Tradeoff

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars, telephone card)

I can either play Geometry Wars 2 or I can go out and get this month's Gamers point card. I chose to stay inside. Luckily I made progress with Deadline:

(extracted 2009-03-21T05:34Z)

Improved: Deadline 32,205,140 @ Rank 717
Improved: Waves 10,800,885 @ Rank 935

Live version again:

Actually I surpassed my high score of 25.7 million about two times in the three hour gaming session. Surprising. The improved score on Waves was from a session back in February or January, but I forgot where I put the score picture so I didn't report it.

I came to my senses and set out for Gamers at 1920. Unfortunately, since the Point card release day was a weekend (a holiday weekend at that), it sold out even on the same day. Drat.

I returned home and promptly bought it (Buy-It-Now) through an auction. Why am I even collecting these points if I don't use it?

Oh no

(tags pre-order, telephone card, Card Captor Sakura)

Oh no.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Mine mine all mine

(tags telephone card, collecting)

"People seem to enjoy things more when they know a lot of other people have been left out of the pleasure." - Russell Baker (quotation)

This describes my feeling about collecting telephone cards with "nice" pictures on them. Heck it describes my whole video game collection, and other collectables. :-)

Dream Party 2008-11: Osaka, a mere shadow of Tokyo

(tags gal game, over 18, Osaka, Tokyo, failure, Dream Party, telephone card, goods)

Before arriving to Dream Party 2008-11 "Akiba-kei" adult gal game and cosplay convention at Intex-Osaka, I was already disappointed. I bought the 1000 yen ticket without consulting the attending list. I assumed that the same booths at the Tokyo show would be here as well, but I thought wrong. Particularly, I was hoping for a reprise of "Doki Doki! Tama-tan". I already have the pink Tama-tan figure and the CDs (which were not very good actually), but they had some exclusive telephone cards back in 2008-10, and I missed it. I also missed the auction snipering but then again I have limits (and others don't... boo).

So, I really didn't feel like going on this rainy day. But what the hey, I need to check the game shops in Osaka anyway for Mirror's Edge, so why not.

The pre-paid ticket was available at Sofmaps across the land. They are one of the sponsors for the event. Intex Osaka is where they had that Wii introduction event back in 2006 and of course, I previously went to a Dream Party in 2004 or 2005. It's probably about 30 minutes from Nipponbashi through convenient trains. At the door they were checking ID for age verification, and I successfully got this limited-ages pamphlet which I have to show to enter the event. Because the event is mainly over-18 content with 30 or more booths, while the all ages content is a slim 3 booths. Ha.

So, knowing that the only reason to be at this convention was gone, I just stumbled around looking at the sights. Actually, it was a perfect opportunity to grab some other telephone card designs. That is, if I could beat out the other wanton otaks. They are pretty strong, actually.

I scoped out some the Little Busters goods. There was a special Kuda-tan mini pencil card set for 2000 yen at ToyPla. I've seen all the illustrations over and over again in telephone cards and other goods, but still I wanted it. Unfortunately ToyPla ran out at only 12:30. The guy at the counter told me in plain english "Sold Out", even though I waited in the unruly line and the sign wasn't updated to reflect it. I wasn't pissed though. Some other good stuff to get.

Age, makers of my favorite gal game Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (君が望む永遠), had a bunch of concert DVDs and radio CDs for sale. It would have been my chance to get some "Tomoko Ishibashi"/ Chiaki Takahashi stuff, but I haven't finished the related radio CDs so I passed. I can probably get them next time at the Spring 2009 Dream Party or even Comic Market if I go.

And actually, I was reading famed "rubber stamp" (and recent rice bag and strawberry) illustrator Aoi Nishimata's blog and she said she would attend Dream Party in Osaka. I didn't get to see her, but there was a lot of her stuff there. Booths and even ita-shas (cars with moe stickers). Nice. Lines were long and everything pretty much sold out, proving that people still like her illustrations.

So here I am with some telephone cards. From the top left, it's Chuable Soft's Sugar + Spice which went from gal game to the all-consumer PlayStation 2 version in 2008-09. I like the illustrator Gintaro (ぎん太) because of the simple design and the nice eyes.

On the right is "Marie Ludel" telephone card and pencil card from Paletto's Sakura Strasse (さくらシュトラッセ), which was an over-18 game released in 2008-01. This particular illustration was probably released earlier, for the accompanying radio show. Again the appeal for me is the illustrator Kusu Kusu's style (くすくす).

Finally, the bottom is a Halloween-themed telephone card and daishi from Windmill's upcoming gal game, La Campanella Della Benedizione (祝福のカンパネラ). I don't intend to buy this game, but I already have some telephone cards from previous magazine illustrations (which I didn't bother to post, oops). I even have some of the character CDs, which are pretty fun to listen to. Windmill was also responsible for (the now 3 year old!) gal-game turned anime Happiness.

Ah well, I wrote down most of the things I want to remember about today. I am disappointed with the no-show Tama-tan, but I can only blame myself for not doing the homework.

Kudo-tan Get: Little Busters! Ecstasy Sofmap point poster and telephone card

(tags telephone card, stick poster, figure, Little Busters, Kudo-tan, Miku Hatsune, zettai ryouiki, loli)

Sofmap recently implemented a Pre-Order Ticket award system, where if you pre-order 1 video, game, or hobby (figure, toy model) related item, you get a "Ichi Map" (1 "map") ticket. (新品TVゲーム、PCゲーム、DVDソフト、ホビーの予約購入チケット、「壱マップ」). You can normally redeem them for a discount, but I don't think anybody would be foolish enough to do that. If you have 10 "Ichi Map" tickets, you can redeem it for a exclusive telephone card. Sometimes there's a diamond in the rough. Yes, look what I did here:

Posable Figma Miku Hatsune figure says "Wow!" to the Kudo-tan

Alright, I've never played the gal-ge visual novel game Little Busters! (リテルバスタース！) by VisualArt's / Key, but it sure does have a lot of commercial backing and support. You can't swing a dead neko-mimi in a character goods shop without hitting one of the many games, magazines and figures that pimp this work. Without checking the Wikipedia, I bet you this game will have a mainstream game release, followed by animes, movies, and stuff. I've already seen the hug-pillows and the itashas.

This telephone card is an illustration of Noumi Kudayavka (能美 クドリャフカ). I though she had an affectionate nickname call "Kudo-tan", because it was mentioned at Senaka Ota-Road blog, but I was told I was wrong to use that name. Anyways I like this character and this particular illustration because of the zettai ryouiki, and also the cute hat with the big button. It reminds me of the button on Saga (in the background). Furthermore, I like to collect telephone cards that have "Sofmap" written in them. I don't intend to actually play this game, though.

