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

Berlin

Mon, 12 May 2008 21:02:00 +0900

After the conference in Hamburg, we headed for Berlin where we spent a very hot sunny day walking about town.

This was the train we took from Hamburg to Berlin - very nice interior.

The weather was lovely and was told that its not usually this hot at this time of year.

Arrival at Berlin station where we dropped off our luggage, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed for town.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The church has been left half destroyed as a reminder of the war.

And ths is what the church used to look like.

Shopping/eating district near the church.

I've never been this hot since last summer in Japan. The heat is scorching and the sun very bright. For some reason, the sun in Tokyo is not so bright that one needs sunglasses.

Catching up on project progress with my developers over IM outside the Victory Column. Berlin (and Hamburg) was covered with Wifi everywhere - not free though.

Am using Hector's MacBook Air at the moment since my MBP is dead. Fell in love with the portability of the machine and decided to get one when I get back to JP - will wait for the second generation one though. This damn machine needs a firewire socket.

Unfortunately, the Victory Column is covered in graffiti. Its sad to see a symbol of history treated in this way. While Hamburg and Berlin have lovely scenery, I do notice quite a bit of graffiti here and there and reminded me of living back in the UK where it was everywhere.

Does your region have graffiti all over the place? In your eyes, is graffiti art or vandalism? Some graffiti looks nice but I think there are places for it and especially not on historical objects.

A view from the column.

Relaxing by some river.

Recharging our HP with some Hagen daz and catching up on some more mail.

East Berlin.

This is Brandenburg Gate - a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin.

A bicycle for seven.

On the move again.

Remains of the Berlin Wall. The wall separated East Berlin and West Berlin for 28 years, from the day construction began on August 13, 1961 until it was dismantled in 1989. More from Wikipedia.

The Sony Plaza where we wanted to catch Iron Man but didn't have enough time. Have to wait until bloody September when it comes out in Japan.

Sorry - forgot the name of this place - its near Berlin station.

"Berlin Hauptbahnhof" is Berlin Central Station where we catch a train to Fussen.

The train is the 10:14PM to Munich where we will catch another two trains.

First time on a sleeper train and it was a fun experience. Each room is about 2 meters sq and comes with its own shower, toilet, towels etc. The hot water pressure is good too.

Breakfast is served on the train at 5AM.

We watch the sun rise over coffee.

Corridors on the train.

And this is where we are right now. Off for more lakes, mountains and trekking around castles today.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/12 20:02

Declining Marriage Rate in Japan

Sun, 11 May 2008 21:02:00 +0900

An ad for some online dating information center which says "find your marriage partner."
Research done by Goo Japan shows that the number of unmarried folks in Japan is on the increase.
The percentage of unmarried men aged 25 - 29 has reached 70% compared to the 1950's where it was only 34%.

For unmarried women, this figure has gone from 15% in the 1950's to 59% in 2005. The number is lower due to there being more men than women in Japan - is that a global thing?

When asked "why are you not married?" most people in the survey said while they did have the intention of getting married, they have not met the right person. Or could they be lying and actually prefer 2D girls/boys, Tenga and Candy Girls?

I remember during my early twenties, I was always wondering where on earth I was going to find the girl of my dreams. I finally found her when working part time at a Japanese restaurant - she approached me first ^^;

Hmmmm. May as well talk about previous girls who I fell in lurve with.

Kylie Minogue (who is Kylie?)

Fell in lurve with her cuteness. I was about 16(?) at the time. Followed her everywhere. Got to know a few of her bodyguards and ended up getting backstage passes all the time. Have a load of photos with her that I will scan and post one day.

The Little Mermaid Ariel (who is Ariel?)

Ariel was probably the first 2D girl I had a crush on. Most sweetsome. I even had a little mermaid figure which I took pictures of all the time. I dropped her one day and her leg fell off. She currently sits on my monitor back in my room in the UK.

Girl 1

She worked in a Japanese bookshop in London. I had to wait until she wasn't at the checkout in order to buy health related material. Got a bunch of flowers and approached her during lunch one day. Turned out that she already had a boyfriend but we remained friends.

