RAK under construction

Getting Back On Track

2010-06-03T02:07:00.000-07:00

As the title picture above states, I am getting back into some older studies once again. I don't want to say I ever took a break from these subjects- but at some point I became busy enough not to focus hard enough on them.

Since graduation from High School, I've spent quite a bit of time soul-searching for that special thing I want to do without a doubt. I want to live my passion.
-Technically, I'm already doing it, but I want to take it further than just being an otaku blogger from Sacramento, and a Cali convention coverage person. I want to be the best in what I do, and I've got some pretty high goals that I need more skills to reach. So, like most people my age...I'm going to college.

-Yes yes, now I understand some of you may have think I've already been there with my web and business talent...well...I haven't. Yet.

I mainly want to work more with the site seen above, W3Schools. On this site you can study all the way up to the point of grabbing developer's certificates- something one will need in the professional web design field. A field I'm very much wanting my own place in...and to top it off- lots of studying with the site in the very first pic, Smart.fm- where you can learn Japanese for free.

-And if you're very serious, such as I, you can even check out Tae Kim's guide- this extensive online resource is invaluable and is one of the most highly recommended study tools online for learning Japanese.

-So, it's not exactly like going to college- but since I do technically have the ability to make time for it...and I need it...then I am making myself go this route. My passion is to work with Japanese culture on an even deeper level, and I can't keep blogging about otaku culture if I don't know Japanese like the back of my hand.
-I do know Japanese, enough to hold a conversation...but I am not happy without being fluent in the language.
-Also, I have some very amazing and large projects planned for the online otaku community in the future...and for these large projects- I need more training. Period.

So! Not long from now I'm going to be creating a schedule for myself- this way I can still bring you some run around's (news/posts) and at the same time be able to work and study in the same day! Figuring it out will be a bit tough, but the amount of content I can bring you from both the Japanese internet and English otaku realms will be excellent- alongside the lines of having nicer coded and more efficient programming around the Run Around Network.

-Not exactly sure where my studies will lead/place me in the future- but I do know deep inside that I want to master web development and programming, alongside Japanese. I think that having these skills will benefit me and you in more ways than one. Things may still be slow around here while I'm studying, but the future is brighter than a dying star exploding into a super nova. Please bare with me! ^_^;

FANIMECON 2010
-Also, FanimeCon2010 coverage will be coming as soon as Mr.Rose gets me the data from his camera sometime within the next week or so. I'm sorry to say that due to my studies and current flow of life, that this will be my last large coverage for quite some time until I am fully trained and back in the flow of things at a later time. Please look forward to the upcoming coverage...I went through a lot to get it for you!

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushimeYou can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Run Around Update May 2010

2010-05-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Have been involved in several projects and happenings as of late and thought I'd share with you all.

LIFE
-Life around home has become somewhat of a nightmare, mixed with a fantasy, mixed with cluelessness. My father is in the hospital due to having several random blood clots and so far has had to have his leg amputated- this has left me (who is still in recovery from my surgery) to care for mother who is in anxiety and depression as well as take on a bit more duties around here. I apologize to you all for some of the late coverage recently- however things should be looking up soon and I'll have more free time to get things to you faster.

CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS
-FanimeCon 2010 is nearly on the horizon, as I will be arriving in San Jose, California in roughly 41-45 hours from now on Thursday afternoon. The event runs until Monday for me, and I'll be there meeting up with any of you who want to hang out, as well as working on filming and photographing as much as possible. Mentioned earlier that I'd be meeting up with Jacob Grady and snagging a special interview for you as well. Would like to grab FLOW, LM.C, and Haruko Momoi who will also be at the event as well. Will most likely be reporting back to you with convention articles about a week from the con.

INTERNET/BLOGGING/MEDIA
-Filmed a couple weeks ago for Tokyo MX TV with a small video that will most likely (hopefully) be added in to a new show airing June 12th called Culture:Japan- this is another project spearheaded by Mirai Inc CEO Danny Choo.

The video contains myself at the base here, showing items of importance (figures, games, posters, pantsu...) related to otaku culture for the show. The purpose of Culture:Japan is to show many folk's rooms and otaku themed living arrangements to a vast audience throughout Japan and Asia via the Animax network and Tokyo MX TV.

Seiyuu Satomi Sato, best known for her role as Ritsu Tainaka from the anime K-ON! and K-ON!! will be a special guest alongside Danny who will discuss the show's contents and take a look at the fabulous entrees from otaku around the world.
My submitted footage below:

Will update you in June after footage from the show has been released. This is all I can show you for now. However, I will be redoing a larger-scale tour after FanimeCon. Seems everytime I partake in one of these projects, my room changes shortly after. I've already re-done the desk since this video. XD

-OTACOOL VOl.3 is also in production. Have worked on the other two previous titles featuring worldwide otaku rooms where my room was featured and the second book, worldwide cosplayers which featured 2 friends of mine. Will be planning to work with Danny again for the third OTACOOL project, featuring unique, worldwide workspaces.

-Another fun thing I'd like to mention before heading off to grind some Mass Effect 2, is that Jacob Rose and I have thought about creating a weekly audio podcast. The podcast will be released every week via YouTube and on http://www.runaroundkazu.com where we will cover some recent weekly events in the worldwide otaku realm, and discuss our thoughts and feelings of recent shenanigans. Let me know what you think.

For now I leave you with this wonderful video someone sent me the other day- enjoy -

And for extra fun:

credit to dannychoo.com for images of Satomi Sato, Otacool, and Culture:Japan.
Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushimeYou can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

FanimeCon 2010 Returns

2010-05-24T00:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time again. May is nearly over, and with FanimeCon2010 at the end of this week fans can barely keep themselves from exploding with excitement.

California's most uniquely programmed explosion of otaku love and excitement is almost here, and I've ran around enough staff meetings and forum debates to tell you all about what you can expect this year.

But first: I want to give an epic super thanks to readers/fans/followers of runaroundkazu.com. Without you I would have no one to share my passion with, and no one to run around for. I've seen a huge increase of roughly 2,500 more readers since I returned from my life-changing surgery in March. I know this site has it's delays, but I'm still here, running around my world and the internet to bring you quality articles related to the best in California Anime Conventions, and the otaku scene- and I'm working harder to get it to you faster than before. I appreciate every one of you who take the time to visit here, and, don't forget! Run Around Forums is open beta right now- and will be getting a big face-lift sometime in June. You may want to join, especially if:

1.You're looking for a fresh community to geek out with other otaku
2.You have a blog and would like to share your "run arounds" (articles) with the community for positive exposure
3.You're an alien, time traveler, or esper. (Haruhi fans will get this one)

Secondly:A very big welcome to those of you who are new or returning to FanimeCon, and an even BIGGER welcome to our new guests of honor this year: LM.C, FLOW, Daisuke Ishiwatari, Toshimichi Mori, and Mamoru Yokota. Also, an also BIG welcome back to: Haruko Momoi, Hiroyuki Yamaga, Reuben Langdon, Carl Gustav Horn, Gilles Poitras, Jonathan Osborne, Karen Dyer, Keith Burgess, Ric Meyers and Ryan Gavigan.

Now, on to FanimeCon biz- I'll be sharing pictures from last year as I ramble on about our upcoming otaku extravaganza! This will be written for fans of all types-newbies or FanimeCon regulars can make the most of this article.

One of the biggest things otaku do...is cosplay! If you're new to FanimeCon, you will see loads of cosplayers walking the grounds outside near the famous fountain area where many photoshoots are done- and you will also see them in cosplay meet-ups. Many "fan gatherings" or cosplay meet-ups for cosplayers who want to gather from the same series are done through-out the weekend. You can find information for cosplay events at the Blue Gathering Info Boards which are located around the con- or check the gatherings table located on the first floor.

This year there will be an official theme gathering that will take place. This year's theme for FanimeCon's official theme gathering event will be based on Fantasy/RPG chacracters! This happens to be my favorite genre. The Fanime Cosplayer Theme Gathering will be located at the fountains in front of the convention center at 11 am on both Saturday and Sunday.

And of course, what con would be complete if there wasn't a cosplay skit show, or what most people call- a Cosplay Masquerade. This large event featuring folks who have registered online for the masquerade have a chance to show off their cosplay and even perform on stage at the Civic Auditorium.

Artist Alley and Art Gallery are open this year to prospective artists who wish to display and/or sell their art. Many fan-made items and crafts can also be found there.

Many small special events take place at FanimeCon- some of these involve Stage Zero, a lively stage set up in the middle of the convention hall which runs 24 hour entertainment from Maid performances, to gaming tournaments and giveaways and more.

Stage Zero will be giving out tickets to exclusive events again this year, like FanimeCon's sweet 16 party, which celebrates the con's 16th year, game shows, the Rum Party -a piratey gaming event thing they just came up with - and...lol...speed dating.

Many can also enjoy the game room, a room that hosts everything from classic arcade games, to console tournaments and even the latest imports from Japan.

As far as musical events go- FanimeCon boasts a staggering amount of it. For one, FanimeCon's biggest musical event: MUSIC FEST, will be taking place twice this year to accommodate 2 amazing bands this year: LM.C and FLOW. (it's still a rumor that Momoi may be performing) As well as having 2 incredible concerts, FanimeCon also offers Karaoke, Music Video contests, Acoustikaraoke contests and The Gong Show. To top it all off- there's a rave! Awesome right? However, because of what most normal raves are like FanimeCon likes to refer to it as a "Dance." Look forward to raving the nights away! I hear they're taking suggestions this year!

