If it stays that way, then I’ll have made the cover! The top left image is a shot of the lounge, complete with cat! As cool as it is, I would have preferred that they used a different image, I’m particularly fond of the nigh time shots, which show the display cases all lit up. It seems that Danny is partial to those pictures too, as one of them wound up being used in the banner for the Otacool portal.

The other nifty thing about this whole experience is that some of the photos collected will be slated for use in other Kotobukiya marketing material, pamphlets, posters, etc. Who knows, maybe on a future trip to Japan I’ll see an image of my otaku lounge blown up and plastered on the side of a building…

…That’s a scary prospect, actually…

Regardless, I’m very excited to hear about the final selections. A lot of the submissions look amazing and a lot of fellow DCers have really impressive living areas. Hopefully I’ll also be able to pick up a copy of the book once it’s finished. I’ve also realized that being a part of this online community has had the effect of encouraging me to become a bit neater upstairs. I’m tidying up a bit more, in the event I need to do an impromptu photo session (like last night and this evening).

To see my entries for Otacool, check out here (original) and here (updated last night). I’d also uploaded the rest of the photo set here.

Lastly, since I now had enough decorations and detail in the upstairs area, I finally was able to pull off a decent Photosynth set (Photosynth uses photos to generate a sort of “3D virtual tour”). See the Synth here (Silverlight required).

Since I have so much IKEA furniture making up the otaku lounge, I wonder if I can get them to sponsor it…?

Start creating your ringtone:

http://www.tondai.com/

A construção do Gundam RX-78 em tamanho real continua em Odaiba, no Japão. É o grande marco para comemorar os 30 anos da franquia, já havia sido mencionado antes. Aparentemente está indo bem, e na foto já podemos perceber os braços prontos para serem encaixados no tórax quando este estiver pronto. O lançamento é no dia 29 de junho e deve ser acompanhando de uma festa e provavelmente vários japoneses aproveitando e fazendo piquenique pelo parque. Tenho que apontar que realmente está bem legal, e é uma pena estar do outro lado do planeta e não poder ver ao vivo. Mais fotos no post do DannyChoo.

It’s contest time again! Danny is giving away $150 in credit for J-List to the best “my desk” photo. Above is my entry (click to enlarge). Now to make my shopping list…

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!

The eventual winner was LightningSabre and I have to say that it was a deserved win for he went to places I would not DARE!!!! Not that I couldn’t. If I unloaded all my mangas, which are currently stored away in very large boxes, I might even be able to exceed that mighty room, but then I wouldn’t be able to move… No, I think everything is fine the way it is!
My entry was just an updated version of the pics I uploaded to celebrate my blogs 1st birthday.

Due to the rather sudden entry (and the fact I used the competition as an excuse to clean up my room) not everything which was seen in the original post is still on display. Notably, my DX aquarion has gone walkies, as have many of my still packaged figures such as my Bome TenTen figures. but this is what is currently on display now.
Danny pretty much nailed it when he described my room as a having a workshop feel because that’s pretty much what this area is. Plonk my wireless keyboard elsewhere, put my spraybox on the desk (and adjust for ventilation) and my workshop where I build all my gunpla and resin kits is complete! It also triples as the area where I take my pics for my blog (using the large box with white interior you see above the TV)
This is, as they say, where the “magic” happens!

Larger closeup shots are available after the jump. I’ll refrain from putting any detailed entries in as I intend to show my works/purchases of the past year for the blogs 2nd birthday (which is only 2 months away!) Check out the post on Dannychoo for the other entries.

The mecha shelf towering over my modest Special character Pinky:st collection and a mere fraction of my manga and anime DVD collection.

The infamous (mostly) resin complete works cabinet which also houses my 2 Ignis the white figures as well as my personalised sketch of starscream by one of the transformers comic artists and my cover of MGS4 signed by Hideo Kojima and Yumi Kikuchi!