Girl 2

Saw her walking by in a shopping arcade. Grabbed a bunch of flowers and approached her. We ended up going out with each other for a while before she got bored with me ^^;

Girl 3

Met her at a part time job I had. She was a model who came to London from Japan to learn English. They put her in the kitchen washing dishes as there were not any positions open for waitresses at the time. I offered to help her wash the dishes. We also ended up going out and I was extremely attached to her. Unfortunately, she was they type of girl who liked to have many boyfriends. She told me that she didn't want to hurt me by continuing the relationship and dumped me ^^;

Girl 4

She was a Japanese Idol called Nishida Hikaru who I previously talked about before. Came to Japan to meet her every year. The first time I met her was at the backstage entrance of the Kousei Nenkin Hall in Shinjuku. Managed to pass her some presents. That night, I got a huge bunch of flowers and waited outside the hall after her concert with rollerblades on - the intent of chasing her car and handing her the flowers.
The guards at the hall didnt like the look of me and just before her car came out, 7 or so guards rushed and pinned me to the ground until her car was out of site. They left with the words "This is Japan - you cant do this sort of thing here."

The flowers still looked decent so I got up battered, bruised and skated in the direction of the car as fast as I could. Fate was on my side and her car was stuck at some traffic lights. She opened the window for me with a sorry look and accepted my flowers. I dont think it was her decision to set the guards on me - or at least thats what I like to think ^^;

I tried the same thing the next year at the same time and place but this time I hid well out of site. Unfortunately fate was not on my side and the traffic lights were greener than green - I remember chasing her on my roller blades through Shinjuku in the middle of the road with this huge bunch of flowers until my lungs started to ache - my ashtma got the better of me.

I retreated to sitting infront of a pachinko parlor crying my eyes out until a lady came up to me and asked if I was alright. I said I was fine and offered her the flowers.

Have you met your eternal partner yet or are still looking or do you intend not to marry or are you happy with 2D girls?

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/11 20:02

Hamburg

Sat, 10 May 2008 21:02:00 +0900

Its been two days since the conference and I can finally relax! The only pics I have from my talk was posted in this news item and will post more when I get the official photos and video.

Spent yesterday having a look around this gorgeous city of Hamburg. The buildings, greenery, lakes, rivers and weather are lovely and the folks here are so kind. Need to dash for a train to Berlin soon so I will only leave you with the photos this time.

My MacBook Pro decided to die on me before my talk at the conference. It boots up but there is no video output to the screen or external monitor. It does not boot up in Target mode either. Had stashed many Japan related photos on that machine to post but cant access it now so hope you don't mind the Germany related posts for the next few days.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/10 20:02

Suenaga-ke

Fri, 09 May 2008 21:02:00 +0900

Progress shots of Mirai's sister that Azami sensei and I are working on.
She turned out looking a bit older than originally planned but we still want a younger looking sister. So it looks like I'm going to go minami-ke style and have 3 sisters. This would be the middle sister - the equivalent of Kana from Minami-ke.
Below is a progression rough of the first pose.

And the first draft that you saw before below.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/09 20:02

Samurai Sanders

Thu, 08 May 2008 23:02:00 +0900

You've seen him dressed as a maid and now see Colonel Sanders dressed up as a Samurai during the Golden Week holidays here in Tokyo.

Just curious but do they dress up Sanders in your region too?

His sword looks rather limp though ^^; May be he needs some 2D girl pics to help him straighten it out.

Haruhi, Chicken burger and coleslaw - 1,000 yen.

The view from Kentucky. I take a pic and then realized after that I snapped the "Chinko" from "Pachinko" - "Chinko" means "mans dolphin" in Japanese ^^;;;;;;

The Kentucky menu. While we are on the subject of food, JapanProbe reports on a disturbing subject...

The main restaurant of scandal-hit upmarket chain Senba Kitcho, located in the city’s Chuo Ward, has been serving leftovers to customers almost on a daily basis for more than 20 years, sources close to the restaurant said.

The restaurant’s head chef admitted at a press conference on Friday that the restaurant had been using the leftovers of six dishes, such as sweetfish broiled with salt, since five or six years ago.

But the sources said the restaurant had actually been reusing a wider range of food items, including broiled fish and beef that had been left untouched by customers, by cooking them again and serving them sometimes in boxed meals.