Now time to share one of my favorite parts...THE SHOPPING! FanimeCon is known for it's extraordinary Dealer's Hall- and if anything, it's the best darn Dealer's Hall you're gonna get outside of Japan. FanimeCon's Dealer's Hall has been known to fill the Exhibit Halls to the brim -nearly wallmart sized rooms packed with the latest anime merch from some of the best vendors in the world. And if that doesn't tickle your fancy, there will also be not 1, but 2 swap meets featuring folks who sell good condition used items for insane prices. Be prepared to bargain for some great deals this year!

The official list of Dealers this year is:
88 Dragon Trading

ABCTOY4ME

Aksys Games

Angelicstar.net

Anime and More

Anime Depot/King Roach Enterprises, Inc.

Anime Jungle

Anime Link

Anime One Stop Shop

Anime Palace

Anime Pavilion

Anime Remix

Anime V

Animebooks.com

AnimeEd.Com

AnimeHot

Asian Food Grocer

BeKyoot

Boshi-Basiik

Bowen Dragon1

Cards & Comics Central

Cartoon Passion

Celga, Inc.

Collector's Universe & Anime

The Comic Cellar

The Comic Shop

The Contact Lens Company

Epic Cosplay

FanimeCon Charity Auction

Figure Haven

Glitch Gaming Apparel

Greentea Design

Hideo – A Concert of Anime & Video Game Music

Hobbyfan.com

Image Anime

IMT Anime

J-Pop House

Jewels by Olivia

Jones Bones

JPN Toys

JS Anime

KILLER TOYS

Kimono Momo

Kimono My House

Kingdom Arts

Kisai / OMGvoodoo

Lolita-Kisama

Man in a Dress

Manga Kissaten LLC

Manga University

Media Blasters

nemu*nemu / Kimonokitsy Studios

Nikaku Animart

OffWorld Designs Inc

P.M.B.Q. Studios

Palos Verdes Peninsula

Pawstar

Pegasus Publishing

Phil Davis Books and Treasures

Purple Plum Inc.

Sanshee

Spicy Brown

Starry Petals

Toy Mandala

Toylet Collectibles

Toys Logic

TrollandToad.com

Two Cosmetics Inc.

VIZ Pictures, Inc.

Wizzywig Inc

World's Best Comics

Xcentricities

Yaoi-Con

YesAnime

Impressive...most impressive. And with all those things, it couldn't get any more awesome right? Oh yes it can...I'm talking about PANELS!
You can find the whole list of official panels in the recently released FanimeCon schedule here.

Any info not mentioned here can be found here.

That just about wraps it up! LM.C, Haruko Momoi, Gainax, Flow, amazing shopping and deals, cosplay everywhere, game shows, givaways, raffles, parties and way way way more. FanimeCon has outdid themselves once again, and I hope that by reading this article you are now even more excited to join this event- or maybe excited for the coverage that I will strive to bring back for you all.

Either way, there's a lot to look forward to, and I hope you'll join me at the con and/or online.

-And forgot to mention, I'll be meeting up with Jacob Grady from well-known ecchi site, FAKKU! to bring you an exclusive interview with the man behind the internet's best site for eroge and doujinshi!

-Please look forward to truckloads of coverage on my return in June!

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushimeYou can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Sac-Con December 2009 Part 2

2010-05-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the second part of my coverage from SAC-CON, Sacramento's oldest and original comic and anime show. If you missed Part 1 click here. This coverage is way overdue, and has been on the back-burners for a while, but due to my surgery and recovery, I was out of commission for too long, and am still catching up to this day. Almost there!

-Will be sharing Sac-Anime Winter 2010 with you soon after this post, and then it's on to FanimeCon business! Exciting! I'm almost caught up!

Let's begin then, shall we?

-Above we see Jacob Rose holding two pillows. The bootleggers are getting better at faking Dakimakura. They are finally putting the actual images from Dakimakura pillows on their fake ones, as we can see with that Yoko one there.

Dragon Ball stuffs have been more popular since the appearance of Dragon Ball Kai. I'm sure DB fans still like the original, but the new merchandise is fun to see again.

Alongside Toys Logic, this is one vendor that convinced me that SAC-CON is definitely worth attending!

Kodomo no Jikan gachapon.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu and Lucky Star gachapon...want.

And as always, Toys Logic has a ton of wonderful phone charms/straps and accessories! There's a lot of characters here I would never expect to see.

Not sure which vendor this is, but I remember this guy always has great deals.

This artist's name was Mark I believe. He's a pretty creative and busy fellow. You see him at Sac-Anime sometimes too. Had a nice chat with him, very friendly. Give his portfolio a looking at, he's got some great stuff in there, especially for Shonen Otaku. It's usually on display near his table.

Spotted this Shana cosplayer in the halls.

Hot Zombie Chicks huh? Hmm...

Some of the other types of comics and art at SAC-CON.

No comment.

This interesting fellow was introduced to me by Jacob Rose. Seems he is cosplaying from Mystery Science Theatre. Most people don't remember this old show-

As it seems this fellow has something to do with a production company around these parts, but I just can't put my finger on it- don't remember what we talked about.
-Oh, and that's Mr.Rose on the left with the costume he created.

Walking around SAC-CON's game room.

Seems Brandon is playing some Sonic while a little kid watches. It kind of looks like there is a face coming out of the side of his head.

Not sure what games they're playing.

Brandon on the far right is looking over his shoulder. What is he looking at?
-Oh, and I spot a Tegami Bachi Cosplay...

And it's back inside for some pics of more glorious figures. Lots of One Piece figures at Toys Logic.

She's supposed to be holding a weapon but we didn't want to force it into the hand and possibly break it. ~_~

From Queen's Blade, available from Toy's Logic, here.

The hair detail on this figure is superb.

Equipment she comes with.

I am the proud owner of this Mio figure. XD

Same goes for Ritsu.

More One Piece.

Jacob Rose threatens Tom with his gatlin' gun thing. (It's really a giant grinder).

-Outside in the middle of the building, there is an open area. A lot of folks like to relax in this area, and during the days that Sac-Anime was held here, many people often did the same, and they also had sword fights...those were the days...

Jacob's costume he threw together before the con.

He looks like he'd belong in a certin series, but I can't really place which one. What anime series do you think he'd fit into?

Spotted a lovely cosplayer nearby.

What in the?! What's happening here?
-Friends are playing a game of "Ninja" here in this photo. It is a game where you must slap another's hand, but you can only move one movement at a time. Tom...happened to remove his shorts...good move Tom.

Rose v.s. Panda - having a stare down!

Taking pictures during games of Ninja really lead to some fun pics later on! Looks like they were really fighting! XD

During the Ninja game, Mr.Rose reinacted some of Hard Gay's moves, and his favorite saying, ufuuuu!!!

Ninja usually begins in a circle like this.

Brandon swiftly dodges Rose's lunge.

Looks like Brandon's headbanging but he's actually froze that way.

When there's two chaps left, they stand back to back and have a face-off.

They also play Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Nice dance moves Brandon!

Seriously, what's with these guys?! lol!

Rose balances on one foot for long periods of time.

Who is this masked man?! He suddenly appeared to vanquish everyone.

One of my friends, Max Byer.

Nana, another friend of mine who was there. Nana's a big fan of Level7 apparel. I believe she's in OTACOOL2, but I haven't got the book yet, so I don't know which section she's at. X.x

Spotted this guy in the Men's Room...how does he go in that thing?!
-Oh yea...totally didn't notice Jacob there in the corner!

And I leave you all with one last piece of utter randomness:

Based on the Touhou song, "Bad Apple", I bring you...Bad Nana!

I forgot what they were originally doing, found this on my phone...and...remix time!

SAC-CON is a fun, family friendly environment. A whole day of fun, anime, comics, figures, and more for only $6.00. Well worth it if you're in or around Sacramento!

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushimeYou can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Good Smile's Golden Week Showcase

2010-05-02T17:00:00.001-07:00

Golden Week is a week of holidays celebrated in Japan- and for this lovely occasion, Good Smile Company has decided to hold an exhibition to showcase some of their upcoming figures- alongside those of Gift and Max Factory, at Softmap.

-During this event, AkibaHobby attended and brought us some pictures to feast our eyes upon. Enjoy!

Nendoroid Amano Touko from the series Bungaku Shoujo. Expecting a Fall release on this one.

Nendoroid Miyafuji Yoshika Swimsuit Ver. from the series Strike Witches. She's being released on July 29th, 2010 with the XBOX360 Game. Totally want this one!

Himeji Mizuki from the series Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu. She's supposed to come out in July, and also come with her summon. Kawaii!

Figma Izayoi Sakuya from Touhou Project, will be coming out sometime this year. It isn't specified yet as to what time she'll be available.

We also see a Nendoroid Sakuya Izayoi.

Another one many Kuroshitsuji fans are going crazy over, is the Nendoroid Ciel Phantomhive.

The other Kuroshitsuji nendo I believe came out last year.

-And the rest we've seen at other recent GSC events:

Can't wait to get my hands on these Nanoha puchi nendos.

Lucky Star Street Fighter figures.

Must...obtain...Azunyan nendo...*the cuteness is weakening!*

SOOOOO CUUUTE!

Another must have in my book- the Black Rock Shooter nendo!

I believe this to be a necklace or a keychain.

Need these too!

Wow! GSC has really come out with some nice stuff recently, can't wait for it to all be released. I've noticed they've really been making a lot of Touhou stuff recently.

