This is an item for all those parents out there who hear their kids talking about stuff like Naruto and have no idea what language is being used. It certainly isn't English at times, and some Japanese would make the argument that it's not their language either. The Japan Foundation is out to bridge the generation and culture gap with a new website dedicated to the language, jargon, and expressions specific to manga and anime.

The site's just gone up this past Monday, so it's still a work in progress. Among the upcoming features there are genre-specific games and quizzes pertaining to useful words and kanji. So if you find yourself wondering what the heck kids these days are talking about, here's some help.

In about a month Sgt. Frog - The Knight, the Warrior, and the Legendary Pirate hits the shelves, and today we get a better idea of why it got its secondary title. The three major realms of the game apparently exist semi-separately in their own realities, with some overlap. To match the title, they are the Japanese-themed Warrior realm, the European-themed Knight realm, and the scurvy Pirate realm. Sgt. Keroro's band of misfits tend to stand out wherever they go, but they still do their best to match the scenery.

It's not just the froggy fivesome getting a makeover, as all the major human characters of the series get their own doppelgangers in the fantasy world. Some of them even get multiples, as one character seems to sport a different name and persona for each of the three realms.

I really am going to have to pick this one up sometime...

When we covered the port/remake of Atelier Judie last week, we neglected to mention one important bit -- the swag. Loyal Gust fans who place their order in advance will receive a limited edition microfiber cleaning cloth featuring the game's mysterious new addition, as well as a case to keep it in.

Puni!

It's never news when a gamemaker announces a soundtrack. This sort of thing is rather routine. Special editions or interesting remixes are more worthy of note, but even they are more of a "ho-hum, let's use it if we have the space" item of interest. And then there's the occasional item that's just so outrageous and surprising, it deserves its own space.

Now, normally those are not words that would be used to describe the soundtrack of Final Fantasy XIII. It's not a bad soundtrack, but it's not groundbreaking. The news is not about the music, but about the medium. In this case, vinyl.

And here I thought there would never be a market for record players in Japan anymore. Starting February 26th, S-E will be selling W/F : Music from FINAL FANTASY XIII on the Square e-Store. The 12" vinyl record has eight songs from the game in full orchestral mode, including a special version of the track "Ragnarok - sans pipe organ" which cannot be found anywhere else.

Square is now taking pre-orders at the S-E store's site, so sign up if you're interested!

Nippon Ichi's upcoming Classic Dungeon knows how to make the best of its self-imposed pixelated goodness. What's the point of having such a gratuitous sprite-based look if the players can't play around with it, after all? This week we get a look at some of the possibilities given by the game's sprite editor.

Nippon Ichi just keeps putting these characters in everywhere, no?

We're going into full gear for the big Family Show at my school, and things are looking cute. I might even be able to pull off my end of things without any major disasters this year. Here's to hoping...

And that's the news from Hi-no-Kuni,

Your man in Japan,

Gaijin Monogatari