December 6, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Nana's debut, a photobook depicting the whole 10 years of Nana's career is going to hit the shelves. The title is Nana Suta (Nana Star). It will feature a lot of original content, many photos, interviews, live reports, data and charts, and so on. This everything for 737 yen, tax excluded.
Interested folks can reserve their copy on CDJapan
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st came to stores on November 25. The above picture is from Gamers in Akihabara, taken on November 26. Customers carried out a blitzkrieg on the BDs and the below picture shows what was left the following day. Pretty much nothing.
Source: Akiba Kakaku
Yui-chan official illustration
November 27 is a special day. It's Yui-chan's birthday! Otanjoubi omedeto~, Yui-chan. Since it fell on Saturday, I've decided to devote today's DFC gallery completely to Yui-chan. Enjoy!
Yui-chan by hamao
Yui-chan by Ikari Manatsu
Yui-chan by norizou type-r
Yui-chan by x-boy
Yui-chan by Mizuki Makoto
Yui-chan by Hayashiya Zangourou
Yui-chan by masamuuu
Yui-chan by Uzura Yuuno
Yui-chan by matsu
Asakawa Yuu is certainly one of the seiyuu that are better at English than others and are able to communicate in it. Second, she is a seiyuu with a long career and is quite well known even to non-Japanese otaku population. Those are probably the two main reasons she has become the host (personality) on a new English show Otaku-Verse Zero which will be introducing the Japanese subculture to otaku all over the world. You can watch episode 00 now. Next episode is coming on 29 November.
Mizuki Nana's appearance at Kouhaku Uta Gassen has been confirmed. Congratulations, Nana-chan. Unfortunately, my impossible wish didn't come true, as expected. Only upon seeing the list did I finally give up the tiny bit of hope that Houkago Tea Time would make Kouhaku appearance since they, after all, meet the necessary requirements. Nevermind. No, I do mind it. So, maybe Sphere next year? ^_^' btw. I've translated the list so that all of you can read the names.
A new preview for the special episode of Angel Beats! has been streamed on the official site of the anime. The episode's title is "Stairway to Heaven" and it will be bundled together with the 7th BD/DVD, which is to released on December 22. The preview promises a great deal of fun.
The waiting scene from Kanon
Most of you surely know about the trend of visiting real life sites that have been used as models for scenes in anime, manga and games. This kind of trip is usually called "anime pilgrimage" in English, and 聖地巡礼(seichi junrei = holy ground pilgrimage) in Japanese, and the locations may really resemble regular, religious pilgrimage sites in some cases where the number of visitors is massive and they inundate the location every weekend. That applies in particular for Washimiya Shrine, the model for Hiiragi's shrine in Lucky Star, and the former Toyosato Elementary School, the model for Sakuragaoka High School where the members of the band After School Tea Time leisurely spend their time drinking tea and eating snacks in their K-ONbu. In these 2 cases, the otaku pilgrimages have triggered tourism activity in areas of no other particular interest, thus bringing more money to the local economies that benefit from the influx of visitors. However, that's not the point of this post. The objective of this post is to introduce you to sites where you can get information about the real life locations. If you say it's pointless because you don't understand Japanese, don't feel down. There are also maps with many locations portrayed in anime marked therein, and you don't have to understand Japanese to be able to follow a map.
Keiichi's house from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
First, there is a site called Butai Tanbou (Scene Hunting) which lists links to various blogs with anime pilgrimage posts. The links are indexed by origin (anime, manga, game), but those are not in any particular order. You'll have to search by Japanese title, which you can find for example on AniDB, in case of anime, or at VNDB, in case of visual novels. There are over 500 titles - a stunning number - many of which you'll have no awareness of. When you click on a title, you'll see an archive of bloglinks. Most of them will be reports from visiting a certain place(s) adopted into anime/game, but some also include maps, which would be definitely helpful if you wanted to visit the site.
The bridge from Fate/stay night
Second, another site that archives otaku pilgrimages: CR Biwa-ko Shisha pilgrimage archive, CR Biwa-ko Shisha top page. The posts in this one are more random and I haven't come across any maps. However, it may be worth checking out this site should you want to have a look at some photos of the real life locations from famous titles such as Kanon, Air, Haruhi, Clannad, Onegai Teacher, True Tears, K-ON, Kamichu, etc.
Another site is called SOS-dan Puyoraa and it hosts comparative shots for famous titles, including Kanon, Clannad, Higurashi, Umineko, and so on.
Rooringu Mawashi Geri is another blog where you can find comparative photos, but it's harder to search for something there. You will have to search by the Japanese title using the search bar.
School premises from Angel Beats!
Next one is a site called SVTC run by two people. In the gallery, you can find precisely taken photos from the real life locations in comparison with corresponding anime screenshots. The best thing, however, is that they have made a map on Google Maps, marking the spots in it. Here it is: The best map.
There are more maps, some of them include spots that are not indicated in others and vice versa. I'll post links to them too, so that you can check them all out.
Pilgrimage Map on Yahoo
Another map
Yet another Yahoo Pilgrimage Map
Finally, you can visit an English blog run by an American Navy man stationed in Japan. He has visited many pilgrimage sites, related to titles such as Clannad, Higurashi, K-ON, Fate/stay night and so on. In each of his posts, the directions to the site are explained.