Hope you've enjoyed. You can find Good Smile Company products at trusted retailers below:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/
http://toylet.net
http://hlj.com
http://archonia.com
http://www.amiami.com/shop?set=english
http://hobbystock.jp
http://kidnemo.com
http://jlist.com

source: AkibaHobby

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushimeYou can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Elite Bleach Cosplay Gallery

2010-04-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

As a huge fan of the anime and manga series, "Bleach", and an appreciator of incredible cosplay, I thought it would be interesting to treat you to a fun gallery I've compiled of some of the best Bleach cosplay I've ever seen- so far anyway.

-Don't complain if you or your favorite aren't in here- there's no reason why we couldn't have more fun Bleach galleries like this one in the future- and who's to say you're not an elite?

-Personally, I believe not just 'anyone' should cosplay- everyone should look for a character they = 1.Like 2.Know some history behind 3.Look like the character 4.Keep your eyes from bleeding when you see them. 5.Be able to portray that character's feelings and attitude through expressions and acting.

That's my rules anyway- you may or may not agree, but that's my reasoning behind this gallery- I feel the folks in the pics ahead have really done well.

But alas - Let's have fun and check these fellows out who have been lucky enough to pretty-much master our some of our favorite characters!

ICHIGO KUROSAKI

Ichigo/w hollow side. Both cosplayers and the setting gives me shivers- perfect in my book.

Rukia Kuchiki

Had to throw this one in...it totally counts. This comparison picture popped up sometime last year, although I have no clue of it's origins.

Yasutora "Chad" Sado

Not a lot of Chad cosplayers out there- but found this one great, he also got the Parakeet from early in the series in the pic!

URYU ISHIDA

RENJI ABARAI

ORIHIME INOUE

This is a great pic...but one thing bad about this cosplayer just happens to be a very big mistake...wrong school uniform- it's from Code Geass I believe. But she was intending to cosplay Orihime which is interesting. Oh well, we can pass this one mess up right? Just look at her!

URAHARA KISUKE

SHINJI HIRAKO

YORUICHI SHIHOIN

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck

"Nel" Child Form

Szayel Aporro Grantz

Matsumoto Rangiku

KANAME TOUSEN

Grimmjow Jeagerjaques

Tetsuzaemon Iba

TOUSHIRO HITSUGAYA

HINAMORI MOMO

Ulquiorra Schiffer

Absolutley AMAZING. The lighting, expression...couldn't be better.

Incredible as well.

Tia Halibel

GIN ICHIMARU

YUMICHIKA AYASEGAWA

BYAKUYA KUCHIKI

Unfortunately this is the only Byakuya one I have. Yea I know- but if you think about this picture...this person's expression and everything is really good. See for yourself, it's difficult to find nearly perfect Byakuya cosplayers.

Nnoitora Jiruga

KENPACHI ZARAKI

Like Byakuya, it's very difficult to find great Kenpachi cosplayers.

Rukia Kuchiki (hollow possessed/fusion/ver.)

YACHIRU KUSAJISHI

ISSHIN KUROSAKI

KUKAKU SHIBA

SOI FON

Lilinette Gingerback

GROUP COSPLAY

ICHIGO KUROSAKI and ISSHIN KUROSAKI

SHINJI HIRAKO and HIYORI SARUGAKI

ICHIGO KUROSAKI, RUKIA KUCHIKI, ORIHIME INOUE, and URAHARA KISUKE

SHUNSUI KYORAKU and NANAO ISE

ICHIGO KUROSAKI and YORUICHI SHIHOIN

MADARAME IKKAKU and YUMICHIKA AYASEGAWA

TOUSHIRO HITSUGAYA and RANGIKU MATSUMOTO

ORIHIME INOUE and ULQUIORRA SCHIFFER

This is somewhat shopped but still looks great- representing their final moment.

KISUKE URAHARA and ISSHIN KUROSAKI

Coyote Stark and Lilinette Gingerback

And that wraps it up! Oh...and just for laughs-

GILLIAN MENOS GRANDE

Will be doing some more galleries in the future, stay tuned, will be posting SAC-CON coverage pt.2 soon.

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushimeYou can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

SAC-CON December 2009 Part 1

2010-04-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

A bit overdue, I bring you some coverage that has been put on the back-burners for some time due to my surgery and other mishaps.

SAC-CON is an event local to Sacramento, California, which has been regularly occurring since 1986. This 24 year old convention is one of the oldest comic/anime events to take place here in the state's capital city, if it's not the only one. It has survived and outlived other local events by providing a family-oriented environment, and keeping it pretty simple: the event is one day only (usually always a Sunday) and only a $6.00 USD entry fee. SAC-CON has also stated that they aren't afraid to try new things, and has evolved to match older and modern styles of comics, merchandise, and of course- anime and manga.

The convention is directed by Dan Houck- the same fellow who is responsible for SAC-ANIME, Sacramento's up-and-coming 3 day Anime fest. This is my first time covering SAC-CON for you, but I have made several posts in the past, and you can find those links below:

SAC-ANIME: A look into Sacramento's Anime Con
SAW09
SAS09 Day One
SAS09 Day Two

-Note: I returned with an abundance of SAC-CON photos, so this post will be treated as part 1 of 2. Also, sadly to say that I had watermarked these twice, deleted them twice, and had to re-upload twice...screwed up twice...and I'm not doing it again. So this post will be the first time un-watermarked photos are released.

One of the first items spotted was Nendoroid Yoko! This nendo is actually getting pretty rare now. Toys Logic, whom I've mentioned a few times in the past- has quite a good selection of harder to find items, and newer items as well. Toys Logic regularly shows up at FanimeCon, Sac-Con, and Sac-Anime, and they tend to literally have, the best stuff at the con. Highly recommended that you check out their goods if you run into them at a convention, or check their online store here.

Some goodies out on display- Toys Logic tends to display a few items out of box for folks to check out. They were kind to let me photoshoot some of their figures, as well as going as far to "unbox" some as well.

Name any of these characters and you get cookies!

Dual-wielding Jacob Rose's digicam, and my Omnia, I played with some settings to increase the brightness and settings- some of the pics in this article range in settings.

-Hope to get that SLR soon so I can have more HD pics for you.

Some vendors selling western goods. Sac-Con is a mix of styles and culture.

Megahouse's Taiga, unboxed thanks to Toys Logic. She's supposed to be holding a sword, but I didn't want to force it into her hand with the chance of breaking it...especially because it was a $90.00 figure that wasn't mine.

Taiga's beautiful hair.

From the side- love the painting detail on her.

Walls of manga for sale.

Had a chat with Margo Apostolos, known for her role of the Ewok: Tokkat in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. She took a picture with Mr.Rose's little brother, and told us some stories of her work with Harrison Ford- after all, she did take the gun from Han Solo's hand on Endor.

At the Ewok exhibit, there was a mask laying on the table. If you stare into it long enough you might turn into an ewok.

-Just kidding. But you can put the mask on, go out to Crescent City, here in Cali where Endor was filmed, and jump around and throw rocks at people like the little furry forest dwellers.

In the lobby of the Scottish Rite Center where SAC-CON takes place, there was a large sign promoting the next Sac-Anime, SAW10 (Sac-Anime Winter 2010) which happens to be a very big article that is coming up...next! After Sac-Con part 2 that is.

More lame shirts for sale.

Even more goodies from Toys Logic. I was surprised at the amount of treasure they had there. Many people who visit Sacramento, and California's other big conventions, don't visit Sac-Con- many think it's too small or not enough otaku stuffs. This is understandable since it is a one day event, and the con's roots lay in American comics and pop-culture- however things have really changed lately and I advise anyone nearby Sacramento to visit. It's one of those short and sweet times to buy some ani-goods while waiting for the bigger cons to come around, and Sac-Con happens more often- sometimes 3 or 4+ times a year.

-oh, and I love the Hetalia gachapon in the above pic btw.

Bought the C.C. figure in the middle.

This little Mio figure was standing amongst the other samples at one of Toys Logic's table.

Name this character from Queens Blade!

The cool thing about the Megahouse Taiga I mentioned earlier, is that she comes with an extra face. Not a lot of scale figures have this option.

Love this one...but something about the face is off.

Top down view of previously seen goodies.

I spot a Ritsu in the corner! Lots of One Piece goods.

This Queen's Blade figure has some excellent detail.

Loving the face she's making. I make that face too when I bite into a juicy watermelon. Do you?

Gundam Kits!

Part 2 coming soon.

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushimeYou can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Mitsuwa Marketplace feat. Kinokuniya, TOTO and More

2010-04-16T17:38:00.001-07:00

The day after I met with the Anime Resource Group/FanimeCon Staff in November, I spotted a peculiar shopping center that I couldn't pass up on the way home. I'm very glad that I checked it out- and of course, I've brought that experience home to show you. Please enjoy this photo-walk through Mitsuwa Marketplace, featuring Kinokuniya Book Store, TOTO, Mitsuwa Supermarket, CellPhoneGame/KDDI store, and more.

-Real quick before you begin the photo-walk, I've compiled 3 videos of footage of our experience for you, don't miss out on these exclusive KazuVlogs!

-Photowalk, begin!

And, that's it folks! Thanks for joining me on this photo-walk.
It was an incredible morning, filled with friendly folks greeting with "ohayou!"(good morning).
-I'll definitely be sure to visit there again sometime in the near future. Kinokuniya is an otaku heaven, and Mitsuwa Marketplace is the closest thing to Akihabara here in California.

