dannychoo.com - Your portal to Japan http://www.dannychoo.com dannychoo.com - Your Portal to Japan en-us dannychoo_com_main_article_feed_enghttp://feedburner.google.com Mirai-chan Curry http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25433/Mirai-chan+Curry.html

Following on from the Good Smile Curry, we now have Mirai-chan Curry!
In collaboration with the Max Factory run Indian restaurant Indotei, we are bringing this succulent, juicy, punipuni and sweet curry dish initially to folks who attend Tokyo CGM Night.

Wanted to develop a dish that was easy to manage in terms of catering so we decided to go for a bowl dish.
We needed some dannychoo.com orange as part of the main dish colors. The taste is slightly sweet with some punipuni cheese topping. Mirai-chan curry is served with some orange colored lassi too.
The cost of the meal is included with the Tokyo CGM Night admission.

Am also in talks with the boss at Indotei to maybe bring this to the AFA in Singapore this year ^o^

]]> Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:05:00 +0900 Japan Blood Donation http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25416/Japan+Blood+Donation.html


The next Tokyo CGM Night will be held at the blood donation facility Akiba:F which you may recall is actually a crash landed spacecraft thats stuck in the side of a building. The outer hull has a Trans-Ion Kryptonian shield around it meaning that you cant see the rest of the ship sticking out the side of the building unless you are wearing Titanium Diamond Class 9 contact lenses.

Went along on Friday to check out the facilities with Tokyo Live Blogger Steve Nagata. Snapped here with some local dannychoo.com readers who were also at the facility doing a report.


Akiba:F is run by the Japanese Red Cross Society. Their mission statement is to bridge peoples life's and the future together.
Get off at Akihabara station and exit at the Electric town entrance. Dont walk towards the Radio Kaikan but the other way and lookup - you will see the logo for Akiba:F on the building.
The address is:-
5th Floor Asakaze Building, 1-16-9 Soto Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
[千代田区外神田1-16-9 朝風二号館ビル５階] (map here)


The place is just gorgeous. This is what you are greeted with when you step out of the elevators.


To the right is the lockers, toilet and some machines which I'll cover in a mo.


In the center of the facility is the WDDCRM2 (Warp Drive Duo Combine Retrograde Mark 2 Engine) which is being currently used to display some Bakemonogatari goodies.
Every quarter, Akiba:F has a theme. Previously it was Good Smile Company where they displayed a load of figures.


What is it about Senjogahara that makes her so mmmmmmm?


Here are some terminals which will ask you a bunch of questions to see if you are able to donate blood. About 10% of folks fail the test due to some complications with their blood or life habits.


Folks who cant give blood are those who consume narcotics, had blood diseases, who have just come back from overseas within the past 4 weeks and folks who have been to certain countries between particular periods.


This pose of Senjogahara gets the figure treatment by Good Smile Company.
If you don't get the stationary thing then give Bakemonogatari a whirl.


The Bakemonogatari theme will run through to the 31st of March 2010.


They got a small glassed off room in one corner. CGM Nighters - leave your stuff here if you want.


The toilets are zero gravity so you need to be good at dodging your poo and pee.


Lockers are free to use and can be locked with a blood sample - a needle will shoot out from the ceiling and land in your forehead to take a sample before the doors open.


Mirrors are made from Shimapantium mined from the spice mines on Kolletar. They have the ability to show what you will look like in exactly 3.5 months from now. If you walk past these mirrors and don't see your reflection then it means that you should prioritize everything you want to do before you die.

The Shimapantium mirrors also remind us that we should be prioritizing our lives anyway because we never know when we will kick the bucket.


They told me that after having your blood taken, they will stick your life juices in some sort of centrifugal unit which spins out all the stuff that they want - you then go back a week later and then they stick the stuff that they don't want back into you.


If you like loli's with huge school bags then Bakemonogatari will be right up your alley.


Drinks are provided for free for folks who donate blood. This machine will not be turned on during the next CGM Night as they need the machine to be ready for patients the next morning (sorry).


Akiba:F has a load of reading material - included for this theme term are Bakemonogatari novels.


Also some Katanagatari too. Anybody watching?


Maki Horikita-chan! Video below - kawaiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!



More Bakemonogatari goodies on display.


I love the bins! There is a circle which glows white...


...and when you throw some rubbish, the white glow temporarily turns into a blue glow.


