Japanese Sweets and Snacks!

Just recently came back from a trip to Japan with some friends, and brought back some snacks I wanted to try out, partly inspired by the animu Dagashi Kashi being the typical weab I am.

Didnt managed to find everything I wanted to try, meh. But here are the stuff that I managed to find!

1. Umai-Bo  (or corn/wheat sticks)

I actually won this at some arcade game. Didn’t manage to find the humongous sakura one as shown in the animu. They do come in mainly the doraemon characters packaging.

Tastes like a mega crunchy potato chip. In Singapore here there actually is a counterpart (as shown below) to this sold in small ‘mama’ shops that don’t taste as powdery. Used to buy these all the time as a child for 20 cents per packet.

2. Felix Gum

Apparently one of the ingredients is rumored to be whale blubber back in the past. Tried googling to find out the origin of this iconic gum but cant really find much.

They came in these little cute packaging. It tastes a little bit bubblegum flavored (the same flavor as the bubblegum flavored jellybeans) and a little artificial. Did not really taste as great as I expected but worth trying, I guess.
3. Baby Star Ramen

Bought a ton of these because I absolutely loved them! They come in single strips like these (which I personally prefer) or sheets in bigger packages. Heard about how people over the internet tried putting them in hot water to make instant ramen, so went to try it out too.

Really cannot fathom why people will do this (Dagashi Kashi included). The noodles become soft, and all the seasoning gets dissolved in the water, making it some sort of diluted soy sauce soup. Personally do not like the taste and think it spoils the snack. Still, worth trying for the experience.
4. Yoguret

One of the snacks I really wanted to try out because of the anime. The moment I opened the packet, a whiffy smell of yogurt hit me.

They really do come in medicine-esque tablet pills and you could really play doctor as a kid with these. It has the sweety yogurety taste. This should have been in my childhood man. In Singapore there is only those powdery plum pills that taste bland which I ate as a kid.
5. Ramune Candies

Wanted to buy the ramune whistle but didnt actually managed to find it. I’ve only been touring around Tokyo anyway, so did not really have much places to look for all these snacks other than convenience stores and Daiso. Not sure if this is the same as ramune whistle, but the feeling of having this in your mouth is greatly… underwhelming. The whole candy just dissolves in your mouth in a matter of seconds. Its like someone turned you on and left halfway.
6. The 300m Candy

Why is it marketed as a running athlete? Because one candy gives you enough energy to run 300m! An interesting fact I love to share randomly with my other friends.

They are heart shaped, and the box on top actually contained some eraser toy. This candy actually taste like a toffee, the taste, texture and chewiness included.
7. Kitkat

There are actually a lot of flavored kitkats in Japan so it is no surprise I bought some back with me.

OTHER RANDOM SNACKS

1. Tokyo Banana

These are regular banana cakes filled with some banana paste. Really expensive (costs around $1.50 for this) but worth bringing back for gifts or eating because it is really nice. You can buy some at Narita Airport even inside the duty free area.

2. Ginza Strawberry Cake

This tastes really quite standard but it is still quite nice. Also the same as Tokyo banana, can be bought at the airport.

Well, guess that concludes this post. Really wanted to try pickled radish straight from the package itself, but did not managed to find any. Also did not managed to find those powdered drink mix and beer. Maybe next time I’ll try finding more when I go again.

On the difference between blatant fanservice and plain fanservice

Recently, i just finished an animu i should have done quite long ago. Had no idea why i dropped it after 3 episodes back then when it was airing as it was so damn good.

Anyway, this compelled me to write about why I think shows with blatant fanservice are trashy because there was a certain feel to this animu that made me rethink my roots. Namely because this show is a tearjerker, and I haven’t really followed a good one in awhile. The shows that I watch nowadays are very different from the stuff that I watch back when I was starting out.

I love stuff with deep themes. Or really slapstick comedy.

I get a little cringy now if there’s stuff that’s too over the top. Take for example strike witches. This is one animu i will always qualms about. I mean, look at them. They are all in their underwear basically because their outfit was designed for them to be in their underwear. This is the kind of fanservice that make me cringe. It does nothing to advance the plot and is there to serve as blatant pink entertainment to the viewers.

