> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.geekyinc.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Side Quest #003 - URL: https://www.geekyinc.com/side-quest-003/ - Published: 2026-07-16T21:00:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-16T21:00:40.000Z - Description: Your detour through anime, JRPGs, and Japanese folklore — every other Friday. - Author: Devon Lambert - Tags: side-quest Welcome back, adventurer — **Side Quest #003** has dropped into your inbox. We land every other Friday (ramping to weekly soon, promise), and we're keeping it tight: the best anime, JRPGs, and a little folklore weirdness to fuel your weekend. Let's get into it. ## Continue? — what's worth your time right now ![Coco and Qifrey flying on a broom in the Witch Hat Atelier anime](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/4e/cb4ed481-0c15-45c5-af06-fb31e16cb400/content/images/2026/07/side-quest-003-witch-hat.jpg) **On the anime front,** 2026 has been a slower-burn season than usual — but slow here means *curated*, not boring. **Witch Hat Atelier** is the standout new series everyone's talking about, and it absolutely earns the hype: gorgeous animation, a magic system that feels genuinely original, and the kind of visual storytelling that makes you pause mid-episode just to stare. If you're still sleeping on it, wake up. Returning heavyweights **Frieren** and **Jujutsu Kaisen** continue to raise the bar, and Summer 2026 is bringing **That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4** and **Re:Zero Season 4** to the schedule — the queue is already stacking up. **On the JRPG side,** the back half of 2026 is looking genuinely stacked. Titles like **Final Fantasy Revenance**, **Granblue Fantasy Relink Ragnarok**, and **Dragon Quest Monsters** are all still incoming, and Nintendo Switch 2 is shaping up to be an unexpected JRPG powerhouse with a wave of new and ported titles on the horizon. If you've been saving your PTO for a launch day, start planning now. ## One Deep Cut ![Giant Shigaraki ware tanuki statue outside a pottery shop in Shigaraki, Japan](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/4e/cb4ed481-0c15-45c5-af06-fb31e16cb400/content/images/2026/07/side-quest-003-tanuki.jpg) **The Tanuki: Shape-Shifter, Trickster, Chaos Agent** Forget ghosts for a second — let's talk about the **tanuki**. In Japanese folklore, the tanuki (raccoon dog) is a *bakemono*: a supernatural shape-shifter with a love of sake, mischief, and disguising itself as monks, merchants, or teapots. Unlike the menacing oni or the tragic onryō, the tanuki is fundamentally comedic — a creature of abundance and excess who trips over its own schemes. It represents the blurry line between illusion and reality, a theme that runs deep in Japanese storytelling. You see this energy everywhere in games — Totoro's cat bus, Tom Nook's suspiciously generous capitalism, the entire vibe of *Pom Poko*. In **Geeky Inc's Neon Yokai** lore, the tanuki archetype shows up as the dealers and fixers of the neon-lit spirit world: entities who can look like anyone, sell you anything, and vanish before the bill comes due. Trust them at your own risk. They're not evil — they just find your confusion *hilarious*. ## Play / Watch This ![Combat encounter screenshot from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/4e/cb4ed481-0c15-45c5-af06-fb31e16cb400/content/images/2026/07/shot_9.jpg) If the JRPG wave has you itching to play something *right now*, we did a full breakdown on **Clair Obscur: Expedition 33** — which edition to grab, whether it's worth it, and how to survive the opening hours without losing your mind. Short answer: yes, absolutely worth it. - [Read our Clair Obscur beginner guide →](https://www.geekyinc.com/clair-obscur-expedition-33-is-it-worth-it-which-edition-beginner-guide/) - Grab it on [Amazon here](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Clair+Obscur+Expedition+33&tag=geekyinc0d-20&ref=geekyinc.com) ## From the Forge ![3D-printed anime figures lined up with a printed sword](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/4e/cb4ed481-0c15-45c5-af06-fb31e16cb400/content/images/2026/07/anime-figures-hero-1.jpg) Anime season is peaking — which means the urge to print a shelf full of figures is also peaking. If you're not sure which printer to buy for anime figures and weapons, our 2026 buyer's guide cuts through the noise and tells you exactly what to look for. - [Best 3D Printer for Anime Figures & Weapons →](https://www.geekyinc.com/best-3d-printer-for-anime-figures-weapons-2026-buyers-guide/) - Browse [resin printers on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=resin+3d+printer+for+figures&tag=geekyinc0d-20&ref=geekyinc.com) to get started ## Join the party The conversation doesn't stop here. Drop your hot takes on Witch Hat Atelier, share your latest prints, or argue about JRPG release calendars with the rest of us — [join the Geeky Inc Discord](https://discord.gg/VUB7EqBkVU?ref=geekyinc.com). It's free, it's lively, and someone's almost certainly posting tanuki memes as you read this. That's all for Side Quest #003 — see you in two weeks (or sooner, if we crack and go weekly early). 👾 Know someone who'd vibe with this? Forward it their way. And if someone forwarded *you* this issue, you can [subscribe here](https://geekyinc.com/?ref=geekyinc.com#/portal/signup) to get every issue fresh. *Disclosure: Side Quest contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Geeky Inc earns from qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you. We only link things we'd actually recommend.*