To tell the truth, I bought the card and an accompanying stick poster (shown above) from Sofmap Saurus 1 Treasure Box floor (委託販売階) for 8000 yen. This is actually a steal, in comparison to buying 10 video games, or dueling with auction snipers (the average open auction is about 10000+ yen right now). So the story on the stick poster was that it was the tokuten for buying 3000 yen worth of goods at Sofmap, probably at the same time this telephone card was released. Both items appear to be already out of stock, and both were only released 3 days ago. Frantic hordes, I think.

The September rush of Miku Hatsune (VOCALOID 初音ミク) figures also cannot be ignored as well. I only lucked out on that figure through a buy-it-now auction. Sweet, because its sold out everywhere. The non-posable but killer Good Smile Company version was released a week ago, and it's probably fetching beaucoup (?) bucks (?). I actually pre-ordered this one, but mine will be coming in the October shipment. Uki uki!

Dual Wield Dual Screen Duel: Pokemon Pikachu DS and games

(tags hardware, game, Dual Screen, Pikachu, Princess Maker, Ketsui, Chrono Trigger, telephone card, television)

The other reason I was in shop today was to pick a screen protector film for my Pokemon Pikachu DS. Yes I haven't opened it until now and I've really been meaning to do it. The film made by Suncrest and called "magic film", claims to "self-heal any scratches". Sure. I only tried it out because it's about the same price as the other films. Anyway, slap that puppy on. I'm pretty happy with how I positioned the film. Usually I'm pretty sloppy. Unfortunately air bubbles and dust never seem to leave me alone.

So I recommissioned the DS (lite) I have been using, my pink Love and Berry DS, as my permanent One-Seg TV in my rack. I can't keep it on twenty-four seven: there seems to be a hot-spot that whitens the center of the screen after a day or two. Don't worry, it seems to disappear after I power off for a couple of hours.

Anyways, in a couple of days, I will have two DS games in the "training" catagory. (How else do you translate "育成"?). One is Princess Maker 4, of course I cannot pass up the ero-kawaii Naoto Tenhiro telephone cards. The other is the Kumatan-chi (くまたんち). I only liked it for the 2D static graphics, then I saw a gameplay/official trailer video and I was completely (re-) sold. The animation is so fluid and so cute. Plus the telephone cards FTW.

And Japanese shopkeepers never remind you to preorder. That's just too pushy. Instead, they have a wall where you can anonymously gawk and slack. I took a ganderand there was Ketsui DS coming around on 2008-10-23. Shmup action on the DS, bring it! Also Chrono Trigger DS as dated as 2008-11-27. I am not missing this one either, in both senses of the word. (Still need to dig out Chrono Cross, ugh) Neither of them have telephone card type omake, but they come with soundtrack CDs, I think. Perhaps Ketsui has a "superplay" video disc?

Surely now I can restart my Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer stuff again?

Gal Game for Xbox Achievement Points, it is inevitable (Clannad)

(tags game, Xbox 360, gal-ge, Clannad, telephone card)

I often wondered why the Xbox 360 doesn't have as many gal-ge games as the Xbox 1. I mean come on, no Bistro Cupid sequel or followup for that strange metal-girl game? Hahah.

Today Clannad for the Xbox 360 came out. This is a visual novel game from famed software developer Key. The original PC game came out eons ago (whoa 2004!). There's also a PS2 and PSP version I think. I was going to buy this version because (1) it's easy Xbox Achievement Points for a read-em-up and (2) this lovely telephone card:

Flowers, kawaii.

However, my local Sofmap did not have this special telephone card for the walk-in purchase. Pre-orders got it though, and I had ample time to pre-order. Anyways, I jetted over to Gamers to check if there was a similar (but different design) telephone card offer but there was none. So I skipped buying the game today. I'm keeping an eye on the auctions right now, though. Perhaps stealing one of those auction's scans (as shown above) will diminish my TC-lust. I think its working. :-)

Here are two other exclusive designs, both from Kantou-based shops Media Land and Messe Sanoh respectively. I think only the latter allows mail ordering.

Thanks to those auctioners who aren't scrupulous enough to watermark their photos. :-)

I checked the opinions of two friends who played the game. On the PC version, one of them said it was long and I got the feeling that he wasn't very satisfied in comparison to the other Key games like Air and Kanon. The other played it on the console, but I forget which one, and he was also not very forthcoming with his evaluation. So is it junk? It's probably long convoluted junk. I didn't bother watching the 2008 tv anime adaptation, either. Hm.

edit: added those two other telephone card designs for throughness

Frozen uma dance in melon maid gear

(tags telephone card, illustrator)

I just reviewed (took pictures of) the telephone cards I bought over the last month. Geez there's a lot, even though I thought I was cutting back. Actually today, I got a printed receipt of my bonus stipend, which will come next Wednesday. June is Japanese salary bonus time. I am rolling in dough that I haven't even baked yet.

So I was feeling a little bit more frivolous today so I bought this telephone card for 2000 yen. This is Ef: The First Tale's main heroine "Miyako", but in the trademark Melonbooks "Melon-chan" green-white maid clothing. This is the omake telephone card when one purchases the 2006 adult PC game at Melonbooks, or at least I think so. This is different from Melonbooks' usual point exchange telephone cards which are also "Melon-chan" themed but full of ero loli fan-service. FTW. But no, I don't get those.

Anyway, I haven't even watch or played Ef at all, but I have at least one other telephone card of this busty "Miyako". I think its all original illustrator Naru Nanao's fault (七尾奈留). She makes her heroines so pretty. In the background is a cover sheet flyer of D.C. Da Capo II PS (PlayStation 2)'s "Yume". For me, Nanao defined the blockbuster D.C. Da Capo, but according to Wikipedia, she did not have a hand in this sequel. I didn't know that before writing this post. Personally I think D.C. II character design looks better.

Other than that, lackluster zettai ryouiki. Pretty means pretty thin. But hey look it's an Uma Uma pose. Rawr. I feel like playing the Speedycake remix again.

Anibro Gamers (re-)opens in Nanba

(tags store, ecsite, Osaka, telephone card)

The Broccoli Gamers store in Nanba was reborn as Anibro Gamers Nanba (アニブロゲーマーズなんば店) on 2008-05-31. The first two days of the reopening was a madhouse. The line for the register snaked all around the inside of the store. I planned to get the job done on Saturday, but I was T+15 minutes arrival which meant I couldn't get this 200 set limited edition exclusive telephone card. So I checked the merchandise and debated coming in on Sunday. It only costs 1000 yen to travel to Nanba (round-trip). Aw yeah.

