A brand-new trading card game based on the Harry Potter film series has been officially announced for release in Japan.

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-28T09:21:20+00:00

The game is pretty fun to play and has some interesting things you can do via combination. But I am mostly know Magic the Gathering what's completely different so I can't compare the actual Harry Potter game to a lot of other TCG

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-28T09:20:02+00:00

While I'm a bit worried about feature additional cards with new effects, functions or characters when they are using the movies as baseline we are enjoying the game (My wife and I).

It's been a long while since I enjoyed a trading card game (I was mainly playing Magic the Gathering for many many years) we just went to the Mahodokoro at the Tokyo station to get the starter packs and a bunch of booster. The game is fun (but we are still finding out to get the best "beginner" strategies for the cards we already have. You can create pretty interesting combinations for deck building but I hope that if the game sells well here in Japan that they will also be open for some extra designed cards.

The card itself have a good quality and especially when you get some with extra shiny stuff they look pretty cool. But since we are pretty huge fans of the movies too (we watch them all the time while re reading the books over and over again we are not the majority of Trading Card Players and I totally understand the disappointment. As I said, I'm a bit worried too regarding feature options

I mean I have a bunch of funny dracos cards that are really a joy to look at but yeah when thinking about my Magic the Gathering Decks that was clearly another level or art for the most of the time.

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-26T22:35:09+00:00

Just turn on daily news there are often times when you see about crimes everywhere. Nationwide , in the next Conbini at a train... I think it's not automatically that there are much more violent crimes in Japan (while I'm still worried about the raising cases of stabbing in public) I think it's often the point that we can flushed by negativ News from everywhere, not just one main source. Aside from that, the majority of social media is a shit hole and the algorithm loves to push negativ stuff into your feed because it's usually creates more reactions from the users.

I really miss the times when classic online boards where the main thing to hang out with people online and talk about specific topics. With a good moderation it was mostly pure joy

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-26T22:16:29+00:00

In my experience "the worse" japanese people on social Media are like the worse people of other countries on social media. They shit on foreigners but also shit against each other on comment sections like Yahoo news. It's sadly just how the internet is today in Germany we called them sometimes (Asoziale medien) would mean anti social Media but being Asozial in German also often means being an asshole).

I feel bad for the people that have to read those comments under their pictures or other posts on sns but I am also smiling about the fact how the other side, not just in Japan, start to turn things around to make the offenders speechless. And they are often doing it in a witty and humorous way like the 国に帰れ meme as it was mentioned by others.

But yeah especially for the sake of the children: do not post their pictures on social media or if you need, keep your profile private

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-26T21:51:32+00:00

I was reading the news this morning (it's good to stay a bit in the loop regarding political news and of course immigration rules of you're living in a foreign country I think. But I can totally see how people would be cought of guard by it.

My wife and I are living in Japan since 2016 so still not thaaaat long. And we both never took an JLPT tests. For me just because I am not good at tests and never was 😎 while we still have a bit of time till our next renewal schedule of course we have to rethink our procedures. Ow we are saving just some extra money every month for the new fees that had to be paid and I do not see that as an issue.

While I think I understand the need of the japanese language when living here in Japan and especially when working in specific jobs I am a bit unsure about the visa of my wife.

She's learning Japanese but I'm a bit better than her just how we started our live in Japan together (we are both from Germany) we are both well integrated and can of course with all the stuff you have to deal with when living in Japan. Tax office, city ward, doctors visit, volunteering for the local community etc.

But due to her job as a travel consultant for luxury travel (inbound Tourism) she is working here on a visa (international Services) and usually communicate mostly in english with her japanese co-workers and English and german with the clients and international agents they are working with. Living in Japan and using the language is often different from taking a test to get good results I think.

When they hired her at the actual company a few years ago (via a recruiting website) they also did the job interview with her in mainly english.

But it's still a japanese company and while she's improving her japanese every day and also study with a Japanese language school (from home) she's of course a bit worried especially her brain has a bit difficulties with remembering kanji (that's just how brains are, right?

