Tsundere Russian Cookies

A friend of mine recently came back from his trip to Japan. For souvenir he gave me and other friends some "Tsundere Russian Cookies".


The box looks like typical anime theme confectionary, but that is not the main point for me; what makes the cookies interesting is that they are spicy. Well, at least 10 out of 12 of them are spicy. I was unfortunate to fall for the majority, and the cookie was surprisingly spicy. Or rather it was difficult for me to imagine a cookie to be spicy in the first place!


The cookies are sold for 420 Yen per box in districts associated with anime, manga, game merchandise such as Akihabara in Tokyo. My friend got it in Nipponbashi in Osaka, which is comparable to Akihabara.


Cookie package with little skulls and numbers on them.


The side of the box also comes with a yonkoma comic strip

I probably won't look forward to eating another spicy cookie, but it sure is an interesting experience with friends ^^;

Image from Akibamap and Akiba blog
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いい肉の日

After yesterday's いいニーハイの日, we have another special day in Japan. What is it? It's the いい肉の日 (nice meat day).

The name, just like the nice knee-high day the day before, is a play on pronunciation. The phrase "nice meat", which is pronounced as "ii niku", is similar to pronunciation for "1129", hence 29th November is the "Nice Meat Day". Japanese twitter users post a lot of pictures to go with this day.


Beef specialist restaurant Niku no Mansei teases with numerous pictures of beef (source)


Hamburger beef and steak from Niku no Mansei (source)


KFC Japan's twitter account is also showing off with their chicken meat (source)


Heart shape raw meat (source)


Even office accessories supplier King Jim joins the fray (source)



Source unknown, but these are posted on one of game news site.


And finally another kind of "meat" - Sena from Boku ha Tomotachi ga Sukunai
Image from pixiv

Looking and posting these images makes me really want to crave for meat. Ack, meat day or not, I want some now! -q-
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いいニーハイの日

According to the Japanese twitter community, the day 28th November is a special day. By pronouncing the date "1128" in numbers, the result will sound similar to いいニーハイ (iini-hai), which means nice knee-high (socks). Hence 28th November is known as いいニーハイの日 (nice knee-high socks day), and it is this day many people post pictures of "knee-highs" to go with the day.


Two pairs of thighs together (source)


(source)


Tohsaka Rin cosplay from Fate/stay Night (source)


Cat socks! (source)


There are also pictures of dolls with knee-high socks. Here is a custom Hastune Miku doll (source)


(source)


Knee-high socks suit well for ball-jointed dolls as the socks can cover the knee joints as well (source)


(source)


Oh and one more:

Knee-high kick! Well, a different kind of knee-high, I suppose... (source)
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Doraemon 3D CG Movie Announced

A new Doraemon movie will be produced in 3D CG for the first time in Summer 2014. Called "STAND BY ME", the movie will most likely base on the early stories of the original manga collection.


Doraemon is a story of the eponymous blue robotic cat who travelled back in time to the 20th century in order to look after his owner's great-grandfather, Nobita, so that his descendants may prosper a better life in the future under Doraemon's guidance.

The many short stories in the manga see Nobita and his daily life, be it his poor grades at school, or being bullied by friends Gian or Suneo, as well as his encounter with his love interest Shizuka. In many situations Doraemon will lend out his gadgets to help Nobita, which are often abused by Nobita or stolen by his friends. By the end of the story, the characters who do wrong are usually punished.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVuXGgOGR7Q

Together with the annual 2D feature length movies, it's interesting to hear that a new Doraemon movie is in the making. Though I must say I am not very used to the new looks of Doraemon and his friends in this upcoming movie, having getting used to the 2D form for many years; even the "3D" versions have remained fairly faithful to the original appearances in the past. Nevertheless, this may be something worth looking forward to for those who reads them in the childhood? If not then there is always the 2D ones to look forward to. ^^


Website:
http://doraemon-3d.com/
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New Gunpla Kits Revealed in Gunpla Expo 2013

Gunpla Expo happened on Saturday, and there are new kits announced especially in anticipation for the ongoing Gundam Build Fighters anime series, as well as the final episode of Gundam UC that is to be aired next year.


