At least according to the Unicode standard. The character is called kurikaeshi and used when one has to write down the same kanji twice, like in さまざま. By using the kurikaeshi you can just write 様々さまざま instead of 様様; the kurikaeshi is more or less pronounced the same way as the kanji it repeats.  Continue reading

Have you seen the anime 彼氏かれし 彼女かのじょの事情じじょう (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou; His and Her Circumstances) ? It's one of those lesser-known shoujo animes from the 90's despite being directed by Anno Hideaki, the genius behind Evangelion. Like Evangelion, this anime also had a noticeable budget cut, but unlike in Evangelion where the cut happened near the end Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou ran out of budget around halfway of the season. Because of these budgetary problems the makers had to resort to extreme animation reuse, double recap episodes and other shenanigans, resulting in an overall shitty animation. But the story is solid, so it's worth a watch.  Continue reading