THE LIBRARY
Collector guides, cover censuses, and edition answers, documented issue by issue. Every page answers one specific question, completely.
CASTLEVANIA
22 shelfs
The Castlevania Gallery
The Japanese and American boxes side by side for five games: shared paintings, split paintings, and the histories and questions behind them.
Who composed Castlevania's music?
No single composer: a relay from the Kukeiha Club standards Vampire Killer and Bloody Tears to Michiru Yamane, who studied those themes and scored ten Castlevania games.
The History of Castlevania
Simon Belmont's 1986 debut as Akumajo Dracula: Akamatsu's horror film in game form, the Disk System original, the editions, and the scores.
The History of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Simon Belmont, cursed: the open world experiment, day and night, the lying villagers, Bloody Tears, and the road to Symphony.
The History of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Trevor Belmont's 1476 prequel: branching paths, Alucard's debut, and the VRC6 sound chip Japan kept.
The History of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Alucard's return: the bargain bin insight, Kojima's debut, the Saturn version Japan kept, and the genre it named.
The History of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Soma Cruz in 2035: the Tactical Soul system, Famitsu's highest score for the series, and the Japan and America sales split.
How do the Japanese and American Castlevania covers compare?
Same painting, different painting, no painting at all: eight pairs, checked.
How do the Japanese Castlevania guides differ from the American ones?
Three official guides for one game in Japan. One, plus an unauthorized rival, in America.
What inspired Castlevania?
A director who wanted you inside a classic horror film, and a whip from Raiders.
Where does Castlevania's art style come from?
Famicom paintings, Ayami Kojima's baroque era, and the departures after.
Why is Castlevania called Akumajo Dracula in Japan?
The original title, and the American executive who could not ship it.
How is the Japanese Symphony of the Night different?
Two familiars, a rewritten script, and the Maria myth, corrected.
Why are Castlevania's credits full of fake names?
Christopher Bee, Belo Lugosi, Boris Karloffice: the game billed as a horror film.
The History of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Richter Belmont in 1792: the PC Engine CD game Japan kept for fourteen years, the Dracula X the West got instead, and the road home through Chronicles and Requiem.
CHAINSAW MAN
4 shelves
Why did Chainsaw Man move to Jump+ for Part 2?
Fujimoto chose the move for a completely different direction, and he has called the weekly schedule behind Part 1 brutal.
Why did the Reze Arc become a movie instead of a second season?
MAPPA's president, on the record: theatrical to reach a broader audience than streaming, and the cinema was the best way to deliver the arc.
What inspired Chainsaw Man?
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Korean films, and his own labels for the series: copycat, wicked, pop.
Who were Tatsuki Fujimoto's assistants?
Endo of Spy x Family, Kaku of Hell's Paradise, and Tatsu of Dandadan, and his editor says the senior bench taught him too.
CHRONO TRIGGER
6 shelves
Who made Chrono Trigger?
Sakaguchi, Horii, and Toriyama, assembled on purpose: how the Dream Team actually came together.
Why did Chrono Trigger's composer work himself sick?
The ultimatum, the lost forty tracks, the ulcers, and the ten pieces Uematsu wrote to finish the score.
Why does Chrono Trigger have so many endings?
Twelve endings, thirteen on DS, and a New Game Plus built to hunt them all.
Why is the American Chrono Trigger box art wrong?
Marle has no fire spell and Heckran never sees snow. Toriyama's beautiful, impossible cover, explained.
What inspired Chrono Trigger?
The Time Tunnel, a grandfather paradox, and a game designed for a console add-on that never shipped.
What is Chrono Trigger: The Brink of Time?
The 1995 acid jazz arrangement album Mitsuda produced with the band Guido, because acid jazz was the one thing the Japanese market was not doing.
CITY HUNTER
16 shelves
The City Hunter Manga Gallery
All 35 Jump Comics volumes of Tsukasa Hojo’s City Hunter documented: every volume title, release month and ISBN from 1986 to 1992, with volume 1’s cover pictured…
The History of City Hunter
City Hunter’s history: the 1983 tryout stories, the February 1985 Weekly Shonen Jump debut, the hardboiled-to-comedy pivot Shueisha itself describes, the 1991…
What is Angel Heart?
Angel Heart explained: Hojo’s parallel-universe continuation of City Hunter, launched in Weekly Comic Bunch in 2001, the Glass Heart premise, its two seasons,…
What is the City Hunter XYZ edition?
City Hunter’s editions explained: the 35 Jump Comics volumes, the 18-volume bunkoban, Tokuma’s 32-plus-XYZ Complete Edition, the 12-volume XYZ edition of 2015,…
How was the City Hunter anime made?
