Blog 204 > Sankaku-Shikaku Otakulypse

Otakus! Apocalypses! Otakulypses! This week, our melodramatic mega-cast launches a three-stage nuclear warhead into the outer edges of the otaku blogosphere. The otakusphere! No anime speed-reviews. No figure photoshoots. Just otaku, more otaku, and even more otaku. Unloading their celebrity, anonymity, sanity, and insanity like there’s no tomorrow. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Because even I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Hurry up, my Terrorized Toyboxers! Hurry up! Shut your windows. Lock your doors. And let’s hack into the cyber-scrambled broadcast frequency…

Part 1 of 3 > Omens of the Otakulypse

In the beginning, Japan created anime. And it was good. In the mid-1980s, a man named Hayao Miyazaki launched the environmental rocket “Nausicaä” into the stratosphere. And it was good. In the mid-1990s, two men named Hideaki Anno and Mamoru Oshii launched their respective apocalyptic missiles “Evangelion” and “Ghost in the Shell” into the cybersphere. And it was good. The land of anime grew fruitful. And the world of otaku multiplied.

Inevitably, in 2006-2007, a new force named Danny Choo launched the international warhead “Tokyo Dance Trooper” into the lower blogosphere. And it was good. It was better than good. Ultimately, in 2008-2009, a new storm led by “Artefact” launched the global warhead “Sankaku Complex” into the upper blogosphere. And it was better than good. It was great. The land of anime grew fruitful linearly. And the world of otaku multiplied exponentially.

But is it still good? Is such exponential growth leading to exponential decay?

Hmm, maybe it’s just me and my imagination. So let me ask you this. Does anyone else see any signs? Does anyone else feel the four corners of the otakusphere beginning to vibrate, rumble and crumble? Perhaps the warning signs of an otaku apocalypse? Omens of an oncoming otakulypse?


First Omen > Anime Bubble Burst. The first major sign to catch my eye, rumbled last month. In early May 2009, news of the “Anime Bubble Burst” spread like wildfire. Like a roaring and rumbling wildfire. Here’s a screencap of the “Sankaku Complex” article (04 May 2009) from my Blog 201 (12 May 2009).

 


Second Omen > Danny’s Daughters. The next unsettling sign to catch my eye, spanned from early-to-late May 2009. Lingering across several “Danny Choo” articles from “Dollfie Ryomo Shimei” (04 May 2009, 3rd Dollfie) to “Dollfie Nanoha” (25 May 2009, 4th Dollfie) to “Dollfie Eyes” (31 May 2009), Danny refers to his Dollfie acquisitions as “daughters”. While I don’t mind his understandable pride in owning such pretty works of art, I still find it rather unsettling, if not bordering on the edge of creepy, to refer to such dolls as “daughters”. Whether or not they’re humor-based terms of endearment. I can understand female collectors doing so. But male collectors? I mean, throughout my own figure collection, from the 1st to the 92nd figure, I found each character to be sentimental, inspirational or beautiful. But never thought of them as “children”. I can also understand “following one’s passion”, but then again, “with great passion comes great responsibility” too, right?

Here’s a screencap of the first article. His third “daughter”.

Then the next article. His fourth “daughter”.

Then the last article yesterday. Very “persocom-ical”, lol.

 


Third Omen > Melonpan’s Melancholy. The third twisted sign to catch my eye, rumbled in late May 2009. Drilling from the “Danny Choo” article “Otaku Graduation” (27 May 2009) to the “Angry Mimi” article “Leaving the Anime World” (27 May 2009) to the “Sankaku Complex” article “Uber Otaku Melonpan Abandons Otaku Ways” (29 May 2009), we witness the photo-by-photo crumbling of an otaku mind called “Melonpan”. Whether the incident was an elaborate practical joke or not, the believability of such a phenomenon is unmistakable. Unmistakable and unsettling. Which doesn’t reflect very well on “Melonpan” either. How unfortunate.

Here’s a screencap of the “Danny Choo” article.

Then the “Angry Mimi” article.

Followed by the “Sankaku Complex” article.

 


Fourth Omen > Rage Over Rapelay. The fourth burning sign to catch my eye in a month, also rumbled in late May 2009. Struggling from the “Sankaku Complex” articles “Rape Eroge Banned” (28 May 2009) and “Media Invents Eroge Ban” (29 May 2009) to the “Danny Choo” article “Rapelay” (28 May 2009) to the “Angry Mimi” article “Knowing How to Debate Intelligently” (29 May 2009), we experience the flame-by-flame battling from both sides of the “Rapelay” eroge ban. Does it defend the dignity of women? Does it degrade the freedom of expression? Does one override the other? Simple or not, complex or not, the issue is undeniably intense. Like the intensity of a whirling inferno.

Here’s a screencap of the first “Sankaku Complex” article.

Then the second “Sankaku Complex” article.

Then the “Danny Choo” article.

Followed by the “Angry Mimi” article.

