dannychoo.com - Danny Choo : Anime, Figures, Idols, Gundam, Otaku and Events from Japan

Japanese Bunny Girls

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:29:00 +0900

Nothing better to start you day than with some bunny girls.

Darn, ran out of bunny girl pics. Luckily I had one of this bunny boy.

Bunny boy pic from dlisted and thanks to Alafista for the bunny girl pic.
By Danny Choo on 2007/11/07 22:41

Sailor Moon

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 21:50:00 +0900

More of these Sailor Moon beauties after the jump.

Beautiful. But he doesn't beat this guy.

By Danny Choo on 2007/09/02 21:02

Maid Cafe

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:04:00 +0900

This is what happens when it got gusty at the Uchimizu event.
There is even a otaku word to describe the thigh area showing above the socks - the Zettai Ryouiki (絶対領域(ぜったいりょういき)).
Submitted by one of my media comrades who wishes to remain anonymous. He said that he felt "betrayed" because they were wearing shorts instead of knickers...

By Danny Choo on 2007/08/06 08:16

Uchimizu

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:12:00 +0900

Uchimizu refers to the action of sprinkling water on the streets in the summer and has been a tradition in Japan for many many moons. The water keeps the dust low and cools off the immediate area. You can read up more on this tradition somewhere here.

The Uchimizukko Daishugo event has made this tradition more interesting by getting legions of maids to do the watering. Video included after the jump.

The pink maid in this pic wearing glasses was my fave out of the lot.
BTW, just added this image to the Wallpaper pool.

12.30 infront of Akiba station. Organizers are prepping for the event.

Holy water used to cool off the streets.

Maids getting ready for action.

More maids.

Was interviewed by a few TV crews but forgot which channels ^^;

These are called Oke which are filed with water.

There is a bridge above the event space but is glassed off to prevent people jumping I guess.

More maids get ready for the event.

And Some more.

All these maids are from different cafes. Never been to a maid cafe before so couldn't tell you who's who. Below is a list of some of the cafes who participated in the event (in Japanese).
アキバ一丁目劇場、＠ほぉ〜むcafe、お〜ぶ、Cafe Cute M、キューティーリラックス、QUEEN DOLCE、Cos-Cha、JAMアキハバラ、SweetTrip、ハニーシープ、ぴなふぉあ、MistyHeaven、メイキュア、メイドステーション、メイフット、Merry Heart、モエシャン、癒あmaiden、ユナティコストレーガ、LittleBSD、LittlePSX、ロイヤルミルク

You can see the event area from the bridge but photos from here are crap.

Gah, its the pnk maid (in the middle). I didnt notice how nice she was until I looked at the photos. I could hardly see through the helmet (I only see green ^^;)

Brownie points to whoever can name all the maid costume/cafes.

This event has to be the biggest maid only event. The girls are waiting on the bridge to head down an escalator.

And at the bottom of the escalator awaits full of salivating men pointing their...camera.

The maids reach the bottom of the escalator and pose for the lads.

I like the one in beige. Reminds me of a figure.

This is Rio Hatsune who was this years image girl for the event.

Traditional style maids.

Macho maids?

Yum.

Yum Yum. I like the two to the left of this pic.

All the girls have assembled at the event ground and grab an Oke full of water.

The water throwing/sprinking takes place a few time throughout the event. Can anybody tell me which cafe that pink maid works at?!

T'was very windy and the girls had a tough time keeping their skirts down. There were many gusts of wind where upon the girls would squeek "kyaaa!".
The lads around me all went "ahhhhh, kawaiii!!"

Folks from the audience who wanted to participate could do so too. But its boring watching them throw water...

Which is why I kept my eye on this lot.

Was packed so didnt get to move around and only got pics form this spot.

Pink maid with glasses!
I see many lousy contact lens ads on TV which make people feel stupid for wearing glasses.
I personally think girls in glasses look great.

A shot of the lads.

Standing behind the maids is a bad thing. You cant see whats going on and you cant even take pictures of their backs because some woman comes and screams at you.

Helping promote some maid cafe.

People who attended the event may have noticed that the organizers seemed to have set up equipment to measure something. What they were doing is measuring the temperature, wind and height of water being thrown.
After water has been thrown and if there was a breeze (which there was), then the temperature should temporarily cool down.

I think the heat being generated by the excited men alone prevented any type of temperature cooling.

Image girl Rio.

Forgot to put this in earlier.

This post is mixed with photos that I took on my Xacti, Canon IXY 900 and also photos taken by my good man Tokyo Hunter who runs a figure blog - check out his post for more coverage.
And more coverage below.

Video below. The first few seconds is blank. The video stops from time to time which is when I'm taking photos.

By Danny Choo on 2007/08/05 22:24

Layers Paradise

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 01:02:00 +0900

Layers Paradise is probably the biggest cosplay event held in Japan (bigger than Comiket) and is held twice a year. This weekends event is being held at Tokyo Dome City.