On Sunday, I played it safe and arrived an hour and a half before the store opened, which meant the loitering started at 0900. Actually no one lined up at that time, so I roamed the bright morning Nipponbashi. When I got back after the 15 minute stroll, there was an unorganized scattering of young 'uns, most of them with PSPs and the occasional DSer. Jumping into the informal line that blocked the Family Mart entrance, I was able to get some DJ Max Portable 2 gaming in. Through the Gamers entrance I scoped the latest concert DVD by Yui Horie (堀江由衣) which looks very good except that she doesn't move from one spot. I always think she's weak of constitution and this doesn't change my mind.

When the store opened at 10:30, I scrambled to nab the items I selected, which included another copy of the Pop Wonderland Alice figure. Unfortunately it was gone, however I picked up some CDs that I've been back-burning. I cleared the 5000 yen minimum limit to get the telephone card pictured above. Also they gave out a free omiyage box of sweets. Never trust take candy from strangers, especially Gamers. I tried one and it was waxed chocolate. Ugh. I took a picture of the wrapping and threw out the crud.

Falling for Rabi-en-rose all over again

(tags telephone card)

Recently I've been watching De Ji Kyarat Nyo (でジキャラットにょ) on DVD. I finally picked up volume 4 after giving up on ever getting the first-published version with omake trump cards. At least it was only 2100 yen, instead of list 6300 yen. Turns out one eopisode on that disc had Rabi-en-rose pure love episode (episode 27: 「ラビアン誕生の秘密」. Very super excellent.

Which reminds me about the Gamers point exchange telephone cards. This month's TC is a doozy. Rabi-en-rose midriff FTW. Haha. Blue eyes suits her well, but the original purple is much better. Last month's was cutesy Puchiko. Green eyes, WTF. WTF is up with the new eye colors. Okay, I already complained about that.

It seems that Gamers now has a proper picture page for all released point exchange TC. I don't have them all, but I do have all most of the De Ji Charat ones. Yes No! Arrh.

Books Lashinbang Kobe Sannomiya opens

(tags failure, telephone card, ecsite, doujin, Kobe, anime, manga, character goods, 200803, Shining Wind, Estrian Odyessy, CD)

On Saturday I woke up early but played the FFTA. Then I remembered Books Lashinbang Kobe was opening today. I need to put these things on my calendar. And I need to review my calendar every day. :-/

Anyways I got there 5 minutes before, and the line was somewhat okay, probably about 100 people in front of me. I was able to get in around 10:30 AM. I headed straight for the telephone card (TC) cases which were in the back. It goes without saying that it was packed. I couldn't see over the other people lining up there. I didn't see anything I really wanted, and I started to peruse the rest of the store, bouncing off fellow otaku. Still I didn't want to exit just yet so I headed back to the TC cases again. I then decided to get the two TCs pictured here.

The bottom right TC is that PlayStation 2 game Shining Wind related illustration with beautiful, lovely Kureha in a miko dress. WIN. I've seen it before at Books Lashinbang Osaka and K-Books Osaka and the price is the same over there. Might as well commemorate the shop opening with something special.

The second TC at the middle left is a DS game Etrian Odyssey II (世界樹の迷宮II 諸王の聖杯) which was an exclusive to Akihabara-based game store Messe Sanoh. The game itself was release just two weeks back, and according to the description, it's a "classic RPG" with manual mapping (whoa). Emulate the grid paper on yer DS. I don't care about the game, but I love the illustrations and wallpaper. The illustration theme is receiving a belated Valentine chocolate from the (tsundere?) blond hair gunner (job class) chick. What a cute "Jack Frost" badge. I don't even think she has a name. I scoped this same card at the Telecard Paradise Osaka store for like 4500 yen, so maybe its a deal. Also, the game comes with a soundtrack with that Insert Credit sound artist favorite Yuzo Koshiro (古代 祐三) and others. The cover illustration is again the blond hair gunner. Nice nice maybe I'll get the game nice nice. No.

I also bought some cheep manga: Kyoushiro to Towa no Sora volume 1, and CDs: the Loco Roco single and Angela Aki's "Kiss Me Goodbye" single for Final Fantasy XII. I have the over-sexy Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora CD case holding my Xbox 360 discs, but I never explored the story until now. Also this is the first time I've seen a store selling Quo Card plastic sleeves. Quo cards are a different size than TCs so you can't reuse the TC plastic sleeves for them.

It's too bad I decided to get the stuff late, because I was only able to get the exclusive clear file pictured above. If I was perhaps 10 minutes earlier, I could have got the exclusive TC (with slightly more horndog illustration, rawr). Doh. I really wanted something related to Kobe because heck I live here. The illustrator is 憂姫はぐれ先生（サークル：WIRE FRAME）. I suppose this link is NSFW, but it's not up now.

There seems to be some other specials, centering on telephone cards. Goodie. Take for example this one, a Card Captor Sakura TC set "celebrating" the re-release of the manga a year or two ago. I did check the price. Each card is 3_5000 yen +. A little steep, don'cha think?!?

I went to the store again this Monday evening and there's a healthy crowd of people there looking and buying. I was hoping that the Kobe-only exclusive card was available, because net auctions rip hard. No luck.

Here begins another store relationship. This location does seem to have a lot of interesting things and good selection, for now. I do hope they expand their TC selections. I want more stuff with daishi (台紙, lit. card backing) and more all ages stuff like Di Gi Charat. I am not interesting in the eroge TCs even though they are rawr.

Resume purchasing: Kimi Kiss, EDF, TCs

(tags game, PlayStation 2, gal game, Kimi Kiss, Xbox 360, action, Earth Defense Force, telephone card)

I couldn't stop purchasing a game before Idolm@ster Live For You. I'm sorry. :-/ :-)

Friday rolled around and I was like omg Kimi Kiss (キミキス), okay, yeah I want it but I'm not in a PS2 mood. But then I somehow went back to Sofmap Kobe again because I couldn't resist the telephone card. The set was only 4000 yen (3500 yen without TC), and I've been meaning to get it ever since it came out (2006?!). I didn't know it also came with a DVD-ROM which collects various radio shows and some software. On Friday there were 3 TC-sets, but on Saturday I nabbed the last TC-set. Bah.

I suppose I was enthralled by the currently running anime, which I give five star ratings on each episode. It's the only torrented anime I'm watching live now besides Hayate no Gotoku. I am apprehensive though because the game is a different thing, right? Also I've also been reading some of the manga in Champion Red Ichigo semi-monthly magazine, and the manga there ranges from meh to greatest. I skipped one of the stories because it was too close to the anime, though.