Well, there you have it. The first four “Omens of the Otakulypse”. The spreading perception of twisted otaku by fellow otaku. A perception from not simply outside the otakuspheric community, but within it as well. Am I imagining things? Or are these the first few signs of things to come? I wouldn’t be surprised if the next few years witnessed the rabid rise of politically-driven witch-hunts which severely restricted the production (via higher risk and lower profit) of not only Japanese games, but anime, manga and figures as well. Saddened. But not surprised.


Trembling Temporal Tangent. Taking a trembling tangent off the paved path, let’s take a closer look at the “Angry Mimi” screencap immediately above. Enlarge if necessary. Do you notice the “Shoutbox” in the far-right column? As of Saturday, 30 May 2009, 7pm, here’s what Mimi-chan and Chie discussed.

Chie: DC’s sucking as always and careless blogger. disgusted how he pretend to be familiar with Japan, not considering how japanese people’s feeling… I mean he’s hypocrite wearing a mask of pro-Japan.

Mimi: @Chie: Danny really is pro-Japan. I don’t understand how he didn’t consider their feelings.

Chie: A sentiment to japanese people only. I’m sick of person who look down on us, even as it’s “tabloidish material”… would mad at this if it were an insult for their own country. WaiWaicolumn – the lost articles… demagogic media, Mainichi, TBS, hentai rag forced to back down, media invents eroge ban… I’m not saying DC’s demagogic or something, but I want him to beware of fictional info about japan.

Whoa. This got me curious. I mean, which “Danny Choo” article? When? So last night, my best guess was his article “Kawagoe” (2008/06/12, re-posted 2009/05/26), in which he discusses the town of Kawagoe below.

Why this article? What’s so bad about it? Well, consider his carefree use of the word “flattened”.

Kawagoe was originally a castle town of the Kawagoe clan. Many buildings still stand after many centuries surviving the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and bombings in 1945.

The 1923 earthquake pretty much flattened Tokyo where 105,000 died in the magnitude 7.9 – 8.4 quake that lasted over 4 minutes. Pics of flattened Tokyo at Wikipedia.

Then Tokyo was re-flattened again in the B29 bombings where another 100,000 people were killed – pics of re-flattened Tokyo at Tokyo Uni.

Ouch. Yup, I cringed too. Not the most considerate choice of words, is it?

Taking the dusty detour even further, if you scroll down the same “Kawagoe” article, you’ll notice a huge gap in the comment time-date-stamps. Jumping from mid-2008 to mid-2009. Why the fuss? What’s the big deal? Well, despite the date of “26 May 2009” at the top of the article, the first comment was posted on “12 June 2008”, almost one full year earlier. One year. Yup, whether he forgot about it or not, Danny is still recirculating his year-old posts as if they were posted today. Clever. Clever but carelessly misleading.

In fact, the first time I noticed this recirculating mechanism was back in September 2008, with his article “Japanese V Sign” (2007/09/16, re-posted 2008/09/19, I commented 2008/09/23), in which he discusses the origins of the “V sign” hand gesture below. According to the various comment time-date-stamps, Danny first posted the article in September 2007, and it was recirculated in September 2008. So there’s no reason why it won’t recirculate a second time in August-September 2009, just a few months from now.

Here’s the comment gap from April 2008 to September 2008.

And here’s my first realization of the recirculating mechanism. Notice the comment gap from September 2008 to 23 May 2009, just last week. LOL, how did that guy find me?

Haha, enough of the trembling temporal tangent. You get the picture. Clever but carelessly misleading. Unfortunately, according to the latest “Shoutbox” comments, Chie wasn’t referring to the “Kawagoe” article after all. Oh well. A tangent is a tangent, lol.

 

Part 2 of 3 > From Sankaku Complex to Shikaku Otakusphere

Leaving behind eerie omens and tangents, let’s blast through some shiny triangles and squares! Like I stated at the top of “Part 1”: In 2008-2009, a new storm led by “Artefact” launched the global warhead “Sankaku Complex” into the upper blogosphere. And it was better than good. It was great. The land of anime grew fruitful linearly. And the world of otaku multiplied exponentially.

Here’s a screencap of the “About Sankaku Complex” page. Feel free to enlarge the shot.

Here’s my shinier “Sankaku (Triangle)” presentation of “Japanese Media”.

Followed by my “Shikaku (Square)” interpretation of the “Otakusphere”. While Anonymity-to-Celebrity slides vertically, Sanity-to-Insanity slides horizontally. Moreover, while “Danny Choo” enjoys the highest celebrity status in the otakusphere, “Otaku Dan” is blessed with sanity as “Melonpan” is cursed with insanity, lol. Practical joke or not, the idea-and-intent to drill-destroy-and-document still borders on the unhinged.

Naturally, these are conceptual approximations based on my personal perspective. Concepts which rise and fall. Approximations which ebb and flow. Blogs which shift and stretch. Yet, despite everything, the outer edges of the otakusphere seem to be drifting further and further into unbridled-and-unchecked insanity. Myself included?

 

Part 3 of 3 > Saturday Bug Bash

Launching from unbridled blog blasting to unabridged bug bashing, let’s take a peek at how I spent my Saturday, 30 May 2009, from 9am to 3pm. Yup, with the approaching release of our latest software version in a matter of months, our company headquarters held a “Bug Bash” to gather a multi-departmental force to catch and attack as many functional defects as we could. Besides, with morning bagels and afternoon pizza, how could we go wrong?

