NEO Magazine Issue 228

Featured on the cover of this month's issue is Tower of God, the anime adaption of Lee Jong-Hui's extremely popular South Korean webtoon. Its 6-page spread covers everything readers could possibly need to know preceding the Blu-ray release of season 1 as well as a lot of little titbits of information, such as South Korea's conscription programme. There is also a 2.5-page spread covering the legacy left by Leiji Matsumoto who died in February. He was the creator of the seminal Star Blazers series among many other Sci-Fi hits. This touching tribute is a really interesting read for fans of the genre. As well as these there is the release schedule for new anime, manga and more and a great many reviews and articles exploring not just current but also older anime series.

In terms of cultural information, this month highlights Hōnensai, a tradition in Japan where they celebrate fertility with somewhat less sweet symbols than rabbits… Here, the editor is perhaps a little hard on the puns which gets a little long in the tooth, but when dealing with a festival of phallus, it's easy to see how things get so silly. It's a very interesting little article however and may shock some of the readership who don't already know about it! Outside of that there are a selection of Korean recipes to make in this issue, from Kimchi stew to fried chicken, everything sounds delectable. As spring has started, Sakura blossoms will be popping up all over Japan and the Sakura season will begin. To celebrate this, NEO presents, via its partnership with JapanCentre, a selection of Sakura themed goodies that, as long as they are in stock, can be purchased easily in the UK.