I know a lot of YMCK fans read this site, so this should make them happy: PingMag interviews the band’s Takeshi Yokemura.

I already posted about Ian Lynam‘s book on type/graffiti creators, PARALLEL STROKES, but I really wanted to mention it again since I got my copy today (which I ordered from the site), and it really is a great little book that I think a lot of readers of this site would enjoy.

Support small publishers and order a copy now!

• Tonight you can catch “TAB Talks #3,” featuring a group of Tokyo-based French creators talking about living and working in the city. Start time is 21:00, at the Gotanda Sonic event space.
• Pecha Kucha Night celebrates an amazing 50th edition! It happens tomorrow (March 26) at SuperDeluxe, from 20:20 (of course).
• PSFK‘s global meetup, (likemind) finally arrives to Tokyo, happening this Friday (March 28) at Respekt Cafe in Shibuya at 11:30. It’s organized by Eri Kato and Kristina Dryza of CIA, who both attended this month’s PauseTalk.

The next big thing in guerilla retailing? One day a week restaurants, like Vegie Shokudou. As Ian Lynam reports on META no TAME:

Directions can be found here.

What is TB.Pensar? Find out here.

How fitting that this is the lucky number 13 edition of this series of posts. Damn my stupid pollen allergies!!! Aarggghhhhh… Sorry for the loss of control, but it’s really been a rough week, with no end in sight. It’s sad, really, because this time of the year used to be my absolute favorite time to be in Japan. But a few years ago I finally started getting hit by allergy attacks — it started the year they said the pollen count was ridiculously high — and since then I haven’t been able to escape it. I seem to recall that last year wasn’t so bad, but this year has been awful. I’m writing this with itchy eyes that I’d just like to rip out of my head! And this is despite taking pills, as well as eye drops and spray for the nose. If I’ve had to miss out on various events, now you know why, and it’s taking everything just keep up with work.

One thing that I have been able to enjoy through all of this is the anime series BOKURANO. It originally aired last year, and for some reason that I can’t remember I passed on it (even though it was on my list of series to check out at the time), but Paul’s recent rave (well, he’s been raving about it to me for a while now) got me to finally give it a try. I’ve watched the first seven episodes now, and I can honestly say that this is one of the best series I’ve seen in a while, maybe since the end of MONSTER. At first it comes off as a riff off of Orson Scott Card’s ENDER’S GAME, but then it quickly becomes so much more. I don’t want to go too much into details of where it goes, since discovering the various twists is part of the fun of each episode, but it’s definitely not a giant robot series — the sequences with the giant robot are few, and but a punctuation to the rest of the story. I’ll probably end up watching all 24 episodes quicker than I imagined I would, which is good, since I need to finish before the new spring season starts with all of its promising new shows.

Work on the book for Kodansha International is proceeding at a good pace. I don’t think I ever mentioned it here, but since he announced it a while back, I can now say that my co-writer is Brian Ashcraft, editor at Kotaku, and regular contributor to tons of magazines (WIRED, POPULAR SCIENCE, METROPOLIS). It’s been a joy to work on the project with him, and I don’t think I could have found a better partner in this endeavor!

Speaking of games, another form of relief for the allergies — since I’m not going out much or even cycling — as been gaming. About a week ago I got some games for my PSP, which I had to dig out (probably hadn’t played it in close to two years) to find that the cover on the analog stick was missing! I’ve ordered a replacement, but despite this, I’ve already played through GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS, which I think is the best game I’ve ever played on the PSP. I enjoyed it so much that it even made my take out my PS2 to play the original game again. The other game I got was PATAPON, a quirky rhythm game that I’m having lots of fun playing. It starts off easy, but later becomes surprisingly — but not ridiculously — challenging. The week before, I played through PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE on the DS (which I also had to dig out, not having used it since the release of Zelda last year), which was extremely satisfying. I usually don’t really like puzzle or riddle games, but the setting and storyline turns into something so much more, and I’m already looking forward to playing the sequel. On the 360, I’m blasting through BIOSHOCK, which I’d say is the second best first-person shooter I’ve played (following HALF-LIFE 2). The sound design is outstanding, as is the setting, made deliciously creepy by using field recordings to tell the story as you explore the sunken world the game is set in. Lastly, also enjoying NO MORE HEROES on the Wii, and excited to no end that some of designer Suda 51‘s older games, FLOWER, SUN AND RAIN and THE SILVER CASE, are going to be ported to the DS this year. We’re only 3 months into 2008 and it’s already turning into a stellar year for gaming!

OK, time to spray the nose and drop some liquid in my eyes — death to pollen!

While on the topic of White Rabbit Press, let me also mention that the third and final volume of their kanji flashcards sets is now available for pre-order. The set includes 903 cards, covering what you need for level 1 of the Japanese proficiency set. Some of you may recall that I posted about the volume 1 set a while back, even before I started working with Max on the Realtime project, and I’m certainly a fan.

Yuki‘s quite busy these days! Fresh off her illustration exhibition at Nalu Cafe, and with her photo exhibition at Cafe Pause just around the corner (starts tomorrow), here’s a beautiful image she created for a new series of bookmarks that Max at White Rabbit Press has commissioned (they will be included with products that are ordered from his company). I know some other PauseTalkers are contributing to the series, including Josh Mckible and Jose Luis Olivares.

Music video for the track “I Like You” by DJ Codomo, from his album TODAY. Via META no TAME.

Designboom covers a few projects from Kiyonobu Nakagame Architects.

Last time Mike McWhertor was in town, as we were covering the Tokyo Game Show last year (Mike is one of Kotaku‘s editors), he mentioned that he was prepping a t-shirt project, and here it is, Meat Bun, mixing gaming and design. They have an online shop, so get buying!

PingMag continues its series on Omotesando architecture.

My weekly Tokyo post for MoCo Loco is up, this time covering Kokuyo’s Tepita scissors, and a few more Milan Design Week related news items.