I’m not against really over the top fanservice, as long as it serves some purpose or another. To Love Ru is an example of fanservice put in to serve some slapstick comedy at times, so even there’s alot of fanservice in this series, it doesn’t make me cringe. Series like strike witches on the other hand, put in fanservice for the sake of it. Which is bad in my opinion, because it makes it look trashy, at least by my standard of judgement.

I admit, back then, I kind of liked these kinds of stuff because i didn’t know what was out there and which stuff was actually worth watching. I started this journey with stuff like Melody of Oblivion, Zero no Tsukaima (on hindsight this was a really shitty shoe, but Louise will still be forever my waifu and i like Rie Kugimiya), Burst Angel. I guess over the years my tastes got refined and i started watching more niche stuff. There’s nothing wrong with some genres of anime after all, since they appeal to different types of people in our community.

I guess a more appropraite for this random post would be animu i like and don’t like, since it is more of a random musing than an actual review or post. Ah well.

Himouto! Umaru-chan!

Recently, due to the lack of animus to watch and I was getting bored in camp, i decided to pick up a few series back in the past that i have dropped as well as look at some series that i have never touched.

I have been seeing this character everywhere but didn’t know what animu it is from (until i chanced upon it from a recommendation by anilist).

Theres lots of comedy and slapstick humour in this series and there is not much emphasis on fanservice (which kind of turns me off) which is good. Although this series is abit moeblobish, but the characters are not highly as sexualized like in Azumanga Daioh.

Definitely a series I didn’t regret watching. (unlike log horizon) If you are a fan of similar animus like Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou, Nichijou or Acchi Kocchi, this series would be good to watch.

The randomness is not as much as Nichijou’s, but it still is funny.

Umaru the best girl.

Overall i would rate it a 8/10.
Good if you are looking for something lighthearted.

Senbon(z?)akura Miku Nendo! (+ending the hiatus on this blog)

Hello my fellow comrades.

So i have decided to start writing again because somehow i picked up animu (seriously) again. Not to say the last two years of haitus i have not been going about with the fandom, but i stopped writing because i sorta grew bored of the series then. (Too much moeblob and fanservice trash up till the point i actually got disgusted at all these stuff -i still am- but i guess i have grown to accept it) But this is not the main point of this post.

So… recently i have bought a nendo from AFA’s GSC booth. (Their stuff is really cheap, but no shit, because they are the flagship store.) Just couldn’t resist because i never see cheap nendos nowadays anymore. (Wanted to get the high school playset but it was sold out T.T)

1)it looks cool (pre/post war shit always look so retro)
2)twintails!
3)nendo (dont have display space at home, so i resorted to buying nendos to play and take pics. They are keepable anyway)
4)cheap!!
->immediately buy.

Looks pretty at first glance. The colour of the hair is slightly different from other mikus though, but still looks awesome.

Awesome thing is that you can capture her hair blowing in a certain wind direction.

Them military uniforms. She actually looks way cooler with a hat, even cooler than my kud.

The awesome shots u can make by creating a direction of wind through her hair and sleeves.

Hello people!

Wheeeeee!

Front view.

Im flyin!!!

Random collapsed bicycle to show the nonconformism

Just noticed this. The bike is quite cool, there is a sakura shaped pattern on its wheel.

Adding in more random stuff to make the jumpshot look more full.

She looks so happy wwwww

I also bought an empty face at the GSC booth just for the sake of trying out how my nendos will look like. Really creepy.

Come join the dark side all you people!!

The bicycle looks better in front than behind.

Miku still the best

Generally a nice nendo, and worth if you looking to do those wind shots (her hair can be played around with quite abit, compared to my other nendos). The color is quite unique also, as it gives off the pre/post war feels through its fadedness. Not sure if it will fit in any theme if you are going to do a photoshoot, but still nice to have.

Anyway, I will try update this page regularly especially when i get new daughters, but not so often like other more on animu blogs. (I am after all the only editor in this blog)

Until then! じゃね！

Happy CNY!

Sorry for not posting for long. Kinda busy recently so I’ll limit my posting. It’s still chinese new year (初四) by the way.

So I took my sakura miku (bought in taiwan at some side shop) to take photos.

Bootleg though, but I am getting the legit one soon. 🙂

Some thoughts on this season’s series so far…

 

Well, whatever.

 

Chuunibyou!