Here’s one of our executive vice presidents, rockin’ to the beat!

Ah, the company auditorium! Check out the pizza boxes way in the back!

Another angle including the back row. Where is everyone? Playing foosball?

Yup, the back row, lol. Actually caught several decent bugs!

Finally, a shot of my laptop and Bamboo tablet. Nice!

Whoa, that was pretty quick, wasn’t it? But I’m sure you don’t mind, lol.


Otakus! Apocalypses! Otakulypses! Omens! Tangents! Triangles! Squares! Blogs! Bugs! Bashes! Damn, how was our melodramatic mega-cast? Did we successfully launch a three-stage nuclear warhead into the outer edges of the otakusphere? Did we unload our celebrity, anonymity, sanity, and insanity like there’s no tomorrow? Ahhh, the coast is clear. The ominous clouds have lifted. And the shadowy skies have brightened. You did great, my Tense Toyboxers! Everything’s fine! You may open your windows. Unlock your doors. Unleash your sanity.

Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

 

Final Flashback

Speaking of Danny and his dolls, here’s one of my craziest parody posts “Blog 160 > Adventures of Danny Clone” (08 Sept 2008), which explores the question: “What is the difference between figure and doll?” It’s a wild, weird, wicked and wondrous world out there, lol.

 

29 thoughts on “Blog 204 > Sankaku-Shikaku Otakulypse

  1. hisashiburi desu!

    i must admit, your post caught my eye with the diagram ^^;; As prolific as ever with your posts I see ^^

    So no dollfie love from the jayman? ^^; I guess I’m just too far gone to be creeped out by the whole ‘daughter’ terminology. But now that you mention it… that is terribly creepy for normal people, isn’t it? ^^;;;

    After melonpan’s first moe debacle in which he commented that it was a joke, I’m not really sure what to make of this follow up. Your diagram has him accurately place at the insanity side of the spectrum so who knows what he’s thinking ^^; I believe one sankaku commenter rather trollingly scoffed at his attention whore behavior, though looking back on what’s happened so far I suppose that may not be too far off. What exactly is the point of two moe destruction posts? (and forgive me if there’s been any development on the most melonpan recent posts… I figured I’d stay away and see what was happening in a month or so :P)

    Hmmm I should organize a bug bash for my section’s software… could use it + pizza’s awesome :P But unfortunately we wouldn’t have the bandwidth to fix anything we uncovered orz Ah well.

    meronpan´s last blog post > 錫華姫 ~ Suzuka Hime

  2. Heh, I’ve heard people call their figures their daughters as well. Hm that Danny Choo recycling reminds me..I always wondered whether magazines recycled their material. -wry- For a moment I thought a bug bash involved people getting around to kill cockroaches. XD Ahaha.

    Oo! A Bamboo! How big is yours, and how are you finding it? :)

    jenn´s last blog post > Immortal Regis Volume 1 – Zombies and a New Life

  3. I don’t have much to comment on other than if you’re going to bring all those things up (particularly the rape game), then you need to talk about the Christopher Handley court case involving manga that was found by the US Postal Service that depicted underage characters in sexual situations.

    Kris´s last blog post > E3 2009 – Sony

  4. Finally found some time to drop by the tasty Toyboxx!

    Melonpan and insane?Hes perfectly sane and a genius when it comes to attention whoring.Im probably the most knowledgable dude at the toyboxx when it comes to Melonpan since i speak the language.

    Yes Melonpan did drill his Rin Tohsaka figure but she was such a bad leaner that she would have ended up in the bin anyways,so he used it for his gag.Nearly the same goes for his Nanoha Figma.She had some broken parts and therefore he smashed her with a hammer.When its coming to the posters:He did destroy ONE and took down the others for that post.

    About a month later he brought up his Out of Moe 2.0 Post and well he admitted that everything was fake and the bin the dakimakura was inside was actually a paper bin = absolutely clean.He even admits at the end of the post that everythings fake ^^
    In one of his older posts he wrote that hes actually a perfectly normal person in RL and he couldnt allow himself to be this crazy in his job and society.Melonpan is just a character he created for his blog and is as real as Mickey Mouse.
    Meidocafe is the most famous german language blog and well he knows it and likes to play with its visitors.He already said a 1312653612 times hed stop blogging and other stuff.Dont take this dude seriously.He even wrote in his blog comments how funny the shicked DC Comments were.

    Errr…Back to the normal stuff

    I see that you are one of those back row kids huh?Probably started in Junior High and is still active :P
    When it comes to Dollfies…I cant understand why everyones so crazy about them since i think of them as rather creepy but well I dont mind as long as Im not forced to look at it.
    The recycled DC articles arent anything new are they?Its ages ago that I wondered why an old post was labelled as new one.