-Hope you've enjoyed my coverage.

As always,
~Kazu

Next post: SACCON Dec. coverage.

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

AMIKAZU 2: Can I haz oppai?

2010-04-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Got a bit to cover in this article, so I hope you stick with me- I also marked it as "A Month In Kazu's World" series (AKA Amikazu) post because of the amount of content in this post which takes place over the last couple months. Please stick with me- but first:

I uploaded this to Twitpic not long ago, and it was pretty popular. Quite a bit of people sent me messages on Twitter asking about my cat, Sofie, and had a few questions asking if I purposefully placed her paws on Hatsune Miku like that.

The answer is no my friends. It was just a funny coincidence that Sofie was laying on Miku's abdomen with her paws on/around/near the oppai.

-So I figured I'd take you around town with me today, you know- like a photowalk type of deal through some places around my town while I talk about some updates important to FanimeCon, Team LoveHate, myself, Mana, Jacob Rose, and anything else I can think of to update you on. This will be a different thing we'll try today. :)

-I know you send me questions and comments, and I can't always answer all of them, but I try.

First off- I've been through an incredibly difficult surgery and recovery period. I had surgery in mid-Feb and am just now getting back to doing things normally again.

-The surgery I had was a spinal fusion with two titanium rods, 17 screws, and 4 hooks. The reasoning behind this madness was all thanks to my spine- it was previously shaped like a backwards "S". I was in the hospital for 5 days, and total recovery is roughly a 3 months to a year...so I'm lucky to be doing as well as I am.

I've also had finish up school, and take care of some things in my life so I could get back on here without having anything to nag at me, or on my shoulders. If you have things bothering you, it's always best to take care of them asap so you can move on to greater things.

-I've learned this because I've always been a professional procrastinator.

Recently redesigned the closet door in my room- it's a beautiful gateway to an ugly and horrendous mess on the inside. If you've seen my other articles with pics from my room in them, or if you own Volume 1 of OTACOOL, you can see I used to have a different set-up on the door.

And...the horrendous mess I mentioned, which is now gone! Thanks to a week of cleaning, sorting, and working my @#$ off fighting this beast.

-Some people on twitter commented on my closet, it was popular for a couple days, and we all had some good laughs about it. WiseFreeman (popular fellow otaku net-friend almost everyone knows from dannychoo.com) and I joked several times about joining a house cleaning party to conquer our tasks, us both having cleaning projects that week.

I do want to apologize for mentioning that new content would appear yesterday, when I wasn't able to meet the deadline due to utter randomness, and ended up posting this today. ^^;;

-I am currently working on what I call "project ketchup"- a play on words- which is a project to get certain posts I've had on the back-burners up and on the site for you to enjoy. I don't know about you, but I like having everything caught up and complete. Don't want sections of my life missing!

While pulling into the drive-thru at J&B, I spotted this fellow. Humorous.

-Some may not understand what he's doing: He's putting either air or water into his car. Because he's bent over like that, I'm pretty sure it's air going into his tires. Here you can pay a few cents to restore your air for your tires or water if needed. Some are free.
-Is this something available in your neck of the woods?

Togo's, a fun sandwich shop that mimics Subway and Quizno's at times, however, it has been around for as long as I can remember. We see them around town frequently, although for some reason, Prisoners doing community service can be found eating here at times. Go figure.

While passing TOGO's, I was on my way to Sizzler, a steak-house and salad bar type restaurant that is very family oriented, and also a place where many senior citizens gather on various days.

-The food is always splendid, the salad bar has quite a bit of choices for the most excellent creation. The picture in the "Hibachi Toriniku" article with Suzumiya-chan was taken there.

Sign outside Sizzler.

Aquired two new wives recently! Dakimakura Miku Hatsune and Yoko. You can find the review here.

Have been keeping up with Itasha revolutionists Team LoveHate- they have quite a bit in store for you this summer with an entirely new line-up of Itasha cars that will be rolling out to several events and conventions here in California, so stay tuned.

-I'll also be working on the new website for TLH, which will provide a much better insight into what they do, and where they're going. The site is due to launch by the end of this month. So if you like cars and anime- then you'll like what's coming.

A miniature golf course called "Scandia" is not too far from my home. I pass this place every time when I leave- always someone putting around over there.

Was a beautiful day.

The tower-like thing you see in this picture is the Scandia Screamer. A very tall structure with a seat at both ends, and...it spins. Quite quickly might I add. And thus, it is called the Screamer.

It's a great way to torture your children after playing mini-golf. :D

He's back! The one and only dancing Bleach cosplayer is back! This time he's stealing cookies from Mana's kitchen!

Ok, no he's not stealing them. She actually made a ton for us one day that we dropped by for some otaku shenanigans.

-For those who don't know, Theo's a great bud of mine who appears now and then around the site in some of my convention articles. He appears around Cali at conventions cosplaying Kurosaki Ichigo Bankai Vizard form, from the anime and manga, Bleach. He's also the owner of the California Burger's restaurant- a great place to grab the best burgers in California.
-Theo is a hardcore gamer, and an otaku of the Shonen genre of anime and manga. You can find him here.
He's also began his work on YouTube in comedy music videos:

Lot's of cloudy skies like this in the past couple months, but finally clearing up.

Target, where I buy my shelves for the base here.

Denny's is a popular family restaurant that is somewhat modeled with a Diner feel.

Trevor popped by The Base a couple weeks ago to visit with Mr.Rose while we were installing a Borderlands DLC for my dad's brother.
Trevor's a pretty cool guy, and you can find his FB here.

Mr.Rose and I happened upon this stack of beer that was literally just called..."Beer". Wow. I don't drink, but I wonder if it's really beer.

Picking up some super glue- a very useful thing.

Winco, an affordable grocery store we visit regularly has improved their milk section with glass doors! This makes it really easy to just push the roller carts the milk is on and walk into the back whenever the front shelves are empty, to grab some milk of course.

AAAaaaannnd~ Last but not least is Mana-chan, who I want to thank for the latest drawing of Reika, RAK's mascot character, you can see her on the upper left of the site on the home page.

This shot was taken on the way to the FanimeCon2010 meeting in late January- something I'm finally getting around to share with you all very soon.

Also want to thank Mana-chan for the "HK" checkered scarf she made me. :D

Now down to business. FanimeCon2010 is on the horizon.
I promised I'd update you on recent shenanigans, and also, FanimeCon!
Currently FanimeCon has announced Momoi, LM.C, Daisuke Ishiwatari, and Toshimichi Mori as guests. Of course there's a handful of "regulars" (a term I use for folks who show up as guests every year, separate from Guests of Honor) as there is every year.

-I'm pretty sure this will be a pretty big one this time around- all the meetings I've attended with the FanimeCon staff have been pretty informative and fruitful with information regarding the mere ideas related to the epic size that this con is becoming. As of January, roughly 3,000 had already pre-registered. Now I know 3k isn't that big of a number, but pre-reg wasn't open that long before that time, and God only knows what it is now.

-Fanime has seen a constant growth in the last 5 years, and is rapidly increasing. Last year seen roughly 20k attendees, that's about 5k more than the previous year.

From my standpoint, many are looking at this con as "FanimeCon2009 pt.2" instead of FanimeCon2010 because many guests and themes that were pioneered last year are returning for what almost feels like an "encore", but with added appeal...like Ishiwatari-san.

I'll keep you updated from the inside of FanimeCon over the next month- and will be showing you a more personal, insider look at the staff meetings that make FanimeCon what it is, very soon in an upcoming post within the next couple weeks, including more footage and pictures than my previous FanimeCon insider look that I posted from November. That article lives here.

And before I go-

Slowness, downtime, and waiting are a thing of the past.
You can expect new articles every day now! So keep an eye out as I rise from the ashes to bring you everything I've found while running around the net, my world, and the otaku world.

Thanks for sticking with me, and don't forget to post your own run-around's on Run Around Forums. :D

Next post coming tomorrow: Kinokuniya Book Store: A complete walk through a manga lovers paradise.

As always, this is Kazushime Hikaru.

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Hatsune Miku and Yoko Dakimakura Review

2010-03-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

Yes it's true- there is a Miku Hatsune dakimakura, and I've compiled some pictures just for all of you who have requested them- a long with the Yoko daki from Gurren Lagann!

As all otaku know, the word "dakimakura" means something different to us than it's original meaning- which is just an oversized "hug pillow" which is usually grasped by young children, but recently otaku have come to know these collectible, (slightly risque to very ecchi) pillow cases as a brand new hobby- and even an obsession at times. Otaku also talk about their Dakimakura as their "wives". Similar to how most Dollfie owners call their dolls, "musume" or "daughters".
-Although, as seen in the pic above, Hatsune-san makes a very good secretary here at the base while I'm away~

Also, she likes to have a cup of tea with me outside on the back deck. Sometimes it's nice to work online with fresh air, green grass, green tea...and Miku. (green pun intended).

Yoko-san also joins us from time to time out on the back deck. But enough of them sitting-

A pic of her laying pretty straight. She is a real full size Dakimakura, and not one of those fake rip offs you find at conventions. (*cough*shana pillow I got at fanime*cough*)

I love her expression on both sides. This is the normal side- we all know that Dakimakura have a normal side, and an either slightly ecchi or a super H side. Most Dakimakura are double sided like this. You'll see- keep scrollin'.

Another lying down pic- this one was very bright, sorry.

