10.01.2011 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Buddhist monk on figures
A friend took me to Vow's Bar in Nakano, which advertises itself as a "Buddhist bar." The master, Shaku Genko, was indeed a priest of the Pure Land sect, but after a few drinks (including one called the Erotic Monk) he was more interested in talking about jazz and idols than enlightenment. I happened to look over at the small alter in the bar, and noticed that beside the statue of Buddha was a figure of Nurse Witch , one of my favorite characters. Indeed, I have the same figure in my room. I asked the master about it: Is it OK to have a figure like that next to Buddha? His answer: The figures of today are the statues of Buddha of yesterday. Wow! Admittedly, I'd had a few drinks (thus the atrocious quality of the picture here, sorry!), but I took his statement very seriously. Is it possible that figures can orient us towards some sort of transcendent truth? That they can help us overcome our attachments to this reality? Salvation in the midst of consumer capitalism! I guess that would explain why all these temples and shrines in Japan are using images of cute anime characters to gather and hold attention. I wonder if many fans seeking to be closer to Komugi-chan are also seeking spiritual guidance... Be that as it may, I certainly will be visiting Vow's again soon!
21.02.2010 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Kaiju/Musume Event in Akihabara
Kaiju/Musume
In the heartland of anime, manga and games, Akihabara, Schatz Kiste is a maid cafe dedicated to spreading Akihabara's culture to Japan and the world. And now, indie soft vinyl kaiju are invading!
Kaiju and Cute Girls
Shock and Moe
Old-School Japan and Modern Akiba
3D and 2D
What will happen when these elements come together? The only thing guaranteed is that it's definitely something you don't want to miss!
Featured creators will be bringing new original figures for display and sale, and original photography and illustrations featuring a blend of Kaiju and Akiba culture will be on display. Creators will also be stopping in periodically through the week so guests can get a first-hand view of the creative process and inspiration behind their creations.
Featured makers:
Blobpus
Dr. Strange Toys
ILANENA
Monstock!!
Velocitron
Vinyl Junkies
Yamazakura
Opening Party: Feb 26, 19:30
Gallery runs until March 6
Akihabara Culture Cafe Schatz Kiste
「怪獣／娘」
アニメ・漫画・ゲームを始めとした色々な「秋葉原カルチャー」を体験して一日中熱く語れるカフェ「シャッツキステ」にインディーズ怪獣ソフビが集結！！
「怪獣」と「美少女」
「怪奇」と「萌え」
「下町」と「秋葉原」
「3次元」と「2次元」
こんなような絶対混ぜられない物を混ぜてみようとしたらいったいどうなるだろう？ 確かなのはこれだけ：絶対つまらないわけありません。
オリジナルインディーズ怪獣ソフビ、イラスト、写真を展示します。参加メーカーの方が来場したり、ソフビの販売も予定しています。
参加ソフビメーカー
BLObPUS
Dr. Strange Toys
Ilanena
Monstock!!
Velocitron
Vinyl Junkies
山桜
オープニングパーティー 2月26日（金）19：30〜
最終日：3月6日（土）
秋葉原カルチャーカフェ 「シャッツキステ」
22.01.2010 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Intriguing transformable interior object
I am super impressed with this design, which I just received from Yamaji Tomo. He is an independent creator, and this is all made in Japan, an increasingly rare combination that I'd like to support. It is called the HENGE h010101, and it sells for around US$1,100, but it has been discounted to US$577. Check out the .
26.09.2009 · by Adrian A. Lozano
Lucky Star X Macross Frontier Ichiban Kuji Now On Sale!!!
Lucky Star X Macross Frontier hit 24 hours convenience stores in Tokyo at 12am this morning. Radiokaikan should be flooded with people at 10am when they open in the morning. I found a Family Mart selling them, and at 22 past midnight all the Cosplaying Rankas' were gone.
I tried my luck and bought two tickets for a Cosplaying Klan and ended up with doubles of Konata cosplaying as Aiku. Damm you KyoAni!!!!