    As far as the Otakucalypse is concerned:Ive played my fair share of Fallout 1 and 2 and i think im prepared for streets full of lolicons that devour little children and lowanglers ^^

    Blowfish´s last blog post > Spicy Wolf – 1/8 Horo

  5. @Meronpan: Hey! Yeah, it’s been a while! I’ve been following your posts, but can’t seem to find anything “cool” to say. At least, not as often as I’d like, lol. Haha, if u mean “profilic” as lots of mini-posts per week, then nahhh. But if u mean “prolific as a truckload of goodies per weekly mega-post, then sure!… Thanx, I think my “Shikaku Complex” diagram is pretty funny… and pretty cool too, lol. But u haven’t seen my “Blog 202” charts? Too bad! Well, I’m fine with “Dollfies”. They’re pretty to look at. But owning one is entirely different. Let alone four! I’m already a bit uncomfortable as it is with an old “Barbie” boxed up in the closet. LOL, a “Dollfie” would be worse! And yeah, calling them “daughters”? {Chills}… I agree. Haven’t followed “Melonpan”, so I wouldn’t know his German state-of-mind. But I see Blowfish just commented below. Maybe he’ll have a better explanation, lol… Dohhh, too bad about the lack of bandwidth. Yeah, gonna need some big-ass bandwidth if you’re gonna launch a “bug bash”. If anything, just skip the bugs and have a normal pizza party, haha.

    @Jenn-chan: Ahh, but what do think of the idea of calling figures or Dollfies “daughters”? As normal as calling automobiles “sons”? Or calling full-scale CandyGirl sex dolls “girlfriends” or “daughters”? {More chills}… Hmm, yeah, I’m sure some magazine somewhere recycles its content. Pretty economical too, lol. So why not online magazines or blogs?… Hehe, nahhh, no cockroaches. You must have some pretty strange software companies in Australia!… Ah, how big is mine? LOL, isn’t that kinda personal? Inches or centimeters? LOL, okay-okay, the small Bamboo is pretty damn cool. Fits better on my desk. Oh yeah, check out my “Blog 179 > Death of Mice” to see both of them, lol. Although now, 6 months later, I think my right-hand needs to take a similar break from the Bamboo too! T_T

    @Kris-chan: Hmmm, the only reason I haven’t included the Handley case, is that frankly, and sadly, it’s not particularly new or eye-catchingly unique. Yup, “Sankaku” mentioned his 15-year sentence. But hasn’t stirred as much as fire-and-fervor as “Melonpan” or “Rapelay” across the blogosphere. Having said that, yeah, this is just another example contributing to the overall downward spiral of how otaku are perceived.

    @FlyingBlow: Hey, welcome back, my Trilingual Toyboxer! German, English, and Otaku, lol… Okay, let’s digest some “Melonpan”. Even knowing it’s a joke or fake or gag, doesn’t alter the fact that there was a certain “cruelty” to the deception. Now, if he told everyone that these were broken or deformed *before* he smashed them, that would be different. True, it wouldn’t have been as shocking. But it might’ve still been amusing or entertaining! Maybe even funnier without the cruelty! But instead, he portrayed every photo as *real*… So know that we know the truth, does anything change? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps when he’s ready to be genuine and serious, nobody will believe him. Or care anymore… Ahh, yeah, the back row! Of course! But movie seats are different too, lol… Creepy Dollfies? Well, they aren’t too creepy to me. Just calling them “daughters” or “girlfriends” is a bit creepy, lol. As for the recycled posts, like I wrote, I first noticed them in September 2008, when he redesigned his blog layout and removed the “Same Day, Last Year” feature. And it’s still going on. At least 9 months so far… Ouch, that’s a pretty nightmarish “Fallout” otakulypse! We aren’t heading in that direction, are we? ^_^

  6. The Handley case SHOULD be higher profile. It’s very important. It could have vast repercussions on American otaku. The only thing is…what exactly was he reading? Maybe it deserves to be illegal? I haven’t really seen anything that said what it was EXACTLY he got in trouble for. Still, his sentence is kind of ridiculous.

    And Danny’s old posts…. Whenever I’ve seen them, they were always accompanied with a “This time last year” type tag, so I knew they were older. So in no way does he try to pass them off as new; he’s openly admitting they’re not.

    Kris´s last blog post > E3 2009 – Sony

  7. @Kris-chan: Maybe that’s the thing. Maybe it’s so unclear that it isn’t deserving a higher profile. Here’s an ANN article from last week. Does this make it any clearer to you? If so, maybe u can explain it to me, lol… As for the recycled DC posts, I don’t see the “this time last year” tag anywhere. So I only know they’re old if I’ve already seen them a year ago, hehe. But for newer readers who haven’t seen them yet, and who don’t see the “this time last year” tag, it still seems like new. I mean, why alter the original date in the first place, right?

  8. Oh, I nearly forgot my point. Here we go. The idea of calling figures or dollfies daughters — I was talking to niisama about your dolls vs figures thing (he says that figures are figures cos they have a stand. XD) do you think it could be something like what little girls do? Play house? i.e. a surrogate for something they don’t actually have.. for DC, I reckon as long as his wife (I think he has one, right? I don’t read his articles much, but might have seen that around..) thinks it’s alright, there’s no problem, heh.