I love this place. Its such a relaxing atmosphere. Decided that one of my life goals is to have an office like this ^^;


Displays around the center show Bakemonogatari stuff.


Free wifi is provided within the center for those who want to work while waiting their turn.


For the next CGM Night, we will display the Dollfies here.


If you are considering donating blood then feel free to go along to have a look - no obligation to donate blood. If you do want to take photos then please ask the staff members first.

]]> Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:07:00 +0900 Alter Sanya http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25426/Alter+Sanya.html

Replacing the iPhone upload with a better pic of this rather lovely scale figure of Sanya V. Litvyak by Alter. Must have. Some Sanya action below to munch on while we wait. I didn't catch the release date though ^^;


And how about some GITS x Strike Witches?

All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.


]]> Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:23:00 +0900 Free Hentai http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25432/Free+Hentai.html


"Hentai" - another word used to refer to "Eroge" or Bishojo games. Se Kirara is an eroge that's being developed by Max factory. From the looks of the character design, HCG and PV, we can see that it looks like its going to be a high quality game - and its going to be *free*. Thats right folks - 0 Yen.



The official site shows that the standard version (full game) will be free and that there will also be a version that includes one of these figma's for 2,800 yen.

The free shenanigans commence on the 26th of March when the game is released. I probably would have picked up Japanese much quicker if I had eroge around in my time when I was a wee lad studying Japanese ^^;

Thanks to Paul for reminding me about this.

]]> Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:35:00 +0900 Wonder Festival Booths http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25422/Wonder+Festival+Booths.html


Adding a ton of photos to this post which I originally uploaded from the iPhone while at the Wonfes yesterday morning.
A load of goodies here including Alter Azunyan, Strike Witches Lucchini and scale figure goodness from Resinya in the form of Aegis.


And a load of coverage at the following sites.
http://www.foobarbaz.jp/
http://www113.sakura.ne.jp/~kotatsuga/cgi-bin/anews/
http://www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~rinou/
http://www.cutanews.com/rv/er_wf2010_01.html
http://hobbydog.sakura.ne.jp/event/WF2010winter/WF2010winter01.html
http://snowcolors.web.fc2.com/WF2010_Winter_MB_1.htm
http://snowcolors.web.fc2.com/WF2010_Winter_MB_2.htm
http://blog.livedoor.jp/geek/archives/50986961.html
http://blog.livedoor.jp/geek/archives/50986982.html
http://moemoedoll.blog95.fc2.com/blog-entry-1745.html
http://beyyang128.no-blog.jp/dairy/2010/02/wonderfestival_.html
http://akibahobby.net/2010/02/wf2010_live.html
http://www.moeyo.com/2010/02/wf2010w_bakemonogatari.html
http://www.moeyo.com/2010/02/wf2010w.html
http://blog.livedoor.jp/azure_toy_box/archives/1088925.html
http://www.hinatatiki.sakura.ne.jp/gangu/gangu14/hina_wf10w.html
http://caf-aholic.seesaa.net/article/140490065.html
http://caf-aholic.seesaa.net/article/140499986.html
http://caf-aholic.seesaa.net/article/140506610.html
http://hk.dmz-plus.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hkdmz/
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/mayura0309
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/asakuma776/
http://bit.ly/9fF5xI (GDR)
http://mimibukuro.ddo.jp/contents/WF2010-winter-01.html
http://mimibukuro.ddo.jp/contents/WF2010-winter-02.html
http://mimibukuro.ddo.jp/contents/WF2010-winter-03.html
http://mimibukuro.ddo.jp/contents/WF2010-winter-04.html
http://mimibukuro.ddo.jp/contents/WF2010-winter-05.html
http://mimibukuro.ddo.jp/contents/WF2010-winter-06.html
http://sygnas.jp/
http://photo.behindroom.net/index.php
http://plusalpha.org/report/wf2010winter/index.html
http://rms154.blog86.fc2.com/blog-entry-1603.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/punimoe/sets/72157623249345521/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/workshop/sets/72157623372733546/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/essoenia/sets/72157623246746887/
http://snowcolors.web.fc2.com/
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/caprin/20100207
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/asakuma776/20100207
http://mpzerocos.exblog.jp/12806362/
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/vampirdzhija
http://www.earlbox.sakura.ne.jp/
http://nyss2.sakura.ne.jp/
http://kanaka007.blog83.fc2.com/
http://pub.ne.jp/pub_wakaba/
http://asumanga.sakura.ne.jp/wf/2010w/2010winter.html
http://karakuri-kissa.net/


All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.























































]]> Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0900 Tokyo CGM Night 6 http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25430/Tokyo+CGM+Night+6.html


Tokyo CGM Night - an event that Andrew Shuttleworth and I have been hosting in Tokyo to bring together smart and interesting people who engage others online through the creation of content.
CGM stands for Consumer Generated Media and refers to social media, blog and video content that is generated by consumers. We also bring in the best from the industry to network with the media generators which results in new friendship and business opportunities.


