Calendars – Zoopraxiscope

Calendar girls

It’s the time of year to look for new calendars. I found a bunch at YesAsia, such as the Girls und Panzer one above. Other shows represented that might be of interest to certain visitors here include Vividred Operation, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet and Hatsune Miku. There’s a Gatchaman calendar, but it’s the old-style Gatchaman, not Gatchaman Crowds — a pity; Utsutsu deserves at least one month of her own. ((Better yet, a calendar of her own.))

For those with different tastes, there are two Edward Gorey calendars, this one, and The Evil Garden.

Annual task

What anime calendars are available for 2013? I did a little searching at YesAsia and found a few:

Mouretsu Pirates
Natsume Yujincho (times three)
Inu x Boku SS
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
Moyashimon
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (times two)
Sword Art Online
Accel World
Idolm@ster
Osamu Tezuka
TV Anime

… plus the usual Naruto, Gintama, Bleach and One Piece products, and of course multiple Totoro calendars. There are also Hatsune Miku and Mount Fuji. I didn’t see any Strike Witches or Dog Days calendars; maybe next year.

And then there’s Karel Capek. In the western world, Capek is known for such works as R.U.R., War with the Newts, The Absolute at Large and The Insect Play, but in Japan, “Karel Capek” means tea.

That time of year

The Japanese calendars I ordered last month finally arrived. The “Yotsuba&!” calendar was a major disappointment. Instead of Azuma’s drawings, what I got was a collection of uninteresting snapshots with a small sketch of Yotsuba drawn on each. On several of them she’s barely noticeable at all.

The “fortune cat” calendar, though, I am quite pleased with. I had intended to give it as a gift, but I may hang on to it.

Continue reading “That time of year”

Month by month

I did searches at amazon.com and calendars.com for “anime calendar.” The results were pathetic. Between the two sites, 2009 calendars included only Naruto, Inuyasha, Bleach and Pokemon, and something called “Domo.” Bleah. Therefore, I paid a visit to YesAsia.com, where I did a little better: Soul Eater, Wagaya no Oinari-sama, Shakugan no Shana, Blue Dragon, Wolf and Spice, Ponyo on the Cliff, Chii’s Sweet Home, Clannad and Clannad After Story, Gintama, Evangelion and Petit Eva, One Piece, Gegege no Kitaro, Nodame Cantabile and Code Geass R2. And Gundam00, Tales of the Abyss, Keroro Gunsou, Shugo Chara, Studio Ghibli, Osamu Tezuka, Rumiko Takahashi and many others. And Dragonball Z.

I also found a couple of Yotsub&! daily calendars. The 2009 edition will be available March 31, 2009, suggesting that these run from July 1 to June 30, which means that the 2008 edition has eight months’ use left.

By the way, this year’s Edward Gorey calendar features “Neglected Murderesses.” I didn’t spot a Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei calendar, but Gorey operates in a similar pleasantly macabre vein.