    And when it comes to automobiles, as long as you don’t have sex with them (which’s just plain dangerous), I’m sure there’re people who do that. Though more like ‘girlfriend’ instead of ‘son’. :P

    Haha, I thought that line could have been misconstrued, but I didn’t want to point it out in case you wouldn’t pick up on it..XD I was looking at the small one (is it the 4x5inch one?) and wondering whether it was too small… Nevarh use left hand? :)

    jenn´s last blog post > Immortal Regis Volume 1 – Zombies and a New Life

  9. @Jenn-chan: Hehe, you’ve got some great answers! So now, it’s my job to come up with some greater responses! Let’s see… First, dolls versus figures. I was ready to believe your “Niisama” (for a split-second) until I wondered, do Barbies have stands? Well, I did an Amazon search for “barbie stand” and guess what? With a $13-USD adjustable stand, u can turn ANY Barbie doll into a figure! And vice-versa, if I detach the stand from my Figma Lelouch, he immediately becomes a doll! LOL! Ready to change your mind yet?… Secondly, surrogate daughters. I probably agree. Creepy or not, calling them “daughters” might fulfill their lack of children… But thirdly, his wife’s approval. Isn’t that along the lines of saying if a wife approves of her husband having sex with other consenting wives, then that makes it alright? Does a wife’s approval determine acceptability? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But depending on the wife’s sanity, that debate is freaky! LOL!… Hahaha, so you’re familiar with having sex with motorcycles too?!? I guess it depends on how big u like the mufflers to be, lol… As for the Bamboo, it’s closer to 3.5 x 6-inch area with an overall 8 x 8-inch shell (mousepad size-ish). Nahhh, not usually my left. Only if my right hand is holding a drink or fork or spoon, etc. Wait. Are u talking about left-handed Bamboo? Or left-handed something else? LOL!

  10. @Jay-san: -laughs- I think it was just the first thing that came to his mind. =) Heh the main thing about the wife — because she’s the person living with him (presumably) and having to endure his otakuness (also presumably :P). The dolls can’t consent, but she can. So in your situation — if all the wives and all the husbands consent, and his wife consents, then yes, that’s fine. :P (In fact, mass orgy! Ahem.) Also, yes, I am aware I have a weird sense of morality. -wry- Quick/dirty version: I think people are responsible for themselves, their partners, and their children if they’re not adults yet. As long as they aren’t hurting themselves or other people doing whatever they’re doing, it’s alright.

    >.> But hey, that documentary was kinda interesting. I thought it was quite sad, too, since humans are, well, for one, WARM. XD But to each his own. 3.5 inch x 6?! Wow, that’s smaller than I’d thought. :S Ah well. We’ll see.

    Ambidexterity is nice.

    jenn´s last blog post > Immortal Regis Volume 1 – Zombies and a New Life

  11. @Jenn-chan: LOL, consenting dolls? And figures? That’d be a societal nightmare! Hahaha!… But yeah, in that situation, with all wives and husbands consenting, I suppose that kind of “mass orgy” makes legal sense, lol. And perhaps, like u said, moral sense too. LOL, I gotta say, your commenting are getting tastier and tastier… Almost at Jem-chan’s standards, if u haven’t already exceeded them. ^o^

    Documentary? You mean, the “Danny Clone” show? Sad? Hmm, that’s an interesting perspective. In that light, *all* figure and doll collecting is kinda “sad”, eh? But that’s the thing. Figures and dolls *aren’t* supposed to replace the warmth of humans. They might be toys or art or pieces of memory and sentimentality. But they’re things which reaffirm one’s unique *individuality*. (I think I discuss that in Blog 195, Part 4.) Not to replace *human relationships*… That’s where the “tasty ambidextrous orgies” come into play, hehehe. All puns intended. I haven’t mentioned my thing for lefty females, have I? ^.^

  12. yeah, prolific as in the amount of content in your mega posts ^^;

    and looks like i did miss out on a buncha chart pr0n! just looked over them, very nice work ^^

    glad blowfish was able to clear up the melonpan stuff. had a feeling that was the case ^^;

    and finally… yes, i could just use a pizza party right now ^^;; been quite a stressful week.

    meronpan´s last blog post > Saki too moe? Try Akagi

  13. Shikaku: lol at the Shikaku diagram. I don’t think I’d fit anywhere in there, though- I think I’d be wandering around the fringes poking at everyone now and then, haha. But what’s Aso doing there?

    Dollfie: I’d have to admit that I never did find it odd for him to refer to dollfies as daughters. Maybe it’s because I’ve endured years of my friend calling his PS2 his wife, who coincidentally happens to be ‘dead’- the lens broke and he’s waiting to replace her with a PS3. That’s the problem with marrying hardware, haha- you either get broken or obsolete T.T

    Pastries: Hmm, I have a hard time keeping melonpan and meronpan apart at times. My fault entirely. As for um, melonpan’s ‘announcement’, although I realized instantly that it was probably a scam of some sort,
    it did feel cruel and unnecessary, despite the figures being defective. Seeing a grown man ride a kids cart was rather amusing, though.