The Tokyo CGM Night invite list includes folks from Disney Japan, Apple, Nike, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Rakutemn, Good Smile Company, Kotobukiya, Cospa, Bushi Road, Nitro Plus, AmiAmi and more.


Been meaning to write up this post on Tokyo CGM Night 6 which took place last December but didnt get round to it due to lack of time credits.
Am prompted to whip up this post as the next event is this Saturday ^^;


Coverage of Tokyo CGM Night 6 at the following blogs. You will also see an exclusive Tokyo CGM Night T-shirt with Mirai-chan on it ^^;

http://bit.ly/7F0l5R (GDR)
http://asallin.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-1144.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pamhp/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hkdmz/tags/cgmnight/
http://hk.dmz-plus.com/a-news.cgi?date=2009.12.02
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=cgmnight&ss=2&s=rec
http://kesenaitsumi89.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/my-second-tokyo-cgm-night/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tkysocialevents/sets/72157622924365482/
http://thumbnail-of-life.blogspot.com/2009/12/tokyo-cgm-night-x-cospa.html
http://akibahobby.net/2009/12/cgmnihght6_photo.html
http://www.moeyo.com/2009/12/tokyo-cgm-night6_nendo-petit_bakemonogatari.html
http://www.moeyo.com/2009/12/tokyo-cgm-night6_world-is-mine.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robots-dreams/sets/72157622926716178/
http://gakuranman.com/cgm-night-6-otaku-version/
http://www.cutanews.com/rv/er_CGM6.html
http://www.toybu.net/EVENT/TFS/091204CGMnight6.html
http://akibahobby.net/2009/12/cgmnight6_wim.html
http://akibahobby.net/2009/12/cgmnihght6_photo.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toybu/sets/72157622933342776/detail/
http://ameblo.jp/gsc-asanon/entry-10403156544.html


Highlights of Tokyo CGM Night 6 include:-

  • Special guest was KANAME-san
  • Good Smile Company held a Puchi Tokyo Figure Show
  • Held at the HQ of COSPA
  • First time we had such a huge collection of Dollfie daughters
  • Lots of Cosplay
  • The Max Factory curry restaurant Indotei took care of catering


Tokyo CGM Night is an event with international attendees but the main language is Japanese. Over 80% of the attendee list are comprised of Japanese locals who are all active media generators on blogs and other social media.
If all the attendees were to write about a certain subject, that message would be instantly disseminated to millions of people worldwide.


Previous CGM coverage below

Tokyo CGM Night Episode 5

Tokyo CGM Night Episode 4

Tokyo CGM Night Episode 3


Tokyo CGM Night Episode 2

Tokyo CGM Night Episode 1


Tokyo CGM Night is an invite only event which enables us to keep a focus on the theme. We decided to run it this way based on the Gotanda Blog Dinner that's also held once a month - that event has been running strong for well over 5 years.


Got a ton of stuff to get through today for clients, arranging the next CGM Night with the British Council and get up more Wonfes coverage.
back in a mo.




































]]> Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:10:00 +0900 Tokyo Tour Package http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25431/Tokyo+Tour+Package.html


Mentioned just over a year ago in this post that I would like to put together some sort of package tour where I would bring you round to some of my fave spots in Tokyo.
I've recently teamed up with CTC Tours and Yoshimi to put together a tour package called the CTC Tokyo AniTour.

The first tour package we have put together is the 6D4N – CTC Tokyo AniTour: TAF2010 Package - 6 days and 4 nights in Tokyo with the highlight of the tour being the Tokyo Anime Fair 2010.

The tour lasts for 6 days for folks traveling from Singapore but there is a Land Tour package too for folks who wish to make their own way to Tokyo from any part of the world - you would meet the rest of the tour folks at Narita airport.

