Mrs Wide Open, or 沢本あすか/Asuka Sawamoto as she likes to call herself, of serial exhibitionism fame, seems to have covered up, and is now modestly appareled, at least as long as chaperoned by a policeman taking time out from haranguing cosplayers to do something useful. We can but hope she stays covered up, but this may be a hope in vain. Reporting delivered with sarcasm and panache by AkibaOS. Having seen her without the distraction of her thong or the magic of photoshop, you may be shaken – relief, as always, provided here.
You may be familiar with the Chintendo Vii, a console “resembling” the Nintendo Wii which makes use of superior Chinese engineering and intellectual property, and this outstanding product has recently hit the shores of Japan. Actual hands on play details had been lacking until now, but over at Inside a fine and much anticpated look at both the hardware and now the software is now up; see here and here for the hardware, and here for the all important software. Nintendo may have some serious competition on their hands. You will also be delighted to know that foraying to some suspicious backstreet Akiba shop to get yours is unnecessary; even Amazon are stocking it!
This is surprising considering how het up the police in Akiba are over street performances and the like now – pirate, uncensored and overseas edition DVDs being sold bold as brass from a normal retail location? Not for long, I’d wager. Interesting to see how long they last; usually these kind of shops have to be far more discrete and be ready to disappear rapidly. Akibablog reveals all. But 3000¥ for a pirate DVD? Exorbitant.
Intrepid soujourners to the final World Hobby Festival Ariake 18 figure fest are starting to bring back their fine photographs. Akibahobby here, Moeyo here. Even more here. Some fine casting on display. Sure to be more reports later, but I think there is only so much to report… I am still curious as to why they cancelled it? Poor numbers seem likely, although I am reminded of Gainax’s remarks on dojinshi and garage kits. Update: As expected, Heisei Democracy has some excellent coverage here and here, and more in the works.
Some more from DreamParty 2008. Cosplay here and here exhibited by Moeyo, more dakimakura, cosplay and the like here by Ota-Suke, along with some more cosplay here and here.
The Hiroshima Animation Biennale is set to hold an expo on Japan’s glorious history of robot anime, incidentally marking the 80th year of Tetsuwan Atom creator Osamu Tezuka’s life. The exhibition will run for 20 days from August the 7th, and funnily enough it will be held in Hiroshima. If Hiroshima is too far from the plamo lined streets of Akiba for you, it will apparently tour the whole country after wrapping up in Hirohima.
Screenings of works and giant scale figures are promised; they are apparently hoping for 400,000 visitors across all their related events. No word on if there will be any Tachikoma in evidence. See also interesting revelations regarding an International Gundam Research Society here. Via Anime!Anime!
A research society with the scholarly aim of studying Gundam? Apparently so – the news is gleaned from details of the upcoming Robot Anime Expo. From the limited details available it appears they will unfortunately be concerned with social and cultural ramifications and the like, as well as such essential questions as how mankind should interact with alien races, rather than the business of building giant robot killing machines. It may be interesting to see how this pans out. Via Anime!Anime!
信長の野望・革新/Nobunaga no Yabou – Kakushin (Nobunaga’s Ambition – Kakushin/Reform) is the latest in the series of Sengoku Jidai grand strategy games which made Koei, and since it was relatively recently updated with the パワーアップキット/Power-up Kit, I will provide a review. Please note that this is the sequel to the recently released (in English) Nobunaga’s Ambition: Rise to Power, an otherwise quite different game. The Power-up Kit (PK) provides some fairly significant changes, so I will restrict this review to the game with the PK.
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Excellent photographic article over at Moeyo on this general exhibition of anime related goods (stimulating dakimakura make a very strong showing), “Dream Party 2008”, where manufacturers show off the latest goods at the Tokyo Big Site. Moeyo also provides some photos of eroge booths here.
Having finally finished 戦場のヴァルキュリア/Valkyria Chronicles, I am in a position to review and recommend it; my earlier impressions also still stand, view them here and here for additional detail and more screenshots. Valkyria Chronicles is really one of the first truly next generation games for the PS3, and probably heralds the maturation of the platform. It is easy to recommend, in fact difficult not to recommend, on every level; for anyone who is a fan of wargames, RPGs or anime, it is a game which is absolutely indispensible. Enough with the general impressions – what of the game proper? What of Alicia’s swimsuit? Read on for both.
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Interesting comparison of the censorship of serialised versus compilations of ToLOVEる/To Love-Ru here – it seems quite heavy handed, but this is Shonen Jump so I suppose it is understandable. What of the TV versus DVD versions of the anime, I wonder? Personally, I think I prefer seinen manga, of either variety, where this sort of thing is not an issue.
Your own anime, with maids? The newest twist in the maid boom may be new maid café ぽぽぷれ/Popopure, where the patron is not only pampered by maids (or “メイドに萌えながら” as the article amusingly puts it), but also gets to lend their voice to a short anime produced whilst in the shop, with the customer able to watch the process. There are 3 characters available for voicing in the 3 minute anime, so if you are the ronery type you can get the maids to participate – marvellous. Naturally you also get a copy on DVD. Via Sankei.
Togijo no Senhime: Another Story Unexpectedly Gory
Coming of Age Day Illustrations Quite Formal
Atelier Shallie Plus Trailers Unbearably Cute
Pyramid Head’s Great Knife Replicated
Mortal Kombat X DLC More Gruesome Than Ever
Top 10 Most Anticipated Anime of Winter 2016
Splatoon “Super Play Time” Absolutely Cringe-worthy
Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut “Dragons & Mechs?”
Monster Hunter X Megaman Event Profusely Blue
Love Live! Sunshine!! MV “Will Brighten Up Your Day!”
Top 10 Best Anime Girls of 2015
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar “Has Oppai!”
Picking Up Japan Express Vol. 36 Worth a Pickup
Dimension W Out Of This World
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir PV Certainly Nostalgic
One-Punch Man Soundtrack PV Packs A Wallop
XmasTrickStar “A White Christmas Indeed…”
Wo-Class Carrier Ero-MMD In Dire Straights
Voice Translation Tool Promotional Video “Inexcusable!”
Luck & Logic Far From Lucky
Yandere Simulator Possibly Headed to Kickstarter
Top 20 Recent Anime Most In Need Of A Sequel
Hyrule Warriors Legends PV Clashes Interminably
Akagami no Shirayukihime English Dub Surfaces
Koukaku no Pandora Really Opens That Box
Gate Season 2 Darker Than Ever
Super Sweet Sonico Bikini Figure
Top 10 Naughtiest Late Night Anime
Shoujo-tachi Mezasu Seemingly Innocent
Final Fantasy XIV Lord of Verminion Trailer Highly Adorable
Dagashi Kashi “A Total Sugar Rush!”
Legend of Zelda Ero-SFM Trailer Supremely Magical
Shingeki no Kyojin Fan Game Swoops In
Musaigen no Phantom World: “KyoAni’s Oppai Anime!?”
Hypnotize My Girlfriend Quite Entrancing
Haruchika Blows Nicely
Is The Order Omame Onahole Parody
The Asterisk War Trailer Battles Fiercely
Top 10 Anime Songs of 2015
Oni Chi Chi Refresh Beach Bikini Bonanza
To Love-Ru Darkness Absolutely Mouth-Watering
Love Live! Movie Museum “Idols Everywhere!”