The Gamestation!!! I would have liked to have had a larger TV (currently 32″) but I wouldn’t have anywhere to put something larger, except the wall, which is a big no-no as I’m renting my accomodation. Also, check out the To-Love-Ru mini figs guarding my TV!!! I would gladly swap Mikan for Lala, but I’m just glad I got Yui and Golden Darkness.
And on a completely separate note, danm sony and their 2.70 firmware update!! It didn’t add any functionality for me but broke my PS2 pad adaptor, so the 6 button Chun li pad you see in the pic above (the big blue one) can’t be used for Streetfighter 4 anymore!! boo!!!!

Now, what can I use my 2000 yen to subsidise? I’m thinking something volks-esque. Yahoo! japan auctions would be too much of a hassle. Any thoughts?

Click to Enlarge

I present to you, a day, in the life of Daki-chan. Daki Makura.

Daki starts her day by checking her favourite websites and seeing if there are any new torrents available. Before even getting dressed. Has Daki now shame??

Ahhh dressed now. Still checking the internet. It can take ours. Damn internet and all its wonders.

Sometimes when Daki-chans bored, she gets a little…uh… handsy.

Time to Daki-chan to play! Kagami is todays choice. Is it just me, or does she look a bit worried?

Sometimes Daki-chan will just stare at her figures. Marvelling at their prettiness. And from the angle Daki sits at, she can see straight up some of their skirts.

(Poor Kureha… And Heres a front on pic of my figures at uni.)

Now Daki-chan settles down to play some DS games before bed. Daki-chan sleeps 15 hours a day, awake for 9, online for probably 8 of those, outside for an hour? lol

Then she reads her favourite chapters from the latest Yen Press tankobon.

Now, so tired from her busy day, she’s all tucked in and ready to sleep, main light off. But still dressed??! She must be super tired today. Poor thing.

(This was a fictionalised reconstruction of my makura’s day. Dressed in my To Heart 2 uniform. Which is WAY too small to button up on Daki-chan… shame…) I wasn’t going to take this many pictures… but when I started…well it was fun….lol. I didn’t get my wallscroll in though… dang… or my hiragana posters I put up next to my bed lol.(I figure if I look at them enough I’ll memorise them heheh.

Click to know about world’s first DTS surround CD player from Kenwood

Moreover, with this device, you can have an FM/AM radio Tuner, DTS compatible and you can plug this device to your TV via its Digital Audio In.

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Thats just something I whipped up in animation shop quickly. Just to show you the cuteness without having to video my desktop lol.

More stuff about how I made her below. Was influenced by the wonderful Mirai desktop girl by SG.

Those are all the faces I've got so far. I'll probably add more soon.

That was taken while Mirai was still on board. I may well switch them round occasionally. But Chie is so lovely…

Half and half lol. I did literally just draw over Mirai. Lazy, yes, but I wanted to get it done fast. I might look for more doll bodies to use, since size doesn’t seem to be a restriction…

I got her all hooked together, 5 animations set, but I’m still having problems with getting her to snap to the taskbar. It sort of works, but for some reason she’s floating above it… is that to do with the image border?? It shouldn’t be an issue cos its a transparent png file… like the mirai ones….

How ethical is you vegetarianism now, huh!?

Hattip Alan and Danny Choo.

Answer to Danny’s question: In a tomato’s sweet delicious heartbeat.

And onto to the dollfieness! Since 2006, when I saw them in Japanorama, I’ve wanted a BJD. I’ve always been horrified by the prices. BUT, now, I’m gonna put that behind me. All of the dollfie stuff on DannyChoo has been encouraging my dollfie wants… And I’ve got a friend who was doing it too…. Kept sending me links to various sites I could buy them… started out with british sites and I ended up on LeeKeWorld. (They do ship to the UK.) I’ve been sorely tempted by the Dollfie Dreams, but I’ve realised that the normal, hauntingly beautiful BJD’s are what I want. Ones like Aquilla has.