You will be taken to the Ghibli Museum, Nakano Broadway, Lucky Star Shrine, Pokemon Center, Harajuku, Akihabara, and the Tokyo Anime Fair.


I will be looking after you in Akihabara while Yoshimi looks after you for the rest of the tour.


In Akihabara you will enjoy places like the Volks store (Dollfies!), Radio Kaikan, Gamers and a whole lot more. Check out some of what to expect in Akihabara below:-
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/914/Akihabara.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1549/Ecchi+Akihabara.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25417/Akihabara+Photo+Walk.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1392/Akihabara+Girls.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1354/Radio+Kaikan.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1393/Akihabara+Shopping.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1372/Primaries.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/549/Akihabara+Photos.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1547/Akihabara.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/942/Akihabara+Liberation+Demo.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25301/Akihabara+Photos.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1355/A+Week+in+Akihabara.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/20262/Akihabara.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1371/4+Hours+in+Akihabara.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25098/Filming+in+Akihabara.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/15065/Shopping+in+Akihabara.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1155/Akihabara.html

Tour Details and Booking

Details are available at the official tour site and you can book using this form or contact enquiry@ctc.com.sg.
You can also call them at +65 6536 3995 or +65 6533 8535

Package Prices

The tour package which includes flight tickets to and from Singapore cost 1999 SGD (1406 USD). The Land Tour price costs 1499 SGD (1054 USD).
I'm looking after you in Akihabara but CTC have details about the rest of the tour and will be able to answer any questions you have - mail them at enquiry@ctc.com.sg - remember that anybody from any part of the universe can join in by going for the Land Tour package.

Look forward to seeing you in Tokyo where we can also get some 1x1 time to go over any questions you may have about living and working in Tokyo too - anything from looking for a job, taxes, looking for apartments or property and so on - and we can do that while looking for goodies in Akihabara ^o^.

]]> Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:09:00 +0900 Good Smile Company http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25429/Good+Smile+Company.html


At the Wonfes this morning with Big Boss Aki Takanori and Meiri who I used to work with during my days at Amazon. Guess who Meiri works for now ^^;
As usual, the Good Smile Company dominated the enterprise booth area and it looks like it was the biggest booth to date.

We set up a screen to show tweets from folks adding the #wf2010w hash tag - thanks to Steve Nagata for suggesting the software.


A load of up n coming new figures to help burn a deep hole in your wallet.
Going to let you enjoy the rest of the photos as I prepare moar.


All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.
















































]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:21:00 +0900 Black Rock Shooter Figures http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25419/Black+Rock+Shooter+Figures.html


Replacing photos with ones taken on the GF1. BRS is going to be bigger than initially thought - on a global scale...
Damn, I've already said too much ^^;


All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.















]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:20:00 +0900 Bakemonogatari http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25428/Bakemonogatari.html


From the Good Smile Company booth - Bakemonogatari stuff including this gorgeous figure of Senjogahara Hitagi. Do you fancy having your dolphin stapled by her?


All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.


All photos snapped on the Lumix GF1.


Thanks to your Twitter recommendations, I whipped up Bakemonogatari in a jiffy. I love it! Very different from mainstream anime although it does have the occasional bouncy oppai and pantsu - should be safe enough to watch at work and recommend to your boss or teacher.


Was Bakemonogatari on your watch list?
There is a poll embedded in this article.


Ah and there will be a figma Senjogahara too.

]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:46:00 +0900 Megahouse Azusa http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25424/Megahouse+Azusa.html Replacing photos uploaded from the iPhone this morning with ones from the GF1.
Megahouse Azusa looking rather lovely.

All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.




]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:45:00 +0900 K-ON! Figma http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25418/K-ON+Figma.html


Hijacking my own posts from what I posted earlier on at the Wonder Festival 2010 Winter this morning - adding photos taken on the GF1 - love that camera!
Azunyan want. Want em all!


All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.





And these are the photos posted earlier this morning from the iPhone.





]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:40:00 +0900 K-ON! Dollfie http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25427/K-ON+Dollfie.html


This certainly came out of nowhere - big surprise. No release dates yet. Prefer Mio head over Yui.


Shouldn't that be L bust for Mio?


Which of the two do you prefer?
There is a poll embedded in this article.


I know that many readers have been resisting the Dollfie charm - has your resistance level depleted to zero with the announcement of these two?