Interesting near the bottom- her hair slightly wraps around her legs.

Up close.

And now for-

The other side. Love the shimapan! And her expression is great.

Up close. Expression = <3

Pantsu! Here you can see how the material looks up close. This is VERY SOFT and somewhat silky material that most Daki are known for. Very soft for one's dolphin.

And just like on the other side, her hair slightly wraps around her legs.

And love how the left hand is somewhat on her leg. Sorry there's a weird fold on the right leg that looks weird- that's just a fold in the material from sleeping with Miku-chan. Love the nails.

She's such a hard worker while I'm away. Sometimes she even does some back-end programming for me while I get to play Mass Effect. :P

Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

There's a fold here and weird shadowing- it's not off colored or anything.

Kawaii expression.

Very up-close material.

Daki's pillow cases are folded when you first buy them- but the fold eventually comes out of them. Both Miku and Yoko are very new.

And the backside of Yoko- lol @ my foot in the corner.

Oppai.

Oshiri.

Big beautiful ani-eyes of Yoko. Moe moe.

A great expression for Yoko.

Yoko's feetz.

Yoko's place at the base is on my bed- although she looks small compared to my massive futon, she's roughly 5'10''-ish, a few inches from being as tall as me.

Hatsune-san working hard on the RAK network.

Ranka is jealous now that there is another green haired beauty working for me now...*kekekekekekke*

Another shot of Ranka.

Ended up liking this one the best. Very colorful. Forgive the poor quality- my phone's camera needs good daylight for higher quality for some reason. >.<
There you have it folks! Will update this article to RAF for further discussion. (don't know why my plant is knocked over in the pic above. 0_o)

Let me know what you think in the comment section below.

(edit: Thanks to Mr.Rose for supplying these SAD's (suddenly acquired Dakimakura) that needed a good home. They will be loved and cherished.)

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Mario Bling Bling To Kill Your Wallet

2010-03-30T02:40:00.000-07:00

That's right. So Icy Jewelry (great name huh?) is selling incredibly "bling'd-out" Mario pendants for prices that gamers can totally afford. How much you ask? Try a whopping $2,600. I'm not kidding you.

Seriously?

You have your choice of Luigi too. Only the most pimpin'-est peeps out there get to have the choice between Diamond and Gold Nintendo character pendants- ones that cost almost 3k a piece! Will they make more I wonder? How about Bowser or Captain Falcon? Talk about giving your wallet a "Falcon Punch!".

Seems like they can just toss gold and diamonds at everything. I mean- what's next? How about a giant diamond and gold Totoro! Or a Diamond Gundam pendant. Yeaaaa...that sounds more like it. No no no...how about...

Keep guessing....

THE O-MAN. Yeah! WTF?! Nothing against Obama, but wow- it'd be cool if he didn't look like a soul-less metallic zombie.

So tell me:

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

RAFFNOTW: Mana's Kotobukiya Yoko Review

2010-03-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

-This is the first in many to come: the RAFFNOTW which stands for "Run Around Forums Featured News Of The Week". Each week I'll take a look at Run Around Forums and pick out a particular or popular member post that would make a great feature here on Run Around Kazu, and feature your news in an article.
-If you have a site I will link to you as well.
-In the future I'd like to pick them out of the member's news section and/or other parts of the site, so I encourage those with blogs/websites to add their content to the RAF member's section.

We'll see how it goes, but for now there's not many members so this series will probably start out slow.

Moving on- this RAFFNOTW goes to Mana, who has written up a blog-post-worthy review of one of her new figures- the very popular Crimson Chapter Yoko that Kotobukiya released not long ago. So without further adieu:

Ritona Yoko, Crimson Chapter ver. -Kotobukiya By Mana:

"At my last SacAnime, I decided to reach out of my boundries of just smaller figures and spoil myself with a large one.
A very large one. [to me at least].

Here is Ritona Yoko, Crimson Chapter ver. by Kotobukiya!
I spent $50 on her because her box was a little messed up, but she was still in amazing condition. Her usual going price is for about $100 USD.

Here are some pics my friend took with her Nikon.

Her gorgeous face upclose. If you don't know, She has a removable faceplate and can switch between both eyes open and winking. Her hairpin also changes!

That gun is actually very big. It is made out of normal plastic and you have to put it together. But its huge! Much larger than my hand, my cellphone or anything else I can think of at this moment.

She is VERY detailed. They even did realistic shadowing in the most important places. [*coughoppaicough*]. Her BACK is even really nice. As you also can see, the gun is removable.

Here is the other faceplate, along with a matching hairclip piece! Very cute. I actually prefer this face on her. Its more "Yoko".

Just another picture showing her off. Boota is also there, he doesn't move like the gun though. I was kind of dissapointed that he wasn't in her Oppai like he usually is during the series, but that is okay!

A great angle of her winking face. She is clearly very gorgeous.

She has very nice "ripped" stockings and a super cute tummy! I know that if she were real, I would poke it. A lot.

Anyway, That is my figure. I love her to death.
I'd like to that my good friend Melody for taking these pictures for me, seeing as I only have a crappy phone camera to work with.

You can find more information here.

Thank you for reading!"

Information on "Mana":
An up in coming game art designer and future cosplay idol responsible for designing "Reika", the mascot of the RAK network. She attends most events and social meet-ups with me, and acts as an aid to convention coverages, appears in cosplay events, and contributes to the mo-blogging aspects of RAK and being a moderator on Run Around Forums.

You can find her twitter page here.

Hope you enjoyed this review, I liked the pics. It gives more of a relaxed feel than other pics I've seen of this figure online. You can find this exquisite figurine from these trusted sellers:

Toys Logic
Kotobukiya
Hobby Search
Kid Nemo

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Momoi Haruko Returns To FanimeCon

2010-03-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

Looks like Momoi fans can expect to catch another appearance of Haruko Momoi this year- thanks to FanimeCon's tweet, which goes like this:

"Announcing another GOH - Halko Momoi! She'll be interacting w/ her fans more personally this year; check the Guest page soon for more info"

GOH= Guest of Honor
-FanimeCon tends to have a few GOH's and some "regulars" that pop up almost every year. Guests of Honor ranges from creators of big series, popular Japanese pop singers/groups, rock singers/groups, and seiyuu- and other "creators or performers" all noteworthy of something big.
-The regulars...are usually people you never really would know about outside of FanimeCon, like Jonathon Osbourne who is known as, "The Man of 1000 Deaths" for playing over 1000 dubbed deaths in english dubbed anime. He's a specialist who knows how to die in almost every way. He also loves nutter-butters.

All of which are respected and worth seeing. But back to Momoi-san:

The lucky 100 or so (including me) that attended Momoi-san's concert at Fanime's "Music Fest", were able to witness a very special show, filled with the spirit of otaku.
Many otaku in the crowd had traveled far and wide to see the now low profile seiyuu who is making somewhat of a comeback by performing at events around the world in the last year and a half.

-It is known that Momoi's concerts and performances are exciting and she encourages the audience to take part in the fun by doing Otagei- awkward and sometimes bizarre but fun dance like moves that otaku practice to anisongs. Some practice it religiously, and some only to Haruko Momoi who was a lead pioneer at introducing "ota-gei" in Akihabara.

One of Momoi's most popular roles, was that of Seto Sun (on the left above) from the anime, "Seto no Hanayome" which translates to, "My bride is a mermaid."

-Favorite scene below:

She also produced "Romantic Summer", the theme to Seto no Hanayome, which has become a popular anisong and has been remixed several times.

-Momoi also performed Romantic Summer at FanimeCon last year as well:

-Having several major roles in the anime and music industry, Momoi Haruko is one to be loved. She will be respectfully welcomed back to FanimeCon this year. Look forward once again to seeing Momoi at FanimeCon2010!

You can learn more about Halko-sama, and all of her roles in entertainment here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruko_Momoi

-However, this year another artist will be taking the stage for Music Fest.
I will be updating you on that shortly.

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

After Meeting Adventure

2010-03-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

-So as some of you know, I released this video on YouTube recently, about the "after meeting adventure", something in the sort of a walkthrough of the lower level of San Jose's McEnery Convention Center- the site of FanimeCon - and also some good fun just messin' around while Fanime is away. This took place after the FanimeCon2010 planning meeting, which I wrote an article about here.

We also took some pictures down there. So I thought I'd share. Enjoy Mc Enery Convention Center in all it's glory.

Mr.Rose and his "Shark".

Strange demon thingy that hangs from the wall.

Another one. Just what is this place?

Weird muppet thing.

Ok...really? What do they do here when Fanime is away? My guess= the McEnery staff is attempting to create genetically altered clones for raising a huge anime festival...or maybe it's to raise a mutant clone army for the sole purpose of stealing the pantsu from McEnery's visitors? Who knows. But the thing in the pic above is CREEPY.

Another failed experiment? Or maybe it was just a person stored in carbonate and has had their limbs chopped off...hmmm....

A lot of the buildings around the con center area have interesting architecture.

This goes to the mutant cloning labs maybe?

This is a monitor that displays post-apocalyptic versions of the convention center. Why do we want to see that? What's their goal?

Interesting picture I took from that monitor- this looks like McEnery being flooded.

Ruins.

Another one depicting the con center as if many years had passed while plant life has grown through the ruins.

Jacob's elevator. (see vid) If you look closely, there almost seems to be a claw or hand mark.

Tree-man is not pleased.

Jacob Rose before filming the "HG" scene in the video at the top.

