15 Thoughts from Akihabara

For those of you who don’t follow me on twitter, and that means pretty much everyone, I recently went to Japan. Two of my days were spent in Akihabara. Below are some of my thoughts on what some have referred to as the Anime holy land.

Mikunopolis: Christmas in July and World Conquest

I returned from Los Angeles and Anime Expo 2011 a few days ago and I have to say that the highlight of my trip, other than the soon to be regretted level of purchases I made in the dealer’s room, was anything dealing with Hatsune Miku. While the high point of all things Miku was obviously Mikunopolis, it was fun to learn a lot more about Miku over the course of the weekend through all of the panels. Before heading to Los Angeles, I was definitely a fan of the virtual idol, but going into the weekend I didn’t really know what to expect. After leaving, it struck me that being a fan of Miku was really a lot like believing in Santa for a few reasons.

First, like the meaning of Christmas, Miku can really be whoever you want her to be depending on what you like to do, and I’m not talking about her seemingly endless wardrobe for all the perverts out there. Well, I suppose that might be part of it. Still, fans can create new songs, animations, or character designs of and about Miku and send them out there for others to enjoy through the use of the internet. But just as Christmas isn’t just about candy canes and sleigh bells, Miku isn’t just about the music. One thing that became perfectly clear to me almost immediately this weekend is that Miku could very easily be a synonym for Commercialism, and in a lot of ways this is a good thing. It is because of this entrepreneurial spirit fan designs for Miku show up in games or on figures. It is because of this entrepreneurial spirit that allows companies to make money off of Miku’s products, even through the use of a decentralized business model. And in the truest of sense of all things commercialism, Miku is often depicted in pictures that are less than pure.

Anime Boston 2010 Wrap Up

As expected, day 2 saw more cosplayers than day 1. Day 3 had fewer, of course, and had a more relaxed, muted atmosphere as well.

Again, I’ve uploaded the photos I took onto Picasa: Day 2 and Day 3.

Maybe this will help him get over his depression

Swag Post: Yutaka Trading Figure, Death the Kid & Thompson Sisters Mini Figure, and Shana Pendant

Matsuricon’s pretty much been my best source for merchandise over the years, partly because Ohayocon’s dealer’s room is always more crowded. Though I’m usually not huge on merch, a few things have caught my eye over the years: the Lucky Star trading figures, the Shakugan no Shana cosplay necklace, and the Soul Eater mini trading figures series. These are probably the highlights of my merchandise collection aside from my battered and yaoi-fied Edward and Toushirou plushies. And fortunately, they’ve all turned out to be relatively high quality products, though each with their own flaws.

A-Kon 2008, Part 4

Last day! And because our club has a 400+ mile drive home, we don’t get to spend all of it at the con. So we were all up again by 8am or so to pack up our stuff in the room, load up the cars, and maybe hit up the last-day sales before we all left Dallas by noon. I just bought one more thing for myself while also completing shopping lists for other people.

A-Kon 2008, Part 3

Didn’t have time to write a decent entry in the afternoon, so here’s the late-night one to cover the whole day. Actual plans were had, so I didn’t get to spend the whole day in the dealer’s room. Barely any time at all actually. But I still got some great pictures and experiences.

A-Kon 2008, Part 2

Well the rest of the day involved some money spending. I got the Shana himitsu figure by Solid Works and two Clannad figures by Kotobukiya. $60, $40, and $40 respectively prior to tax. Bleh, tax. I wonder sometimes if it’s just a gimmick to add more to the cost, since all the vendors seem to make up their own percentages or round off in weird ways. Do they really have to report these sales and pay income tax for them? If so then that’s okay; it’s just a weird way about doing it. If not then shame on them.

Rant: You can’t fix stupid

Via ANN.

Sometimes you just have to get some anger out, and sometimes a target is handed to you on a silver platter.  This is one of those times.  To summarize, a 2 year old boy was playing with a plastic capsule, one of those things that holds a little anime bauble of some kind, likely very similar to the ones you buy here.  He choked on it and it caused brain damage.  Bandai is ordered to pay $250k in damages even though they were in complete safety compliance.

I love Amazon Japan

Speedy service, a manageable shipping rate (especially if everything arrives in 2-3 days overseas), and a quality selection of new and unread books and magazines. Plus when you make a group order for seven people, you have a lot of fun opening boxes and sorting out everything.

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You’re looking at over $550 worth of merchandise on my bed there. XD What’s kinda depressing is that about 30% is shipping cost. At least I don’t have to pay the consumption tax (although it’s not quite as much), but I do remind myself that I’m getting great international shipping, so…

Popping bubblewrap is now moe

[ Source: ANN ] Not too long ago, we heard about those keychains that simulated bubble-wrap popping, so you could live out that fetish to infinity if you’re fine with an electronic pop. Now, the fantasy is extended to include moe quotes after every 50 pops or so.