Over the past few months, our anime merchandise collection has been growing substantially in the shop! With Pittsburgh also being the home of the annual Tekko anime convention, Kawaii Gifts is becoming one more place in the city for anime and manga fans to check out for their favorite series. 

Our latest anime arrivals include the exciting addition of a new series to our growing collection: "Attack on Titan!" Fans of the action anime and manga can now bring home a Levi Ackerman figure, dressed in his season four attire, post time-skip. The figure features Levi equipped with his ODM gear, scout regiment cloak and his signature stern expression.

With the series originally set to wrap at the end of season four: part two now extended to a final part three releasing in 2023, it’s been an exciting and turbulent time for AoT fans. With the end on the horizon, many are on edge about the fates of their favorite characters. Levi is certainly a fan favorite (and my personal favorite) character, and has an important role throughout the series, serving as a highly skilled fighter with an ever serious attitude that pushes the rest of the scouts to new feats.

Of the new generation of shonen, "Demon Slayer" has been holding its own at or near the top spot for a while; but as of 2021, the race for number one has gotten close, with "Jujutsu Kaisen" beginning to overshadow the 2019 anime. Both series have had hit movies in global theaters in recent years and both are just hitting their stride, with season three on the way for "Demon Slayer," and season two for JJK.

It’s easy to see why these two series are so popular. They follow classic, established shonen storytelling but with modern art and animation styles that bring the anime to a whole new level. The characters in each are hard not to love, and the empathetic main characters create action sequences that are always exciting and emotional, especially when backed by the original scores. LiSA’s and Eve’s opening themes for "Demon Slayer" and "Jujutsu Kaisen" respectively have also gained popularity outside of each anime on platforms like TikTok, where fans can share covers and recreations of the opening sequences.

At Kawaii Gifts, we can’t ignore just how popular these anime are, and many of our staff, myself included, are fans of the different series we carry. Our "Demon Slayer" collection is always growing to include plush, keychains and various figures, like our new Grandista Inosuke Hashibira. We also have a new figure of (again, another personal favorite) Giyu Tomioka. 

Inosuke is another fan favorite and one of the main trio of boys the series follows. His less than orthodox and often downright feral behavior is made even more enjoyable to watch by the amazing voice talent of English dub actor, Bryce Papenbrook, who recently visited Pittsburgh for Tekko. Giyu Tomioka, on the other hand, is quiet and broody, but is a master of his fighting style, known as a hashira, and is a figure (pun intended) the other boys look up to and admire because of his skill and his willingness to selflessly help and protect them.

If you’ve seen the "Demon Slayer" movie, "Mugen Train," then you’re familiar with flame hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku. Now, you can bring him home and set your collection ablaze with his figure! Another highly skilled role model for main character, Tanjiro Kamado, Rengoku is an exuberant character that found a place in many fans’ hearts. No matter who your favorite "Demon Slayer" character is, we probably have a figure or plush available of them in our Shadyside shop and here, online!

Our "Jujutsu Kaisen" collection has recently been restocked with a new Ichiban Kuji set with prizes featuring the main characters and various supporting characters from the anime. If you missed it the first time around, make sure to check it out while we have it! 

Ichiban Kuji is a fun prize raffle or lottery game popularized in Japan. Every ticket corresponds to a prize that you get to take home with you at the time of purchase— no waiting around for a drawing, and no losing! If your prize has options, we let you pick which version of it you want in the store, such as choosing the folder with your favorite characters. Some prizes are blind boxes, including miniature figures and rubber keychains. The top tier prizes are, in this case, figures of the main characters. What if all the top tier prizes are gone by the time you play? Don’t worry! There’s still the exclusive last ticket prize up for grabs. This figure is only available to you if you buy the last ticket left in the raffle. Not only do you get the prize for your ticket, but you also get to take home the special edition prize! That’s two prizes for one ticket!

The last ticket prize for the JJK set is a Ryomen Sukuna figure, and it’s certainly drawn a lot of attention. My favorite prize from the current JJK Ichiban Kuji has to be the Satoru Gojo figure, featuring an interchangeable head so you can have him displayed with or without his signature blindfold or icy blue eyes. Other prizes include Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki figures, character clear file folders featuring Toge, Maki and Panda in addition to the main characters, blind boxes, and acrylic stands of each of the main and supporting characters.

If Gojo is your favorite character, you should also check out our JJK figures. Not only do we have blind boxes and adorable mini figures, but we also have a new noodle stopper figure of Gojo! Let the most powerful sorcerer in "Jujutsu Kaisen" help you make your instant noodles! Noodle stopper figures are a really neat and fun way to spice up your cup ramen. When you add the boiling water, instead of using whatever spare utensils you have around to hold the lid back down in place, set the noodle stopper figure conveniently on the edge of the lid to reseal it. While your noodles cook, you can admire your favorite character sitting relaxed on the cup!

We’ve also expanded our collection of other shonen anime merchandise, including "Naruto Shippuden" and "My Hero Academia." If you haven’t had a chance to check out the "Naruto Shippuden" Ramen Bundle, you can here! We have new figures of Naruto Uzumaki and supporting character, Shikamaru Nara, that joined the lineup recently as well. Naruto is in his iconic clone jutsu pose, while Shikamaru is poised for shadow possession jutsu!

Our "My Hero Academia" collection now features more figures of the students and villains, including Shoto Todoroki, Toga, Dabi and of course Izuku Midoriya or “Deku.” For those who want more kawaii with their action, our always popular "Sailor Moon" selection has grown to include new Q Poskets and a new Glitter and Glamour Sailor Moon figure as well!

If music and manga is more your speed, you’ll love the new Hatsune Miku figures! An adorable new Q Posket features Hatsune Miku in her classic outfit with her iconic turquoise twin tails with a super kawaii look. If you’re looking for a figure with function, we also have the Sakura Hatsune Miku noodle stopper, wink version! Miku is sporting a bright, blossoming spring look in an all pink color scheme with cherries on her pink twin tails! Miku’s claim to fame includes her own manga and video games, but what she’s most well known for is her music produced via vocal synthesizer that can be used by anyone, from amateur to professional music producer! Up until 2019, Miku was solely a VOCALOID character until she received new voice banks outside of the VOCALOID software, the most commonly known singing voice synthesizer. If you’re a fan of J-Pop, definitely check out the interesting and cutting-edge music by the software generated character.

All in all, we’ve had a lot of exciting new anime arrivals recently at Kawaii Gifts. Find cute merchandise like blind boxes and plush bag charms, or start your own figure collection spanning miniature figures, Q Poskets and more! There’s certainly plenty to choose from, so stop by our Shadyside shop or browse online at ShopKawaiiGifts.com.