    Rapelay: Agreed, the Handley case should have gotten more attention. With the game, it’s really a matter of choice- either you want it or you don’t. I really hate it when the news says that so-and-so got arrested for sedition/slander or what not, but never mentions exactly WHAT said person said to get in trouble in the first place. How are we to judge? For all we know Handley could have been reading Doraemon. If you gave me a dollar for every time Fujio F Fujiko showed Shizuka naked, I’d be rich:3

    aprilius20´s last blog post > A Salve for Broken Eyes

  14. since when was I ever sane, that seems new to me. I found it funny when everyone was overreacting with the whole Meronpan thing and MANY people insulted him for that. From the start, I knew it was all a joke.

    Otaku Dan´s last blog post > K-On! Episode 10 Review

  15. @Meronpan: LOL, ahh, I thought so. Thanx for the “profilic” and “pr0n” comments! Yeah, FlyingBlow helped a bit. I guess Germans can justify anything, lol. Then again, why buy pizza when a stack of pizza pies can buy a figure? ^_^

    @A20-man: Ahh, any otaku can fit in the diagram! But the chart would get kinda messy, wouldn’t it? But if I had to guesstimate from what I’ve seen so far, I’d say you’d fit in the area between “xJAYMANx” and “Otaku Dan”. In fact, probably most Toyboxers would fit there… LOL, ohh, Taro Aso is a remnant of a previous idea. Before the “Shikaku Complex” diagram, I was wondering about the “Four Horsemen of the Otakulypse”. But instead of War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death, I was experimenting with Taro Aso, Danny Choo, Melonpan, and Anonymous (the collective anonymous commenters of Sankaku Complex), haha! Still sounds funny! But then a Sankaku-like diagram popped into view instead, lol… Hmm, PS2s as “wives” don’t seem so bad cuz men have been anthropomorphizing vehicles and machines into “her” and “she” since wooden ships were invented! But for a toy that’s already human-shaped? And going beyond an equal “girlfriend” or “wife” into less-than-equal “daughter”-hood? I mean, I’ve never heard of a male car-owner calling his machine his “daughter”, have u?… Yeah, I used to confused “Melonpan” and “Meronpan” too. But nowadays I know that the “L” is German, and the “R” is half-Asian or half-Japanese. Haha, just realized, “L” for left and “R” for right. And yup, I agree, a little unnecessary. But then again, everyone will forget it anyway, as “shocking otaku news” becomes more and more acceptable. Sadly. Especially with cases like Handley. Unfortunately, don’t know who FFF is, lol. But I think I get the idea. Oh great. Now I’m reminded of the 1994 hentai series “F3 – Frantic, Frustrated & Female”. Thanx. ^o^

    @Lene-chan: Haha, “bug bash”. Yeah, wasn’t too bad. Although “fun” isn’t necessarily the first thought that comes to mind when discovering application defects in the post-development stage, lol… Past couple days? Just days? Haha, ohhh, u should check out my Blog 199 since your “blog roommates” are mentioned a bit, and Blog 192 references to your “Nadesico” post. In fact, I think your last comments appeared in Blog 187, discussing “Police Story” and “Gekigangar”, lol. Wow, Blog 187 minus Blog 204 equals 17 whole weeks away!

    @Dan-man: Haha, well, “sane” from my specific view of your rational-and-observational day-to-day blog posts. With a few exceptions, your “insanity” rarely seems to leak into your blog. Even your “DC rants” could be considered reasonable because of the irritating deterioration of its Member News. Haha, nothing compared to drilling defective figures like Melonpan or collecting 300+ figures like Jem-chan, lol. Not yet… But like I told A20 above: Everyone will forget it anyway, as “shocking otaku news” becomes more and more acceptable. Sadly.

  16. @Jay-san: I haven’t heard about people calling their cars their daughters, but I have heard of people calling their cars their girlfriends or wives. Considering what you’re supposed to do with a daughter (NOT valid for extreme lolicon, and it’s also illegal in that case -wry-) — care and nurture, vs what you generally do with a girlfriend, I’m surprised you aren’t more disturbed by the latter. :P And heh at Aprilius20’s friend and his poor wife. That reminds me of what a friend of mine said, though, that the closer something not real gets to human, the more creepy it is..and consenting dolls reminds me of Chobits. I’m not so sure about legality, some laws are rather strange. (Not sure whether Singapore still has a law against oral sex..:P) Speaking of anime, Eve no Jikan is a good one discussing stuff like that too! A pity it’s released like once every three months or something. T_T

    Oh, no, I meant the Car Sex documentary was sad! Haha, left-handers are cool. (Not the least because they’re actually ‘sinister’!)

    And no, I’ve never posed for anyone, though I wouldn’t mind doing so for niisama. I’m not very good at sitting still, though, so that’s the reason for the wince. XD Hehe.

    jenn´s last blog post > Immortal Regis Volume 1 – Zombies and a New Life

  17. I suppose poking around all four corners wouldn’t clash with being in the middle, sheesh, for some reason this got me thinking of this weird construct I read of in a dictionary a few days back- a glass cylinder with no inside or outside edges, ah yes, the klein bottle. I love google: http://el-prod.baylor.edu/certain_doubts/?p=1037

    Ah, hold on a bit. The space between you and Dan isn’t the middle- I’ve gone and confused myself. Scratch all that, haha.