I hooked up my PlayStation 2 previously for Street Fighter 3 Third Strike, but I've got guys in FFTA to level up, so...

And today was the release of Burnout Paradise (with announcer Ryu, who is pretty entertaining actually) and Space Invaders Extreme, but I resisted! Yeah me! Except, Earth Defense Forces 3 was sitting there used at around 2000 yen with the original cover, um. One Xbox 360 pal recommended it, and I know he digs action, so this can't be a bad purchase. I do want him to sell me his copy of the English (Asia region?) Burnout Paradise. How can I pursuade him. Oh wait, I need to play Im@s L4U first.

Also every 21st of the month, the Gamers point exchange Di Gi Charat/Koge Donbo telephone card comes out, so I picked it up. Somehow zettai ryoiki doesn't work with Dijiko, but the red iris scheme is looking better and better because of the red wine fashion.

I remember the silence more: Halo 3 OST

(tags game, music, Halo, telephone card)

I wanted the Halo 3 original soundtrack, and now I got it with no effort at all:

The CD is the same as the one released in the States I think, since it has the same plastic seal on the top of the CD case and labelling in English. But it was wrapped in the traditional "obi" (帯、たすき, not pictured) that defines the CD experience in Japan. Also Halo 3 and Bungie stickers. *dies*. Not. :-)

I bought the Halo 3 CD at Sofmap, but opted to get Yuu Mao's Someday (below in picture, also my "2006 best music artist (vocal)") at Gamers. I need the Gamers exchange points. For example, the Dijiko and True Tears character telephone card shown in the middle is one of those cards only exclusively obtainable starting today. In other words, I almost missed out. I hating missing out on free stuff at Gamers, because they are so expensive, and plus I have too many points.

Anyways, this telephone card is probably because of Valentine's Day. I heard that elementary boys here will run away from gals who give out chocolate, because of a new tradition. When White Day (March 15?) comes around, the guys have to give back a gift three times as expensive! I am thinking "engagement ring" crisis.

National Pride 2008: a Den Den Town TC holiday

(tags telephone card, game, collectable, Yuiko Tokumi, Di Gi Charat, Nana Mizuki)

I took the Friday off, so that I have a four day weekend. Monday is the Japan's National Foundation Day holiday, 建国記念日. I have my cheep Japanese flag to celebrate the day, yeah. Who would pay 2100 yen for a indoor flag from Tokyo Hands? 100 yen shop FTW.

However I shouldn't dawdle on a weekdays like Friday, because it's the only chance to do personal business at places like banks. For example, I haven't updated my account statment booklet (口座記帳) since last August. o_O; Luckily they keep records for the last twelve months. The online banking however only shows the last month. WTF. BTW, GnuCash is working like a charm for me now.

With business out of the way, it was time for play. :-) Today seemed like a major telephone card (TC) day. I made preparations to buy three anime-related magazines' mail-order TCs. I also went to Den Den Town just to get it over with for the weekend. I picked up some odd ball TCs there, including a original illustrator (つだみきよ) Mikiyo Tsuda's Princess Princess Quo card set. Mmh, cross-dressing guys in meido outfits. Di Gi Charat (will I ever spell this name right?): two 2008 ones because of the red eyes and the other something Akihabara related, Iris TC from illustrator Yuiko Tokumi (篤見唯子), and Youchi na My Angel TC from illustrator Yuki Azuma (あづまゆき) via E2 Magazine are other purchases for the day. Rounding the photo out, the TC I ordered from Megami Magazine's 2007-12 issue came in the mail today. It's a something something Gurren, but I haven't watched this 2007 anime.

Also I keep my eye out for (桜野みねね) Minene Sakurano's TCs. There are a gangload of cheep ones (about 500 yen) because of old her breakaway hit, Guardian Angel Getten (まもって守護月天!), but they don't appeal to me. I like her drawing style now, but GAG stuff circa 1998-2002 seems a bit rough.

I also got a Iris clear file collectable. I like clear files, because they are not very valuable, despite their rarity. This one was 100 yen, heh. Anyways, I have yet to play this old game (2002?), and I forgot which version I got, the Dreamcast or the PS2?

I must be a sucker for "promides" (a Japanese term for "commerical photo portrait of celebrities"), because it was the only reason I bought (水樹奈々) Nana Mizuki's latest CD single. Rawr, twin tails and skirt. Nana-sama! Haa haa *vomits blood* Yer right, obviously airbrushed and photoshopped, but I wanna deny it. :-p

On those Microsoft Xbox Live 3500 point Idolm@ster cards, at my preferred shop, Sofmap, there was a pre-order limit of one to a customer. I was set on getting both designs (two cards) there but they refused my request. So I went to another store in Osaka to pre-order the other card. That Sofmap store didn't have any limitation. WTF. Oh yeah, playing in-store was a new demo video of Idolm@ster Live For You with a song I've never heard. February 28 will be a happy time. :-)

I was hoping to pick up any English voice version of Burnout Paradise (see flyer in photo above) but my go-to store at Den Den Town didn't have any stock. Did they ever have stock? The game is officially coming here on 2008-02-22, but I prefer to laugh at the announcer's English.

On other game stuff, there are no Xbox 360 arcade joysticks, as usual. There are lots of Super Smash Bros for the Wii in stock everywhere, and Sofmap is stocking up the old style GameCube controllers (but they are third party) for 2500 yen. Alas SSB for the GC is still 5000 yen or more, sigh. I frequented the GBA or PSP aisles , but nothing piqued my interest. Still I am currently tuned to aquiring Clu Clu Land (GBA), Guilty Gear's side scrolling beat-em-up (PSP), Contra 4 (DS, US), BioShock and Mass Effect (X360, Asia), Red Star (PS2, US), etc.

No game purchases this time around, though. Let's finish up Rez and Project Slypheed and Omega Five and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Idolm@ster and...

On the edge: Rubik's Cube measured times

(tags telephone card, kawaii, Rubik's Cube, times)

This week I was able to pick up the Gamers point exchange card for 2008/01. It's a Christmas theme, and Dejiko and Puchiko look good with their new eye colors. I forgot the exchange day was on Monday, so I raced to the shop on Tuesday evening. They don't publish the availability but they do show that they have it in the glass cabinets. "Only 2 to a customer". Yes, please enforce that rule.

This evening on the way back home I was feeling pretty good with my Cube. I was walking around from my train to my bus through the anime and manga shops, twisting my Cube two-handed. I can't stop twisting it, it's so fun. I even did a one-handed solve, but the time is nothing interesting, probably more than 4 minutes. On the bus too, I was really burning up (subjectively). So I decided to measure again.

