My first time picking up G's Festival Comic and was rather pleased with the purchase ^^;

Initially thought that the mag was just another one of those telephone-book-thick manga filled with random stories - it is kinda but all the stories are from popular eroge.

This month features the gorgeous Erika Sendo from Fortune Arterial. Cant wait for the Kotobukiya figure of her to be released next month.

The lovely Feena and Estel.

The first few pages are color and the rest in black/white.

Has loads of nice 2D girlies, is 454 pages thick and costs 2,500 yen.

While the manga is filled with stories based on eroge, non of the content is ero apart from panchira and the occasional eye-grab.

This is the manga version of Fortune Arterial.

The 2008 spring edition also comes with a box O goodies.

Inside of the additional box.

A pass holder and what they call a "Keitai cleaner" to wipe the grime from yer mobile phone.

Inside the box is also this huge 150 x 50cm "micro fiber towel" of Erika who has freshly stepped out of a shower. You would probably ruin it if you used it as a real towel.

And this is where she currently is. Thank god for Eroge characters eh?

Speaking of Eroge, in just about every Japanese otaku blog is news of a proposal by the democratic party to ban adult games and anime saying that "people who enjoy these forms of media have lost their sense of humanity and leads to killings of young girls." This is the lady who put forward the proposal.

In a response to this proposal, there has been a backlash of responses such as...

• Im an adult and play these games - does that make me twisted?
• Thats an insult to people who play and make those games
• So theres nothing wrong with adult videos? (3D girls)
• Is that based on scientific grounds?
• I'm a married woman with kids. I play these games...
• Whats the color of your blood?

While I don't sit and play eroge for hours on end, I do download to have a look at them. I appreciate the artwork and think that many of the 2D girls are gorgeous. However, I don't think that I've lost my sense of humanity or am going to go out and start knocking of little girls.

What do you think about this proposal and do you have any opinions about people who play eroge or enjoy adult anime? I hear opinions that eroge and adult anime actually help reduce crime - what you think about this opinion?

Via Digimaga, Itai News, Sankei etc etc.

The device to alter the course of mankind is here in my possesion - the Tenga Flip Hole.

Once again the folks at Kanojo Toys have chosen me as a target to receive free goods - last time they sent a batch of standard Tengas (review here) and they recently sent one Flip Hole unit.

For folks who are not in the know, Flip Hole is a health care product - specifically for folks who own dolphins - read up on what a Flip Hole is or the following article may have you very confused.

The Flip Hole comes with 3 types of lotion which is used to lubricate the inner chamber - just like oil is needed in a cars engine. There are three types - Mild, Real and Wild.

Even if you don't have a dolphin, you can use it as an ornament.

And for folks who for some reason would be embarrassed to be caught with one, you can say that its a lava lamp or something.

When your dolphin starts to chirp at you, it means that it needs some health care and this is done by waxing it. Prepare the Flip Hole unit in one hand...

And pull off the docking hull with the other hand.

This will reveal the docking interface port.

The interface port opens like this...

Its amazing how they managed to fit so much technology into one small chamber - the Quattro Wave valve, End Orbs, Click Orb, Wing Gates and Lip flap - detailed explanation of each of these units in the previous coverage.

Folks who dont have a dolphin can also stick in figures...

While most electrical components such as mother and circuit boards are hard n green, they managed to make all this electric equipment look like a soft rubbery substance. I presume this is so that all the electronics dont intimidate the dolphin that needs to interface with all these parts.

Soft n squigy and Kanojo Toys has a video of one being used - NSFW for those who are dolphin shy.

The Flip Hole hull has been designed to cater for many different sizes.

Once the lubrication has been applied, the Flip Hole is vacuum sealed.
Dolphin owners are well aware that dolphins have a habit of frothing at the mouth after the waxing process. The froth is collected in the chamber and goes through 7 different filtering processes to produce soap which you can then use to wash your face or whatever.
I think this is a great idea - just imagine how useful this would be if you are stuck on a deserted island with no soap.

The six buttons around the unit increase the vacuum in the inner chamber.

The Flip Hole unit also comes with Fire Wire 800, 400 and USB2.0 wires which are needed to send info to your computer - compatible with MacOS Leopard, Windows 95, DOS and all flavors of Ubuntu/Unix.

Not only does the Flip Hole make reusable soap, its also environmentally friendly too. Heat that is generated while waxing the dolphin is stored in this Energy Capacitor which you can then later use to charge your iPod, PSP, NDS or other portable devices.

The Flip Hole also comes with headphones and a microphone. As we all know, its important to talk to our dolphins during the waxing process.

What the Flip Hole is not able to do however is to interpret the squeaks that dolphins make during waxing. The headphones are only used to listen to those sounds which are translated into visual patterns which show up on your monitor like this.

The camera inside the chamber needs to be powered by Nanocarbonition - another rare material which can only be mined on from the fifth moon orbiting the remote planet of Taurus.
Folks who have Nanocarbonition can power the camera and actually see their dolphin being waxed in the chamber on the monitor. The video of your dolphn being waxed can then be saved and the software will automatically upload to video sharing services such as YouTube.

The data via the Fire Wire or USB cables also provide health statistics and also the amount of energy (displayed in Watts) being produced during the waxing process.

