19.09.2010 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
'Hardware Girls' launch party
A photographer and journalist, gravure idol and musician, it is tough to pin down Julie Watai, aka Amano Ai, aka Eye Taso. She is as unpredictable as she is vibrant. Saturday, September 18, marked the launch of her new photo album, "Hardware Girls." A party was held at Super Potato in Akihabara, with free beer and retro gaming. An awesome follow up to a long day at Tokyo Game Show!
"Hardware Girls" comes some four years after where Julie turned her camera on "spirituality and technology for the moe consciousness." It was a cool slice of Akihabara kitsch, and a chance to peek into the mind of an unnervingly self-aware otaku. Some of the images from "Samurai Girl" reappear in "Hardware Girls," but the hardware and the girls snap into sharp focus. Here are some sample images.
My take on the theme is the technological condition, specifically a free relation to technology opened through and grounded by the young girl. Anyway, worth checking out. Congrats, Julie!
PS - Vid is of Julie (as Eye Taso) performing with Cutie Pai (far right).
20.07.2010 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Idols + hamburgers = heaven
I was invited to a publicity event for Denny's "Hamburg Wanted!" campaign. The chain is serving 12 new kinds of hamburg steaks (see menu here), with standout examples like the Fire Demon Lord Hamburg Bowl, the Mix Mix Babinburg & Rice (inspired by Korean soul food), the Big Mountain (two patties and a deep-fried prawn, for those who like their meal in a pile and are tired of Gogo Curry), Beef Calby Yakiniku Negishio Hamburg, Avocado Hamburg 2010 (which looked like a salad), Avocado & Tororo Japanese-style Locomoco Bowl, and so on. Members of the press got to try an assortment of dishes, and they were generally creative and delicious (the idea of combining yakiniku and hamburg steak sounds crazy, but it was my favorite).
But it actually wasn't the free food that brought me down. My long-time acquaintances, Kyan Chiaki and Harada Marirun from the Nakano Fujoshi Sisters, were the idol hosts. The idea is a multi-media viral promotion, which is why they invited bloggers and famous Twitter and Ustream personalities. But that's just the beginning. This is a showdown between Kyan and Harada, where each gets points for finishing hamburg steaks over the next few months. Fans of Kyan and Harada are encouraged to go to Denny's and "challenge" the hamburg steaks, too. For every selection they complete, they are allotted points, which they can give to either Kyan or Harada by using a special Twitter account. Kyan promised those who sent their points to her could expect a personal reply and a picture of her. Harada said that she planned to do some sort of offline meeting with those who assisted her.
This is actually a pretty good use of social media (and Japan's infamous cult of personality) for a promotion, I think.
Further, the "Hamburg Wanted!" campaign stretches out to traditional TV programs, a game on the Mixi community site and special dramas featuring Kyan and Harada, which can be seen on the cell phone.
As an aside, Kyomoto Yuka, also of Nakano Fujoshi Sisters, is also participating, though she did not come to the event (someone held up and showed a giant poster picture of her, which made it kind of feel like a funeral or something) and apparently does not use Twitter. Each of the three girls is partnered with one of the comedic duo Carnelian or a guy named Party Uchiyama.
My only regret about the event, the beginning to a very ambitious multi-media campaign, is that they did not invite idol fans. Most people in the audience seemed like they didn't even know who Kyan and Harada were, which was a waste of star power. Even more so because both of them were wearing Denny's waitress uniforms, looked incredibly cute and were posing for pictures on demand. It's an idol fan's wet dream, and they would have got a lot of milage out of tapping that energy. As it was, only I volunteered to be spoon fed by Kyan. Seriously. I would have begged, but no one else even went for it. They let me take a picture of her holding the bite up, which I include here for those who want the virtual experience. Then they let me pose with both Kyan and Harada. Most fans buy several copies of CDs, go through lotteries and screenings, wait in line and get only a few moments perhaps shaking the hand of a favorite idol. What an opportunity, and no one went for it!
From now on, my personal heaven looks a lot like Denny's.
As an aside, Kyan's favorite selection on the new menu was Melty Cheese Fried Vegetable Hamburg, and Harada chose the Fire Demon Lord. Kyan said that the mixture of cheese and tomato was "godly" (kami desu), and Harada that rater than her mouth, her soul burned with the challenge of the Demon Lord. She said she needed to level up in order to defeat him and restore peace to the war-torn country of Japan. (Are we watching here or what?)
I am not sure how this works exactly, but if you eat a hamburg steak at Denny's and want to send your points to Kyan via Twitter, the address is #dennys_kyan. For Harada, send to #dennys_marirun, and for Kyomoto, #dennys_kyomo.
Tags: Idols Food 0 Comments
01.07.2010 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Idol-ing away the summer...
The other day I headed down to Asakusa to check out Marubell-dou (マルベル堂). I was looking for "promides" of Minami Saori and Moritaka Chisato. Oddly enough, they did not have Moritaka, despite her impeccable cuteness (c'mon, does it get better than "17"?), but they did have Minami. One thing is for sure, the older the performers, the better the stock. Marubell-dou kicks it old school. I have places in Nakano and Akihabara that I prefer for idol goods, but the atmosphere and staff are top notch in Asakusa.
Tags: Idols 0 Comments
05.02.2010 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Idol Bombaie, whatever that means
So Adrian and I were invited to Idol Bombaie (アイドルボンパイエ) in Shinjuku in January by the folks who do the signage for Yodobashi Akiba. The idols who appear on the time announcement on Yodobi (the big TV out the central exit of Akihabara station) come from this event, I guess, so that is the connection. It was a little weird to be sitting with the Yodobashi guys at the VIP table to begin with, but then the new character, Yodobi-chan, was projected on stage and started talking. The seiyuu who does her voice was at our table. They were playing the Yodobashi theme as filler music before the event, and even sometimes when idols were on stage, which was also strange.