 

Currently up to date with this one. Kyo-Ani’s an awesome producer. (Even though stereotypes are done so much)  And I love comedy+ slice of life. The content is very dramatic, and in a very good way. And (SOME SPOILERS HERE) we see things take a darker turn with the recent episodes as Rikka’s complex is explained to us. Absolutely one of the best series this season so far. Must watch. (I’m a Kyo-ani tard anyway)

 

K-Project

 

Watched around 3 episodes of this so far, still in the midst of catching up. Still rather a plain, so-so anime (in my opinion) so far. There’s a lot of action and comedy, and I kinda like the guy with the baseball bat, but I still don’t get the feeling that it’s that good of a series. Maybe it’s because my expectations were too high because of the advertising or something.

 

Little Busters!

 

Just finished Komari’s arc for this one. Really really awesome with all the feelings. Also, there’s quite a bit of drama with over-exaggerated movements and that adds on to the comedy as well. Hoping to see Kud more. She’s my favourite character. xD

 

There’s still a whole lot of series I’m awfully behind on, but here’s a list of what I might be catching up on:

1) Magi – Because of some internet memes. Especially on the Swag Art Online facebook page. Seems like a very lol series.

2) Busou Shinki – I’ll be most probably (in the future) buying figures from this because of the cool mecha.

3) Btoom! – I have no idea, seems like all my friends are watching it.

4) Hayate no Gotoku – Princess of Tsundere is my most favourite seiyuu of all, enough said.

5) Gintama – The 2012 series doesnt seem popular now but I’ll watch it.

6) and Eureka Seven + Eureka Seven AO – Inspired by the talk at AFA. Decided to watch the first season (or so it was called). Everyone says it is a good series.

 

Well and anyway, if anyone can find me a mirror download link for The Witch’s House (yea, I know I’m slow on this) because vgboy’s website can’t be accessed (http://vgboy.dabomstew.com/other/witchhouse.htm) I’ll be eternally grateful to you. Thank you!

AFA loot!

So here’s the loot from AFA. Mainly Badges. A lot of badges. >.< And that Scilica shirt from the SAO booth.

Phone straps from CDS. I drew 3, then traded the Kirito one with my friend for his LE badges. I really want the Lyfa one though…

CDS Badges.

Badges from the SAO shop. There were actually 8 different designs, but they are all in blind packs, so I drew 5, and luckily they were all different. Would have bought all 8 if they sold it without blind packs though.

Some other random badges from the doujin booths. Practically spent my last $20 all over here. I’m using the Yandere one on my bag though. :S

So now I have lots of badges. And I keep them all in one big plastic bag. Any ideas on how I can put them in an album for display or something anyone?

Anime Festival Asia 2012

Usually in the past years, I would go for 2 days but this year I only went for day 1, as the ticket prices have increased and I can’t really afford it.

But anyway, Day 1 was a real busy day (queues queues everywhere) so I didn’t have time to take pictures of cosplayers. Usually day 2 is reserved for taking pictures since I’m less busy then (most of the popular merchandises are sold out).

Even though I arrived at 8.00am, I still managed to be one of the first to get in. My friend who arrived at 6.30am also got in the same time as me. Which was why a lot of people were raging. Poor queue coordination = coming at 6.30 has lost its meaning. Well I benefited from it anyway. 🙂

So I immediately went to CDS booth (They are quite a popular local doujin group, check out their fb page here: https://www.facebook.com/cds.sg?fref=ts) while my friend went to SAO booth. And we still queued 3 hours for SAO stuff. ._.

Some pictures I took while waiting in the ridiculously long SAO queue. (Seriously, SAO is overrated. I’ll share my thoughts about this in another post)

Lyfa, favourite character from ALO. ❤

That Elucidator and Dark Repulsor. In SAO booth.

Met some friends, went for lunch, and then got to stage. So many Lisa fanguys. And FLOW appeared for the Eureka Seven AO special. The only pictures I took though, were the cosplay competition. Very sorry for the poor quality. Iphone camera.

*cough*

It’s Heathcliff covered in a shiny burst of light! Effect not intended though. Camera screwed up while taking this picture.

Kuroyukihume cosplay was awesome too.

That’s one badass P4 cosplay.

That girl who won first prize.

Didn’t really have time to walk around until, after the event, and since most of the cosplayers were already gone, I took pictures of displays.

