Danny, Haruka and Mirai Nendoroids

Amazing artist and dannychoo.com member chun finished doodling and coloring her "Nendoroid" versions of Danny Choo, Haruka Suenaga and Mirai Suenaga. Haruka and Mirai are Danny's mascots over at his blog, dannychoo.com.

I sure hope GoodSmile Company decided to make nendoroid figures of these, I would definitely buy them. xD

Once this site gets bigger I think I'm going to commission chun to make me a mascot. ^^

Dannychoo.com news item post here.

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S4 League

I recently found and started playing this game called S4 League. WOW, what an awesome game.

Created by Korean game company Pentavision (Sorry if that link doesn't work, it's supposed to be their homepage but I can't get it to load.), and translated/distributed by international game distributor Ala Playa, the game has anime inspired graphics, awesome fast paced third-person shooter action, amazing physics (not completely realistic but very well executed exaggerated physics), and excellent costume and character designs.

Here are some screen shots of my character and the gameplay.



You play either Death Match or Touch Down (where there is a ball and each team competes to get the ball to the opposing team's goal, very fast paced).



You earn "PEN", the in game currency, for playing games, with which you can purchase new weapons, skills, and costumes.



The game is still in beta so it's somewhat glitchy, bad server connections at times and slow/laggy servers. But overall it's VERY worth it to play, it's a ton of fun.



Originally found via dannychoo.com news items, posted by member: seth.frostheart.

By the way, I'm starting my new college semester tomorrow, Monday. It's already hectic, time wise, and I haven't even start, so I really don't know how much time I'm going to have. I will most definitely try to keep this blog updated, but we'll see what I can manage.

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Fullmetal Alchemist - New TV Series

Awesome news: Fullmetal Alchemist is getting another TV series!

All that's known so far is that it has been confirmed. More detail is available over at Anime News Network, info found via dannychoo.com member news items, posted by member marl0.

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Animation's 100th Anniversary.

Animation had it's 100th anniversary on the 17th of this month.

Sorry this is a little late, have been delayed in things lately.

We owe a thank you of massive proportions to the pioneer of animation: Émile Cohl. 100 years ago it took Cohl from February 1908 to May or June 1908 to create the very first animated film: "Fantasmagorie".



Made up from 700 double-exposed drawings, Fantasmagorie had a running time of almost 2 minutes. The film's title is a reference to the "fantasmograph", a mid-Nineteenth Century variant of the magic lantern that projected ghostly images that floated across the walls.

Émile Cohl


My hat is off to Émile Cohl, along with all the other pioneers of animation, without them we probably would not have such amazing animated shows:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya


Death Note


Neon Genesis Evangelion


Howl's Moving Castle


Lucky Star


Or sweet 2D girls as these ^^:















Click on any of the pictures for full res versions, I don't have the sources unfortunately. Also, I recently found a ton of Miku pics on Wakachan, is anyone interested in a Miku pic post? :p

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Anime Parody MADs

Sorry I haven't really been able to keep up with the posts like I should, been busy organizing and cleaning around the house.

This way posted by a dannychoo.com member named Coco the Bean in the news items.

Multiple anime OP parodyMADs.

Haruhi x Hidamari Sketch OP


By the way, I realize that I haven't had this blog for long, but I would like to make it as good a blog as possible. I haven't covered any anime or idols, both quite an integral part of otaku-dom. So, I just want to let you all know that I will be covering everything, but it may take a bit for some things because I'm still getting the hang of this and I'm very busy. As a matter of fact I'm starting my next college semester in about a week or so, that will make it even harder for me. I will try to keep a pace of 1 post every 1-2 days, but we will see what happens.

Anyway, without further ado, here are a few OP parody MADs.

This is actually an ED: Haruhi x Hidamari Sketch ED


Gurren Lagann x Cutie Honey OP


Idolm@ster Xenoglossia x Neon Genesis Evangelion OP


Sunon: Sunohara x Kanon OP


Kanon x Lucky Star OP

And last, but definitely not least: Haruhi x Lucky Star OP (I love this one xD).