I think… after staring at many doll faces…. Mabel… first spotted at DenverDoll. There were too… who I both liked… but…there was just something about Mabel. She does cost more…. about $48 more than the other one, Leira. But her face, her eyes… It’s the hair too I think… but she’s just so… so gorgeous…. I think I’ve set my heart on her, for when I get a BJD that is. I’m so tempted to just order her now… But I’ve decided to do as my friend is doing, and just save little by little. I already have £25, plus about £50 coming, £75 is a sizable chunk of the price. She costs $353 with face up(I couldn’t do the make up, not like it is in the pic… and thats how I want it…) And the wig I want is $27, totals $380, which is about £258. She’s a 1/4 size doll, stands about 40cm, there are two kinds of body I could choose from, a gentle or real body. I think I’d prefer the real body(I posted the pictures further down here) over the gentle. There is a Mabel-faced body you can get fully clothed, but its got snow-skin, too light even for my taste, and its over $600, yet that does include the whole outfit, wig and everything, but I’d prefer to pick out a nice white/cream dress for her…

These were the first pictures I saw of her... And the wig I want.Now the next lot of pics are of a Mabel with a different wig, outfit and lighting, same colour hair, just yellower light. Just as gorgeous. All these pics come from the LeeKeWorld site by the way.I find it funny theres a Unazukin toy in the background of some of the pics lol.

Two distinctly different looks from the same face. The longer straighter haired face is more mature as opposed to the curls and bonnet loot, with less makeup. The curly haired one is more eye-lashy. But equally as darling. I wouldn’t mind either face up. But I’m guessing since I’d be ordering direct from the LeeKeWorld site, I’d be getting the latter of the two kinds. Which I wouldn’t argue with lol. Since I love em both equally.

I think the last few of these pics have the same straight haired-wig as the first lot I posted.

It seems I’ve gone for another wavy blonde wig unconsciously lol. I didn’t realise it was that wavy untill I saw the pics from the back on the wig page. Now for the body comparison. First the real body, with Mabels head.

And then the gentle body, with a different head.

I’m still not quite sure which I’de prefer. I think the real body. I don’t know which has more movement. It looks like the gentle body might have just a bit more.

Anyways… thats it for the mo…. I have to fight with my brain not to just order it…. I have to save…. Heck, if I had a job I wouldn’t have to fight with myself, I’d just order it….:hmph: Right now with uni and all though, a job aswell would be a tad to much I think. I just know I want her…. Mabel… I don’t know if I’d rename her or not.. Mabel is quite a nice name. Old fashioned but nice. Night all!

I haven’t even unpacked my bags apart from my laptop, the first thing I did was get Fauna unpacked. I made the adjustments that Danny suggested on his article about Fauna too. I wanted to get them out the way before I got her rebuilt lol. (Odds that I’ll cast her off again in the near future are….low…lol)

Just in case you don’t know, the rest of this article is NSFW. lol My first truly NSFW post!! Hehehe

The head is very easy to take off. Makes up for the rest of the body being hellish to get apart lol.

Everything seperated, head is safe and sound in the casing.

All the plastic keeps it very safe. I wonder how safe it'll be without the plastic.

Tiny widdle torso, with itty-bitty painted nails! (My hands arn't that purple btw lol)

The sculpt on Fauna is really great. It's really the only thing I can appriciate for cast offs, the workmenship, since the actual castoff-ness does nothing for me lol.

The legs have to be my favourite part, laid down like that, they look like legs on a dakimakura. They should make more dakimakura-style figures. Like the Erika Sendo kit, based on the bedsheet.

Just the beginning of rounding down the peg, since it is a bitch to get off. I gave up for tonight since it was taking soooo long lol.

She’s extra nice, because she’s got some shape to her. On her arms and legs etc. Sometimes even if they’re not stick thin, the arms can be tiny, but these are nice and realistic, compared to the legs.

The hair is much thinner than I thought’d be. I was scared of breaking it when I first got her out the box. But it don’t seem as bad now.