Have always admired the building and it's architecture.

As you can see, there is an upper level, however we were not granted access there. During conventions and events, the upper level is used for all main events, while the lower level acts as a place for lines and registration.

Some upcoming events. Bulging pirates really aren't in my genre of tastes.

He...really liked that thing.

Rose using Mana's phone. Love the Tsuruya charm.

Outside the center at night.

The Civic Auditorium rests just across the convention center. This building has been known to host infamous guests in the last 10 years such as Nami Tamaki, Haruko Momoi, An Cafe, Duel Jewel, many more, and soon to be LM.C.

View at night while standing in front of McEnery looking towards the beautiful Civic Auditorium.

Transit system of San Jose makes it easy to catch a ride to the convention center.

Odd writing/symbols on the wall outside in the front of the entrance to the convention center.

Another picture of the tram.

One of my favorite shots for some reason. This is a small path that leads away from the convention center to another nearby building/hotel area.

And after a long day, we headed over to "Smart&Final"- a store that has random goods...I really don't know how to describe it, but it was nearby our hotel, and we picked some some extra food supplies while we were there.

Apologizing for bad quality image.

The FanimeCon 2010 meeting had been long over, and we had discovered some interesting locations and utter randomness while exploring Fanime's home.

-The next day we decided to do something quite amazing before leaving the city of San Jose, California.

We visited Mitsuwa Marketplace- home to Kinokuniya, (infamous Japanese book store) and several other Japanese stores.
Our original intentions were to visit Kinokuniya, but we found a goldmine in Mitsuwa Marketplace.
What had originally been a business trip to the FanimeCon2010 planning meeting, had become a random adventure...and an accidental trip into a hidden paradise.

That's enough of McEnery and FanimeCon meetings for right now- however you can expect more of that soon to come, but I also have some great un-planned and totally awesome coverage of the entire Mitsuwa Marketplace, Kinokuniya book store...and a whole world we never meant to stumble upon.

Check back in soon for some more great coverage.

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

FAKKU! Decides On FanimeCon2010

2010-03-20T04:55:00.000-07:00

First off-
About FAKKU!: It is an enormous site featuring loads of adult 18+ content related to anime, video games, manga, and more. It sees over 175,000,000 million pageviews a month and 5,000,000 unique visitors. Wow right?

-To some people FAKKU! is just a place to visit and perform "health sessions" or "relieve stress". To others, a place to keep up on the latest and greatest Doujinshi. The forums are also a goldmine of whatever you can think of- plus lots of user uploads, downloadable content, free games (ecchi and non-ecchi, but mostly ecchi) and randomness. It's just FAKKU!. If you're into ecchi content, go for it. It's the richest on the net in my oppinion. If you're not, just avoid looking at all the special stuff and look for the non-ecchi treasure within. You'll find it...in your own way. Everyone does.

Ok Kazu, we get it. So what happened?
A few days ago a friend on Facebook mentioned that it would be interesting to see FAKKU! at the next Fanime. I thought about it for a while, and thought- hey, why not? So I visited the site and found the contact form and wrote FAKKU! a nice little e-mail about why it would be nice to see them there. I also influenced a couple thousand people over several social networks to join in the fun and post on their Facebook page and tweet to them: "Please come to Fanime!"

I also made the article above on Figure.fm that exists here: http://www.figure.fm/post/en/9105/FAKKU+FanimeCon2010.html

And?
Further research into Jacob's Facebook page, (the main man behind FAKKU!, not to be confused with Jacob Rose) revealed that on the events calender showed that FanimeCon2010 - is on the list. So people- looks like they're/it/he/whatever will come.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. Right? Just like the girl in this video.

Are you that happy? Are you happy now? Yes you are.
BECAUSE FAKKU! IS COMING TO FANIMECON 2010!

But Kazu...how do we know that for sure?
Chris Griffith, my ally in our stuggle to convince FAKKU! how badly we wanted to see them at Fanime, got a reply tweet from FAKKU! saying that they are going. That was basically...enough for us to just celebrate, like the girl in that video above.

Now please don't misunderstand me. FAKKU! is not an official "guest" like this is all sounding. They are simply, "coming" to the convention, and may possibly host a panel.

-The panel idea is our main argument towards FAKKU!, because they are doing one at AnimeBoston in April, we figured it'd be cool if they did that at FanimeCon2010 too. So please know, that this isn't an attempt to force FAKKU! into doing anything, nor is it to get them on the guest list.

-And why am I so excited? Because I look at FAKKU! as an incredibly large social community that is/can be/will be a large influence on it's fans- and any site with that many hits makes it special. FAKKU! also hosts a talented and entertaining staff- much worth meeting, or seeing for that matter.

WE JUST WANT A PANEL.

And- please don't message me asking if I am a FanimeCon representative/employee/person/whatnot because I'm not, and I have no power over whatsoever over who goes where for what. However, I have made it clear in the past that I am "involved" with the staff from time to time. You'll know if you read my blog often.

-I simply watch the world from my desk- influencing as much as possible- and appear to cover these events just for you. :)

At this time, it is still unclear however, if FAKKU! will be doing a complete panel or just hanging around with the crowd as they have in the past. We shall see, and you'll find that info, only on Run Around Kazu.

So tell me:

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Shining Wind Seena

2010-03-11T16:44:00.000-08:00

Now and then in the figurine realm, does a figure come out that is positively attractive in so many ways- but simple at the same time.
Well- Shining Wind's Seena is currently all the rage for those who fancy Seena and her type of figure- and personally, I haven't seen a nicer figure of her. Keep reading-

Not always a fan of short hair- but I think Seena works it well- and the color scheme of this figure, with the matching swimsuit and all- flows really well together.

And of course, we all love the nice shading effects that add to the enhanced feel of the figurine.

I do believe that she comes with the extra piece above, which looks to be removable.
To me, that's an excellent add to this superb figure.

One from the side.

Seena is 1/7 scale and due out in July. Retail price is 6,800 yen.
Good Smile Company has released some more intriguing details here.

Don't forget, you can find her at these fine and trusted retailers below:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/
http://toylet.net
http://hlj.com
http://archonia.com
http://www.amiami.com/shop?set=english
http://hobbystock.jp
http://kidnemo.com
http://jlist.com

Another point of interest, is that GSC has stated that this is the first in a three-way collab series. This means each month we will get to see our favorite Shining Wind girls in an ongoing swimsuit series. Om-nom.

So tell me: Seena Get?

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Soraoto Pantsu Fest

2010-03-09T00:54:00.000-08:00

Something interesting I wanted to share with you:

-This last Saturday's Sora Fest! An event inspired by the anime "Sora no Otoshimono" where 160 paying attendees, alongside Hisashi Saito (the anime's director) science-fiction author Housuke Nojiri, and Kazuhiko Hachiya (the artist best known for developing OpenSky's life-size jet-assisted glider inspired by Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind), and TBS television announcer Jun Suzuki appeared at the event to launch over 100 rubber-band-powered flying-panties models.

This event actually has a website.

-And here's the description the site gives to explain their shenanigans:
"NKH, an amateur group of aspiring web-livecasters, and Nicotech, an open Internet community of Sunday engineers, co-host Sora-Fes!, an event for all flying-gadget lovers.Sora-Fes, literary meaning "Sky-Festival" in Japanese, welcomes anyone who wants to share their love for sky and flying toys. The admission includes an rubberband-powered ornithopter or "Flying Panty," which all participants make and test-flight together.This event holds a talk session of three prominent figures: SciFi author Housuke Nojiri, TV announcer Jun Suzuki and media artist Kazuhiko Hachiya. Flying crafts of Nicotech members will be displayed at the event, and participants are welcome to bring their own and test-flight at the open space.
Sora-fes is held on Saturday, March 6th at 3331 ARTS CYD, Akihabara, Tokyo
For more information, contact NKH at sorafes@enjoynicolive.com"

-Now, if you're reading this and you're confused because you have absolutely no idea in this world, why the heck people would wish to gather together fly pantsu- then that's because you probably haven't seen Sora no Otoshimono- an anime which provides a unique ending sequence that shows many pairs of pantsu flying peacefully around the world.

Sora no Otoshimono is actually a really entertaining anime, and wasn't released too long ago. It is within Kazu's recommendation that you watch. :3 To tell you the honest truth- I think what they're doing is really cool, and if I could be there- I'd be doing it with them!

Here's some more images from the event thanks to Gigazine, who made a great article, covering the event:

And another video from a different angle you can check out:

Also not too long ago, this video surfaced as well- skip ahead to about 2:00 to see it in action:

Looks like the folks at Sora Fest weren't the only ones inspired to fly pantsu.

So tell me forum:

You can also check the sources below for more pics, info, and video.

credit and sources:

http://enjoynicolive.com/event/sorafes/#english

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/

http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/comments/20100308_sorafes_flying_session/

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Nagoya Proposes Gundam Museum

2010-03-07T20:21:00.000-08:00

Toshiyuki Ogawa, a member of Nagoya city council, proposed during a council meeting on Friday that a Gundam Museum should be built there in Nagoya- a very central city to Japan.
There was also a proposal to host the epic 1/1 scale life-like Gundam that made incredible headlines last summer.

The image above was taken by Ken Lee when the infamous 1/1 scale Gundam hailed from Odaiba last year. Below is great video footage:

The proposal is also believed to be Ogawa's plan to ensure viability to the city's Aonami train and bus lines which are currently facing financial difficulties.

