Blog 219 > Sayonara 2009 to Onigiri 2010

Sayonara, 2009! Konnichiwa, my Tirelessly Tumbling Toyboxers! Got onigiri? Are you ready? Ready to endure a tumbling tidal wave of tear-jerking titles, blood-splattering titles, angst-ridden titles, and titles not worth mentioning? Ready to slash and slay another dragon-sized mega-cast of 99 wallpapers? Ready for some onigiri? Hehe, then what are you waiting for? Let’s start the show…

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Blog 182 > Year of Anime, Rock & Otaku

Ah, what a year it’s been! For my last mega-post of 2008, I tackle another mixed bag of “Rock Band” sessions, a year’s truckload of anime speed-reviews and faves, and a sparkly sprinkle of otaku thanks and wishes. So happy holidays and all the rest. Now on with the show…

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Blog 178 > Blog Antics & Anime Battles

Holy crap! I’ve got so much crap to talk about that I may not fit in any anime crap, lol. But I’ll try. From old layouts to new readers, from post updates to blog widgets, from shiny iMacs to blazing Zazzles, and maybe some random tunes too. But what else? Anime mascots? Seems like every anime blog is caving in with their own new mascot~ not only Mimi, but Koshiko, Dancing Queen and the latest Meimi132 too~ inspired by DC no doubt, lol. Fortunately, I haven’t succumbed to peer pressure… yet, lol. But we’ll see.

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Blog 137 > Operation Rebox

Ah, my sad but necessary “Operation Rebox”…

Whoa, while I can’t beat the number of boxes in the earlier “Room O Boxes” post, I’m grateful too! Especially if I have to “rebox” all of my opened figures before my eventual house-move in the next few months. So, as a loose follow-up to the Triple Monitor post, here’s my 12-step “Operation Rebox“. Wish me luck! T_T;

P.S. Here’s the link to my DC Member News post, hehe.

Blog 092 > Otaku or Not Otaku?

A few days ago, my close friend Vanessa and I entered into an intriguing (almost heated) discussion regarding dating, relationships, and eventually my anime blog, particularly my figure photoshoots! In a nutshell, she was notably concerned about how my figure photos — typically of scantily-clad anime girls — would look to the random or casual blog visitor (especially a Westerner) not familiar with anime and its unique influence in Japanese mainstream culture. While they carry artistic value, she noted that the photoshoots could still be mis-interpreted as “creepy” or “perverted”. Fortunately, she knows me well, and understands that this is a common Western stereotype of anime fans (or otaku). But I admit, she does makes a good point that most visitors don’t know me so well, especially if they might include potential employers or recruiters or yes, even a new non-otaku girlfriend!

Needless to say, I value Vanessa’s opinion very highly. I can still enjoy anime, experiment with anime photoshoots, and blog about it, but I can do so without plastering and magnifying those images throughout my entire website. Consequently, over the last couple days, I’ve reworked my website in several ways. (1) I’ve restricted my anime header images to only a few specific anime sections. (2) I’ve moved the full photoshoots away from my blog posts and into these anime sections, behind a low-level anime login. (3) I’ve also set this anime login to protect any blog access from my website (i.e. front door), while keeping the direct blog address open (i.e. back door). (4) Similarly, I’ve also moved more-sensitive non-anime pages behind a friends-level login.

By implementing these changes, I hope to accommodate not only my otaku friends and acquaintances, but also my non-otaku friends (like Vanessa) who may feel awkward or afraid of forwarding my website to their own friends, and lastly, the random non-otaku stranger who may be a potential new friend. For a non-Japanese citizen residing outside of Japan, does this social sensitivity make me any less of an otaku? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I guess it depends on whether an otaku is supposed to possess any social graces to begin with, haha!

Click for December 2006 Photoshoot >>

Blog 023 > Cosplaying Genshiken Figures! Part 1 of 3

At last, my latest photoshoot from yesterday and today, Dec 29th-30th! This time, improving upon my original October-12th HP-digicam photoshoot of my 7.5-inch 1/8-scale “Ohno & Saki in Cosplay” figures (from Genshiken), I decided to use a backdrop of arguably the most-famous landmark of anime/manga/otaku fan culture — the inverted-pyramidal Tokyo Big Sight convention center! Over two days, took a whopping total of 100 Canon photos, and managed to whittle it down to the best 70 shots. Damn, gonna need 3 posts!

Otakurl it!

Click for all 70 >>

post 352 ~ anime marathon…


“genshiken” (2005)
post 352 ~ anime marathon over the weekend… well, pretty close to one, hehe…

  • genshiken ~ short but sweet!… finished the 12-ep first season… ah, the hilarious college antics of an animated-porn-loving “otaku” club… in addition to the anime, spent about 2-3 hours reading the manga versions at the “borders” and “barnes & noble” bookstores; so the anime was quite faithful to the story and style of the manga!… even pre-ordered a figure; coming in a few months!
  • fate stay night ~ watched the latest fan-subbed episode #20 in the fantasy anime series… a lighter episode exploring the humor, but also the deeper emotions/thoughts of the main characters “emiya” and “saber” and their future if/when they obtain the “holy grail”…
  • blood+ ~ AMAZING 1st episode of the anime series, based on the classic 20-30-minute film “blood: the last vampire”… presentation is quite faithful to the original feature… very slick, stylish, and bloody! ;)))
  • trinity blood ~ another AMAZING 1st episode… brand new series!… similar to “hellsing” in its battle between vampires and the vatican, but taken centuries into the future… a presentation similar to “vampire hunter D: bloodlust”… again, very stylish, gothic and grandiose!… and bloody, of course! ;)))
  • kiddy grade ~ during my workouts, continued watching this “teenaged eye-candy cyborg” series yet again (maybe the fifth time over the past few years? lol)… finished the 4th of 8 dvds… still an unexpectedly complex story of tragic pasts and hidden agendas…
  • ghost in the shell: stand alone complex ~ during my meals, watched this “anti-terrorist cyberpunk” series yet again (maybe the fifth time also?)… and finished the 7th/last dvd today… yeah-yeah, still a highly intellectually and philosophically engaging action series…
  • anime insider & newtype usa ~ last but not least, catching up on my magazines and free dvd samples… haha, when i’m NOT watching anime or reading manga… or when i’m NOT (dare i say it?) working… ;)))
  • whew!… that’s definitely a LOT of anime over the weekend plus today…