Blog 220 > Live Action, Asians, Aki & Me

Aww, thanks, Aki-chan! Happy Belated Birthday to you too! Sadly, Aki-chan’s message is genuinely fake, hehe. But yup, 5 days after Aki-chan’s March 14th birthday, on March 19th, I climbed another year higher, wiser and more tuned to the ways of live-action J-drama, K-drama, Asian gravure idols, and Japanese onigiri. Not bad, huh? On that note, my Tender Toyboxers, let’s step away from “fake” 2D anime and animation this week, and instead, sit back, relax with a bowl of sticky rice, and enjoy a refreshing bottle of “real” 3D entertainment. Ready? Then let’s do it. Let’s start the show…

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Blog 214 > Traps & Treks to New Worlds

Traps! Treks! Seks! Oops, I meant sex. But you get the idea, lol. Welcome, my Trapped Toyboxers, to a strange new mega-cast of unleashed-and-untamed lady bloggers, deviously lady-like high-school boys, perfectly-convincing adult-rated lady-boys, fantastically-futuristic interstellar trekkers, and frighteningly-fantastic warp-speed starships! Will I answer last week’s “Question of the Week”? Maybe. Maybe not, lol. In any case, let’s push gender prejudices aside, launch another pride-less ride, and slide to Warp Factor Nine. Engage!

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Blog 200 > Tasty Tales from the Toybox

Awww, Danni, thanx! How have you been? Oops, wait. Oh no, a new fabricated message! Damn, lol. Ah well, although Cherokee-Hawaiian adult-film actress Danni Cole never actually sent me this sunshiny and spectacled cheer, the beach-house fantasy sounds like a perfect summertime anime episode, doesn’t it? Hahaha… Well, my Tumbling Toyboxers, it’s that time of the week again. Another weekly mega-cast to keep the otaku-sensei aghast! So, to celebrate this 200th Blog of the Toybox, we’re gonna take a dive at not only revealing why we blog to express and connect, but also why we choose to Twitter or Toybox. Why? Not only that, we’re gonna take a splash at unraveling why anime can never really be stupid. Why not? On top of those, we’ll trickle under our friendly neighborhood Uzumaki and Minami, trample past a few real-world and random-worded antics, and tumble upon the bottomless fall and bubbling rise of this humble Toybox! Sounds edible? Cool. So let’s turn on the oven and get ready to heat your inner mayhem. It’s time to cook this tasty show…

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Blog 062 > Seven of Nine

+++++ Star Trek Voyager – Season 4 (1-26) – Started 07/15/06. Finished 05/05/07. My speed review: “DOUBLE-WOW! The Borg! Seven of Nine! Still one of the best Trek seasons ever!” (5 of 5 stars!)

As I might have mentioned in previous posts, I finally finished Star Trek Voyager, Season 4 (1997) for the second time, after starting it nearly ten months ago! (The first time was back in 1997-1998.) I should probably blame Battlestar Galactica for breaking me away from anime moreso than usual, lol. But clearly, the most outstanding feature of this already remarkable crew was the introduction of Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan. Her character combines the most recognized features of the Star Trek universe: The Vulcan-style “logic” and full-figured “femininity” of early Trek, fused with the greatest innovation and most-elaborate adversary of modern Trek — the Borg Collective — first introduced in The Next Generation.

In Voyager Season 4, Seven not only further defines the series via the complex relationship between Borg and human, machine and man, but also as a substantial adversarial foil for the convincingly quick-witted Captain Kathryn Janeway. Intriguingly, their friendship is reminiscent of the Kirk-Spock emotional-logical contrast, an absent Trek element that isn’t quite missed until it reappears with Seven-Janeway. Add to that, Jeri Ryan’s visual and vocal beauty, and her memorable assimilation is complete, lol!… 5 of 5 stars! I hope to start Season 5 (1998) again soon!

Blog 058 > Anime Voices Carry!

This past week, I’ve been watching the post-apocalyptic anime Innocent Venus. And after 4 of 12 episodes, it rocks! (So far, 4 of 5 stars!) But one thing that caught my ear, was the voice for the blonde-but-deadly “Lenny”. In fact, her dark throaty voice reminded me of the just-as-beautiful-but-deadly twin-gunned “Revy” from the amazingly brutal anime Black Lagoon (5 of 5 stars for both seasons together!). So I checked, and guess what? I was right, the same voice actress: Megumi Toyoguchi! But that’s not all…

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