The mansion from visual novel Umineko no Naku Koro ni
If you decide to set out on a pilgrimage, you have to expect that you will get stared on as the locations are not the usual tourist spots so it looks strange if a foreigner takes pictures of trees, shabby shops, walls, apartments, let alone schools. Warning, schools are probably the most risky spots. Stepping on school grounds is regarded as trespassing and you might find yourself in quite a predicament, drawing the attention of policemen. And it isn't limited only to schools. If you act too suspicious (doing something that makes you stand out a lot), you might draw their attention anywhere.
It's useful to bring reference material with you so that you can get the right angle. Even if you think that you remember the angle, the actual place will have a different feeling to it when you stand there and you might not be that sure of it any more. For example, if you wanted to take a photo of a shop or a building by a city street, there would be people walking by and cars passing by, which would make the place look a bit different.
The planetarium building from visual novel Planetarian.
However, even if you don't have the guts to go around taking photos at places where it would make you stand out, there are pilgrimages that will lead you to regular tourist spots. For instance, Higurashi's model village Shirakawa-gou, the monkey park that the Light Music Club went to in K-ON!!, Central City Park in Nara where Shino fed the good-licking deers, Kyuu Furukawa Teien in Tokyo which stood as the model for the mansion in Umineko, and many more places. People who have gone on a pilgrimage say it was a wonderful experience, which made them feel as though they were in the same world as the anime/game characters and it made them love the anime/game even more.
I believe you might find the above information useful if you wanted to set out on a pilgrimage one day. But even if you're not interested to set out on one, you may still enjoy the photos you can find in those countless holy ground hunting reports.
Scene from To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
Ika Musume by jiji
DFC Saturday had a break last week so I hope to compensate for it now with a nice selection of flatty pictures. This installment is rich on Ika Musume in particular, so if you are fond of this little, impish squid girl, I believe this gallery will be to your liking.
Remilia Scarlet by mino106
Ika Musume by maita
picture by nefarian
Yaegashi Kanae by matsuryuu
Ika Musume by masakichi
Misaka Mikoto by 24a
Aisaka Taiga by haya-g
Kisaragi Haya by rei
Ika Musume by kanchou
A few days ago, it was reported that somebody had broken into Former Toyosato Elementary School - the school filled with K-ON related goods - and stolen 22 figures, 2 guitars (Giita and Muttan), 1 bass guitar (Elizabeth) and a safe containing about 290,000 yen. Everything was donations from the fans. On November 19, the investigators in charge found the stolen goods in a roadside gutter close to the school building. However, it isn't stated whether the guitars and figures had suffered any damage or not. Even the safe was found, but the insides had been emptied.
Source: Kyou mo Yarareyaku
Fans of currently airing anime Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai will be able to express their passion for this series to others by using a Kami Nomi laptop. It will be sold for 69,800 yen and pre-orders are currently being accepted at PC Koubou. It seems to be possible to have the intestines customized to one's liking.
Should you prefer a different anime to be used to itarize your notebook, you can buy an Ookami-san one for the exactly same price.
I've tried making my own Gaijin 4koma. I hope you like it.
In case you don't know what Gaijin 4koma is, I'll refer you to this page on Know Your Meme where it's well explained.
A CM for Mina-chan's second single "Startline" has been aired on Japanese TV. The single will be released on November 24, as the last one in the series of four solo single releases of Sphere members. The song "Startline" will be used as a theme song in November 27 release OVA anime Koi Sento.
Akamatsu Ken, author of titles such as Love Hina and Mahou Sensei Negima, is starting a free manga download site. The available manga will comprise out-of-print titles and Akamatsu's Love Hina will be the testing one. The start is scheduled to November 26, when all 14 volumes will become accessible to readers. Other titles should follow and Akamatsu himself says that he expects other mangaka to make use of this service. Readers won't pay any fees, yet mangaka will receive money from ad views and ad clicks.
Released manga will probably be accessible through a simple web reader and also in the PDF format. Furthermore, you are allowed to make copies and freely distribute them to friends.
This move was made because manga industry is experiencing a serious drop in sales, but publishers are not willing to adopt any new strategies. Publishers rob mangaka, giving them meager remuneration, so mangaka increasingly voice their opinion that in the Internet age, they should be the ones seeking new opportunities.
Source: Sankaku Complex
A new PV for upcoming winter anime centering around two students who wish to be of the opposite gender, Hourou Musuko, has been streamed on the official site of the anime.
The story of Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) centers around a feminine 5th-grade boy named Nitori Shuuichi. On the first day at his new school, he is mistaken for his 6th-grade sister. He happens to sit next to Takatsuki Yoshino, a girl who wishes she was a boy. Both of them have secrets they cannot tell anyone.
-- from AniDB.net
Source: SaiAni.net
You might have noticed, possibly you know, that on November 11, K-ON's youngest Light Music Club member Azunyan celebrated her birthday, or rather her birthday were celebrated by countless anime fans. On this occasion, lots of fans gathered at the former Toyosato Elementary School (model of the school in K-ON) and held a birthday party there on November 13 (Saturday). One soul attending the party recorded the whole thing with their camera, so even we can see what it looked like there. Photos talk thousand words so I'll fall into silence for now.
Not only K-ON itasha made appearance. Among others were Fate/stay night, Lucky Star, Nanoha, etc.
Even an itasha with Ayacchi, Azunyan's seiyuu!
They say there were over 300 people there.
I guess they joined Yui's birthday party to it so that they don't have to repeat this in 2 weeks again.
You can find many more photos here.
Sankaku Complex
DannyChoo.com
Figure.fm