    I get your point…I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone referring to objects as offspring. Hearing ships referred to as ‘she’ always did amuse me, though- same goes for words like ‘motherland’ or ‘fatherland’.

    I really hope the Handley case doesn’t expand further, but oh well. FFF refers to Fujio F. Fujiko, the penname of the duo responsible for Doraemon. Reminded you of a hentai series? LOL, you’re welcome- hopefully it spurred you out of your ‘laziness’ :)

    aprilius20´s last blog post > A Salve for Broken Eyes

  18. I don’t think this has been mentioned yet but in one of Danny’s early posts about Dollfies he wrote that Japanese Dollfie collectors refer to their dolls as daughters, so I’m assuming he’s just trying to stick with the fandom’s terminology. Maybe whatever they use for “daughter” carries a different connotation in Japanese?

    I get deja vu whenever I see one of Danny’s recycled articles. Confuses the heck out of me until I realize it’s old.

    Melonpan’s antics are batshit insane, but I’ll admit I do enjoy those crazy posts :P I couldn’t take that incident seriously because when has his “look at the things I do with my merchandise” posts ever been serious? Besides, if he really wanted to relinquish everything moe why would he have that newly released Kagamiku sitting on that desk?

    Oh yeah, difference between a doll and figure. I always thought that the separation of doll and action figure was a combination of synthetic hair and cloth clothing. But I’ve also read that the the term “action figure” was born after Hasbro released the original G.I. Joe figures (I almost wrote “G.I. Joe doll” ^^; ) because little boys wouldn’t be caught dead playing with a “doll”. Maybe there is no difference except for what the culture perceives the object to be. It’s pretty obvious that the terms “doll” and “action figure” have completely different connotations. (At least in Western society) If it’s something that looks like a girl would play with it’s a doll, and for boys it’s an action figure. I think I’ll have to look into the subject more before I can really “figure” it out LOL.

  19. @Jay: crosspost ftw!

    lol, okay, days, weeks…time flies by way too quickly T___T How in the heck is it June already?! GAH. SUCH A LONG TIME T____T

    At least I have more weeks to roam around the blogosphere!

    I went back and checked up on the previous posts! I did see them on Facebook a while back but didn’t get a chance to fully read up on them. So I ended up sharing a bedroom with both Coco and Mimi? WOO HOO. Anddddd, I’m glad you got to check up on Nadesico! YOU GET TO BURNING~~~

    Lene´s last blog post > K-ON! episodes 3-5 screencaps

  20. @Jenn-chan: LOL, well, that’s the thing. I’ve never heard of guys referring to their cars as “daughters” either. Like I told A20 above: “Men have been anthropomorphizing vehicles and machines into ‘her’ and ‘she’ since wooden ships were invented!” Regardless of what you’re supposed to “do” with them, such anthropomorphizing seems to carry an “external and genetically unrelated” weight, not a “dependent and genetically related” weight, lol. If that makes any sense, lol. For example, sisters would be similar to daughters. Would referring to Dollfies as “sisters” make u feel any better? {Shudders to think.} But I think I agree about “Chobits”: As inanimate objects resemble humans more and more, the creepier and creepier it feels, lol. So, in that case, consenting or not, what if Hideki referred to Chii as his “daughter”? Hmm? Haha, first, mass orgies, now oral sex! Your mind is quite~ Wait, I never mentioned a “car sex” documentary, did I? Ohhh, finally! I finally found your YouTube link. Sorry, the link was hidden, so I finally added “bold” text to it. Gahhh, but I’ll have to watch it later. If I don’t forget, lol. Like I started to say, your mind is quite, umm, “active”, isn’t it? No wonder u can’t sit still. Hmm, maybe “sitting” isn’t your best position? ^_^

    @A20-man: Ahh, the Klein bottle! Haven’t seen one in ages! Reminds me of my younger school days pasting together paper Mobius strips, hehe. But that’s the most-complex bottle I’ve ever seen. I’m more familiar with the single-neck Klein bottle. Though the intersection point where the neck must cross the main body, that 3D limitation has always bugged me, lol… Ah, no worries. But I’ll begin to worry about the otakusphere if the four corners meld into this: Where you’re so famous, u become anonymous. Or so anonymous, u become famous. Where you’re so sane, u become insane. Or so insane, u become sane. Very Klein-esque, eh? As for hentai reminders, is it just me? Or does the Klein bottle seem to project an ecchi-fluidic quality?