The City Hunter anime: Sunrise’s four series and 140 episodes, director Kanetsugu Kodama, Akira Kamiya’s defining Ryo, the 30,000-set Complete DVD box, and the…
What are the City Hunter anime movies?
The City Hunter anime films: .357 Magnum, Bay City Wars, Million Dollar Conspiracy, the three TV specials, Shinjuku Private Eyes (2019) and Angel Dust (2023).
Why is “Get Wild” so famous?
TM Network’s Get Wild: the April 8, 1987 single, the intro that starts under the episode’s final scene, Oricon No. 9, Get Wild Day, 100 million streams, and Get…
What are the City Hunter live-action movies?
City Hunter in live action: Jackie Chan’s 1993 Hong Kong film, the unofficial Saviour of the Soul and Mr. Mumble, the 2011 Korean drama, Philippe Lacheau’s…
What City Hunter video games are there?
City Hunter’s games: Sunsoft’s 1990 PC Engine title, the sole console adaptation for 36 years, Ryo’s guest turn in Jump Force, and the 2026 Clouded Leopard / Red…
How does Tsukasa Hojo draw?
Tsukasa Hojo’s method: technical-design training, the 1979 Space Angel Tezuka Award story he tells on himself, editor Nobuhiko Horie, the Cat’s Eye page-a-day…
Is City Hunter’s Shinjuku the real Shinjuku?
City Hunter’s Shinjuku: the real Kabukicho and station east exit, the message board where clients wrote XYZ, the Cat’s Eye café, and how the 2019 and 2024 films…
Why is City Hunter called Nicky Larson in France?
Nicky Larson explained: the anime’s October 1990 Club Dorothée premiere, the renamed and rewritten French dub, Césari’s theme, the faithful French manga, and…
How can you tell a first printing of City Hunter?
Identifying first printings of City Hunter’s Jump Comics volumes: the colophon test, the three ISBN blocks that date the run, the obi, and Japan’s…
What did Tsukasa Hojo draw before City Hunter?
Before City Hunter: Cat’s Eye (1981 to 1985), Hojo’s first hit, the Kisugi sisters, the TMS anime, and the stitches between the two series, from the café name to…
What does XYZ mean in City Hunter?
XYZ in City Hunter explained: the chalk code on the Shinjuku Station message board meaning “no way back”, Ryo’s filter for taking a case, and how the letters…
CLAYMORE
13 shelves
The Claymore Manga Gallery
Every Japanese tankobon cover of Norihiro Yagi's Claymore, volumes 1 to 27, Shueisha Jump Comics, 2002 to 2014, with the Viz English volume 1 beside the original.
The history of Claymore
From a 1990 prize-winning debut and a decade of comedy to the thirteen-year dark fantasy run of Claymore, 2001 to 2014, its anime, its one game, and its…
How did Claymore survive the death of Monthly Shonen Jump?
Monthly Shonen Jump folded on 6 June 2007, six years to the day after Claymore debuted in it. Four Weekly Shonen Jump special chapters and the launch of Jump…
Why does the Claymore anime end differently?
Madhouse's 2007 Claymore anime follows the manga for twenty episodes, then invents an ending: the manga was eleven volumes into a twenty-seven-volume story, and…
What Claymore video games are there?
Exactly one: Claymore: Gingan no Majo for Nintendo DS, released in Japan by Digital Works Entertainment on 28 May 2009. A side-scrolling action game with a…
How does Norihiro Yagi draw Claymore?
Yagi's Claymore art: fine pale line work, hand-painted covers, near-identical warrior uniforms distinguished by hair and personal symbols, and sculptural…
Was Claymore inspired by Berserk?
No statement by Norihiro Yagi names Berserk as Claymore's inspiration. The kinship is documented in reception and marketing rather than confession: shared…
How does the Claymore ranking system work?
The Organization ranks its 47 warriors from No. 1 to No. 47 by yoki potential, strength, agility, intelligence, sensing and leadership. Single digits are a class…
How can you tell a first printing of Claymore?
Japanese Claymore first printings are proven at the back of the book: the colophon lists the printing sequence. Covers never changed, so the colophon, the ISBN…
What are the Claymore English editions?
All 27 Claymore volumes in English from Viz Media, April 2006 to October 2015, with release dates and ISBNs, plus the 2015 complete box set with its exclusive…
What did Norihiro Yagi do after Claymore?
After Claymore ended in 2014: the one-shot Gekko no Arcadia in Weekly Shonen Jump (2017), then Ariadne in the Blue Sky in Weekly Shonen Sunday and Sunday Webry,…
What are Claymore's Extra Scenes?
Claymore's four Extra Scenes ran in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2007 while the series was between magazines, and were collected in volumes 13 and 14. A fifth, Warriors…
Is there a Claymore live-action series?