Some IS stuff.

Quite a nice figure.

Frankly speaking, in my opinion, these AW figmas don’t really look nice. They look rather plain to me.

Freedom.

This was the time where I managed to walk around the whole exhibition area, where there was almost no crowd.

Culture Japan Booth! Posters a bit tattered though.

Didn’t notice there was this big plushie booth.

Maid and Butler cafes.

Well, it’s kinda sad I can’t afford to go to the concert this year.

Favourite girl from Madoka. ❤

THIS!!! SO MUCH WIN.

SAO booth. Cleaned out.

Well, then I saw the amazing Madoka scale figure on display. Most beautiful figure I have ever seen. Releasing Winter 2013. If I have enough by then I may get it.

I’ll just have to settle for a nendo if I have no funds. T.T

Paper art!

And here’s my pathetic loot from AFA. Will do a more detailed post on it later. I’m such a badge tard. OAO

Announcement!

Well, found myself getting more and more busy nowadays (because of upcoming O level exams)

So, I’m proclaiming this blog on hiatus (somewhat) until my exams end…
Which is somewhere right after AFA. (which I’m going only on SAT 😦 )

I’m real sorry though, but I’ll post whenever I can find time between studying breaks…

Fall Anime 2012!

Sorry for not posting, I’m rather busy these few days as my O levels are in a few weeks time. 😦

Well, anyway, since the summer season is coming to a close with quite a few awesome titles ending. (Accel World was so damn good!)

Anyway, here’s a few series I’m definitely watching in the fall season.

 

1: Gintama

I am not really much of a Gintama fan (don’t really catch up  on it, partly because very little of my friends watch it). But then, seeing how this series is so popular (and the blue haired guy’s seiyuu is the same as DKNN’s Tabata Hidenori), I guess it’s worth picking up. And I love epic slapstick comedy anyway. But I guess I’ll pick up the original series after my O’s.

 

2: K

 

This series is kind mysterious though, nothing is known much about it because very few details are given. But there seem to be some sort of programme on this at AFA though. (which I’m wary of, as they had one for Milky Holmes in 2010 too, but that series turned out to be another moeblob series) Anyway this series looks interesting so I’ll definitely watch it.

 

3: ROBOTICS;NOTES

 

Looking at visual-novel-game-translated-into-anime from the past seasons make me feel…. sometimes visual novels are better left as it is. Koi to Senkyo to Choco’s VN was much better than the anime I feel, but I’m not saying the anime is bad, it’s actually quite good (but there are certain scenes where stuff gets a bit boring). Still, in most VNs, there is a deep meaning behind the plot (I LOVE THIS) and since I have no time to play the game, it’s still worth watching as usually these types of anime are decent. (Better than moe-oriented fan service stuff)

 

4: Little Busters!

 

Same feelings as above (ROBOTICS;NOTES). Little Busters is quite a popular KEY visual novel, and I’m kinda like a KEY-tard, so I’m watching this. (I’d go yaoi for Riki, he’s so cute xD)

 

5: Seitokai no Ichizon (2)

 

This is an awesome series. Why?
1: REFERENCES to other anime. (which is what made Lucky Star so popular)
2: STUDENT COUNCIL! (fun stuff always happens in a student council)
3: HAREM! (More epic comedy)
4: All those STEREOTYPES (That tsun loli, that bl fangirl, that oneechan, that *cough* *forgot the last girl’s personality)
5: Comedy (the main aspect of this show. They did this part really good)
Season one was awesome. Season two? Hell yeah.

 

6: Hayate no Gotoku! I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You!

 

Tsun lolis. I love them. (Nagi is a different type though, which is why she’s more accepted by mainstream otaku) And I’m quite a big fan of Rie Kugimiya. Enough said.

 

7: Busou Shinki

 

Mecha. Looks very beautiful. And I may be getting some figures off this series.

 

Well, there are some awesome OVAs coming out too. (Accel World, TWGOK, Eureka Seven AO, Sanka Rea AND Code Geass) <<< Code Geass!

And apparently two Madoka movies, and the 3rd installment of the Evangelion movies are coming out. (If Evangelion’s gonna be aired here in Singapore I’m definitely going to drag my friends to watch it)

I guess this is quite an awesome season overall.