SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 Japanese boxart. This packaging looks much more exciting than the U.S. cover! This collection, however, released stateside last April, while Japan isn’t getting it until May 2009. By the way, the game is on sale at Walmart for $12.82!
It seems companies and educational institutes are trying their best to use the Moe power so students can focus on learning. It is not the first time a company use Moe on textbooks but it seems every day, the trend is increasing.
Study guides illustrated with cute, manga-esque female characters who explain the basics of subjects such as physics, chemistry and mathematics are selling well, giving rise to hopes among educators they will help stem the trend of young people turning away from the sciences.
Some doubt, however, whether such books will really help youngsters become more interested in the subjects.
Study guides illustrated with cute manga-style girls are displayed on the shelves of the main store of the Maruzen bookshop chain in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo The main store of the Maruzen bookshop chain in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district has on its third-floor shelves a selection of books introducing difficult physics subjects such as the properties of neutrinos and the principles of quantum mechanics. Visitors are lured to the section by a selection of books with large, colorful illustrations of attractive young girls on their covers.
PHP Interface, a publisher known for its business books, published a study aid in October titled “Genso-shuki–Moete Oboeru Kagaku no Kiso” (The Periodic Table–The Basics of Chemistry Learned through Infatuation). In the book, attractive manga girls teach the periodic table by personifying the 118 chemical elements. The company already has published 11 printings of the science crammer, selling a total of 35,000 copies to date.
Fluorine compounds are used for coating frying pans, and in the books the apron-wearing character embodying the element tells readers, “The fluorine coating repels water!”
A 16-year-old high school student from Chiba Prefecture said of the language used in the books, “As well as the drawings, the [characters'] lines also convey the properties of the elements.”
Miyuki Mitsuda, a part-time instructor at Musashi Institute of Technology, was the chief editor of the books. He said he asked the illustrators to try to help readers comprehend the properties of the elements by simply glancing at the drawings of the books.
Kochi cram school operator, Akihito Hamada, 47, said he always has copies at hand in class.
Manga drawings have been used in study books for many years. Hamada said, “The cute illustrations of girls go down particularly well among female middle school students.”
A manga book explaining quantum mechanics published by PHP Interface last month has already sold 45,000 copies.
Hiroshi Matsui, a 74-year-old chemistry teacher at a vocational school in Hiroshima Prefecture, said he felt the book “is drawing in children who didn’t get a feel for science from textbooks that focus on entrance examinations.”
Ohmsha Ltd., a long-standing publisher of science and engineering books, has published about 20 books covering subjects such as calculus and Fourier analysis in its “Manga de Wakaru Shirizu” (Understanding through Manga Series). The series also features large front-cover illustrations of girls in maid costumes and other images typical of manga.
The most popular book in the series covers statistics. Maruzen reportedly sells twice as many copies of this book than any other title on the subject.
As Mio Murayama, a 32-year-old sales clerk at Maruzen’s Marunouchi store, explained, it is not only the drawings of pretty girls that are helping the books sell.
“Some books barely sell at all,” Murayama says. That’s because they don’t have the content to go with the pictures.”
However, Akito Arima, a former education minister and chairman of the Japan Science Foundation, is not wholly convinced of the books’ utility.
Arima said, “If [the books] are used by people unfamiliar with science to introduce them to scientific concepts, then I’m in favor of them using this kind of book.”
“People who really want to learn, though, should then study from try specialist books,” Arima, 78, added.
I really wonder what could happen if this continues…Youngsters will really focus and learn science…or they will become Otakus! People interested in Moe Chemistry can still get the book.
The MOE Quantum Mechanics Book is also available here!
Not long ago, I gave my wife School Days because there was no soap operas to watch. Every day for the four days that she watched, I wanted to see her face in that fatal scene but I must tell you, She was not impress and at the end, She only said…”Everything is fine but the end was weird” and “Makoto is such a jerk”
It was my fault. I gave her the censored “black blood” episode instead of the one uncensored with the ketchup. It could have diminish the impact of the scene.
Another reason why she was not impressed is because she loves horror and gore movies. Last week I took her to the movies to see “Friday the 13th” and she loves it but probably because School Days is just a “cartoon”, the nice boat effect was minimal. By the way, I loved Friday the 13th because of the hot babes in the movie. Glad my wife didnt noticed it.
One curious thing is the fact that Makoto managed to get almost all the girls before the tragic end. “How that happened? Makoto is not THAT good looking!” She said!
At the end, School Days was just a ride in the park and nothing more so probably She will just forget it, while the rest of us, the anime fans, will have a hard time to forget it.
On a brighter side, She wants to watch other anime, so my next choice will be “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi”…I just hope she likes it.
This story is not fiction. It happened to a “friend of a friend!”
Kadokawa Channel on Youtube released Haruhi chan episode 9 & episode 10 and Nyoron Churuya san episode 5! Somehow, Haruhi-chan got to the peak and now it is rolling down with its plot and made me yawn. Without spoiling too much with a plot summary, I could say this episodes should be rated “R” for the following reasons:
Too much Blood!
Too much violence!
More ridiculous violence!
Physical Aggression!
and finally Torture Scenes! (and watching this episodes were a torture indeed)
I must admit, I was not laughing too much with this episodes. Probably because the humor was a little bit overused or there was not any punchline around. I just can´t explain what happened. If you agree with me or not, please comment to see if I am the only one with this opinion. The only thing that saved the Haruhi chan episodes this week was Asakura chibi san and Haruhi´s “bloody” mood! On the other hand, Churuya san 5 was better and unfortunately, shorter!
Look! a Churuya life size figure!
Kyon, you pervert!
After all the abuse…
Churuya san saw the rainbow!
I think Haruhi-chan creators are running out of ideas in the humor department. However, I dont want to lose hope because there are always hit and miss on any project and this was for now a miss!…Nyoron!
Sony and Nintendo are ringing spring in with pastel portables. Spirited Green PSPs and pink Nintendo DSis come out this week. Super Robot Taisen K and its Gundam Seed goodness launches with the three new DSi colors. Most of this week’s new releases are on portables. ASCII Media Works unites characters from Dengeki Bunko light novels like Kino’s Journey to make Dengeki Gakuen RPG: Cross of Venus. Kuroshitsuji: Phantom & Ghost expands the series with new story. And Brandish: Dark Revenant gives a new generation of gamers upward facing dungeon crawling.
What’s out on consoles in Japan? Baseball games and Darts Wii. Anything worth importing this week or are domestic releases like Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, Suikoden Tierkreis, and Rune Factory Frontier enough to keep you busy?
Nintendo DS
Dengeki Gakuen RPG: Cross of Venus
Gakken Hangul Sanmai DS
Gardening Mama
Kuroshitsuji: Phantom & Ghost
Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Fuserareta Shinjitsu
Super Robot Taisen K
Lime Green DSi
Metallic Blue DSi
Pink DSi
PSP
Harvest Moon: Sugar Village and Everyone’s Wish
Brandish: Dark Revenant
Dragon Ball Evolution
Musou Tourou
Ape Quest (Retail)
Bright Yellow PSP-3000
Spirited Green PSP-3000
Wii
Darts Wii Deluxe
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Next
PlayStation 2
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009
Amagami
Key Domestic Releases
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (DS)
Suikoden Tierkreis (DS)
TrackMania DS (DS)
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS)
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (DS)
Rune Factory Frontier (Wii)
Resistance: Retribution (PSP)
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