A live-action Claymore television series was announced in March 2025, in development with CBS Studios, Propagate Content, Masi Oka and Shueisha. No episodes…
CLOCK TOWER
9 shelfs
The Clock Tower Gallery
The Japanese and American boxes side by side from the 1995 Super Famicom original to Clock Tower 3, including the honest gap where no American box exists.
The History of Clock Tower
Jennifer Simpson in the Barrows Mansion: Kono's Argento homage, the game with no weapons, the Japan only editions, and the 29 year road to Rewind.
Why did the first Clock Tower never leave Japan?
No official reason is on record. Six Japan only releases across 18 years, fan translations, a renamed sequel, and Rewind in 2024.
What inspired Clock Tower?
Dario Argento, and Phenomena above all: Jennifer Connelly's Jennifer Corvino, giallo machinery, stated by the director himself.
The History of Clock Tower (1996)
Clock Tower 2 in Japan, plain Clock Tower abroad: the platform gamble, Human's first 3D engine, the Resident Evil challenge, and half a million copies.
Why is Scissorman so frightening?
No weapons, his own music, and no staying dead: the documented design record, and the critics who ranked him beside Freddy and Michael.
The History of Clock Tower: Ghost Head
The spin off Japan never numbered and America sold as Clock Tower II: two personalities, thirteen endings, and the series' worst reviews, dissent kept.
The History of Clock Tower 3
Alyssa Hamilton and the Rooders: Kinji Fukasaku's only video game, made after Human was gone, and the sales that ended the series.
What happened to Human Entertainment?
Fire Pro Wrestling, Clock Tower, and a school of its own: four billion yen of debt, bankruptcy in January 2000, and where the people went.
CONTRA
3 shelves
How is the Japanese Contra different from the American one?
Cutscenes, stage maps, weather and a longer ending, all riding on Konami's own VRC2 chip.
Why were Contra's heroes replaced by robots in Europe?
Probotector: German indexing law made men with guns unsellable, so Konami sent machines.
Did the Konami Code come from Contra?
No. It was a Gradius debug tool from 1986. Contra made it famous at thirty lives a try.
COWBOY BEBOP
20 shelves
Why is Cowboy Bebop's music so important to the show?
Kanno wrote it before the pictures existed, and the film adapted itself to the music.
Why are Cowboy Bebop's episode titles all music references?
Three Stones songs, a Queen anthem, a Hancock album, and a genre for every other session: the full list.
Why did Cowboy Bebop only air 12 episodes at first?
A 6 PM slot and a standards panic at TV Tokyo. WOWOW aired the real series months later.
What inspired Cowboy Bebop?
A toy company's spaceship order, the first Lupin series, Kind of Blue, and 1970s American film.
Who is Shinichiro Watanabe?
The director who mixed jazz, film noir and space opera into Cowboy Bebop, then kept remixing genres with Champloo, Kids on the Slope and Carol and Tuesday.
Who is Yoko Kanno?
The composer behind the Seatbelts and Tank!: how Kanno wrote jazz, blues and big band for a space western and built one of anime's great discographies.
What are the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks on CD and vinyl?
Three core albums, a film score, remix and live discs, and modern vinyl: the Seatbelts discography as physical objects, Japanese pressings included.
What was the Cowboy Bebop Perfect Sessions box set?
Bandai's 2001 limited DVD box that defined the series in America: six discs, a clam shell case, a soundtrack CD and a run of collector headaches.
How is Cowboy Bebop collected on Blu-ray?
Japan's 2012 box, Funimation's sets and steelbooks, and what the HD transfer does to a show shot on film: the Blu-ray landscape in both regions.
What is Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door?
The 2001 film: a Halloween bio weapon plot on Mars, a Dylan title, Yoko Kanno in a Moroccan mood, and where it fits between sessions 22 and 23.
What is the Cowboy Bebop manga?
Two short manga series, neither by a single famous author: Yutaka Nanten's adaptation and Cain Kuga's alternate Shooting Star, both long out of print in English.
Was Cowboy Bebop a manga first?
No: Bebop is an anime original from Sunrise, and its credits hide that fact behind a pen name. How anime originals work and why the manga look secondary.
Who designed the characters for Cowboy Bebop?
Toshihiro Kawamoto drew Spike's silhouette and Faye's wardrobe; Kimitoshi Yamane built the ships. The design team behind anime's coolest looking cast.
Who voices Spike Spiegel in Japanese and English?
Koichi Yamadera's laconic cool and Steve Blum's career defining dub: the two Spikes, plus the full principal cast in both languages.
How many episodes of Cowboy Bebop are there?
26 sessions, one clip show special, a film and a pile of extras: the full count, the TV Tokyo gap, and what Session 0 actually is.