While Hector and I were at an idol photo shoot, my wife and her friends were at a flea market selling some of our precious unwanted items also known as "crap."
The flea market was in the same area as the Layers Paradise event so she thought she'd snap a few photos for you.

This is Momotaros from Kamen Rider Den O. Den O looks interesting but I just haven't been following it.

Layers Paradise is held twice a year. It costs 2,000 yen for cosplayers to get in but camera wo/men need to pay an extra 1,000 yen just to take photos. The 2000 yen includes a free pass to go on any of the rides for free all day - the venue is actually a theme park.

One of the reasons why my wife could take pics was because she had one of those carry-on-board pull-along-bags which all cosplayers seem to have - she was mistaken for a cosplayer ^^; Cosplayers dont need to pay extra to take photos.

The event continues today but I need to work so dont think I can make it. Will make a point of attending this event in October (27th and 28th). Will go as trooper or Vader or a hybrid of both ^^;

You dont see many people in the pics because these were taken just outside the venue.

I wish my wife took a picture of those nurses instead ^^;

My wife only took a handful but it was enough to give me a feeling of what the event is like. Here are some pics of last years event which also includes some cosplay dancing, costume and photo competitions too.

And leaving you with a teaser of the first set of idol photos. Hector and I will do another simultneous upload of our coverage at 12 noon JST tomorrow (Monday).
Dont forget to prepare a few boxes of tissue.

For nose bleeds I mean.

Very off topic: I have a meeting with Goodsmile soon so if you have any questions that you would like me to ask them then feel free to ask away.

By Danny Choo on 2007/07/09 00:14

Japanese cosplay

Thu, 24 May 2007 23:51:00 +0900

There are two types of cosplay in Japan. Incredibly good cosplay like Kipi-san (pictured here as Misa Misa from Death Note).
And then theres...

Cosplay like erm this...
Actually, I'm not sure if he's cosplaying. His name is Alice. Picture taken by Lee - you can download a larger version to print out and hang on your wall at Tokyo Times. I wonder if Lee was able to keep a straight face when taking this photo knowing that he was going to upload it ^^;
Which picture burns your eyes the most? This picture of Alice or the gruesome threesome?

By Danny Choo on 2007/05/24 23:03

Kipi Cosplay

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:20:00 +0900

I know many of you already know who Kipi is but she uploaded a few new pics of her Evangelion Asuka gear today and I thought I would share.
There is a cosplayer community known as Cure and you can find a ton of Kipi's gorgeous pics ( including Haruhi, Chobits ) in her member profile (you need to register to see them though).

Kipi does appearances all the time and will be in Toshimaen tomorrow and Sunday for a JCF (Japan Cosplay Festival) event. I cant go this weekend but I will get her on camera one day - just like I will get Aya Hirano. Theres always a way when you are passionate about something ^-^.
By Danny Choo on 2007/04/06 23:32

WF 2007 Winter - Evangelion

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:12:00 +0900

Decided to save the best of the Wonfes 2007 coverage for the end.
Evangelion cosplay. Shame Asuka wasn't there.

Keeping it short n sweet today as I get back to playing Gundam Musou ^^;

By Danny Choo on 2007/03/04 23:24

WF 2007 Winter - Cosplay

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 01:12:00 +0900

Wonder Festival coverage continues with the cosplay. Went in armor Last time but found it difficult to take pictures so decided to go in plain civilian apparel.
The usual Gundam cosplayers were there but this time round it looks like they upgraded their creative skills – this RX78 in particular was rather cool indeed and seems to have much more maneuverability than their previous attempts.

Also including images of the halls so you can get a feel of what it was like to be there. Will be working on a feature to build event calendars so that you can time your trip to Japan to coincide with these events. The next event I'm due to go to is the Tokyo Anime Fair - see what it was like last year.

Also a quick thanks to bloggers who introduced my Wonfes coverage. Unique users for yesterday alone was about 16,000 generating over 60,000 page views. The top 3 referrers where Gunota Headlines, Japanator and Kotatsuga-san. Thank you all ^^

By Danny Choo on 2007/03/01 00:24

Cosplay Battle

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:10:00 +0900

Starting off your week with a picture of men dressed up as their favorite female anime/game characters. Saber, Cammy and not too sure who the other one is. Not sure who wins in terms of the "OMG" factor - the Gruesome Threesome or Man Faye?
Discovered on Tokyo Times.
By Danny Choo on 2007/02/19 21:22

Arisa Mizuhara

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 02:55:00 +0900

Meet Arisa Mizuhara. From looking at her pictures, I would call her a cosplay goddess and I'm sure you would agree too. Check out her site for more (much more) ^o^

