I Think I'm In Love...

So, I finally made my trip to Gimme Anime (buffalostyle's official anime shop) the other day and I came away with yet another object that I am obsessing over. In a mistake made by Roger, the May issue of Hobby Japan made it's way into my hold slot. Since I have added and dropped Hobby Japan countless times from my account, the mistake was an honest one. Anywho, Roger realized his mistake but, once I saw the cover, I was instantly smitten.

The PERFECT GRADE ASTRAY GUNDAM!!! Taa Daaa!!!!!

My favorite Gundam of the past few years or so gets the Perfect Grade treatment and what a surprise that was to me as I haven't looked at an HJ in quite some time.The above kit is a 1/100 High Grade Gundam kit. I remember picking up the above kit a few years ago but, since I am so incredibly lazy, I ended up giving the kit away because I didn't feel like having to do too much painting. You see, my painting skills are pretty weak and I don't have the time and equipment needed to do so anyway. Of course, with my new garage, I can actually set up a painting area if I really wanted to.

Here is the box for the Perfect Grade kit.
Smexxy isn't it?

The first (and only) Perfect Grade kit that I purchased was the GAT-X 105 Strike Gundam. I coveted this kit for a VERY long time since I first saw it at Wizard World LA back in 2005. I didn't pick one up that day because I didn't know how I would get it back home as the box is huge. Fortunately, I found it at Colpar Hobbies last year and snatched it right up.

I have yet to put it together.

When I flipped through the HJ, I came upon something that I want as much (probably more, actually) as the PG Astray Gundam. Macross Frontier models from Bandai.

Now, this is the stuff right here as fully transformable Valkries are the $#%@.

I own some of the Yamato Valkries from the "Do You Remember Love" movie and from Macross Plus as well. I really am looking forward to getting some of these models as well as the other Macross Frontier toys.

SUGGESTIONS FROM RINI
So, while I was at Gimme slobbering over the Hobby Japan goodness, Rini came in while I was checking out and made a few manga suggestions to me.

First is Jihai from Toshimi Nigoshi.

This manga is about a boy named Aoi who is courier who is rescued from a delivery gone wrong. He is taken to an orphanage where most of the kids have super-human abilities.

As I was, initially, drawn to the art in the manga, there were some shonen ai aspects early on that made me wonder what Rini had gotten me into. However,the story drew me in about midway through the volume as we learn that Aoi is driven by the need for revenge. There is a political slant that shows up near the end of the volume that really leaves you wanting more. All that said, I'm probably going to give this one at least one more volume to see if I want to continue to buy it.

Next up is 07-Ghost from Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara.

While I haven't gotten to this manga just yet, listening to Rini's description and reading the back cover have really piqued my interest.

It took me a while to get to reading Jihai as I was catching up on my Black Lagoon manga. Very good stuff. Vols. 4 and 5 dealt with Rock and Revy going to Japan with Balaliaka on a "business" trip. The more and more of this I read the more and more I absolutely love it.

Revy cosplay!!!

If you can pull it off, more power to you....

So, I'm at the gym the other day and I'm jammin' out to some anime music on my Crackberry. I come up on some music by the supergroup named JAM Project.

The interesting thing about JAM Project is that they were founded by former 1970's theme song artist, Ichirou Mizuki (Harlock, Mazinger Z), back in 2000. He and several other theme song artists make up the group. (JAM stands for Japan Animationsong Makers)

The song that I am currently digging from this group is "Storm Bringer" from the anime Kotetsushin JEEG. It's funny what kind of pump you can get from listening to this type of music. For instance, I picked up a Greatest Hits album for MOVE at Wizard World LA in 2005.

MOVE is great cardio music.

As it is, the dealer that I bought the MOVE discs from at WWLA05 frequents NDK every year. I think that I will be looking for some JAM Project this year at his booth.

Speaking of music and NDK.

I have a good friend who runs karaoke at NDK. Between him, his brother and I, we are planning on channeling Jackie Moon this year. HA!!! THAT should be fun....

DECULTURE!!!

I am Black Lagoon(y)...

Well, with this being Thanksgiving and all, you tend to pause to think about the things that you are most thankful for. With this being a blog about my otakudom, I would like to pause to think about the things that I am thankful for as far as my otaku tendencies are concerned.

Hmmm...Lemme think...I know, I'm very thankful for the anime/manga Black Lagoon.