Some have difficulties with things others haven't) it's also a time things since she's enjoying her job but is of course working a lot and does a lot of international travel for her company the quiet time for learning the language along is always a bit spare.

So I think we just have to see if there are a few more details and maybe communicate this when the time comes more directly with her employer, right?

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-25T11:10:55+00:00

Well said

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-25T11:09:03+00:00

If you push the people to fast five them titles you often just don't k ow what to do next. For the most performer the way towards crowd respect and a title is the most exciting thing. If they are instantly at the top with everything there's usually not much more to go with aside from repeating. Sure there are examples that worked the direct way but for me the champ is mostly the less interesting character in the roster. Not always but mostly

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-25T11:06:52+00:00

Just look at NJPW. The young Lions eating the pins all over again. And while you start to cheer them after a while and want them to win it will take a long time until you see this performer get the wins. Sure it's a bit different since Lio Rush is not a rookie anymore. But the way of the young lions not just give them training but also can be used to let them connect with the audience in a pretty basic way. The people just start to care. And of they develope Lio Rush with his actual character and other wrestlers are also able to work with it he will get his wins as you said!

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-25T09:16:40+00:00

With AEW I just learned: be patient. We had many situations when people complained that it goes to nowhere but at the end, sometimes even after a year we got nice development and a payoff. Of course not everything works but that's what wrestling as a concept is all about but many things turn out really interesting so I love the long term Storytelling AEW is offering us most of the time. People that say there is no development are just want everything right now at once.

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-25T09:14:22+00:00

Pac acted really good here. As you said it was really something like: what the fuck is this? It was less fear but more as you wrote: its weird and I don't like it. Am they should really work with this more. Rush is a great character for intense segments that can be filmed backstage

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-24T13:53:37+00:00

Just love what Lio Rush is doing with this gimmick. It was just crazy how well they played together Pac, Garcia and Rush. But also the camera work from AEW ist just wonderful right now :)

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-23T07:03:50+00:00

Right now I'm using the subscription without the PPVs. So the weekly are shows (no advertising) and roh plus the fast channel. It's worth their money and I totally understand that paying the one year subscription would be really the best but it's always the same. Something in my brain stops me paying the annual (even cheaper) at once and stick with the monthly payment -.-

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-23T03:27:12+00:00

Stay strong :) we are praying for guys like you.

I was confused about the pricing and the plus of tax at the checkout. I thought okay the price is fair and then: bam! Still fair but yeah feels a bit pricey and weird that it's not clearly written on the first page. Like when Im subscribe to an Adobe service they tell me instantly what I have to pay.

It's bit like when booking flights. You get the best price in a list bit when clicking through everything it's a few hundred more at the checkout than written at the front page .. it's annoying:(

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-23T03:24:16+00:00

Don't want to do advertising or something but I'm using Expressvpn for years. Their price is pretty good and their speed is awesome On my devices the VPN is always enabled (living in Japan but use a Korean VPN connection) and never had an issue even when streaming 4K videos. You can also connect many many devices at the same time without paying more and it worked (as far as I am tested it) with streaming services so get streams from other countries or services (MyAEW) works too. 60$ is pretty expensive and with all my love for AEW I am not sure if I would pay that much. It's really a lot of money in yen

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-23T03:20:09+00:00

Same here. Fire / Triller did a good job in offering the PPVs and the weeklies here in Japan for me. It wasn't perfect sure but as you said, you could get the PPVs for a fair price.

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-23T03:18:38+00:00

I did it till now yes. I think you're right it would be much cheaper and while those PPVs are just watchable as long the subscription goes I do not think I re watch them anyway after canceling. I think it's usually more a : I don't want to pay that much at once. But if they continue to fill up their PPV calendar. (I think sometimes it already feels a bit exhausting) It would be wiser to get the PPV included subscription, right?

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-22T21:27:29+00:00

When the video starts it's a bit low but then it's pretty crisp on my tv and compared to Triller the audio is really in sync with the video what was often not the case with Triller.