----- JNetCube Best Average for Thu Jan 24 21:09:13 GMT+09:00 2008 -----

Average: 59.14 (1:06.13 -6.99 last time)

Fastest Time: 0:50.12 (0:42.03 8.09 last time)
Slowest Time: 1:18.70 (1:29.61)
Standard Deviation: 05.26 (11.15)

Individual Times:
1:18.70 L' R' F R2 D L' U F2 U' B D2 R L2 D' R2 D F D' F2 B U' B' U2 D B
0:57.39 B F2 L2 U2 B2 L2 F U L2 U' L F' U2 D2 R' L' D U2 L B2 F' L U' L' B2
0:57.73 R' B R' L2 B' U' B' U' F2 D2 F D L' F D R F L' D R' B2 D B' F' U2
0:50.61 L D B2 F U' D B2 R' U2 L' U2 B D' U' L U R U' L R' F2 B R U F
0:55.17 F2 B L' B2 F2 U2 F' R2 B2 L2 B' L2 D' R D2 L2 R' D R D B' F' D' U R
0:57.78 U2 F' R2 F B D' U' F2 B R L' U2 L U B2 L2 B2 R2 U2 D R' U' F' U R
1:05.47 L D' R U2 R2 U' R2 F' R' B' R F' U2 B L D2 B' U F D' R D2 B' D U
1:03.48 F2 L B R2 B2 R U D B L' F2 B' U F U2 L R D' B F D2 U' B2 U2 B2
1:08.54 D' B' R' D2 R2 B' F2 D B L' R' F' L2 B' L' D L2 R' B L D2 U2 R' L2 F'
0:56.79 F2 U2 D L' U2 D' L' U' B' R L' U2 B U' D F U B2 D2 B2 F' D L' D R
0:58.42 F D L' F2 L U2 D' B' R2 B' U D F' D' B2 F R2 L2 F' U2 B D2 L' U' L2
0:50.12 U2 B' R2 U D B' R B2 F2 L F L2 R' D2 R2 U' L' B' D B2 R2 U F R B

I barely squeaked by my goal of a 60 second average solve. I suppose I can say I can solve the Cube in a minute (on a good day). My cube feels really light, but on the last solves I feared that it would POP. It feels kinda loose and fragile now.

What should be my new goal? Sub 55 on two measurements? Change the orientation while doing F2L? I'm going to just keep on walking around with my Cube in hand. It's just too fun.

Other shiny; Are you going to compete?

(tags purchase, Den Den Town, telephone card, Rubik's Cube)

After World Hobby Fair, I made my way to the Toys 'R Us in Namba Parks, which is a new (to me) upscale mall between Nanba and Den Den Town. In fact, I didn't think TRU belonged there until I stepped inside. Unlike regular TRU stores, this one is called TRU Select and it had a mahogany color theme and pricey store displays. This was not the kind of TRU where you leave you kids unattended. Still the store sells the same things, and if ever I need to replace my Rubik's Cubes, I have my walk-in fallback.

I skipped the rest of Namba Parks but I strolled through Yamada Denki. If I didn't know better I would think I was in a big Yodobashi Camera.

I made my way to Den Den Town but to make a long story short, I only bought two things. The Comic Market Winter (73) fallout is over. There was a Noboru Kannatsuki telephone card set that caught my eye but one of the designs is already one of the background images I own, so it wasn't worth the 3500 yen. I didn't find a Xbox 360 joystick for sale anywhere. There were no other collectable telephone cards I needed "right now" but some Pitaten ones caught my fancy. I ended up getting volume 4 of Comic Yell manga magazine, which is kenzen I think but romance stories aimed at guys.

The other thing I got was the Gameboy Advance version of Yoshi's Adventure, I think. It's Super Mario Advance 3, right? Well I already have this game on Super Famicom, previously being swayed by the hype of "ultimate 2D run-and-jump adventure". (How about finishing Super Mario Bros. 2 JP there, goldfish?) I am lazy though because my SF is not hooked up and I've been giving my GB Micro some lovin' so... Well I went cheapskate and bought just the naked cartridge for 800 yen, even though it's now priced to move at 2000 yen at various shops. Ugh I feel guilty.

Finally while riding the train home, a guy tapped my idle Rubik's Cube sitting in my bag (WTF are you reaching for my bag, a$$'()e?!?!?), to start a clipped conversation with me. "So are you going to compete?" he smiled. This gentleman is the type of man to wear a suit on a Sunday evening. I'm thinking university professor. He was pretty knowledgable about "thinking about the next move" and "contestants are mostly young people", though I didn't know if he cubed himself. I embarassingly answered that I am slow and I would only consider attending a contest if I can get my average time to around 30 seconds. Oh well, starting conversations is great but maybe cubing on the train like an obsessed madman is giving off the wrong impression? I love it when people stare at my cube, but I hate it when I can't solve it before they look away, ha. Hey I'm only playing it in place of video gaming. Call it an 80's regression.

telephone card ordering follies: Megami Magazine, Geemaga

(tags telephone card, failure, magazine, mail order)

I wrote this around 2008-01-02. :-)

I ordered the 2008-01 issue telephone cards from Megami Magazine via the usual mail order fixed price money order (定額小為替) but I put the envelopes in the nengajyou only (年賀状, New Year's Postcards) postal box. It needed to be stamped with that day's date, too, but will it be done? I made the mistake because the same box is usually used for domestic mail. :-(

Also I paid for those 2008-01 Geemaga Noboru Kannatsuki telephone cards through the self-service post office ATM (ゆうちょ銀行振り込み) but I forgot to mark which telephone cards I wanted on the sheet. Stupid stupid. Because I marked the wrong places on the paper (I was in a rush, not grasping at straws!), the ATM machine couldn't read it, and verifying with human help I figured out I need better aiming skills. :-/ How am I going to follow this up? I'll give them a call on Friday or next week.

Update (?): I gave them a call today and they got my name, address, phone and money transfer number. "Wait until March" Hm. All I can do is believe them, right?

Since that mail in thing is two month offer, I bought the 2008-02 issue (available end of 2007-12) to get just one more telephone card. Very nice cover. There was even a poster of the cover, which is currently hanging on my refrigerator. Happy new year, indeed.