Has anyone here made any MADs?

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Akihabara Geeks

Otaku Dan has a review up of a movie called Akihabara Geeks over at his blog. More pics available there, too.

I'm trying to get this movie as we speak, seems very interesting. I would really like to see more about the lives of Japanese otaku. Is anyone else interested ins seeing this movie?

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My new Nendoroid and Figma!

Just got these two from Hobby Search, will take more pictures and do full reviews later. Nendoroid Mikuru and Konata Figma, I just HAD to get them both when I saw them at Hobby Seach... I should probably stop browsing that site when I know I should be saving my money. xD

I know I said the same about other figures I got, but I'm having some trouble getting any kind of good pictures out of this camera I'm using. I'm probably going to use my dad's old 35mm SLR and get the pictures on CD, at least till I get my own DSLR.

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Butler Cafe

Just a quick post today, I found this post in Danny's member news items. A Butler Cafe, supposedly called "Love-All"; the equivalent of a maid cafe, except aimed at women. Good looking guys dressed sharp, waiting upon guests.



Post picture and source via dannychoo.com news items, posted by member Ichi.

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Bakuman, from the creators of Death Note

Creators of the hit manga and anime series Death Note, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata have started on a new series, called Bakuman.

For those who don't know, Death Note is an immensely successful series in both the US and in Japan. If you haven't read it or watched the anime by now I highly, highly suggest you do. Some people say it's just a fad, and others just plain hate it, but it really can't be denied, the art in it is amazing and the story is just so awesome.

Well, this post isn't about Death Note so I won't dwell on that too much. I just finished reading the first chapter of Bakuman, released today in Japan (August 11th), it has been scanned and translated already. It's available for reading over at One Manga.

I'm loving it already, awesome beginning chapter. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I will just say a few words about it, the story *seems* to be completely different from Death Note, as far as I can tell it's not a melancholic story, neither is it a detective/mystery story. Surprisingly enough, it seems to be a story about becoming manga-ka, a story type that, I'm sure, appeals to many otaku out there. The first chapter really explains a ton and gets you engaged while at the same time leave the entire story completely open, they could do ANYTHING with the story from this point. The art is spot on, as one would expect from Takeshi Obata. I will definitely be following this series closely, most likely will buy it all when it's released here.

Once again, the manga can currently be read online at One Manga. Source for this news is dannychoo.com member, Akari's news item post.

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Suzukaze Air Conditioned Seat Cushion

A Japanese company called Kuchofuku has released their latest in a line of personal air conditioned products, the "Suzukaze air conditioned seat cushion".

This Suzukaze seat cushion is designed to help dissipate the heat and moisture that can accumulate when sitting in front of your computer for long periods of time, especially during the summer... or maybe even those times when you need to take care of your "health", if you're familiar with the term from dannychoo.com :p It works in such a way that the fan in the front will channel a constant stream of air through and out the other end of the specially designed plastic mat inside the cushion, which works as a channel to collect and dissipate the heat and moisture coming off of your behind. ^^ I can see this being needed in Japan, from what I hear, Japanese summers can be VERY hot.

Personally I'm thinking of getting one of these, and maybe even the bed cushion. It seems like a much better and more efficient way of cooling yourself, rather than having to turn on central AC, which costs a TON. Not to mention, no one in my household is comfortable with one single temperature, I tend to be the hottest among us. (In more ways than one ^^) I kid, I kid. xD



There is a standard, a high grade and a car seat version of this cushion, from what I can see the only difference between the high grade and the standard is a on/off switch in the seat itself, so it will activate only when you actually sit on it, and (maybe) higher grade materials/construction? The car model is supposed to have a car power adapter for cigarette lighter outlets.



Accessories.



Video of it in action. It's also supposed to be very economical, supposedly: "Even if the cushion is used every day for 8 hours a day, the monthly electricity fee is less than 5 yen, or 5 cents."



I mentioned that this seat cushion is part of a line of products, Kuchofuku also has an air conditioned bed cushion, and shirt. Personally I think the shirt is taking it a bit too far, but maybe some people really need it. ;p

This is the bed, also supposed to be very economical. Works in the same way as the seat cushion, it's just a lot more expensive.