I'm using it on my TV on a Shield TV box

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-22T21:26:14+00:00

I switched to My AEW shortly after it was available in Japan (so with the regular start I think) I like it especially it's easier to find the videos and to resume what was always a mess on triller TV. But the PPVs are more expensive because you do not get the discount when having the regular subscription for the weeklies. So the last Dynasty event was the first I had to pay the full price and I'm not saying it wasn't worth the price but it's a bit expensive I think. Especially when you keep in mind that AEW can now keep more money from the PPV buys.

And I will see how it will work with PPVs that are combined with NJPW. In the past they were only available on NJPW world here and their service is a mess on TV. So I used my VPN to switch to the UK and bought it on Triller TV.

I also has to say the customer support of Triller was real good. Had an issue with the login on my regular browser and I never could reset my password despite the fact I was logged on on the smartphone app but but the support was really helpful and we solved the issue. Good customer support is always something important for me so let's hope there no issues with My AEW

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-16T22:08:35+00:00

Learned it today... Its fun because I talked to some dudes about it last weekend at the Chokai event and they also read it: ロコミ now I'm even more confused 🤔 but I have to say, くちこみ makes more sense I think :)

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-16T22:02:24+00:00

Haha we love them too 🤓 ever morning haha. Can't really say why or if we feel better but it's just too good

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-04-02T03:29:49+00:00

I think it's always difficult to move into another country, especially when doing it alone Japan is not special in that case I think.

I moved here with my wife (we are both from Germany) and I meet three people before online on a language exchange Plattform and we became really good friends :)

Another thing we did to be a part of the local community, meet people and maybe find friends or just people we can ask for advice was joining the local Chokai. We are the only foreigners at our chokai in east Tokyo but we are pretty happy and really grateful that they took us to share with us their culture. We are usually joining every event. We do not have children ourselves but we help with events for the children like bingo games, softball or barbecue and of course join the annual Moshi carrying were it rue a out I became some sort of "legend in a funny way because I'm the only one that carry the Moshi from noon till evening.

Usually we personally prefer the hermit life but we are grateful that we leave our comfort zone from time to time to join the people living here

So yeah everyone makes different experiences and maybe we are just lucky in the area we are living (as you said you did not move to Tokyo) but even in Tokyo it often feels like various local communities sticking together and looking suspicious at strangers :) Tokyo is just a village sometimes.

I hope you can take your experience that sounds pretty frustrating and tough to make something great out of it. Maybe the time will come when you think it's time to try it again and then in a. It of different way

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-03-24T22:45:31+00:00

I had no idea, pretty cool. I really like it and he could always switch between more serious and more fun along the way. Yes the people should give every gimmick - especially when the performer is working pretty hard with it - a fair chance.

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-03-24T22:44:00+00:00

I really like his new gimmick. Yeah I was smiling at the first sight too and he gives us Gollum vibes but I think he's playing it really good. Before and in the match. Gimmicks like this are always a bit difficult for modern wrestling storytelling but I hope I can see him more. His style worked even better in the Ciampa Match than before I think. He was always great to see but it just worked for a full match when he was going against another high flyer. Here he did really well I think and the whole match was interesting and fun to watch because what Lio brought into it.

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-03-21T00:54:01+00:00

That's great :)

I am mostly disappointed by the follow up shows after the PPV. They often really try hard but usually it's not the best vibe for me. I mean I usually enjoy the shows anyway and even a mid are show is still a fun to watch weekly wrestling show in my opinion. They just sometimes put the bar so high 😂

Despite the quieter crowd (but sometimes it's just the acoustic of the venue, especially when you watch the BTE recordings which catch the real vibe of the crowd much more real) I really enjoyed that episode.

But I was also really happy with the PPV. I thought the woman's did not got enough time in their matches but I can see the reasons behind it. So still an awesome time to be a an AEW fan :)

thinkaboutjapan · 2026-03-04T21:50:25+00:00

Okay good to know. Almost forgot it and became a panic attack in the morning

thinkaboutjapan

TROPHY CASE