Day 3 of Den Den Town co-habiting

(tags telephone card, game, collectable, Yuiko Tokumi, Osaka, Nipponbashi)

I have already gone to Den Den Town three days in a row but so far nothing big has caught my eye or my wallet. I mean I'm lining my ducks in a row, because right now I'm just glancing at stuff and I'm waiting for the Yuiko Tokumi goods to come into view. Unfortunately I've only seen the new doujinshi (新刊) and none of the other desirables such as the 2008 calendar. Will I ever see it? I suppose I'm waiting for the otaku drops. Saturday only, 2x rate? ;-)

Ol' dependable K-books is reselling one of her new doujinshi for 2100 yen, while another shop called Vanilla is reselling the identical thing for 900. I also saw it at Books Lashinbang but I did not remember the price. It's not Bottle Fairy, and my resistance to buying doujinshi or even setting foot into no-resell doujin shops like Melon Books has been strong recently. I have to focus on going into resell shops, though, because I always do the same varied route of console games, telephone cards, Sofmap, no-resell doujin shop, resell shops. I have succumbed to visiting shops twice in one day. :-/

Also my alternate goal is to find a Xbox 360 joystick. I have not yet found (another) one for sale. The last time I saw one was a month back. Even the auctions online have dried up (for the Dead or Alive model). Why doesn't Hori make another run of these joysticks, plain ones even. I know they make regular controllers, but even if I buy it my thumb will still be at the same angle. I have to say, playing Shikigami no Shiro 2 at demo kiosk at A-Too recently feels totally natural with the Dreamcast regular controller. The Xbox 360 controller in comparison is alien.

For this "2008 A Happy New Year Di Gi Charat" Gamers retail telephone card, I tried visiting Gamers Sannomiya but they didn't offer it. The fukubukuro offers at 3000 yen (available) and 5000 yen (sold out) had another exclusive telephone card of Dijiko but I passed. I also tried to visit Gamers Osaka but I forgot that it is closed today, despite checking the schedule. Note to self: It's closed tomorrow too. It's in a "remote" area so instead of backtracking to Umeda I followed the Midosuji subway line on foot to the next station, Yodobashi, because Den Den Town is another 3 stops south. I passed the U.S. Consulate and I got some winter sun, yeah. I finally picked it up at Gamers Otaroad.

(I have also revived my purple Game Boy Micro for FFTA. I forgot where the USB charging cable went. Sofmap doesn't sell any Game Boy Micro charge cables no more, so I gotta stock up.)

So far this week I have only gotten that Pikachu 50 pose sticker seal sheet and that Gamers telephone card. Total "New Years otaku" costs are, to date, 2000 yen. Transportation has been around 1000 yen per day though. I'm going to have to buy another 3000 yen Lagare card for the travelling.

Other things of interest that I rated a "want" but not "need":

• Lumines for PSP with original cover, used at 6800 yen. It probably is the downgrade-capable version. But it's gone now as of today. I haven't played Lumines before but the demo is just an XBLA away.

• A K-books exclusive micro fiber towel with illustration by Noboru Kannatsuki. But it's not related to red-headed Corti so I will pass.
• Street Fighter III 3rd Strike premium box for the PS2 going for 1_2000 yen. I don't grok Parrying and I don't really need a big box or a jigsaw puzzle!
• Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku for PSP premium set (8900 to 12800 to 17000 yen, with or without figure) and the various telephone cards. I can wait.
• Kodomo no Jikan telephone card (Animate point exchange 2007-12) with daishi going for 4000 yen. I really shouldn't be getting into this "skeleton" anymore.
• Final Fantasy XII International Job System for the PS2 going for 2800 yen used and new. But I'm playing FFTA right now.
• Manabi Straight visual booklet for 1500 yen. I'll get it eventually.
• Contra 4 for the DS, US version at 5000 yen. I can wait till 2008-03 for the JP release.
• Various Gamers or Broccoli or Di Gi Charat telephone cards at around 800 to 1500 yen each at some resell shops. I'll probably pick some up when the wallet is loose.
• Shikigami no Shiro 3 Appreciate DVD (replay video). Have you checked Youtube?
• (I didn't see this at Den Den Town but its on-topic) Border Down for Dreamcast resell (thanks Insert Credit) and soundtrack. Come on, I haven't played Border Down in 3 years! Why do I need another copy? Oh wait, it's already pre-order'd out. :-]

Maybe if I spent less time trying to find something to buy I wouldn't have to say "No" all the time.

And yes, I'm going again tomorrow. :-) :-/ :-(

x8 !!!! Shikigami no Shiro 3

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, telephone card)

I did succumb to new game purchase. I bought Shikigami no Shiro 3 for the Xbox 360 (式神の城3). I couldn't say no to zettai ryoiki on the telephone card. (A Gamers exclusive). What can I say, I miss playing shmups, and Ikaruga isn't coming out this month. Plus I was disappointed that Shikigami no Shiro 2 wasn't compatible with Xbox 360 . I want to scratch/buzz, man, real hard.

It's pretty fun if I stick with the beginner's character Kuga. Basically with Kuga I don't have to worry about shooting, just dodge and buzz for "x8" multiplier. I haven't credit feeded it but already I unlocked unlimited credits, probably playing it 40+ times already. I'm trying to get past level 3 without continuing. I don't think I will be unlocking the Achievements without continuing though. I keep saying to myself, just credit feed this run because I want to see the story, but then my untainted high score keeps on increasing, so I don't.

I like the character voices this time. I think voice for the shikigami Saya is Ayako Kawasumi (川澄綾子), excellent. I also like the enemy Yukari Horiguchi "version 2" which I think is Ryoko Shintani (新谷良子). She's so off the wall. There's also a randoseru (with a Bubble Bobble character imprinted on it?!) girl that is in a deep voice, but when in high voice sounds just like tsundere voice goddess Rie Kugimiya (釘宮理恵). I'll visit the official page later to get the real clue though.

The character graphics are excellent to my moe eyes, especially Yukari Horiguchi "version 2" china suit. If I press Y at a gallery page, the character says something random that goes with their expression. Nice.

There is a story, but this time the writers want to make it funny by breaking the fourth wall and making everything a gag. It's a change from the first two outings, which is fine by me. When I have tag-team "Dramatic battle", the two characters I pick have a short scenario dialogue just for them. In other words, there are 8 x 7 + 8 == 64 10 x 9 + 10 == 100 different dialogues! It's not very witty, not very serious, but light hearted.

But the Xbox controller is not very fun. I'm playing it by the D-pad. Well, I can almost get past level 3 with it, so it can't all be bad. But this particular controller seems to be iffy when pressing right. I haven't attributed a death to this yet, but it will come. And then the controller throwing will begin. I am somewhat desperate for a joystick or a better D-pad. Ugh, no joysticks available for under 1_0000 yen.

Right now I'm resting my hand because I was gripping the Xbox controller for too long. But I want to continue. No I mean I want to start the game from the beginning, but... ok, you know what I mean.

(edit: There are 10 characters to choose, not just 8.)