Tags: Figures Anime Toys 0 Comments
11.08.2009 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Tokyo Figure Show
It was a rocking time at Danny Choo's Tokyo Figure Show this past week. The event was held in the new art space in Harajuku promoting Coca Cola's Vitamin Water. Danny collaborated with Good Smile Company to introduce high society to a little moe culture. There were a lot of Nendoroids and Figma in attendence, mainly from "Haruhi" and "Lucky Star." The Hatsune Miku exclusive from Wonder Festival, which sold out in a manner of minutes, was also on display. I was personally hoping to see something from "K-On!" or "Strike Witches," but no such luck. The real star of the night was Mirai-chan, Danny's mascot character who is now in hug pillow and Figma form. Way to go!
11.07.2009 · by Adrian A. Lozano
Busy week ANN and a vist to Danny Choo's office WooHoo!!!
This week was my four year anniversary living in Tokyo. I moved here on Saturday July 8th 2005 the opening day of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith and the day after the airing of the first episode of Densha Otoko. The last four years have been great, with a few major and minor ups and downs but I wouldn't trade it for the world. This week has been one of my busiest weeks in the past months. It started last sunday with a visit to Danny Choo's office with my fellow toy expert TokyoHunter. We went there to check out his Figure.FM site and talk about.............. well toys. Danny's dolls are really awesome, he asked if we started venturing into the doll realm. Currently no but it does seem more appealing more and more the past year. Danny has allot of really cool stuff coming down the pike.
Root Beer and Sexy Figures a perfect combination!
Later that night I went to see the new EVA movie, which is very good just a bit lacking on cold blooded characters and death the original series had. This week the Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby dressed Rei up as a maid, why I'm not sure.
July 7th was Tanabata, and luckily the rain stopped long enough to enjoy the moon and stars for the night. If only the humidity would let up, but it's only going to get worse. Yuck!
I got to catch up with my friend Jamie Lano in Yuracho. She took me to the Berry Cafe for some crazy fancy deserts. These things were crazy elaborate at an amazingly cheap price. Jamie has been so busy the past few months with work.
I ended my work week on Friday meeting up with Patrick and Christopher Macdonald the CEO and Editor-In-Chief of Anime News Network at @home cafe in Akihabara. It's been awhile since I've been there and while waiting for the elevator Hitomi-chan was on the way up too and we got to talk about old times when I use to be an @home regular a few years back. We talked to Christopher about how Otaku2 all started and how Patrick's Encyclopedia came to be a book, and the anime industries present state. After we did some Transformer toy hunting for Egan Loo but came up empty handed.
Well today is the big Gundam day in Odaiba, but I just don't have the strength to make it out there. Here's to another year in Tokyo and Otaku life!
10.06.2009 · by Adrian A. Lozano
Lucky Star X Macross Frontier X Macross Frontier Ichiban Kuji Prize Figures
Tomorrow Branpresto's official Ichiban Kuji site is going to release details on the Lucky Star prize series but yesterday it appears the information has leaked. My worse nightmare come true Lucky Star X Macross Frontier, NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Must not collect, must resist!!!!!!!!!!!! I got to have that Klan, no I don't!!!! Patrick I know you're enjoying my pain!!!!
Tags: Figures Macross 3 Comments
18.03.2009 · by Adrian A. Lozano
Beagle Fuke, Rei Ride Armor and MPC Grimlock.............OH MY!!!!!
The Tokyo International Anime Fair Business Day is back and Beagle Toys was there showing off a very early 1/10 scale prototype Fuke (Rook) Ride Armor. Impressive to say the least. Mospeada fans, we never had it so good.
Mospeada Ride Armors have been coming out of woodwork over the last two years, and next in line is Rei (Rand).
Now it has been years since a Transformer has knocked my socks off. The Masterpiece Transformer line is kind of hit or miss, but the MPC Grimlock goes above and beyond Takara Tomy's previous efforts. Must have!!!!
Tags: Figures Wonder Festival Toys 3 Comments
30.10.2008 · by Eva
Ride Miku Ride!
As the following video suggests, have we all seen the Murata Boy commercial? Murata was a bicycling robot developed by a company of the same name about 2 years ago. He was very very cool in that he both balanced and pedaled a bicycle, utilizing a veritable rainbow of technologies. The "was" part comes in earlier this year when his younger cousin did the same thing on a unicycle; he is still very cool nonetheless.