    @Coco-chan & @Lene-chan: Forgive me, my Excel and Visio files are nagging me, lol. Don’t worry. Coming back soon! ^_^

  21. @Coco-chan: Ahh, interesting. Didn’t know Japanese Dollfie collectors all referred to their dolls as “daughters”. Hmm, whether or not the connotation is different, as the Dollfie community continues to expand, should I begin to call my anime figures “daughters” too? Hehe, like I told Jenn-chan immediately above, if not “daughters”, couldn’t I call them “sisters” too?… Haha, yeah, recycled articles are always confusing. Referring to them as past articles is okay, but don’t need to automatically alter the date every year, lol… Ah, true, if u visit and know Melonpan more than the occasional visitor, you’d probably know it was a prank. But as I’ve noted before, with “doll daughters” and “figure drilling”, more and more shocking stuff is getting more and more acceptable. Which could be okay. Or not-so-okay, lol… Yup, I agree, the line between “doll” and “figure” definitely seems arbitrary, according to social norms and perceptions. So far, “clothing” and “dressing up” seem to be the sharpest distinction. But with these emerging Dollfies, the lines are being blurred again. I mean, materialistically speaking, there’s no difference at all. And that’s the point of my “Barbie” post, isn’t it?

    @Lene-chan: Hahaha, r u sure you’re not taking a time-machine into the wrong direction? (Forward?)… Aww, thanx for catching up! Haha, roomies with Coco-chan and Mimi-chan! So tell the truth, who snored louder? Did Mimi-chan rant against “K-On” in her sleep again? LOL. Hey, what? Burning? Ohhh, I had to look it up. The theme song, lol. ^o^

    P.S. Heyyy, u too? Now *your* cross-posting comments are confusing me! Haha, thanx! Although with her RSS comment feeds, Jenn-chan politely suggested that I didn’t have to go thru the cross-posting trouble anymore, lol. Awww. At least, u still don’t mind. Yet, lol… Wait. Just weeks to roam the otakusphere? Why just weeks? >_<;

  22. Haha, I wonder how you’d pour something inside it when there is no inside^^; But to become so famous that you become anonymous? That reminds me of the issue of branding, when brands become ‘more than just a brand’, like google, which is now a, what, verb? The opposite isn’t much of an issue for me, though. The two pandora’s boxes of the internet, 2chan or 4chan, demonstrate this concept pretty well.

    As for insanity/sanity, that sounds a lot like a matter of perception… back into the ‘what is reality’ argument, haha. For the sake of simplicity, let’s divide reality into two- private and public. I suppose that for the former (sane to insane), you gradually ignore public reality’, which would be something like the example in Chaos;Head: If everyone says your ice-cream is blue, it’s blue, regardless of whether it’s actually turquoise. So for ‘sane to insane’ you gradually go mad in your self-righteousness, believing in your sanity so much that you think everyone else is bonkers, and vice versa.

    I’m probably sounding rather incoherent at the moment, but I think I’ll attribute that to lack of sleep and not having had breakfast yet. Better stop before it gets any worse, but you get my drift, I hope?

    aprilius20´s last blog post > A bit of May and June, Screaming Utter Randomness

  23. @A20-man: LOL, good point. But if there’s no “inside”, there’s no “outside” either. Just think of it as “spilling liquid” onto an infinite floor. There’s no point in drinking something off the floor, is there? LOL… Ahh, the only way that would work is if *everyone* becomes *famous*. Andy Warhol’s 15-minute comment, right? Then *nobody* would be *famous*… True, sanity is indeed a matter of social perception. As u narrow your pool of individual perceptions, your relative “sanity” would shift accordingly. Of course, that applies to your relative “brains” or “beauty” within a class, a school, a city, or the entire world. In terms of convenience, one’s “bubble of sanity” would probably be a one-hour radius (driving, biking, or walking). In that case, a farmer’s “sanity” in the middle of nowhere would be totally different from a city dweller’s “sanity”… Yeah, I think I’m drifting wayyy off course…

  24. @A20-man: Ah, that makes sense. Like learning to add before multiplying, or learning a few words of a new language before speaking it fluently. If one must be confined within one’s consciousness, then the solution is to expand one’s consciousness, right? Via internet, travel, conversation, art, etc. Unfortunately, it might be quicker to do so by violently breaking the rules and laws of society, religion and common sense. I mean, the Relativity and Quantum theories are quite a break from Newton’s common sense, aren’t they?

  25. Yup, but such ‘expansion’ ultimately ends up imploding upon itself… you just return to your ‘pre-expansion’ borders, say, after disconnecting from the net or finishing that conversation. Something radical might work, I suppose, but by ‘violently breaking’ such things one often ends up broken as well, haha. Speaking of Einstein’s theories, I’m still hoping that the ‘Large Hadron Collider’ will throw something new into the mix^-^
    [rq=1511,0,blog][/rq]A bit of May and June, Screaming Utter Randomness

  26. @A20-san: Well, I never said that such “expansion” was ever easy or without consequences, eh? Haha, if u ever saw “Noein”, a particle collider might eventually blow a hole through the center of our world, if not our parallel reality! Not much time for the luxury of sanity…

  27. @CocoTheBean: i think your Right. Maybe thats why they call “Dollfie,s” their “Daughters” if i had a Hatsune Miku Dollfie i will call her my “Friend”. i think they are here to stop you from getting lonely. And so they should be called “Friends” but “Daughters” is fine. either one. it doesn,t matter. but they are Cute and such. in real i don,t have one but i wish i could. i know i am writing a Very long Comment but i am explaining it. so i may or may not come back here. – your Commenter Zack Schmidt

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