MG 1/100 Unicorn Gundam Unit 3 Phenex


MG 1/100 Gundam X


MG 1/100 Sazabi ver Ka.


MG 1/100 Turn X


HG 1/144 Star Build Strike Gundam


HG 1/144 GM Sniper K9


HG 1/144 Kampfer Amazing


HG 1/144 Qubeley Papillon


HG 1/144 Universe Booster Plavsky Power Gate


HGUC 1/144 V2 Gundam


HG 1/144 Turn A Gundam


HGUC 1/144 Gundam F91


HGUC 1/144 Gundam F91 Harrison Madin colour


HGAC 1/144 Wing Zero Gundam


HGUC 1/144 Full Armour Unicorn Gundam Destroy Mode


HGUC 1/144 Unicorn Gundam Unit 2 Banshee Norn Destroy Mode


HGUC 1/144 Silver Bullet


HGUC 1/144 Silver Bullet Fin Funnel Test Type


HGUC 1/144 Kshatriya Repaired

A lot of new kits out there, and I have quite a few in my wish list~ Wing Zero, Banshee Norn Destroy Mode, and perhaps Silver Bullet as well!

Sources:
MasterFileBlog
http://masterfileblog.jp/news/2013/11/22/4575.html
http://masterfileblog.jp/news/2013/11/22/4573.html
http://masterfileblog.jp/news/2013/11/24/4589.html
http://masterfileblog.jp/news/2013/11/23/4586.html
http://masterfileblog.jp/news/2013/11/23/4584.html
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Madoka Film Strip Sold Over 4 Million Yen?

Remember a Puella Magi Madoka Magica film strip that was sold for over 1 million Yen last year? Well, there appears to be a new record that broke it by a factor of 4.

This film strip features the film's title name "Hangyaku no Monogatari" (literally "story of rebellion". Unlike the first two movies, which are a retelling of the TV series, the third movie of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica movie trilogy features a new story that stems from the TV series' ending.

The auction lasted for 3 days from 11th to 14th November, with a total of 664 bids and ended with the price of 4,103,000 Yen. The film strip was a present for those who watched the movie in cinema. Each strip feature a few frames of the movie. Those with memorable or significant scenes will be in higher demand and/or have high collection values, hence potentially higher prices in online auctions.



There is an uncertainty in the auction's authenticity though, as I did put a question mark at my blog post's title. Most of the bidders are newly registered members, and there was another auction with similar film strip that ended at 18,500 Yen.

Maybe it was just a stunt? That would be a bit disappointing if it were to be the case.

Original auction page:
http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e144682801
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Hong Kong Taxi Rice

Hong Kong cuisine restaurants in Japan have a dish called Taxi Rice (タクシー飯). Sounds and looks genuine in a way, but it's never known in Hong Kong. What is this exactly?


According to online descriptions, the so-called Taxi Rice is named after Hong Kong's taxi drivers, who want a quick fried rice dish to be prepared and be eaten quickly so they can get back on with their work.


It seems to be fried rice with nian gao, shrimp, vegetables all mixed together with heavy use of thick sauce.

Just like Yang Chow fried rice does not originate in Yangzhou, or that Singapore-style noodles (星洲炒米) does not come from Singapore, together with a few other dishes whose name do not match their actual place of origin.


The dish does seem to be faitly popular in Japan, and it makes appearance in several chain restaurants. Prices are tagged between 700 to 900 Yen. It may be interesting to try it and see how foreigners think of Hong Kong dishes as a Hongkonger myself. :P

Sources and links:
http://www.cuhkacs.org/~benng/Bo-Blog/read.php?1424
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/korotahk/64055679.html
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/syoryuweb/e/c67e1ef73c2908294ae078f8e79131b0
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