In the commercials which aired on Japanese TV around December of 2006, we see Murata Boy at work. But suppose you wanted to build your own future cyclist? Someone did exactly that, choosing Vocaloid Hatsune Miku as the pilot and building the whole thing from scratch. As comedic distraction, we can see some of the failed attempts - or, better yet, the decision to go from high tech to feasible tech, as the former was "impossible."
The finished product, including the paper hair and origami skirt, is simply awesome.
Tags: Figures Hobby 0 Comments
30.10.2008 · by Adrian A. Lozano
My lunch date with the Lonely Soldier Boy!
Yesterday I meet up with Takashi from Over-Drive for lunch in Akihabara and he just happed to bring along Beagle's 1/10 scale VR-052-F Stick Type Mospeada Ride Armor (機甲創世記モスピーダ 1/10 VR-052F モスピーダ). Toynami will also be releasing it worldwide under their Robotech Masterpiece Cyclone toy line. This is an early sample and show piece and is not the actual finished product toy but pretty dang close, I can't wait to see what the box art will look like.
10.09.2008 · by Eva
Doll Photo Contest
Tablier Marketing will be accepting entries until September 30 for its "Situational Doll Photo Contest," which can be submitted at the GEE!STORE in Akihabara among other locations.
Entries for the contest should feature either child company Cospa's line of Resinya! Portrait Collection dolls, or Azone International's Pure Nemo. Both are spherical-jointed posable 1/6 sized dolls, inspired in design by popular female anime characters.
Applicants are asked to pose their dolls in a situation of their choosing, paying special attention to costuming and props, and submit their entry via the Little World website or participating shops, where they will be displayed. Only one entry will be accepted per applicant. Winning submissions will be announced in mid October.
Tags: figures dolls 1 Comment
06.09.2008 · by Eva
Frauleins Galore
Stopping by the Kaiyodo store in Radio Kaikan, I noticed the new October Fraulein... Yoko from Gurren Lagann! The sculpt looks great.
It seems she'll have two faces which you can change depending on her mood.
As a bonus, the Fraulein band was playing.
Tags: Figures 0 Comments
01.09.2008 · by Eva via AKS
Exploding! Fist of the North Star Figures from Revoltech
Today, September 1, 2008, Kaiyodo releases the first two figures in their new Revoltech action figure series "Fist of the North Star Revolution." The two figures, Kenshiro and Exploding Jeed, are available at Hobby Lobby Tokyo as well as many other locations.
The new "Fist of the North Star REVOLUTION" series is part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of the "Fist of the North Star" manga, and is also the fourth installment in Kaiyodo's Revoltech line. Just as the series Revoltech Yamaguchi and Fraulein Revoltech, figures will generally be released one at a time on the first of each month. Future line ups are announced in advance to give collectors an image of the series in its completion.
Joints of the figures are embedded with Kaiyodo's patented Revoltech Joint system, allowing high posability with durable joints that click into place. However, this is the first implementation of their new "exploding gimmick." Aimed at people who are fans of the "Fist of the North Star" series, but may not have experience purchasing figures, it will certainly appeal to a wide audience.
This first release includes the two figures Kenshiro and Exploding Jeed. Kenshiro stands 145mm tall, and has 19 points of articulation with 14 specialized joints of various sizes to enable a wide range of motion. Also included are nunchaku, optional right upper arm and shoulder, an additional option head, 8 different option hands, and a display base.
The Exploding Jeed figure gets its inspiration from a classic "Fist of the North Star" scene, upon which enemies struck with the legendary North Star Heavenly Blow are subject to an episode of explosive evisceration. The parts are designed in way that allows for infinite reconstructions of the scene, the first of perhaps many figures to include what is being called their "exploding gimmick." The torso of the figure unfolds to reveal an array of bone and internal organs, in what can only be described as "gross." Included are an axe and a display base.
Each figure retails for 2,490yen.
Tags: Kaiyodo Revoltech figures Fist of the North Star 0 Comments
28.08.2008 · by Eva
'Railway Girls' Figure Series Gets TV Drama
In the October edition of Dengeki Daioh, released today, it was announced that the Tomytalk figure series "Railway Girls" is slated for a TV dramatization. Other details, including the cast, are as of yet still unclear.