Folks who perform dolphin health care while on a business trip away from their computer can save waxing data onto a USB drive.

Convinced? If so then this bundle of technology can be yours for a mere 99USD from Kanojo Toys.

Next to the Tenga are examples of the free goodies that come through the post - the Sony Rolly (review here) and figures. If you could choose, which would you rather receive for free - lifetime supply of figures, Flip Hole or Sony products?

When you visit Tokyo Tower, you will see miniature versions of the tower that can be purchased as a souvenir. If you visit Asakusa Shrine, you will find miniature versions of the main gates with that huge red lantern. So what is the typical souvenir that you should pick up when in Akihabara?

Well according to Asobit Game, the souvenir that you should be picking up for your friends are these different varieties of Tengas.

The table is labeled as "Akihabara Souvenirs" and has some eroge on the side which you may want to pick up at the same time.

And while deciding what you should buy for your boss/teacher, you can also grope the bottom of this "attraction."

I remember when I first started to visit Japan - I wanted to spend all my money on idol DVDs and photo books meaning that the only souvenirs I picked up for friends were from 100 yen shops ^^;

For folks that have visited Japan - what sort of souvenirs did you pick up for friends/family.
And for folks who are going to visit Japan - what sort of stuff do you think you will pick up for the folks back home?

Been spending a lot of time in Akiba recently so this weeks "A Week in Tokyo" is an Akihabara special.
Yesterday we had a look at the inside of the Radio Kaikan and now we go look at the rest (but not all) of Akihabara.

While I get bored of going to places like Shibuya or Shinjuku, I never get bored of visiting the holy land.

Kodomo no Jikan poster covers three floors of the Gamers building.

Fellow otaku lining up for last weeks eroge releases.

AV actress Hamazaki Rio (VNSFW) will be having a photo session on the 9th Feb at M's.
If you want to attend then you need to buy two of her DVDs where you will get 60 seconds of her in costume and 60 seconds in a bikini.
If you want to know what its like to attend these then check out this previous article.

My Master costume for 8,500 yen and Haruhi for 7,900 yen - a great gift for your GF/Wife/Mistress or BF.

The whole of Akiba has gone Fortune Arterial crazy what with the release of the eroge.
This case is full of August (the company that released Fortune Arterial) goodies.

Operation Sanctuary and moar August goodies. Yum.

Taka Tony ero anime.

Some of last weeks eroge releases.

Natsukami - NSFW screenshots of the girls in action here.

Pia Carrot telephone card illustration.

Beat Blades Haruka.

The Lucky Star PS2 game.

SOS Dan angels.

Ai Shinozaki - see pics I took of her in this article.

BTW, these pics were taken at the Asobit Games building. Go there and you can get that Haruhi red armband hanging on the right.

Some bed time reading.

Nocturnal activity material.

Enough nocturnal activity material to last months - or days depending on how often you wax the dolphin.

Moar dolphin care products.

Some illustration books of popular eroge.

Material to drain your body of three types of liquids - blood (nosebleed), tears (depending on how good it was for you) and soldiers.

Some of the less erotic illustration books.

Fortune Arterial dakimakura.

More Fortune Arterial.

An elevator that you want to get in even though you don't particularly want to go to another floor.

The main street in Akiba - Chuo Dori.

Hatsune Miku goodies.

There are many demos set up outside shops that you can play.

Apparently there is a surprise if you look up this Haruhi's skirt.

Billy in Akiba.

This block contains Toranoana (ero, doujin), Animate (anime goodies) and the Taito Game building.

The yellow building on the right is Akibakan...

...And at Akibakan you will find a load of cheap PC accessories, hard disks and flash memory. 1TB SATA is 32,990 yen.

8GB SDHC for 4,790 yen

In the back streets of Akiba you will find the small stores which give Akiba its personality. Hope they last against all the big guys moving into the area.

Coin lockers are to be found here and there - leave your luggage here as you trek around Akiba.

More of the back streets.

The crossing at Chuo Dori as soon as you come out of the "Denki Gai" exit at Akihabara Station.

Evening approaches on Akiba.

Have not asked for permission to do coverage at Gamers yet so had to sneak this one in of the Polyphonica girls.

For some of the stores, I need to ask permission to take photos which usually involves talking to head office and is a pain in the bottom.
On the other hand, some of the store owners seem to know about dannychoo.com and ask me to cover their store from time to time which I gladly do.

Expect more Akiba coverage here in the articles and over in the News Items in the left column.

Nihon Car has been heavily covering Tokyo Auto Salon where you can see the latest and greatest cars. But I personally prefer the Itasha car show held at the last comiket.

All these itasha can be found parked in the lot between Kokusai Tenjijo station and Big Sight.
Was the first time I got to see the cars first hand and am envious of the owners because my wife does not want our car plastered with stickers of Mirai-chan ^^;

I did do some research into the stickers and it costs 14,000 yen for a 500mm x 500mm weather proof sticker sheet - available for order from Palec.

This is my fave car with Pink Chu Chu girls - from the eroge Miraroma. Yum.

The next time you can see these itasha on show is at the next summer comiket. If you had to choose between going to Auto Salon and this itasha show, which would you choose?