And the shirt. I'm not too sure about this, but I think it's basically just a USB fan sewn into the shirt, attached to a battery pack... seems like a slight rip off for $169.00. I definitely wouldn't buy this one.



Source for the seat cushion info is here, and source for the bed and shirt info is here.

Just want to clarify this in case this post sounded more like an advertisement than a simple blog post, I'm not advertising these things in any way, I'm not making money off of this in any way (I wish I were xD). I'm simply bringing news about a product that I happened upon and I think is quite nice, to you all. I

f anyone is interested in buying any of those air conditioned products (like I am), here are links to an English site where they sell them. Seat Cushion, Bed Cushion, Shirt.

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Lucky Star OVA

I recently found this scan of a flyer for the new Lucky Star OVA. Release date for the OVA is set for September 26th, it will only be one episode though, unfortunately. =/

No matter though, it should be quite awesome. Lucky Star never fails to amaze me, even after seeing it a countless amount of times. Though, it helps that all of the characters are SO cute. xD And the fact that Aya Hirano is Konata, she really is the best seiyuu ever, at least in my opinion.

Who here likes Lucky Star? I know some people think that Lucky Star is, in their words, a "stupid" show. I guess they don't realize that the original manga was in 4-koma style, and so the show basically seems like that too. I've heard some say that they don't like it because it has too many loli characters. Well, I have the opinion that because it's drawn there is nothing wrong with loli characters, they don't hurt a soul.

Also, almost every anime has a loli character, I always hear people preaching about quality of the show, but they then will ignore shows like Lucky Star, which have excellent animation quality, and are just plain funny, fun shows to watch.

If you haven't watched Lucky Star by now then I urge you to do so right away, it's a great witty comedy.

High res version of the picture above can be found at moe.imouto.

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2008 Summer Olympics

Sorry about this not being an anime related post, but it is related to current news and asia, so I hope no one minds.

I watched the opening ceremony for the Olympics earlier, absolutely incredible. China went all out on this one, amazing technology and choreography was put into making a beautiful and very memorable opening ceremony.

The man in the picture above is Li Ming. He had the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron. They hoisted him into the air once his torch was lit and he mimed running around the screen that spanned the entire circumference of the stadium, ending at the cauldron, which they put in place while the opening ceremony was taking place. Below is a video of him doing his "running man" around the stadium, don't know how long it'll be up though, youtube might take it down due to copyrights and such.



Source of picture here.

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Hard decision

Danny asks an impossibly hard decision of us:

"You are in Akihabara at Asobit Game when all of a sudden there is a tsunami warning. You have 5 seconds to choose a DVD which will act as a float to keep you alive."

Which would you pick? I think I would take the Moe-chan (3D girl) dvd. ^^ Though the 2D girls are also very nice, from the eroge Elf Hime. Both of those links have NSFW content.

Picture taken by Danny, links and post taken from original post, located here.

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Site design work

This is an edit to my earlier post. The site redesign is done, I added a second widget bar on the left hand side and fixed the layout.

I feel like I really achieved something, because I can't say I know CSS, but I still managed it. xD To be honest though, just doing that gave me a much better understanding of CSS, I will be working on the site continually and once I get enough income from ads and affiliates I'll get a domain name and host the site on my own, that way I have complete control over what the site is like.

And this is a uber moe~ pic of Kona-chan!

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Antec gets moe character

The PC parts manufacturer Antec now has it's own moe character.

The character, named Antecco, is said to have been originally developed by a Link International employee for an international paper but gained popularity inside of the company until someone suggested the use of this cutie as an official Antec trademark character, Antec happily accepted and the character is now going to be used (at least) for the Japanese face of Antec.

"Acording to staff the girl is 14 years old enjoys surfing and eating california roll."