BTW, all the Wonfes 2010W posts are tagged wonfes.

]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:13:00 +0900 Wonfes mugi http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25423/Wonfes+mugi.html Want




]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:32:00 +0900 Figma Michael Jackson http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25421/Figma+Michael+Jackson.html
]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:59:00 +0900 Transformers Animation http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25425/Transformers+Animation.html Transformers goodies snapped at todays Wonder Festival.
All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.



]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:53:00 +0900 100th Nendoroid http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25420/100th+Nendoroid.html
]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:50:00 +0900 Akihabara Photo Walk http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25417/Akihabara+Photo+Walk.html


Was in Akiba last night for a few appointments which I'll talk about later this week. Also managed to take some photos between meetings. I should visit Akihabara more often as its only 30 mins away from base.


When one asks "where are all the nice girls in Tokyo?" some folks may answer "Shibuya" or "Harajuku" but I always recommend Akihabara - absolutely packed with gorgeous 2D girls all over the place.


For example here...


...and here...


...and here.
How about your neck of the woods? Where are all the cute boys n girls?


You can even buy some of the girls to take home with you. These cushions going for cheap. Didnt have too much time to stay and look though.


Oppai mousepads for only 980 yen!


Retail stores need to pay to throw away rubbish and they do so buy buying a ticket from the convenience store that they stick on the rubbish bag.
Some folks however just throw their rubbish out which annoys the rubbish collectors.

Here the rubbish collectors have left a polite message:-

Dont dump rubbish here that does not have a ticket or you will be killed
"Korosu" means to kill. The term used here however is "Buchi Korosu" which means to "pound to death" ^^;


They also give out free girls too!
Was given a flier and a trial version of the eroge Saimin Seikatsu which features a lot of ecchi girls who you can see in action at the official page for the game. PV below.


Dinner with Bandai at one of my fave places - Negishi.


The next Ichiban Kuji are the Evangelion girls. Anything tickle your fancy?


Some capsule Ojyou Drossel. Give them a lick of Top Coat and they'll look quite decent. This blog has a review up of them.


Instant cosplay sets.


OK, Akihabara station is just across this bridge. I'm going to have to leave you in the lurch again as I need to get back and prepare for the Wonder Festival taking place tomorrow.


All photos here taken with the Lumix GF1 and pancake lens.















]]> Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:49:00 +0900 My Tokyo Now 2010/02/06 12:46 http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25415/My+Tokyo+Now+2010+02+06+12+46.html Out grabbing lunch before heading back to the office to work on
the Japan Times site. Tis freezing cold out here!






]]> Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:49:00 +0900 Wonder Festival 2010 Preview http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25414/Wonder+Festival+2010+Preview.html


Are you ready for the worlds biggest Garage Kit and Figure convention? Ryomo certainly looks ready. And this years dealer pass is a great color too ^^;

The Wonder Festival takes place tomorrow at the Makuhari Messe. Was traditionally held at Tokyo Big Sight for many years until the Wonfes committee fell out with the owners of Big Sight as nobody wanted to take responsibility for the escalator accident that happened a while ago. Video report below shows exactly what happened.



And this is the floor plan for halls 7 and 8 where the enterprise booths are. Good Smile Company will be where all the girls are gathered.

Folks like Kotobukiya, Alter, Megahouse, Orchid Seed, Revoltech, Alter and Volks will be there showing their stuff and selling a few bits n pieces too.

I will be at the GSC booth from about 9:30 taking pics before the crowds get in meaning that you should be able to see goodies in real time as I upload em using the new Upload by Email functionality ^o^
We have also enabled this feature for Good Smile and they will be posting stuff into the GSCPIC category.

And as for the GSC goodies on sale? Check em out below. Anything you after?
http://whl4u.jp/products.html


There is one figure that I've always wanted from the Wonfes and its this Erika Sendo by Alphamax - absolutely gorgeous. Shes a kit but I cant paint ToT.

The Wonfes starts from 10am and lasts to only 5pm. Get off at Kaihin Makuhari station. Map below. See you tomorrow!
http://www.m-messe.co.jp/en/access/index.html
There is a poll embedded in this article.


Update - photos posted from Makuhari just now by the GSC Team.
http://www.goodsmile.info/page/ja/post/all/gscpic/all/all/all/all/1.html


All wonfes posts being tagged "wonfes" and live here.






]]> Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:10:00 +0900