I’ve seen a lot of Hello Kitty items. From the classic Hello Kitty Vibrator to the Hello Kitty Exhaust Pipe, I thought I’d seen it all. Apparently I hadn’t. I give you the following:
That’s right. It’s Hello Kitty Beer. Apparently following in the footsteps of the Hello Kitty Wine and Hello Kitty Sake, Hello Kitty Beer serves up another way to get plastered with the Sanrio mascot. Yes, Hello Kitty is found on everything. Nothing is safe from her branding.
After a short stint with Live Spaces, I’ve decided to make the jump over to WordPress for awhile. While I like Spaces and all the built in functionality it offers (I especially like the photo tools), it doesn’t quite offer the same level of user friendliness when it comes to everyone else on the internet. I’ll still continue to upload photos there and use those features, but will be doing all the writing up at the new area. Now if only I can figure out if the free version allows for custom widths… The current format of my entries (notably the pictures embedded in them) don’t seem to transfer over right. Either I’ll use a flexible width layout or go back and edit everything to fit into a fixed width layout…
I think I’ll just leave it as it is with a fixed width layout. It’s much easier to edit on the netbook that way. For those interested in the posts prior to this one (and want to see the original formatting), check out How Do You Figure? @ Windows Live Spaces.
My longtime quest to obtain all the 1/6 scale ARIA figures is one step closer to completion! A packaged arrived the other day containing one Aika Granzchesta figure from Solidworks. Unfortunately, there aren’t very many ARIA figures out there and even fewer full figure series featuring all of the characters. Ever since I picked up Akari at Animazement ‘07, I quested for the remaining 5 girls.
Aika still in the box
As with the other figures in the series, Aika comes with an oar, nice display stand (she’s attached to it using screws), and a rendition of her company’s mascot (in this case, President Hime). This particular figure is unique in that she comes with two heads, each with a different hairstyle and expression. The default head is her original look at the start of the series. The alternate head is modeled after her accident during a barbeque and subsequent change in look. Personally, I prefer the original style better, however I had grown to like the later style when she is in civilian clothing.
Aika’s “new look”
Overall, quality of the figure is good with very few noticeable seams or defects. I’m also a big fan of the way the uniform’s wrinkles are colored to give the impression of shadows even in low light. The only flaw I’ve noticed is with the way she was packaged. Since she came with the original head on, the ends of her pigtails were pressed into her back. Since she has blue hair, the friction had caused some of the paint to transfer to the white uniform. This could have easily been remedied by a thin piece of plastic wrapping stuck to the back of the figure prior to packaging.
Aika posing in front of a backdrop from ARIA artbook “Stella”
Ever since I saw the announcement on DannyChoo about the upcoming Tohsaka Rin Dolfie Dream, I decided I really wanted one. At $528, she almost seems like a bargain, considering how much Dolfies run for (usually in the $1k range). It looks like I may have a chance, if I actually decide to jump, as Volks USA will be putting the limited items up for sale from May 5-8 (see their blog for more info).
Just look at that face! I think it’s one of the better Dolfie renditions I’ve seen. As nice as the Saber one was, I didn’t really care much for the hair or face. Someone talk me out of trying to buy one… please!
I thought I’d spend a little time today talking about why I decided to start this attempt at a blog. Over the past few years, I’ve slowly slipped out of the otaku culture. Sure, I was still buying manga and picking up DVDs, but I was never really getting into anything new. Things I browsed or paid attention to were usually things I’d already seen (i.e. new US releases of existing Japanese IP that I’d followed years prior). On the DVD front, this meant I was picking up titles like Haruhi, Mai-HiME, Mai-Otome, and Lucky Star, all of which I’d seen a couple years prior during the initial run in Japan.
I think this fall from the bleeding edge came around the time I graduated from college about 3 years ago and taking on a life in the “real world.” I never realized how much the college environment nurtured the fandom until I no longer had it. It was always easy to get the latest news, find recommendations, share ideas, discuss new episodes, and generally cross-pollinate on otaku issues. Once I left college, I found it very difficult to keep up with the latest happenings and ultimately became a bit stagnant in what I watched.
Which brings me to the purpose of this space. I’ve decided to make an attempt at reintegrating myself with the general otaku community by keeping a record of the things I read, watch, and do. In turn, this helps me get back into the “habit” of checking news sites, like DannyChoo and Anime News Network. It’s been a bit of a slow start, but I think it’s working!