The "Railway Girls" series is a group of collectible figures based on original characters designed by mangaka Natsuki Mibu. The characters are all dressed in realistic railway-related uniforms, including station master, conductor, dining car waitress, attendants, and maintenance crew. Up until now, there have been six different series, with a total of 36 unique characters.
However, in addition to the figures an array of other related goods have also been in production, such as the Railway Girls Character Songs CD series released last year. It seems you'll also be able to enjoy them in casual wear via the Nintendo DS release Railway Girls DS - Terminal Memory scheduled for October 9.
In the past, we've seen everything from GTO to the recent Nodame Cantabile and Negima! get dramatizations - but this isn't the usual anime turned drama switch. How in the world will a dramatization based on a figure series come out? Will it materialize at all? We have now only to find out.
source: Otasuke
Tags: trains figures TV drama 0 Comments
25.08.2008 · by Adrian A. Lozano
Wonder Festival 2009 Postponed Indefinitely
Due to the escalator incident at this months Summer Wonder Festival next years Winter Wonder Festival will not be taking place as scheduled. Currently there are many agencies investigating what caused the escalator to break which lead to 10 attendees being injured in the opening rush of the show. Kaiyodo the company that runs Wonder Festival expects investigations to continue in the upcoming months which will prevent them from obtaining licenses for vendors in time for their scheduled date of February 15th 2009. As of now Wonder Festival activity is suspended until things clear up.
Source: From Our Friends at Over-Drive-Inc
Tags: figures garage kit cosplay wonder festival wonfes 1 Comment
12.08.2008 · by Eva
Yotsuba&! Figures at 7-Eleven.?
In what seems to be a new angle in marketing, figures from Kiyohiko Azuma's Yotsuba&! series, currently running in the Dengeki Daioh monthly publication, have been branded yet again.
It all began last winter, when amazon.com offered a special Danboard figure - a character dressed in an array of cardboard boxes - wearing exclusively . This time around, 7&i Holdings is getting in on the action, offering not only 7-11 branded version of Danboard, but Fuka as well. Both manufactured by Kaiyodo, which offers an ever widening variety of Yotsuba&! series figures, the 7-11 Fuka edition will have two alternate bodies, just as the original. One will feature a 7-11 brand t-shirt and matching skirt, while the other body will feature a yellow shirt with "goya" written on it. The shirt references an episode in the comic involving Okinawa, famous in Japan for goya - a green, bumby and uniquely flavored vegetable known as balsam pear, bitter melon, and bitter gourd in English.
Both figures are available from Seven-Net, 7-11's online shopping service. Pre-orders, which started July 29, will continue to be accepted through September 9, and figures will be shipped as to arrive at 7am on November 27.
Tags: Yotsuba&! Figures 0 Comments
16.07.2008 · by Eva
Kaiyodo Revoltech's Krauser plus Legendary Guitar!
On July 15, Kaiyudo will release the new series of Detroit Metal City (DMC) figures as part of its Revoltech Yamaguchi series, sculpted by Katsuhisa Yamaguchi.
The three figures included in the line-up are "Krauser II," "Alexander JAGI," and "Camus." Each figure will come with various customized accessories; Krauser will be equipped with his legendary guitar, roaring mic, an alternate head, six alternate hands, and two speed-guitar hands. Alexander JAGI comes with his bass guitar, mic stand, "JAGI's flame," alternate head, four alternate hands, and a display base. The Camus figure will include a DMC sign board, two cobra sticks, two drumsticks, flying serifs, three alternate hands, and a display base. Each measures about 135mm in size and will be priced at 1,995 yen.
The figures are inspired by the gag manga Detroit Metal City by Kiminori Wakasugi, serialized in Hakusensha's Young Animal publication since 2005. It follows the story of pop singer Soichi Negishi, who finds his true passion in death metal, transforming him into the personality "Johannes Krauser II" to play guitar and lead vocals for the band DMC. Since publication, volumes 1-5 of the manga have sold over 2.5 million copies. Though a DMC anime DVD is also set for release sometime this summer, the DMC movie adaptation will hit Japanese theaters August 23.
Tags: Figures 0 Comments