The only bad experience that I remember is when I was at a Korean restaurant in Shin Okubo near Shinjuku. As I was rummaging around the dish, I found a lovely roasted cockroach...
have you been served something nasty or inedible before?

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/08 22:02

Greetings From Germany

Wed, 07 May 2008 21:26:00 +0900

Been up since 2AM. Body clock still on Japan time.
Brought some Melatonin to help with Jet lag but its not working this time round. I know some lucky folks who never get jet lagged. Do you get jet lagged and if so what do you do to cope with it?

A few pics taken up to my arrival in Hamburg. This was taken at Narita airport. The translation in English for this one is quite bad - "Please respect our chefs and refrain from bringing food or drink into the table." What they actually meant is "don't bring food from other shops." Their translation sounds like you are not allowed to eat at the dining table ^^;

BLT for B'fast.

The lovely Kaho spotted at the airport bookshop. Kaho showing us her lovely smile below.

The Lufthansa food is rather yummy.

Catching up on backlog of shows - Ninomiya-kun, Minamike-okawari, Mop Girl, Macross and Geass. Macross is just so awesome.
The scene where Ranka does "Watashi no kareshi was Pilot" was so nostalgic.
Original "Watashi no kareshi wa pilot" by Min Minmay below.

Ranka version below.

Original remix below.

Hamburg from the skies.

Current Hotel. Will be staying at a few places including overnight on a train after the conference.

Pee, poo and wash area.

Haruhi will be on stage with me ^^;
Still tweaking slides for tomorrows talk.

Out n about for a few hours during lunch.

Gorgeous weather.

Fries and frankfurter for lunch.

Going back to hotel.
Will check out the venue tonight to go over electrics, lighting etc and then dinner with the other presenters. Other updates in the News Items.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/07 20:26

Nida Schuetlich

Tue, 06 May 2008 22:02:00 +0900

For some reason, I seem have in my possession Nida Schuetlich from the Shuraki series by Good Smile even though she's not officially released until the 12th of this month ^^;

For folks who don't know, each of the Shuraki figures comes with an illustration booklet and a drama CD. Have not been bothered to listen to the CDs that came with this and the previous Shuraki figure Char Rhouseman as I have been busy playing with the cast off abilities instead ^^;

Get a cop of that lovely face. Original illustration by Shunya Yamashita. What ever happened to his blog?!

They decided to rename her Nida instead of Needa for those who are wondering about the title of this article.

Just got her and have to leave her behind in Japan as I leave for Germany ToT orz.

No complaints about this figure whatsoever. Paintwork is excellent and the sculpting is perfect.

An absolutely amazing figure.

Can see pantsu.

Folks who want Nida can have a look on one of dannychoo.com's trusted partners below.

Gorgeous detail.

Sweet, sexy, cute and cool all at the same time.

Nida's secret weapon is not her huge gun but in fact her stun-eyes.

Notice cute pantsu ribbon ^^;

Nida also comes with battle damage clothes too. if you had Nida, how would you pose her on your desk/shelf? Fully clothed, Battle damage or Cast off? I'm going to keep her in Battle Damage for a while - her belly is too nice.

One of these in the Wallpeper Pool.

The Shunya girls - Mirei San on the left. Which do you prefer?

The bits n pieces that she comes with. This is the short gun and comes with bits for the long gun too.

Nida Rhouseman.

Two Shuraki girls. Which would you choose out of these two? Tough choice.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/06 21:02

A Week in Tokyo 14

Mon, 05 May 2008 21:56:00 +0900

The gorgeous Mikatan from Good Smile Company. Was there this week again to go over the final production stages of...

Reading up on The Otaku market which is currently valued at 1.651 billion USD.

On the way home from the Hobby Stock BBQ.

Indy! Looking forward to this. Trailer below.

Waiting for train. Most underground stations have barriers that open only when the train arrives. Wonder when JR are going to invest some money to do the same for their platforms - they should at least try to stop people jumping.
JR train fares are generally higher than underground fares too - greedy gits.

Do you have barriers between the platform and train on your region? I know they do in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai. Not sure what its like back in London as I have not been for ages.

Haruhi Wonton Ramen - 900 yen.

A stroll in the local neighborhood. Its Golden Week this week which is why Tokyo is half empty.

Haruhi n chips n burger - all for 800 yen.

