Mini-LP

A mini-LP or mini-album is a short vinyl record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length.

History

Mini-LPs became popular in the early 1980s with record companies who targeted consumers who were reluctant to buy full-length and full-priced albums. Several mini-LPs had been released in the late 1970s, including John Cooper Clarke's Walking Back to Happiness, which used the 10-inch format. The format was usually 12-inch or 10-inch vinyl, with a playing time of between twenty and thirty minutes, and around seven tracks. They were often used as a way of introducing new acts to the market or as a way of releasing interim albums by established acts between their main albums.Epic Records introduced the 10-inch Nu-Disk format in the early 1980s but they found it difficult to merchandise, and 12-inch mini-LPs became more common. Notable mini-LPs of the early 1980s included U2's Under a Blood Red Sky, which reached number 2 on the UK Albums Chart in 1983, and The Honeydrippers' Volume 1, which reached number 4 on the Billboard 200 in 1984.

Nyaruko: Crawling with Love

Nyaruko: Crawling With Love (這いよれ! ニャル子さん, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, lit. Crawl Up! Nyaruko-san), also known as Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos, is a Japanese light novel series written by Manta Aisora and illustrated by Koin. It was inspired by the H. P. Lovecraft Cthulhu mythos. The series' twelve volumes were published by Soft Bank Creative under their GA Bunko imprint between April 2009 and March 2014.

A flash-animated original video animation (OVA) by DLE titled Haiyoru! Nyaruani was published in between October 2009 and March 2010, followed by a television series, Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Mr. Lovecraft, which aired in Japan between December 2010 and February 2011. An anime television series by Xebec aired in Japan between April and June 2012 and a second season aired between April and June 2013. Two manga adaptations have been produced.

A video game adaptation, developed by 5pb. for PlayStation Vita was released in Japan on May 30, 2013.

Plot

The story of Haiyore! Nyaruko-san centers around Nyaruko, a formless Lovecraftian-deity of chaos (Nyarlathotep) who can take on the shape of a seemingly ordinary silver-haired girl. Mahiro Yasaka is a normal high school boy who is being chased by a fearsome black alien one night, until Nyaruko saves him. She explains that the creatures from H. P. Lovecraft's works are actually races of aliens, and that she has been sent to Earth by the Space Defense Agency to protect him from being kidnapped by an alien trafficker. Aliens find Mahiro and the Earth strangely attractive, for entertainment, auction or resources. One by one, the Great Old Ones enter Earth illegally. Eventually, Nyaruko and two other Lovecraft-creatures, Cthugha and Hastur, end up being freeloaders at Mahiro's place. Mahiro has become accustomed to his protection detail of Nyaruko, Cthugha, and Hastur making his life fascinating.