Notice the left breast is slightly bigger than the right. I know that can be true to life, but strange they decided to make them uneven on a figure. On purpose or accidental?

Playing with lighting lol

Now for clothed photos! Hold on now!! I heard those sighs!

Her face is just so happy! Its one of the things I love most about this figure. She’s full of life. Full of expression. She’s sooooo pretty! Only my second figure with pink hair. She’s very well made, great shading, great detail. The fingernails are darling! And the pudgy face! I’m so glad I have her. Ever since I saw her on Dannychoo.com I’ve wanted her, alot, but at the 2008 May Expo she cost too much than I was used to spending on figures, it was a £35 maximum, and she cost £55. It just so happened I was lucky enough to find out about a half price sale on her on HLJ. Got her for about £20. Totally worth the EMS shipping….and customs….damn customs…. As for lighting and background, the infamous pink fleece blanket was used yet again, and lighting was the 3 lamps I always use, wall, table and ceiling, the pinkiness ain’t a bad thing, as she is a very pink, girly figure. Better than being yellowy lol.

But I have her! She will be my last purchase for a while, Nagi is my only preorder. Due for release in April, but I know I won’t get her then lol, they’ll be a delay, always is.

I won’t lie. I was influenced by Danny on this purchase. But I do not regret it one bit. I do buy figures on impulse, but they are always good influences. I wanted Makoto and Ayu before I had even seen Kanon. Same for quite a number of figures I own lol.

Apparantly I didn't put this with the post about her... weird, its one of my fave pics. So anyways, including it with this as a random image lol

I blog, I’ve twittered, I’ve deviantarted, I’ve drunkducked, I’ve bebo’d and facebooked and myspaced and Gaia’d. But never before, have I flickred. lol The only ones which have stuck for any length of time are blogging and Gaia(still visit from time to time lol). (Btw, All these things can be found via a google search, over 8 million results for me… can’t be right lol. Apart from my facebook page…oh well.)

I’ve had the account since the 23rd of November last year, I got it so I could comment on some of Danny’s photos I think…. can’t really remember. Either way, I’ve finally decided to start using it. So, bit by bit, I’m uploading alot of the pics I’ve used for my blog, and the extra that I didn’t. So far there are 3 sets, soon to be 4. My page is here. I’m slowly adding tags to most pics too lol, long process even in batches lol. I hope I can keep up with flickr, but I think I’ll prefer just blogging really. Oh, before I forgot, does anyone know how to change which pics appear on your frontpage? Of the flickr photo stream I mean. EDIT: Just found out non-paying flickr users can only have 3 sets… well doesn’t that just suck…. nevermind… if I keep using it I might give in and pay the $24.99 for the year… thats only like £15 me thinks… still more than I’d like to pay really…

(Also, if your wondering what drunkducking is, I’d check the link lol)

Figuras

El barrio de Akiba en Tokyo es considerado la meca para los Otakus por la gran cantidad de tiendas de electrónicos, videos juegos y de anime que hay en esa zona. Entre las muchos lugares que se pueden visitar esta el edificio llamado Radio Kaikan en el se encuentra la tienda de Kotobukiya que ocupa el primero y segundo piso del edificio.

Edificio Radio Kaikan

La tienda tiene gran cantidad de figuras de pvc y gachapon de anime, Gundams y Mechas en general; así como una gran cantidad de artículos relacionados al anime.

Si alguien tiene la suerte de visitar Tokyo y el barrio de Akiba, la tienda de Kotobuquiya en Radio Kaikan no puede faltar en su lista.