Ordering some sushi - 240 yen for two pieces.

Haruhi n Yuki play in the lounge.

Study time in lounge.

Shopping for groceries.

Gets me the Sanyo eneloop mobile booster so that I will have an extra 4 hours when I run out of iPod and NDS juice on the plane - 5,480 yen.

Fauna and dinner at home - fish n veggies.

Lunch with the Good Smile crew again.

This restaurant is run by Max Factory - they do great nan.

A few figures fall over after an earthquake - Good Smile offices.

Behind Mikatans desk.

Hair cut for 1,000 yen. I used to cut my own hair when it was long but chopped it all off when I started loose hair.

A photo in a bookshop of old Tokyo.

Another retro pic.

Snapped in the Matsudo area in East Tokyo where the Good Smile offices are.
The rent here is dead cheap - two floors for 42,000 yen per month. No key money or deposit required and comes complete with furniture and a loft - very rare indeed.
The catch is that its a 19 min walk from the station.

Prices of rent drop drastically based on the distance form the nearest train station. Folks who are thinking of living in Tokyo, have a look at my Tokyo Apartments article - learn what Key money is etc.
What is rent like in your region? I think I asked before but I didn't ask exactly how much you are paying. You is be paying how much per month?

Relaxing for a change in the lounge with my SAFS - Suddenly Acquired FigureS for those who dont know ^^;

A closer look at these two later this week ^^;

Some new houses for sale. These are called Tateuri where you buy the house with the land - you are generally paying more if you buy property like this. I recommend that you buy land and then build the house yourself on top. if you are looking to buy property in Tokyo, you can read my previous experience of buying a house in my Tokyo Property Purchase article.

These new houses cost 73,000,000 yen - there are two houses here.

Mikuru and some Chinese lunch - 800 yen.

Grabbing the latest To Love Ru manga. I should probably start to pick up Claymore too - 390 yen.

Preparing my slides for Hamburg. I used to use Powerpoint all the time in Amazon and Microsoft and must say that Apple Keynote pees on Powerpoint from an extremely tall building. Never knew about Keynote until I saw a guy from Google presenting in Tokyo other other day.

The "Week in Tokyo" series will take a rest until I get back to Japan so next week will be "A week in Germany." Will still continue to post articles but most updates will probably be in the News Items in the left column which you can also RSS Subscribe too. Will post stuff from my iPod Touch when I sniff some Wifi. Dont forget to check the Member News Items too for some cool stuff being posted.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/05 20:56

Trend Day

Sun, 04 May 2008 20:50:00 +0900

I've been invited to Germany to speak at the Trend Day conference next week - currently rehearsing and tweaking my slides as I write this ^^;

The organizers Trendburo are an agency who research and identify/suggest market opportunities and point out trends for businesses. This years conference theme is about identity management and I will be explaining what Otaku is and touch on the different identities of the Otaku. I will also talk about my companys product Mirai Gaia too - the web platform that this site runs on.

Nervous as hell even though I've presented a few times at Amazon, Microsoft and at the Imprint Conference in Los Angeles last year. Each time was only a couple of hundred but this time its over 600 attendees. Need to think about something else to to keep me relaxed - some 2D girls? Maybe you can help by posting some cutesome 2D girls in the Member News section for me?

These are photos from last years Trend Day which include Muhammad Yunus who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize - presenting on the same stage make me even more nervous ^^; More pics at the Trend Day Flickr Stream.

Was looking up info on presentations and came across something that said out of dying, heights, water, flying and speaking in front of people, most were most afraid of the speaking ^^;
What are you most afraid of - does not have to be any of the above.

For me its "speaking in front of others" as I'm not good at it. Not particularly scared of dying as we all have to go sooner or later - I just make sure I make the most of it while I'm alive and focus on reaching my destinations while I'm at it.

The conference is held in Hamburg and you can see my profile page at the Trendburo site. Will be taking time out in Germany for a while too.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/04 19:50

Japanese Deodorant

Sat, 03 May 2008 21:55:00 +0900

An ad for deodorant featuring an old lady who suddenly appears out of nowhere to sniff girls armpits. She then holds up a sign with her circle of approval and says "good!"