A long time ago (2006, actually) when we used to have two legitimate anime shops in our town, I came upon an ad while perusing some Japanese magazines. The ad that I saw had a hottie totting two guns while wearing some hotpants. Being a fanservice fanatic, I needed to find out more about this show. After doing some minor investigation, I found that the show was called “Black Lagoon”. I was inspired so I asked my fellow OtaKrew member, Cyphr, to find some fansubs of this series for me. After finding the show, Cyphr decided that it was something that the whole Krew needed to see. Needless to say, the show became a Monday Night Forum hit.

Basically, the show is about a salaryman named Okajima Rokuro who was kidnapped by some mercenaries while trying to deliver a disc for his company somewhere in the southeast Asian seas. He becomes a liability for his company so he is (for the most part) considered dead. Long story short, Rokuro is dubbed "Rock" by his captors whom he ends up saving then joining. The team consists of Dutch the Boss, Benny the Mechanic, Rock and Revy the Two Hand. (It was Revy who drew my attention in the aforementioned ad)

In the story, Rock and the crew deal with all sorts of crazy things including gun-toting maids, neo-nazis, Asian gangsters and other mercenaries.

Thankfully, we got a domestic release of the anime from the good folks at Geneon. The problem is that Geneon went through some...restructuring...over the past year. Thankfully, Funimation picked up the series and is currently releasing it in Geneon's place. Coolness...

Recently, Viz has begun releasing the Black Lagoon manga which is a total blast (just like the anime). While doing some research at Anime News Network (ANN), I found that the manga lasted 7 volumes and began in 2002. Currently, we are on volume 002 which I have just picked up. If any of you are into adventure stories with lots of gunfire, car chases, things blowing up, people being punched and a little fanservice (Revy IS fanservice), then you will LOVE both incarnations of this series.

Now, knowing me, you know that I LOVE toys...One toy that I am coveting right now is the Revoltech version of Revy.

Finding this toy is like finding gold as I haven't seen it in any of the stores that I frequent regularly. Sure, I have seen them on ebay for pretty reasonable prices but I like to check out my local stores first. One of the Krew, Card, found one early on and snatched it up with the quickness. Whenever I go over to his house, I salivate over his Revy-ness and am tempted to..borrow her.

As for real-life toys, here are a few pics of one of the best cosplayed Revys that I have seen...

Another thing that I look for are doujinshi...The Black Lagoon spoof "Pink Lagoon" from the Motchie Empire circle is something that I am currently looking for. When it comes to doujinshi being posted here, I will only post covers that don't have any nudity in them.

...I'm also thankful for vampire anime...

So, I decided to pull out some older anime the other day. As I am a big time fan of anything vampire-ish, I decided to break out NightWalker. This anime is quite the treat as it is very similar to one of my favorite TV shows, Forever Knight.

The story is about a vampire named Shido who, as a private detective, works with a female police officer named Matsunaga Yayoi. There is also the orphaned teen-ager, Yamazaki Riho, who works in his office and his imp, Guni. Together, they solve paranormal mysteries while keeping the streets safe at night. Initially, NightWalker was intended to be just a 4-part OVA but it got taken to TV for an additional 8 episodes. Right around episode 6 is where the store got darker but it led to a very satisfying end.

If you like supernatural stories with vampires and other monsters, I HIGHLY recommend "NightWalker" as a show to watch.

I'm also thankful for cosplayers.

taken at NDK2008 while kickin' it at the bar...

When I go to cons, I'm very excited about hitting the dealer's room, sitting in on panels, watching Anime Music Videos (AMV) and people watching. When people watching, what I am really looking for are what costumes people are wearing as I LOVE cosplay.

Since my birthday is right around Halloween, I would have costume parties for my birthday so I grew to love Halloween the most out of all of the holidays. So, it stands to reason that I would love cosplaying is well. I am an Ota-razzi as I take my camera with me to all cons so that I can get lots and lots of pictures of all of the cosplayers. I also look for Cosplay idols on the internet via cosplay.com or American Cosplay Paradise. Through these two websites, I have come upon several cosplayers who I look forward to seeing what they do next...

This is one of my favorite cosplayed Cutie Honeys ever. This is the cosplay idol TristenCitrine and this pic is from a 2008 photo shoot. I'm not sure if she has broken this outfit out at any cons yet but, as it is, this particular picture is currently the wallpaper on my cellphone.

More cosplayed Cutie Honey-ness from one of my myspace friends...pamelaNeko

This Hyper Cutie Honey was shown at Anime Expo 2008. Along with the Honey from TristenCitrine, this particular outfit is one of the best Honey's that I have ever seen.

As a fan of the X-Men, I was very impressed by this Dazzler from Dragon Con 2008. In my opinion, the classic, disco-balled Dazzler is the best version of all.

To finish off my Thanksgiving theme, I'm thankful for having pamelaNeko as a myspace friend and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

DECULTURE!!!