What On Earth Is This Witchcraft From Yuzu. What On Earth.

Skating at the Iizuka Ice Palace: Living My Yuri on Ice Dreams

There I was, standing at the entrance of Iizuka Ice Palace, feeling like I had just stepped into an episode of Yuri on Ice. If you’re not familiar, this rink was actually featured in the anime, which made my inner fangirl do a triple axel (in spirit, not in reality—because let’s be honest, I’d probably break something).

It’s about an hour and fifteen minutes from Hakata Station, which, in Japan-time, feels like a minor detour rather than a full-on journey. When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find the rink almost empty. No dodging wobbly beginners, no speed skaters zooming past me—just wide, open ice, ready for me to (attempt to) glide gracefully across it.

I laced up my skates, took a deep breath, and channelled my inner ice dancer. Somewhere deep in my brain, buried under years of London life, were the patterns my coach had drilled into me. (MORE KNEE BEND) And let me tell you—I almost remembered them! Well… sort of. My feet knew what they were supposed to do, even if my timing was an absolute disaster. But honestly, that’s half the fun, right? The struggle, the small victories, the moments when you finally nail that step sequence—only to immediately forget everything and having to start over.

To my delight, my forward scratch spin is still there—a minor miracle! But my jumps? Oh dear. Rusty doesn’t even begin to cover it. I gave one an attempt, wobbled mid-air, and decided that maybe today wasn’t the day for heroic comebacks. Let’s just say, I don’t think Viktor Nikiforov would be particularly impressed.

But something about being in that rink, in that moment, rekindled a fire in me. I need to skate more. Not just as a fun hobby, but because nothing quite compares to the feeling of moving on ice, chasing that perfect edge, and laughing at yourself when it inevitably goes wrong.

So, to anyone considering a visit—do it. Even if you’re not a Yuri on Ice fan, even if your skating skills are questionable at best. Because there’s just something magical about having almost all the ice to yourself and remembering why you fell in love with skating in the first place.

They also had a comic area near the lockers...

Titles like One Piece, Naruto and Go Ahead.

They also had a Yuri on Ice FRAMED POSTER at the front!!!

—Emmy

Kind of hilarious to me how poorly the title "Mob Psycho 100" localized to English-speaking areas. To someone whose first language is English, it scans as:

Mob (Yakuza, Mafia)

Psycho (violent person with "crazy" behaviors)

Thus: a particularly violent member of organized crime.

But in Japanese it scans as:

Mob (background characters in crowd scenes in manga or anime)

Psycho (short for psychic)

Thus: a psychic who looks/acts like someone you'd never pick out of a crowd scene in a comic.

Art inspired by this post

when things go south

Happy May! Koi lanterns are 20% OFF on my Etsy right now :D Bring home your koi today!

Skating in Iizuka—A Yuri on Ice Pilgrimage

Over the weekend, I took a trip to Iizuka—not just for a bit of sightseeing, but for something much more exciting. As a huge fan of Yuri on Ice, I couldn’t pass up the chance to skate at the very rink featured in the anime! It was surreal stepping onto the ice, knowing this was the real-world inspiration for one of my favourite series. Naturally, I had to do a side-by-side comparison.

I took a screenshot from the anime and matched it with a photo I took myself—and the resemblance is uncanny! Seeing the similarities between the animated version and the real thing was amazing. It’s one thing to watch a show and appreciate the settings, but actually standing in the same spot where those scenes were based? It made me feel like I was stepping into the anime itself.

Interestingly, while the rink is in Iizuka, the castle shown in Yuri on Ice is actually Karatsu Castle in Saga. I visited Karatsu previously, so it was fascinating to realise that the anime had merged these two locations into one. It’s a reminder of how creatively anime blends reality with fiction, crafting a world that feels real while still taking artistic liberties.

Overall, it was such a fun experience—skating in a place with so much meaning to me, uncovering the real-world inspirations behind the anime, and geeking out over every little detail.

—Emmy

Today’s translation #914

Otomedia 2017/02, Otsuka Manabu's interview

Part 6.

-- Every episode earned a huge response from the fans, but still, it seemed that episode 10. was especially popular.

Otsuka: I think that Kubo-san and Director Yamamoto, just like Victor, always want to surprise their viewers. And they prepare those surprises one after another. If you show something too clearly, there most likely will be people, who won't really like it, so it's also a bit scary in a way, but I did think that it was so amazing, how they are able to just push on, without hesitation (laugh). I also think that it's precisely because of their bold approach, that this show reached to so many people. My impression was that episode 10. was really a culmination point of that. In any case, it was an episode that brought us a lot of reasons to get excited.

-- Very quickly, the fans are hoping to see a continuation - what are we going to see next?

Otsuka: I think that Kubo-san and Director Yamamoto want to continue this show, as long as they are able to, and there is a lot of things that they want to show much, much more of. If that's what they want, MAPPA and I plan to obediently follow them, as we have been doing so far (laugh).

They Say Never Meet Your Heroes

They say never meet your heroes—because they might ruin the carefully curated pedestal you’ve put them on. Maybe they’ll shatter your illusions with a single offhand comment. Or, maybe—just maybe—they’ll offer you something so bafflingly tone-deaf that you’ll find yourself questioning every life choice that brought you to this moment. And maybe they’ll turn out to be alarmingly human, with quirks and flaws that make them real in ways you weren’t ready for. But then again, heroes have a funny way of surprising you, even when you think you’ve got them figured out. Whether that’s a good thing… well, that’s another story entirely.

This is crazy work

I saw sk8 ova the other day and no joke this is what happens

I'M GONNA BITE SOMEONE

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