However, Bandai has already opened a Gundam museum within a larger Bandai Museum in Matsudo, a city just east of Tokyo, in 2003, but that building was sold in 2006, forcing the Bandai museum to relocate to Mibu- a town north of Tokyo. Mibu's museum houses a 1/1 scale life-like Gundam as well- but only from the chest up.

Currently the giant 1/1 scale Gundam rests in Shizuoka - Bandai's home to it's production factories for it's model kits - although there still seems to be more plans to move it yet again.

Nagoya perhaps? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Nagoya has been a manufacturing hub for generations in Japan, and hosts the World Cosplay Summit.

sources:
http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/feature/vsshigikai/list/201003/CK2010030602000182.html
http://www.bandai-museum.jp/shisetsu/photo.html#gundam
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-03-07/gundam-museum-proposed-in-nagoya-city-council

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Nov.09 Fanime Meet-Up

2010-03-04T16:50:00.000-08:00

Above we see McEnery Convention Center - home to a certain large convention, that sees roughly 15,000-20,000 attendees from around the world, who visit downtown San Jose, California, each year in May.

I have been closely knit with this convention since my very first FanimeCon, and in November took a trip out to the Marriott hotel in San Jose, to meet with the FanimeCon staff and participate in a "secret meeting".

Just kidding-it really isn't that secret, in fact- if you follow Fanime's Twitter you will be often informed of when and where the meetings take place. It's totally public, but there are special occasions when the staff just likes to be alone with eachother. (you know what I mean) What's interesting, is that in reality, not many people know about these meetings, which is why I joked about it being secret. But I have the feeling that if it was made widely known- hundreds or thousands of people would show up and it would get messy since it's not really meant to be a big event.

Anywho- the ones who originally drew me out to this thing was Team LoveHate. Yea, you know those guys! They made this and we teamed up together in this show. You can see Jazel, JV, and Steve Crain in the back left. Jacob is conversing with Rob, and Mana has just this...sour face. That's why this picture is funny.

Above Jazel and JV stand amongst the crowd, eagerly awaiting the very man we traveled there to meet- which would be Gary - FanimeCon's planning director. The reason we needed to see this fellow, was because Team LoveHate wanted to propose an Itasha exhibit at FanimeCon2010. You want to do anything at Fanime? Talk to Gary.

Eventually after discussing Team LoveHate's involvement with FanimeCon (which are details I can't tell you about yet) I approached Gary alone to discuss Run Around Kazu business, and my own personal involvement with Fanime -something else that is secret at this time. Gary was such a nice fellow, and allowed me to take a memorial picture with him.
-So folks, who you're looking at above is one of the main men who make Fanime happen! Exciting!

Jacob, Mana, and myself in the meeting room for a team snapshot.

Jacob Rose talks to Rob Bolster of TLH about various new designs for Rob's Toyota Matrix. At the time of this conversation, the information was secret, but has now been released at SacAnime Winter 2010, that Rob will be sporting a Burst Angel Itasha.
-Rob did finally show his Burst Angel Toyota Matrix at this last SacAnime, which marks Team LoveHate's western Itasha movement by it's 3rd vehicle to sport itasha designs- coverage coming very soon.

Outside, Jazel's G35 that originally kicked off the TLH movement, and was featured on multiple media sites in 2009, sits quietly off to the side in the Valet area. This is also the very last photograph that exists of the itasha before it was unfortunately vandelized. Jazel is currently working on a VERY intense and secret design for the G35, which will be released later this year. This was also the very Itasha that I originally covered at SAS09 in the article here.

-And inside sits some promotional pin-ups sent to us from Gainax staff to promote the Gurren Lagann movie. Thank you Gainax!

More fellows still mingling in the meeting room.

Stairs leading down to the lobby area of the Marriott.

The main lobby area. We had decided to venture forth outside and take in the sites of downtown San Jose since the meeting had slowed, many industry, bloggers, media guests, and staff had left by that time.

One of the several surrounding hotels in the area. There are roughly 5 main ones that are within walking distance to the convention center. It was announced recently by Fanime Staff that ALL of the reservations are filled for the con in May. Wow.

You can see our reflections in the windows if you look hard enough.

Another lovely view of the side of the Marriott. I am fond of the architecture there.
-Oh and I forgot to mention! The Marriott is directly connected to the convention center- inside and out. The salons/meeting rooms are used for panel rooms during FanimeCon, and is the prime location for the Fanime planning meetings to be held there- in case you were wondering.

Comrade and longtime buddy Jacob Rose walks the sidewalk with a serious look upon his face. Maybe he's thinking about his upcoming web show? Or his figma Live Stage version Miku Hatsune that is in the mail?

Mana smiles within the hustle and bustle of the meeting. Once again since people keep asking- Mana is part of the runaround team, my personal sweetheart, and also an aspiring artist and game art designer responsible for RAK's mascot, Reika. She is also a big help to convention coverage, planning, support, and more. As Mr.Rose has joined me recently as well, there are a few others alongside the two that you'll be meeting here on the site within the near future. You can learn more about RAK, and those involved here.

In the truck on the way home, Mana and Mr.Rose grasp some random loot.

-Myself, standing in the middle of the conference room.
I hope to continue visiting more events like these to share with you. In the future I will also work to bring them more in depth, and continue sharing coverage of fun and informative things. The second FanimeCon2010 meeting took place recently at the end of January- that coverage is also coming very soon, where I will announce quite a bit more!

Below is the video that was released for my video coverage and vlogging series with pics and footage from the meeting:

Interested in crazy news from Japan? Various figurine and anime related news? Or how about news about otaku outside of Japan? If you answered yes to any of those, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu - where I feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California, alongside all that other great stuff you normally want to check out. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Join us and share what you love.

RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world, and sharing our passions to inform and entertain. Run Around with us.

Omnia Puppy

2010-02-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

In late November, I filmed my aunt's puppy with my Samsung Omnia in an area with low lighting. For some reason, I felt like sharing this- which you can watch in the video below.

-But first I must mention- The image above is from Gelbooru and is from "Princess Party", an eroge made by CIRCUS.

-I guess you could say this video was a bit of a test, and yes I know it's dark. But I included a nice track to go along with it. Nothing like watching an adorable puppy with music.

If you're interested in crazy news from Japan, various figurine and anime related news, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu -that's where I, Kazushime Hikaru feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Share what you love.
RAK x RAF 2010
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world.

The Disapearance of Kazushime Hikaru II

2010-01-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Image above from Gelbooru, couldn't resist.

-I'm pretty sure you all know by now that I was on a pretty heavy hiatus at the end of last year, and in the meantime I've been working on a large workload to get many things completed, uploaded, tagged...etc. Recently on my Twitter I announced that http://www.runaroundkazu.com and myself (Kazu) would be going on one last hiatus.

Oh great...what now?
-I'm having a life-changing surgery on February 18 that kinda just popped out of nowhere. For a long time now I've had scoliosis, and it's come time to do something about it, or let it get worse and become a health hazard. If you don't know what scoliosis is, just picture that my spine is in the shape of a backwards "S". I didn't expect to be having the surgery to correct my spine so soon, and back in November I didn't expect to spend nearly all of December and early parts of January with a serious Viral Infection in my Thyroid.
Sometimes...things just happen, and you've got to deal with them.
-I've had a lot planned for 2010, especially in the earlier parts of the year. RAK was supposed to have it's latest version completed- alongside having all my flickr pictures from the articles on RAK, uploaded and tagged by the end of December. I also wanted to kick the year off, blogging from the very start. I believe this will still be the big year for RAK to jumpstart from a novice blogsite to a professional website that brings fun, informative, and entertaining articles to you from the many worlds of figurines, wacky news from Japan, and more- it's just had a few unexpected events in the beginning of this year.

So Kazu, what can the readers expect?
-You can expect this site to blast off this March. I'll be down for 2 weeks in the hospital after my surgery, and unsure how long at home I'll have to rest before I can fully sit in a chair for long periods again- but nevertheless, it will be sometime in March.
And in the meantime?
-I'll be posting on my Twitter as well as Facebook and Myspace for the remainder of time until 2/18/10. I mentioned that comrade Jacob Rose would possibly be guest-blogging while I'm away, but at this time he is dealing with some family-related business and will be temporarily very busy for the next month or so.
-I don't want to keep blogging in the meantime either, and bringing the site back up in hits when I'm just going to dissapear for a month is ludicrous, and I believe a fresh start after my surgery will be best.

-I still have a load of articles building up that I CAN'T WAIT to post! But it's all going to have to wait until my return in March.

Things you can expect to come are:

-Rare figma Live Stage Miku pictures and live video unboxing
-Rare Dragon Ball figure shoot
-Other various figure shoots to come- figma, revoltech frauleins, and others
-FanimeCon Meet-up December 2009
-Kinokuniya walk-through w/pictures and video
-Mitsuwa Marketplace review w/pictures and video
-Sac-Con December 2009 Convention Coverage
-SacAnime Winter2010 Convention Coverage
-FanimeCon Meet-up/Staff Planning Meeting January 2010
-Various Vlogs (lost track of what number I'm on)

-And I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment.

-Hope to see you around in March- in the meantime I will be working in the back-door of the site, spiffing up the layout here and there, and will eventually get around to giving Run Around Forums a face-lift. RAF has little members right now, but that's ok- I'm not promoting it right now, and it's a beta test for a larger project later this year. ^.^ Feel free to add me on any of my social network profiles. (my myspace is under construction atm but will be up soon.)

See you in March!

