animerevue

Pay no attention to the rivet that happens to be where our mascot's nipple would be, that was not intentional.

Driving to LA

Convention Center

Setting up the booth

As usual, we have some interesting products. Did you know these Trading Torsos are squeezable?

I love this figure. It's 1/4 scale!!

This is Char Aznable, but I believe he's really cosplaying Tanaka from Otaku no Video, cosplaying as Char, making it quite a deep joke.

Miku Hatsune didn't have a leek so we gave her one.

A satisfied customer of our high school uniform line.

There were about a Brazillion of Asuka's there. This one was hawt.

She put the shirt on and then grabbed her boyfriend's butt, just like on the shirt. It was pretty cool to see.

These anime fans were so tired.

Um, yeah. Buy the used panties of anime characters. It was a really deep joke, but a little off-color.

Living outside of the U.S. makes stuff like this seem *so* stupid. I had to laugh at actually seeing one of these signs.

Our bishoujo game panel was full. I was happy.

LA being LA, there is a lot of Korean stuff. I found some great "fast food" Korean BBQ.

The hotel was quite good. It was, among other things, the Buck Rogers hotel showing futuristic New Chicago.

This is Shokotan, the star of the convention this year. She came by our booth and bought a bunch of kanji T-shirts, since she just loves Americans' take on anime. It was cool talking with her, since she didn't expect to find anyone who could speak Japanese selling stuff.

Closing out the con. I like to show this stuff since most people never get to see it.

There are always little piles of trash after these things. It's kind of lonely to see.

That's all for this year, Anime Expo. As the Japanese might say, see you next!

(Hope this works. If you see my Anime Expo pics in a handy Flash slide show, then it did.)

Zebra Clip-on Slim ~ Built-in 4 colors Ink Pen Super Slim Type

Japanese pens are the best in the world, made of extremely high quality, with well made, extremely fine parts. This pen produced by Zebra is a super fine ballpoint (just 0.5 mm), that's extremely easy to use. It features a rubber grip that's easy on your fingers as well as a clothesline-like clip so you can clip it to anything. This super slim type pen by Zebra features for different colors making it easier to draw attention to important points when you write your notes. Blue, red, green and...

You've been in Japan too long when you pay over $70 for a Captain Santa T-shirt and realize a few days later how much you really spent. It's true: Japan can be an incredibly expensive place when it wants to be. Virtually everything, from construction materials to gasoline (currently up to the equivalent of $6 a gallon now, although the average Japanese doesn't drive 75 miles round trip to run some errands, which you can find yourself doing in California), is pricier than in other parts of the world, and food costs consume a quarter of the average household budget. One problem is that the ways goods are sold in Japan is still too structured, with products coming into the hands of consumers through established routes and multiple levels of distribution, for example the multi-tiered book distribution system that J-List has to deal with when ordering artbooks or manga. But there's something about living in Japan that compels a person to want to own things he wouldn't otherwise bother with, like the above-mentioned T-shirt I bought in 1992 featuring Captain Santa, a line of high-end clothing featuring images of Santa at the beach. It was the best T-shirt I've ever owned in my life, but at $70, I probably should have had my head examined. From toilet seats that wash your butt to the 20+ varieties of massage chairs they sell here, there sure are a lot of ways to spend your money in Japan.

If you ever want to appreciate your local Denny's, I advise you to go live in Japan for a few years. It's not that Denny's Japan is all that bad -- it's actually one of my top picks for late-night famires (family restaurant) coffee and dining -- but something about it just doesn't satisfy the American in me like the ones in the U.S. Denny's Japan is owned by the company that also owns Seven-Eleven, the top chain of convenience stores in Japan, and for some reason the company thought it would be a great idea to remind everyone of this fact by sticking big Seven-Eleven signs on all Denny's, showing the parent company's new name, 7&i Holdings. After all, nothing makes you hunger for good restaurant dining like a convenience store logo, and nothing builds customer loyalty like branding yourself as a holding company. During Anime Expo, I was quite happy to be able to enjoy breakfast in the nearby Denny's, since I associate a Grand Slam Breakfast with the restaurant chain far more than the menu items they offer in Japan, which include lots of traditional Japanese foods like fried pork cutlet and miso soup.

Sometimes I think that no one is happier with the changes that have been brought on by the arrival of the Internet than me. When I went to Japan back in 1991, I had no inkling of the transformation that was about to sweep over the world, making it a lot less of a hardship to be a gaijin living in a far-off place like rural Japan. Back then it was still the era when people paid something called "long distance" to "call" people who lived far away, which incurred extra fees, and I remember spending $4 or so per minute to call my family when I'd get homesick. It didn't take long before something called the Internet soon put that odd custom in its place, and before I knew it I was able to order the things I needed from companies like Amazon, and of course, offer similar services to people not lucky enough to live in Japan through J-List. One of the best things about the way the Internet has grown is the ability for me to work just about anywhere, doing things like writing this update as easily from the U.S. or Europe as from Japan. A long as there's a nice, fast Internet connection, that is. I have a friend from Italy who likes being in Japan because he can access his server that's 20 km from his Italian office more quickly than home in Italy, where his local connection is much slower. What will the future hold for the Internet? I'm optimistic that we'll all have wireless T1 Internet nodes embedded in our skulls within a few years, and then things should start to get really interesting.

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

Zebra Clip-on Slim ~ Built-in 4 colors Ink Pen Super Slim Type

Japanese pens are the best in the world, made of extremely high quality, with well made, extremely fine parts. This pen produced by Zebra is a super fine ballpoint (just 0.5 mm), that's extremely easy to use. It features a rubber grip that's easy on your fingers as well as a clothesline-like clip so you can clip it to anything. This super slim type pen by Zebra features for different colors making it easier to draw attention to important points when you write your notes. Blue, red, green and...

Yoko 3D Oppai Mouse Pad ~ Gurren Lagann *Preorder*

Here's a mousepad that will keep your wrist ergonomically supported and get your blood pumping nicely too -- made by Toy's Planning ("TOYPLA"), this 3D Oppai (breast) Mouse Pad is an item for those looking for something wacky to support their wrists while pointing and clicking away. This version features the ultra popular Yoko from the popular anime Gurren Lagann. This is an exciting computer accessory for those who like to...'keep it real'. This is a preorder item that's expected to release...