Más figuras

Fotos de Radio Kaikan y reportaje en Ingles original de DannyChoo.com

Más fotos en DannyChoo.com

Rational thought must not be involved when purchasing figures. To spend so much, an average of £30 per figure(usually more), is an insane prospect to most people. Or rather, to the people who don’t collect figures that is. I could have, with all the money I’ve spent on figures in the last 3 months, bought a PS3, or a XBOX 360 and games to go with it. But figures just seem more…. tempting… more needed… it’s strange. I’ve been through phases of wasting money on stuff like Pokemon cards, Pokemon toys, Ty Beanie Babies and other childish infactuations(Pokemon is still going strong, more for the games than anything, but sometimes I lapse and buy new cards…) but figures are something different.

Over the past year and a bit, I’ve managed to aqquire over 40 figures. I’m not sure of the exact number because a number of my figures are at home. I was only allowed to bring 4 larger figures with me to University at first. At this moment, 5 from my collection before I came to Uni are with me, but I’ve got 14 new big pvc figures, 1 revoltech, 2 Figma and some mini figures. But its the big pvc ones which are important right now. 40 figures over 13 months(ish) is more than 3 a month, I know thats not right, because I have got the majority of my collection in bulk-buys at conventions. Which is even crazier…. considering the amount I’ve spent at conventions… scary amounts…. It truly is a tad worrying, and now I’m in Uni I should be cutting back. I mean, I have done, apart from the London expo which I saved money towards, and I had my busary for the Midlands Expo… and other than those times, I’ve only got 2 pvc figures(one I preordered months earlier, and one I gave into buying, glad I did, because she’s not available through the site I got her at anymore) and 3 posable figures(Kagami, Gurren Lagann Full Drillized and Tsuruya-san(also preordered) while at Uni. My self control has been pretty darn good I must say. If I was working I could spend more. But I’d prefer to just hang with friends and have a good time, with all the work we’re lumped with…

So! (Went a bit off track there…) Back to the original question, why do we love figures so much? Is it because of the series they’re from? The attractiveness of the figure itself? The prospect of increasing your otaku-dom? I think…for me… Genshiken was a large part of why I started collecting… I began with mini figures because it was all I could afford, but once I got a job and a debit card, I was able to get big PVC figures, which after fawning over them on DannyChoo.com, I was very glad to finally be able to buy.

So. I’m going home today. For the holidays. 3 weeks. It’ll be weird not being here for 3 weeks. And it’s my birthday in now… 5 days… And Christmas in 7. It’s Christmas in a week!! Eeeeeeeeeeeee!

Just posted this over at Dannychoo. I had seen many a hare hare yukai before, but this one left me with so much laughter, I cried rivers of tears.

Solo un paio di cosette, tanto per non dichiarare morto questo blog…
La prima è che ho finito di uploadare TUTTE le foto “decenti” del precedente viaggio a Tokyo. Le trovate nel link a Flickr nella colonna di destra.

La seconda cosa che mi preme presentarvi è un portale di informazione sulla vita giapponese in generale. Il portale si chiama Dannychoo.com ed è VERAMENTE FATTO BENE!!

Qua dentro ci si trova di tutto: dai modellini, alle modelle, dai piatti tipici, ai locali alla moda, dall’abbigliamento ai modi di fare… lo slogan del sito mi sembra già sufficientemente esaustivo…

Ma la cosa più figa di tutto questo portale sono i video che il tipo ha fatto vestendosi da Trooper… ce ne sono tanti e sono tutti molto carini, ma ne ho scelti due che sono veramente fatti bene.

Questo, invece, ha come sottofondo le musiche di Rick Astley

Oltre all’idea, geniale in sè, è interessante guardare le reazioni dei vari giapponesi… si spazia tra la completa indifferenza, al timore, alla curiosità (e quindi allo scatto selvaggio di foto), fino ad arrivare alla compartecipazione nel video…

Well, I’ll just have to wait. If it’s possible. Until the DSi becomes available where you live (or maybe it has, you lucky bastard), check out the previously linked blog post, the video below and any source you may find telling you about it you can find on the internet – reading up about something may help you stand the wait. It may also make it even more unbearable, for some people. It’s your choice what you want to do, just don’t go to Japan without me. :)