If you're interested in crazy news from Japan, various figurine and anime related news, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu -that's where I, Kazushime Hikaru feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Share what you love.
RAK x RAF 2009
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world.

The Disapearance of Kazushime Hikaru

2010-01-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

Picking up some current Jumps from Kinokuniya at Mitsuwa Marketplace in the picture above. Thought I'd use this quick glimpse of the store to excite you for some great in-depth coverage of Kinokuniya, and some really exciting articles to come. Keep reading-

I am very proud to announce that I was able to stay in the building above, (guess where it's at and you get cookies) and met some great people who are involved with the Anime Resource Group. If you don't know who they are, they are responsible for producing this event here.

I am also very proud to announce that I have some really fun and exciting posts coming up soon that contain loads of photos from several conventions, unique and exclusive stores/products, and other shenanigans of mine that have taken place within the last couple months. Now- you're all probably wondering:

WHERE DID KAZU GO FOR SO LONG?!
Great question. In early DEC, not long after my San Jose trip, (upcoming overdue article with fun facts about FanimeCon2010) and RIGHT after SAC-CON Dec09, my Thyroid and nearby Lymph nodes became incredibly inflamed, and swollen to the point of being able to be seen clearly by nearby chaps who felt like taking a gaze at my neck. I couldn't swallow. I lived off of popsicles, water, and macaroni for nearly a MONTH. I was experiencing 104 F fevers and higher. No strength, constantly hot and cold...it was a nightmare. No one could tell me what was wrong- and after the doctor finally threw and Anti-Viral my way around Christmas time, I slowly began to recover.
When I recovered, I found myself without an ISP due to changing companies because of low-quality and poor service, as well as unfair charges.

So now I'm back. That is, until I have to have surgery- something I'll mention later, but should only put me out for a couple weeks, that of which comrade Jacob Rose will be guest-blogging here. :) At this moment I'm extremely tied down with sorting files, pictures, video and other content, so you can expect RAK to truly take off later this month. 2010 is finally here, and I've got a hefty load of things planned. Let's run around together!

-HK

If you're interested in crazy news from Japan, various figurine and anime related news, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu -that's where I, Kazushime Hikaru feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Share what you love.
RAK x RAF 2009
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world.

December Update

2009-12-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

Above we see comrades Jacob Rose and Mana, two who have been mentioned a few times around Run Around Kazu before- merry to be in San Jose California, after a 3 hour trip from our home in Sacramento.
They are standing outside of the McEnery Convention Center, home to FanimeCon, and the nearby Marriot Hotel - a fancy hotel that holds panels throughout conventions, meet-ups, and other events.

The two have traveled with me for a meeting that I mentioned here: http://www.runaroundkazu.com/2009/11/exclusive-fanime-2010-meeting-trip.html
So...
Thought I'd have a quick talk with you and give you an update on Run Around Kazu and my life at the moment. The event described above is but one that has happened within the last month. If you didn't know, I have been finishing up school, taking care of family, getting sick myself, and working hard to revamp Run Around Kazu and related sites.
I am quite fond of the new design, and I hope you are too. Please message me in the comments with any feedback or suggestions for the site.

Hiatus?
I announced a hiatus from the blogosphere around a month ago. Since then I've done a load of web work for clients, caught the flu, and began planning for future events at several conventions- as well as organizing a few ideas between myself and a certain buddy that may lead to some pretty neat otaku events here in Cali!

The hiatus has been re-announced due to serious busyness and the fact that I am truly still setting up Run Around Kazu and the communities that are connected. (shhh! I'm not supposed to be here right now!)

However-
You are reading this now because there is no way I could take a break from blogging- this hit me as I began to realize that, yes, MUCH is in the works...and whatever it is- it's a part of my life. So I'm going to blog it.
My life and passions are recorded through much dedication, and much passion- for you.

So currently I am letting you all know, that I am fighting through my busyness, illnesses, etc... to finish tweaking RAK and beta community sites like RAF, my social sites like Myspace and Facebook, etc:
So that I can keep a steady pace while keeping you up to date through the networks, and ultimately to provide a great blog and the upcoming otaku community site, Run Around Forums Beta, for people like you to enjoy!

Future Goals:
I'm closing in on getting my Flickr account updated to host my images and provide a great library of pictures used from all my coverages, news, and other articles for you to easily access and enjoy.

Also need to get a good profile in gear for those who want to know exactly who I am. So far the closest thing to a profile is here: http://www.flickr.com/people/hikarukazushime/
This is where my Myspace.com account will play in, and it will be fully customized with loads of information, and also a small version of the blogs written here- that means if you have a Myspace account, you can subscribe to RAK blogs via Myspace, as well as adding me.
I've mentioned before that a good blogger/social networker/journalist/person of business/etc needs a good profile- people want to be able to know who you are and what you do, and if you have business opportunities, a good profile is a nice thing to point to.

Upcoming Events:
I'll be unveiling a few things shortly on Run Around Kazu- as well as over time.
I'll tell you now, that the RAK team meeting with the FanimeCon staff was a successful one, and that it is possible that an Itasha event is in the works, and (I hope) a possible partnership with FanimeCon. A panel/s featuring my work within the otaku media, news sites, and Run Around Kazu, not to mention the Team LoveHate Itasha movement, are also possible events at FanimeCon 2010.
-FanimeCon is a yearly convention in San Jose, California, that sees roughly 15,000-20,000 attendees. FanimeCon is known for featuring guests such as An Cafe, Momoi Haruko, and Hiroyuki Yamaga, as well as having one of the largest Dealer's Halls and exclusive Otaku Swap Meets of all time. For more information visit: http://www.fanime.com/

Also- It is now official that I will be appearing with Team LoveHate and the team's newest Itasha at our home convention, SacAnime, to promote the western Itasha movement, and our designs. The convention commences January 8th-10th 2010 at the Radisson Hotel here in Sacramento.
-SacAnime is a smaller convention in Sacramento, California, which takes place two times each year- once in winter, and once in summer, and sees several thousand in attendance. SacAnime is known for featuring the best in english voice acting, as well as having an anime club rave, aspiring artists, gaming tournaments, and a decent vendor's hall.
For further info please see here: http://www.sacconventions.com/

Thanks for reading my December update, and please watch www.runaroundkazu.com over time for exciting updates in the world of a Californian otaku, Itasha pioneer, and wacky news from Japan!

If you're interested in crazy news from Japan, various figurine and anime related news, you may want to subscribe to the RSS FEED for Run Around Kazu -that's where I, Kazushime Hikaru feature various news, reviews, and updates from my own otaku shenanigans around California. If you'd like to keep updated but don't want to visit the site, just follow my twitter here: https://twitter.com/HikaruKazushime
You can also check out http://runaroundforums.forumotion.net/index.htm - which is an upcoming community site currently in beta, made for otaku, by otaku. Share what you love.
RAK x RAF 2009
Bringing Japan to the rest of the world.

Man Marries Game Character

2009-11-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

Nene Anegasaki, a character from a popular game called, "Love Plus", was married to a man who is only known as, "Sal9000".

-Video below from Boing Boing:

Taking place at a "Make", (a meet-up in Japan at the Institute of Technology) a live audience gathered along with a real human preist, an MC, and the bride's virtual friend -who made a speech.

The event was livecast from Nico Nico Douga - a popular video sharing website.

The following is a letter that Ms.Katayama from www.boingboing.net, recieved from Sal9000 - the groom - after he found that she had blogged the event upon seeing it on Nico Nico Douga:

"Dear Ms. Katayama,

Thank you very much for watching our wedding ceremony online. Because of your blog post, we received some comments from what appeared to be international viewers, and we were very happy about that.

I had heard before the groom is very busy during a Japanese wedding, but this was much more than I expected!

Both the actual wedding space and the livecasting web site were full on the day of — I'm so happy so many people were able to witness this. There were over 3,000 connections and 7,000 comments made online, and the people who showed up in person at the ceremony also offered their congratulations. It was great.

Now that the ceremony is over, I feel like I've been able to achieve a major milestone in my life. Some people have expressed doubts about my actions, but at the end of the day, this is really just about us as husband and wife. As long as the two of us can go on to create a happy household, I'm sure any misgivings about us will be resolved.

As for what's next, we still haven't gone to see my parents, so we will be going home together on New Years to officially announce our marriage.

The two of us hope to continue to let our love for each other grow as time goes on.

Sincerely,

SAL9000 & Nene Anegasaki"

The happy couple enjoy the beach together.

image and source credit to www.boingboing.net

What do you think?

Burger King's Windows 7 Whopper

2009-10-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Burger King in Japan is promoting the launch of Windows 7 with the all new Windows 7 Whopper.

Perfectly matching the theme of the software, this special whopper has 7 patties stacked together, measuring 5.1 inches tall, and selling for an appropriate 777 yen ($8.53 USD) price.

This isn't the only unique stunt that Microsoft has pulled recently- They've launched a giveaway of the new OS for every resident of the Dutch village of "Zevenhuizen" which means, "Seven Houses", and decorated parts of the Spanish village Sietes ("Sevens") in Windows-themed colors. Also to be noted is the special theme featuring awesome Seiyuu, "Nana Mizuki". Nana also means 7.

In North America, most of the developer's less conventional advertising has centered around promoting Windows 7 house parties and its first retail stores.

As for the Windows 7 Whopper...I can't deny that I would love to have said that I had one, being the veteran burger lover that I am.

Would you try one?

credit to: www.electronista.com