It'd been a while since I attended one of these things, and I was looking forward to busting out some otagei. The venue was the Big Pink Pig, providing generous floor space. Unfortunately, everyone sat down and crowded up to the stage, which eliminated all chance of movement. Worse, they had otagei dancers on stage to back up the idols, so everyone just watched them instead of joining in. I was seriously bummed... On the bright side, some of the "otagei dancers" (trying to make this sound official cracks me up) were familiar faces from the now defunct Akihabara street culture. Roberta, one of the men who enjoyed wearing maid and goth-loli costumes, was among them.
Anyway, so we ended up just standing there and watching the show, but the MC was none other than Inagaki Saki, the female comedian who dresses up like Asuka from "Eva." My love for Asuka is known, and this girl is just damn cute to begin with, so I was happy. The other MC was Space Pirate Gorgeous, who was a colorful character to say the least. Inagaki and Gorgeous weren't the only comedians around. R Fujimoto (I think that was his name) did a freaking hilarious interpretation of Yamcha from "Dragon Ball Z."
The basic premise of the show was that idols in groups or solo would perform a song, then would be judged as true or fake idols. The true ones got an otagei dance in their honor. The fake ones got roughed up by a guy who appeared to be Raoh from "Fist of the North Star." The first time he appeared, he ripped a manga magazine - as thick as a phonebook - in half. Every time his theme, "Tough Boy," played, the girls knew they were in trouble. He basically just picked them up, flashed their underwear to the audience and dragged them off stage. Yeah, these events can get a little weird... Of course this was all staged; everyone knew who was going to lose and those girls wore swimsuits or bloomers under their skirts.
The losers actually were some of the best idols, I think. They were also mostly talents pretending to be idols as a joke, and playing the part of ugly, mean-spirited girls. Metropoli-chan V and Yamashita Wakana fit into this category. Number one idol of the night had to be Hikita Saya, who sang "Cruel Angel's Thesis," or tried to! The wrong version came up, she didn't know the intro and ended up doing it over. Holy cuteness. Juri Juri was a close second, and Adrian's first, because she is a "tokusatsu idol" and wore a retro costume that resembled Minmay's. Overall sexiness, though, had to be Hisanaga Ayana. She wore an Ayanami Rei schoolgirl uniform in ways I didn't think possible.
Overall the event is fun and worth checking out. The official blog is here. The girls apparently also appear on this site.
Tags: Idols 0 Comments
12.11.2009 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Momoi Halko in Akihabara
I met Momoi Halko, idol, seiyuu and self-described Akiba-kei otaku, in Akihabara to discuss moe. She had some fascinating things to say, including a strong opinion that moe can and will travel around the world. Her evidence was a recent world tour where fans responded to Komugi-chan and Seto no Hanayome. I can't think of a better ambassador for Akiba and moe culture than Momoi Halko, who was doing street lives here back in 1996 and was among the first to not use a pseudonymn when singing eroge songs. Thanks to Momoi-san for her time, and signing my copy of her book, and Fritz Schumann for taking some great pics!
29.07.2009 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Nakano Fujoshi Sisters at Comike
I just got word that the girls, dressed as boys again, will be performing at Comike. I guess they are going to be the only band there this year. Could be fun, and pictures are supposedly allowed for members of the press (read: anyone with a blog). I think I will be going just to get in on the action - idols surrounded by oceans of hungry otaku buying doujinshi. If the energy of the cosplay area tells us anything, the energy at this performance will be something to remember.
What: Fudanjuku Summer Live in Comike
When: 8/16 (Sunday) at 14:45 (doors open at 14:00)
Where: 7th floor Kokusai Kaigiba, Tokyo Big Sight
Tags: Idols Comike 0 Comments
15.06.2009 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
NFS Live in Shibuya
The Nakano Fujoshi Sisters (pronounced "Fujosisters") had a great concert at Shibuya O-East on Sunday night. Thanks to Mr. Ohata for inviting us, and Androniki Christodoulou for the picture.
Tags: Idols Nakano Fujoshi Sisters Nakano Otaku 0 Comments
30.04.2009 · by Adrian A. Lozano
Gunnar takes on @home Cafe and @gumi head on!
Gunnar our fellow otaku in denial visits @home Cafe and lives through an Otagei pit to tell about it.
Great to see Hiyochan in the spot lite, she is one of the few original @home maids left.
22.02.2009 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
No Street Lives in Akihabara
Beginning to feel like spring now, and the streets of Akihabara are beginning to liven up. Cosplayers are coming back, as are tourists.
The efforts of local officials seem to be doing the trick, and a revival might be at hand, which seemed almost impossible after the horrific events of June 8, 2008.
Police are still saying that Chuo-dori will remain open to traffic and the Pedestrian Paradise will be suspended for the forseeable future. They have also put up a signs reminding the public that "live performances are banned" (click above picture).
Meanwhile, longtime street idol Yumeiro Monster is still performing on the 5th floor of Don Quixote, a free "street live" event space has been opened on Chuo-dori and the Akiba Sunday Live continues once a month.
Tags: Akihabara Idols Event 0 Comments
25.08.2008 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Shoko-tan and Otaku2!
Nakagawa Shoko, idol, seiyuu and anisong queen just posted an image of herself in the Otaku2 "Moe = Deculture" shirt. Check out her blog.
Tags: Shokotan Idol 3 Comments
