The interactive International Phonetic Alphabet chart and online resource. Listen to each of the sounds from the International Phonetic Alphabet. IPA chart sounds and symbols.

It's that time again—the one where I go, “What the hell, there’s a new anime season out?!” But Fall 2026 feels extra special in the sense that it is chock full of giant robots. Not only is there a new Magic Rayearth, but also Good Smile’s new project Dandivine, Dark Machine, and whatever Vertex Force is. I’m not going to say any of them will necessarily be good (aside from…

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Spotted Flower is back, baby! That and more in this month’s tweets. Kio finds that with age, the habits he’s developed when drawing can cause issues with balance and proportion, like the position of eyes and the size of the head. Since he does digital art now, he goes back and fixes stuff. A poster from attending the…

In February of this year, the manga magazine Rakuen: Le Paradis ended its run after seventeen years. With its seasonal schedule and experimental titles by an eclectic collection of authors, Rakuen stood out as a very unusual publication. Among these titles was Kio Shimoku’s Spotted Flower. However, it was revealed this month that Rakuen is getting a successor! The new magazine, titled…

In Japan, a double cheeseburger (especially from McDonald’s) is sometimes referred to as a dabuchi—short for daburu chiizubaagaa. This abbreviation got me thinking recently: Doesn’t dabuchi sound a lot like duì bùqĭ—Mandarin Chinese for “sorry”? I feel like someone could make a good pun out of this, like “duì bùqĭ, I only have dabuchi.” Yes, I bothered dedicating a post to trying to form a multi-language pun.

Anime NYC weekend for me was filled with music events big and small. Club Ironmouse I admire Ironmouse and the community she’s managed to foster, but I had yet to ever see one of her concerts in person. When tickets for her Anime NYC edition of Club Ironmouse went up for order, I decided to buy some tickets without any additional info available.

makes a run for it

When Dolly Parton died, I thought, "She was among the greatest musicians and most wonderful people to ever live, but my emotional connection to her doesn't go very deep. I'm not exactly fit to write about her." When Tim Curry died, I thought, "I'll always remember him as Kilokahn in Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, but his career goes so much deeper.

The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...

When Calliope Mori debuted as the first member of hololive English, she helped transform people’s perceptions of VTubing by showing that the music and personalities didn’t have to be limited to assumptions about idol culture and kawaii aesthetic. Over time, however, she has changed her approach to music, going from primarily rap to rock with occasional rap elements, and she even does some of the idol stuff.

Skyline Serenade was an independent VTuber concert held on August 21, 2026 at the Beacon Theater during Anime NYC weekend but independent of the big convention. With its fairly even mix of both VTuber and IRL performers, it was emphatically a 2.5D (or perhaps 3.5D) show. On the virtual side was the tapir nurse Nimi Nightmare, as well as the ghost maid Mint Fantôme of Densetsu.exe.

This is the special countdown website for hololive’s 10th anniversary.Leading up to the 10th anniversary on September 7, 2027, we’ll be sharing the latest information on new projects, events, content,...

Last year was the first time in about two decades that I did not attend Otakon. While I don’t regret my decision, I still missed being there, so I was extra stoked to return to DC for 2026. While I’m not from the area, I considered this convention to be an annual homecoming of sorts. There’s still nothing like Otakon, even (or perhaps especially) in an age where anime cons keep popping up and attendance is exploding.

August was very busy! I attended Otakon at the start of the month, then had a whirlwind of an Anime NYC a few weekends later, where I probably attended more music events than I probably should have. I'm still trying to play catch-up on all my posts, while also trying to make any timely posts (especially those with limited time frames for watching, like VTuber concerts.

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