When I first came to Japan, I was extremely surprised that men didn't have a custom of using deodorant. All I saw on TV or in posters were deodorant for women. The pharmacy's were filled with deodorant packaged and marketed for women only and were in the womens section. Did feel kinda odd picking up a can of pink deodorant but soon got used to it ^^;

As men didn't use deodorant over here, getting on a train filled with sweaty smelly school boys and salary men was not a particularly nice experience. Maybe they were brought up to think that they didnt smell or that using deodorant was embarrassing?

Back in the UK, men using deodorant was normal and there were plenty of brands marketed and packaged for men.

These days in Japan however, some cosmetics companies have started to make deodorant targeted at men but only a few meaning that smelly train carriages will be around for a bit longer.

When you was in Tokyo, did you encounter the surrounded-by-smelly-men-on-train situation? Are men in general smelly in your region?

As for the CM, there are loads of the CM but could only find the one below which I posted before.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/03 20:55

Hobby Stock

Fri, 02 May 2008 21:51:00 +0900

So far we have taken a look at the offices of Good Smile Company, Max Factory, Kotobukya and brief look at Nitro Plus. Today we have a look at the offices of figure and related merchandise seller Hobby Stock.

This is where they take all the figure pics.

A closer look reveals maid Komaki.

Before I forget, you can see the rest of the office tours in the Japan Office Tour category.

The recently released Yuki by Alter.

Stacks O figures.

Hobby Stock exclusive dakimakura covers modeled by Hector.

Another Hobby Stock exclusive dakimakura cover - Masane from Witchblade. Killer eyes and killer toe - check her right foot.

More figures in the other corner.

Good Smile Moetan.

Too cute?

Some mecha pandas - forgot what series they are from - name that series.

And this is the main area of their office. As you can see they have an open layout which is the typical office layout in Japan.
The first company I was at in Japan was the same. I had my own office in Amazon and Microsoft had partitions between the desks that were high enough so that you couldn't see others when you sat down.

Back in Seattle Amazon headquarters, we had a room for two developers and where there was an open hall, there were partitions high enough so that you cant see anybody when standing up.

Some people say that open partitions create good teamwork - some people say that folks need some privacy when working.

Some bosses like open office layouts so that they can watch the employees which is totally wrong in my opinion. Employees should be trusted and not presumed to be wanting to do no work.

What sort of office layout do you have? If you had your own company, would you have your office open layout (employees screens visible) or partitioned (employee screen not visible)?

The most most cutesome Good Smile Haruhi Nendo Puchi.

Mikuru lurve.

The frog outfit is most cutesome. Is there anybody here who has not watched Haruhi?

We had barbecues in their old warehouse - Miku joins in.

Oppai mouse pad - Chu Chu Idol.

Comrade Shimazo-sans desk full O goodies.

Name that girl with the big eyes.

Name those mechas.

Hobby Stocks mascot character - forgets name.

This is Nard Tan right?

Hobby Stock have been doing quite well and have moved their warehouse to a bigger one. We had a celebration BBQ at their old warehouse.

The word for "burnable rubbish" is "moeru gomi." The "moe" in "moeru" beans "to burn."
The "moe" used here however means "moe" as in "moe girl" - a play on words. I guess folks who understand a little bit of Japanese will get this one ^^;

Most of the food gone.

Nabbed this from Hobby Stock - a pair of pantsu that they gave away with Nard Tan ^^;

Could not be bothered to cast off Fauna so stuck it on her leg in "pantsu-falling-down-leg" style.

Konomi ecchi.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/02 20:51

Figure News

Thu, 01 May 2008 19:55:00 +0900

Hmmmmm. Needa is not out yet but I seem to have her for some reason ^^; (whats Needa)
In other figure news today, Good Smile announce the pre-order release of the final two members which complete the Figma SOS Dan - Mikuru and Itsuki. Both retail for 2,500 yen and are out this June. Itsuki comes with a board for folks wanting to re-enact the Haruhi dance.
Love all three faces of Mikuru so think I'm going to need three of her ^^;
The only figures I have two if the same are GFF Guncannon and the Nendoroid Puchi. Do you have more than two of the same figure in your collection?

All images via Hobby Stock and if you are looking to pre-order any of these two, have a lookie at one of dannychoo.com's partners.

By Danny Choo on 2008/05/01 18:55