Since I broke Konata’s leg last night in preparation for a photo shoot, I decided to seek out a replacement. Thanks to my friends over at DannyChoo, I soon found a US seller that still had stock of the now hard to find figure. For not too much money (and a bit less than what I paid for the first one), I will be receiving a new Konata Figma from AnimePavilion. Though I couldn’t help myself and also ordered a Tohsaka Rin Figma… I keep telling myself it was only $1 more to ship two Figma instead of one, so it’s really worth it. Somehow, I don’t think it quite works that way.
With the new Konata on the way, I set my sights to fixing the one I already had. I felt bad at breaking it after just one attempt at posing her, so I broke out the glue and got to work. First, I worked the remaining leg from the socket and was left with the two pieces on the table. Since the break was fairly clean, it was easy lining up the pieces. A small dab of superglue did the trick with holding them together, and after setting for a few minutes, I reattached the entire leg. Fortunately, the break happened when it was still fairly straight, so the pose isn’t too unnatural for display.
Konata and her new best friend. No cast necessary!
|
|
|
Close up of the joint. Can you tell it was broken?
I swung by the post office on the way to work this morning since I received a notice that a package had come in (apparently I was vacuuming and didn’t hear the doorbell ring). My Miyuki Figma had arrived, courtesy of Tenso.com.
The package arrived in good condition and it appears that Tenso had put a new shipping label on the box and forwarded it on. It didn’t seem the seller had anticipated that Miyuki would be flying overseas, so no padding was used at all…
Kagami, Tsukasa and kitty welcome Miyuki to her new home
You may have noticed that Konata is missing from these shots. I was going to pose her on top of the box in a sitting position, but there was an accident when I tried to do that. Apparently the joint was a bit tight or weak (never really tried to pose her before) and it snapped as soon as I tried to move it. ;_;
Poor Konata… she doesn’t get to join Miyuki
I’ll definitely try to replace her, but I haven’t had much luck finding a seller that still has them in stock (aside from eBay). Realistically though, I’d just be looking to replace the leg piece, so if anyone knows where I can get a spare left leg for Figma 008, I’d be open to options…
Since Konata is temporarily out of commission, Miyuki has taken her place on the shelf
As for the actual Tenso service, it seems like a pretty good concept. I can see how it could be useful for people trying to buy goods from a Japanese retailer that doesn’t ship outside of Japan. The process itself is pretty simple:
In all, a nice little business model. It is very easy to set up and use. For my order, however, I struggled a bit to see the value of the service. Miyuki cost 2244 Yen from a marketplace seller on Amazon.co.jp. Shipping charges from Tenso added 1990 Yen more, bringing the total to 4234 Yen or US$42. The current going rate for a Miyuki Figma from Toylet.net is $30+$10 shipping.
Now, using the service may be worthwhile on something a bit larger and expensive, as the service charge would be a smaller percentage of the item cost. With a small order such as this, it doesn’t make much sense to go with this method. It may also be worthwhile to get rare items that can’t be found elsewhere except for Japanese auction sites or smaller online retailers.
Thanks Danny for allowing me the opportunity to try out this
service! Now to see if I can replace Konata or her leg…
While traditional Hanami happens in Japan, I had the pleasure of visiting the nation’s capitol this year for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The trip was only for a few days (March 31-April 5) but our time there happened to coincide with the peak blooming period (April 1-4). We wasted no time going out to see the trees and packed our gear for the beautiful walk around the Tidal Basin. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
The walkway along the basin was lined with trees and people
Looking across the water to the Jefferson Memorial
In addition to the trees, Saturday brought the annual Sakura Matsuri street festival. As one of the largest Japanese festivals in the nation, it closed down 6 blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue and featured performances from cultural groups, taiko troupes, and even JPop artists. This year’s major guest was singer Kawashima Ai, the young and talented JPop artist.
The crowds gather to eat, play, and enjoy the beautiful weather
No celebration of Japanese culture can be complete without Cosplay
…or Godzilla, for that matter…
Kawashima Ai performs on stage
As I was on vacation most of last week, I really wasn’t checking my regular sites or reading messages. When I got home on Sunday, I found a couple of messages congratulating me and asking what I was going to spend 2000 yen on. Puzzled, I started checking web sites and found that Danny had announced the winners of his last giveaway.
Apparently I got a runner up prize, which was 2000 yen to spend at a shop of my choice as long as I used Tenso’s shipping service. It seems like a neat concept, they give you a Japanese shipping address and serve as a mail forwarding service for those shops that don’t ship overseas. I went ahead and browsed on amazon.co.jp and found the Figma Miyuki that I hadn’t picked up and placed the order. I got confirmation today that it has shipped and Tenso has received it. Once I get it, I’ll be sure to update more!
How Do You Figure? 