Putting off new game purchases? Mario & Luigi and Wipeout Pure

(tags game, Dual Screen, RPG, PlayStation Portable, racing)

On Thursday and Friday, I tried to see if that PlayStation Portable game Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku (涼宮ハルヒの約束) was up for purchase, but it looks like it totally sold out at all the stores I know. And the inevitable Yahoo Auctions (search phrase:「涼宮ハルヒの約束」) shows a seller's frenzy. I'm not really in the mood for a text adventure which is why I didn't bother to pre-order, but the completist in me is saying that my DVD set needs a companion. (The voices, I hear them.)

I am still trying to put off game purchasing by playing games I have. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is still slow going because of my need to collect everything. It's... slow. But at least it should be more rewarding that trying to play Final Fantasy Tactics (GBA) or Final Fantasy 1 (PSP). Both of those just sounds like work to me.

And I woke up yesterday, playing WipeOut Pure. I haven't even gold-award cleared the Venom single races (Venom is the second step of five difficulty levels) so I spent some time on it. Sometimes it feels slow but that's only because I am trading paint with the walls. Still it feels pretty smooth when I don't.

My mom said yes to Peggle on the iPod, but I think I'll purchase it when I go back to work early next month. That is, if I don't want to play Rubik's Cube on the bus, which is unlikely.

Nipponbashi hisashiburi randomness: games and cards

(tags game, Xbox 360, Dreamcast, telephone card)

Rabi en Rose lit the fire under me to make me visit Nipponbashi Den Den Town. To summarize on the haul, first:

Today I was intent on loosening the money strings, but I came away with only 3 items, a Xbox point card 3500, Aqua Zone for the Xbox 360, and a quo card of Manabi Straight. Maybe I'm saying no to myself a lot more now. Oh wait, on Friday I actually bought that Kodomo no Jikan DVD 1 with the "randoseru" DVD case, plus the "Best Price" version of Street Fighter Zero series for the Playstation 2. :-/ I am so random.

I already "played" a couple of minutes of Aqua Zone but its a bunch of regret. I never raised fish, and I don't like learning about fish in Japanese. And it looks visually horrible on my set up. I thought it was a screen saver or something light like that. But it truly is a fish tank simulation, where you have to pick your filter and gravel and seafood and lighting and heater. WTF, just give me some defaults and let me enjoy the pretty fish.

But there's some easy Achievement points here. I swear I was playing just 15 minutes and I unlocked the "100 days simulation" Achievement for 200 points. That is so strange. Then again, according to the Internet, there's only 280 points to go then I need to buy "fish" in order to get 400 more Achievement Points. I don't think I'll bite.

So back to recalling: At A-Too used game shop I saw the "Reveal" trailer for Call of Duty 4 for Xbox 360. Wow its impressive. I downloaded the same video at home but I forgot to watch it. And there were no copies for purchase in the foreign games section! The online friends seem to have been play CoD4 online a lot. My close Xbox friend here also was playing as well. Hm, is this a fun game? No I'm not jumping for it. Sci-fi FPS for me, all the way.

Also I played a round of Shikigami no Shiro 2 on a demo Dreamcast over at the same store. It made me want to play it some more, so when I got home I opened my pristine Xbox 1 copy but it didn't play! "No compatibility update." What a "waste". My shrink-wrapped copy is now.. not shrink-wrapped (horror!). Before that I played a couple rounds of Psyvariar 2 (Xbox 1) which was pretty futile. Gotta make up for the free 200 Achievement Points. :-/

At Books Rashinbang, that Rozen Maiden 3 card telephone card set is now down to only 8_0000 yen. It's been sitting in the glass cabinet for more than a year and a half... When I first spotted it, it was 15_0000 yen. And still it's over-valued. There was also the smiling Kureha from Shining Wind as a telephone card going for 1_5000 yen, up from the 1_0000 yen at K-Books. These are all over my budget but its fun to dream.

On the street I kept on debating whether to buy a new PSP and add a 1-seg tuner to record shows with the new recording function in the latest firmware (3.80). I'm not sure about the timeshifting, though. And if I bought a new PSP, I might as well jump for the Patapon game. But then I remembered all the PSP games I bought and stacked, including Loco Roco. Ultimately, I went without.

Mission impossible failed, retry online: Gamers point card 2007/12 Rabi en Rose

(tags telephone card, failure, Koge Donbo)

On Friday night I saw that the Gamers point exchange telphone card drawn by Koge Donbo for this month was already out of stock at Kobe. Once they are gone, they are gone. I blame the high schoolers' winter vacation. So I went to Osaka today to canvas two other Gamers stores, Nipponbashi Nanba and Osaka Umeda, but of course, there's nothing. Argh. I checked the telephone card reseller areas like Books Rashinbang, K-Books, TC Paradise and Sofmap Treasure box but there was nothing to be found. Do I have to go to Kyoto or Himeji? Oh wait, Himeji is no more. My mind is playing tricks on me. Or is it that the house of Dejiko is trading at an all time low? (Edit: My mind is weak. I was thinking Animate for some reason. There was never a Gamers Himeji)

On the online front, Yahoo Auctions (keywords: キャラト テレ) has some but its going for like 2500 yen plus. I'll have to do a wait and see. Besides, I'll be in Nipponbashi again during winter break hopefully sniping some Comic Market stuff floating this way.

Polyphonica-themed telephone cards from Geemaga

(tags illustrator, sexy, anime, telephone card, magazine)

Geemaga, that monthly game magazine that I might be confusing for an old Dreamcast-focused magazine, is offering Noboru Kannatsuki (神奈月昇, Light of Night) telephone cards. I would have never known about it except for the announcement on the Geemaga blog, "ゲーマガ2007～8年末年始「応募者全員サービステレカ」企画を見逃すべからず".

Truly hawt. Gotta pickup this magazine now.

My computer's wallpaper rotation hits the Polyphonica illustrations (神曲奏界ポリフォニカ), quite nice.

Conpu H's 2007-05 Itou Noizi Telephone Cards

(tags telephone card, mail order)

I totally forgot I ordered this, but it came during the weekend via delivery guy. There's an anime/character goods magazine called Compu H's which is the group's "bishojo only visual magazine". I ordered some stuff back in August. Jeez. Three and a half months.

There were a bunch more telephone cards offered at the time, but I didn't like them. Funny how there's a pattern to this one here: All of them are anime series that have been illustrated by Noizi Itou (いとうのいぢ). The illustrations themselves are not all Itou, though. I'm not that into her illustrations but there's something undeniably moe about them.

This reminds me that I need to memo whenever I mail order stuff that takes more than two months. Uh, this says orders will come in 2009-03. orz Oh, this is a misprint announcement. Right.