I think it's quite awesome that Antec has it's own character now. I've always known Antec to be an excellent company, they have amazing cases and overall just great quality products. For the past 3 years they have shared a booth with Maximum PC and other PC related companies at Comic-Con and every year they always give out a TON of free Antec products. From case fans, to lights, and even cases themselves, they give out and raffle off a whole lot of things at Comic-Con, quite an excellent move for a company in my opinion, keeps current customers happy and shows them that you care as a company and brings new customers in.

News and picture via Akiba Today.

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WonFes 08

Unfortunately I live in the US so I wasn't able to attend Wonder Festival this year, but many others were.

Those interested in WonFes coverage can check out Danny's post. He also has links to more coverage on other sites in his post.

Pic is of Nendoroids at WonFes, via dannychoo.com. Original source at Ota-Suke

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Comic-Con 08: part 2

I'll begin with a (somewhat quick) description of all the loot in the first picture:

The things we paid for: a ton of manga, the wallscrolls, the figures, the art books (Tony Taka, lucky star, and Arina Tanemura; sorry, didn't take closer pictures of these, let me know if anyone wants some.), different versions of the Mokona plushies for my sister, Pocky and Black Black, Gundam Seed "Complete Best" cd, Shojo Beat, and the Love Hina Christmas special dvd.

And now the free stuff: about 6 or 7 sampler manga, all the Bleach things (including the game), the Square Enix fan that has the words "I'm a fan." printed on it xD, and other little trinkets, including some very cool pliers from some booth selling a lot of Revoltechs, even though I don't have any Revoltechs just yet the pliers work very well with Figma parts, quite useful when you're trying to be gentle pulling out joints and such.

Sorry about taking so long to make this post, I got kind of busy yesterday and had a hard time finding the time to finish taking the pictures. Finally got them though. Also, I found a program called IrfanView to do batch resizing and renaming of pictures, very helpful.

Now, here is a closer look at the rest of the loot. I didn't take individual pictures of everything, so if someone wants to know about something in particular, let me know. ^^

Here is a close up of the manga, we mostly got volumes to finish off series that we had already started.



My first two figmas: Haruhi.



And Yuki. Finally got them!



Woo, Nendoroids, they're so cute. xD Haruhi.



Yuki.



And L. This one is mostly my sister's. I think it's a cool figure and all, but no where near as cute as Haruhi, Yuki, or Misa Misa, to me.



I gave in to the fan-boy side of me and bought 2 shirts (got a third for free) from the J-List booth. xD I also got to meet Peter Payne, he runs J-List and the J-List side blog.

Miku.



Haruhi, this one supposedly says "I would die for Haruhi". Still learning Japanese, so I can't read many things. I went through a bit of trouble (because it was fun xD) and romanized what's on the shirt: "Haruhi no tame nara shineru". Shi is a kanji so I had to do some googling, as I know no kanji at all.



This is the shirt I got for free, I think it says "looking around, looking around", romaji is "kiyoro kiyoro", I do believe.



Ikkitousen poster I bought. Who else likes Ikkitousen? I always hear both, negative and positive comments about it. Most negative comments are in regards to all the fan service, I never found anything wrong with fan service, as human beings we all have our carnal desires, there is nothing "wrong" or "dirty" about it in my mind, and fan service is, well, a service to that. xD



A cool Haruhi poster I happened upon, just saw it when I was walking by a booth and bought it.



Another one that's mostly for my sister, the guys from Tsubasa Chronicle and xxxHolic, both are CLAMP series.



These next two are actually scans of freebie posters we got, I couldn't manage good pictures of them and they were small enough to scan. I had to scan both the top and bottom, then photoshop them together since they were too long for the scanner.

Haruhi



Soul Eater



Freebie Afro Samurai poster.



Code Geass wallscroll.



xxxHolic wallscroll.



And now, the freebie bags. You can't walk away from Comic-Con without getting at least one or two HUGE bags. First up is the Astro Boy bag, I had to have this one so I ended up standing in line for it.



Bag for the comic book series Watchmen, now being turned into a live action movie. Does anyone read American comics? Personally I only read Japanese manga, something about American comics just doesn't appeal to me.



Bag from the Viz Media booth. Viz is the American distributor of series like Bleach and Death Note.

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