Speaking of cosplay, While getting my haircut, the hairdresser asked me how much I receive when I go on TV. She was surprised to hear that I dont get paid. I was surprised that she thought I was getting paid! Since then many people have been asking me the same thing. I'd rather make money from the area that I work in which is the internet - and not from trooping ^^; As long as people around seem to be happy then thats more than enough for me (and thats priceless ^^)

By Danny Choo on 2007/02/18 02:07

Kamen Rider Kabuto

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 02:25:00 +0900

Lately I've been making sure I get my weekly dose of Boukenjya and Kamen Rider Kabuto every Sunday morning. For those who dont know, Kabuto is the sixteenth installment of the Kamen Rider series which is in its 35th year.
To describe this series in a sentence - its a super hero action series where a guy in a suit and a helmet that looks like some sort of insect who goes around on a bike beating bad guys up. OK, there is more to it than that and you can read a better description at Wikipedia.

The guy underneath the suit is human in normal form and when harassed by a bad dude, he whips out his Zecter (a small insect looking device) and exclaims "HENSHIN!" (変身！(へんしん！)) Which roughly means "Transform!" where he morphs into what you see in these pics.
He has an array of most coolsome weapons like the Cast Off system where heavy duty armor (not shown in these pics) bursts off Kabuto's body to mow down baddies within close vicinity. I find myself running around the house (and at work at times) yelling "CAST OFF!" or "ONE, TWO, THREE, RIDER KICK!" - thats what you hear when Kabuto is using his weapons - I think its just Kabuto being kind enough to let the bad guys know what they where hit with.
You can get some of Kamen Rider Kabuto at You Tube where you can see the Cast Off in action ^^.

Now for the suit - I really want one! But me thinks that 260,000 yen is a bit too much no matter how accurate this suit is - this seller has other suits going at Yahoo Auction...
Hmmmm. still considering though.

By Danny Choo on 2006/09/17 01:37

Cosplay

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 12:41:00 +0900

Continuing with the Wonder Festival Summer cosplay coverage. Sunday was hot - so hot that I decided that I would probably die in armor on the train from the heat so decided to drive to Big Site and change in the car park instead.

You can see more pictures taken at the following sites.

Unlike the previous Wonder Festival where the cosplay area was on the second floor, todays event was held in the open area on the ground level. There were also much more people than last time - probably because of the summer holidays.

Couldn't identify any of these cosplayers...

Identified as some geezer from Deka Ranger.

Dont know who she's supposed to be - if anybody knows let us know ^^.

Another I-dont-know-who-this-is cosplayer.

Mikuru and Haruhi! Haruhi otherwise known as Saku-san.

A US Naval Aviator and trooper duel it out...

Both are hit in the boobies...

A Race queen. By the way, if you like race queens then you will find loads at Yoshimu-sans blog.

Hmmm, what could they be talking about?

Forgot what type of Zak this is.

Stormtrooper has head transplant and gets Freedom Gundams head.
Freedom Gundam also has a head transplant and gets a Stormtrooper head.
You can see more of Goldie-sans Gundam cosplay at his site.

Bah! Cant remember... But those suspenders look good.

Cute character but dont know who ToT

Being strangled by Leia (Nomi-san) is part of a stormtroopers job.

Cute anime type maid. Probably a girl underneath but wasnt too sure. Today has a ton of fellows dressed up as girlies. The word for a man dressing up as a woman is callled Josou(女装(じょそう)).

Hime cosplay. The person in black in the middle is a bloke by the way...

Have been getting in to the ranger/Kamen Rider stuff on Sunday mornings - more on this subject in a later post.

Kamen Rider Hibiki. Saw this costume for sale on Yahoo auction for 400,000 yen...

Hmmm. A cross between a kitten and Mai Shiranui...

This cosplayer goes by the name of Cyborg NeNe...

Trooper and Ryu battle it out. HADOUKEN!

Trooper looses and gets it in the chest.

Suzuko-san.

OK, thats it for today. Were off to Okinawa for a few days and I'm not sure if I'll be able to drag myself away from the beach to post new updates - but I'll try ^^; Coming up next are the Gundam kits from the Hobby Japan booth, female figurines and a ton of other goodness.

By Danny Choo on 2006/08/25 11:53

Haruhi Cosplay

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 22:25:00 +0900

I've seen much Haruhi cosplay but this collection of photos has to be the best that I've seen so far.
kirinon has a ton of other photos from recent cosplay events so check out his top page too.

Speaking of cosplay, theres going to be a ton of cosplay at tomorrows Chara Hobby Event in Makuhari - check out pics from 2005 and also at the summer Wonder Festival this Sunday. I'll be shooting all day at Chara Hobby and *may* turn up in armor for Wonder Festival on Sunday - which would be a cosplay only day for me.

I just need to make sure that I get my grubby mitts on that Haruhi T-shirt at this weekends events...
By Danny Choo on 2006/08/18 21:37