Dead or Alive 4 hunt, Hisashiburi Osaka, Kureha digitized

(tags Osaka, purchase, character goods, telephone card, game, Xbox 360, anime, seiyuu, PlayStation 2, Kasimasi, Ikaruga)

Last post was a real bummer. How to get back to my dreamland? Goods!

On Saturday I headed to Tennouji and Nipponbashi Den Den Town for some Xbox 360 game scoping and telephone card hunting. I haven't been there since middle September because I spent 5_0000+ yen on an Xbox 360 last month, so the change of season makes the area look different. I didn't know how the Osaka tower looked at night, but it was so so. Anyways, the obligatory goods picture:

My goal was to get Dead or Alive 4 for less than 2200 yen, with original cover. The Platinum Collection covers irritate me and the DoA4 Platinum Collection edition comes out on 11/1 so maybe there are old copies lingering somewhere. Unfortunately I only scoped a 2900 yen one at A-Too, that crazy price used game shop that also carries a good selection of foreign console games. I let it pass (I got that telephone card there as a consolation prize). I could have snatched up a foreign edition BioShock with embossed case, but I don't need it yet at 7000 yen. One interesting find at another shop: a Panzer Dragoon (?) Xbox 1 console going for a little less than 3_0000 yen. No box?!? Oh please.

My buy threshold was 2000 yen for other games. I found Gears of War english-only edition for 1880 yen and Bullet Witch original cover for the same. At the northern Super Potato (?) I could have picked up Trusty Bell and Ridge Racer 6 for about 1900 yen each, but I figured enough was enough. BTW, at the same store, the Dead or Alive 4 arcade stick for the Xbox 360 was selling 12800 yen used! Why? Why!? It reminded me that I don't want to play Ikaruga on the Xbox controller. I'm not so hot on a joystick, though.

A semi-serious goal was to get the various Street Fighter on PS2 re-releases. The highest priority is on the Street Fighter Alpha collection. I had some fun times playing Guy on SF Alpha 1, but he wasn't the same on Alpha 2. Anyways, this game disc never got "Collection"-ed so its still 4500 yen new. Then again why should I bother since I already have the Windows PC port. I notice that there are no used copies of these SF games (!?!), but plenty of SNK fighters to be had.

Explaining the other items: various TCs abound. j1mOne's recommendation of Tiaraway's music made get the Seiyuu Gran-prix TC. I don't know the name of this anime, but a neko-mimi maid, right. The recent anime Kimikiss reminds me of the artwork from that old True Love Story - Summer Days and yet PS2 game, which was great illustrations by itself. Could they be related? Something to research. I wonder if I got that Kasimasi TC already, but it's a scratched reference. Oh yeah, I had fun watching Zettai Shonen (絶対少年) so I couldn't pass up this Quo card.

And still I have Kureha fever so I bought that Shining Wind Fun Disc from Sofmap Saurus Treasure Box. It was a special preorder item, which explains the 1200 yen used price. I bought it for the wallpapers, and I am a bit disappointed that Kureha doesn't smile in any of them. :-/ I found a Kureha telephone card at K-Books where she was smiling... only 8000 yen :-( Still, official artwork on my desktop background rotation, FTW. Pretty much I'm into Shining Wind based on the Tony artwork only. I know nothing about the game.

The cover for the drama CD Vol 1 is nice, rawr. :-) It surprised me that my class A seiyuu Yui Horie (堀江由衣) voices Kureha. The drama CD could be a buy.

On the way home, there was more security guards at the JR Osaka entrances, something like 10 to 15 guys in blue uniforms patrolling. "Osaka Kanjyosen" Halloween Train?

I am definately not going to Nipponbashi next weekend. I decided to get Ace Combat 6, and before that I need to start Idolm@ster. So I'm not going to repeat the Dead or Alive 4 hunt for a couple of weeks. :-)

A little too eager, part 2: Shining Wind's Kureha (figure)

(tags figure, telephone card, character goods, mail order)

I thought the "Kureha" figure was gone or sold out. I visited Sofmap one last time and I also searched Yahoo Auctions for the words (「クレハ シャイニング」). But it turns out that it will be sold on the 18th, according to the online store Sega Direct. Since they have a telephone card present (pictured left) and its still available for only (!? this extreme retail, yo) 8000 yen altogether, I'm going to mail order it from them instead of brick-and-mortar buying.

They have some other nice (hawt) Shining Wind Kureha goods. There's a sports towel (pictured right) and bath towel, and the PS2 game with Stick Poster Binder set (pictured middle) which also has a telephone card (meh design) and a fan disc with CG illustrations, all for a low price of 1_0000, rawr.

D00d could I be going lustful on the Kureha? Um um. (Deep breath) Y.. Yes but no. No! No more. Ok. This month is just this figure, okay?

Oh I found it funny that Sega Direct still carries the telephone card set for Gungrave, a PS2 game released back in 2002. 5 years ago! And don't miss the telephone card set for Karas, the Dreamcast shmup. Yea right.

Master of red: Noboru Kannatsuki CD-ROMs

(tags illustrator, sexy, anime, telephone card, CG)

I remember looking for goodies from the Comic Market 72 (2007/08) fallout at K-Books. I saw that the sexy bishoujo illustrator Noboru Kannatsuki (神奈月昇, Light of Night) had some CG CD-ROMs. I know him from the Polyphonica illustrations for the PC/PS2 visual novels and light novels (神曲奏界ポリフォニカ). Unfortunately the used price was unbelievable, 30000 yen! Just for one. And there were 3! Lucky for me and my wallet that he decided to re-release the CDs to doujin shops such as Tora no Ana.

Hawt. No, hawt would be Corti (the red-head bombshell) in her onee-san guise.

Only 1000 yen each. I only opened the third disc, Polyphony. Thankfully there's no nudity on that one (which is surprising). Now I gotta hook this up to my wallpaper changer, which at the moment is John's Background Switcher. I wholeheartedly recommend this freeware for Windows users who like Flickr or have multi-monitor setups.

The tosho card plus daishi on the top left was an Animate purchase. The illustration was originally an Animate exclusive cover for book 5 in the Polyphonica light novel "Crimson" series.

Prices going up: Japan Post Bank and Telephone Cards

(tags telephone card, purchase)

Telephone cards are on the way out. Tosho (図書) cards will eventually replace them because they are redeemable in many places and the cellphone supplants the line pay phone. Still as a collectable many places make them, such as magazine art offers or Comic Market goodies.

When the Japan postal system privatized on the first of October this year, many services became inconvenient or more expensive. For example, some rural offices will close. The Japan Post was not just in the business of material delivery but it also was a bank.

There lies my irritation. One of the bank services was the Small Fixed-Rate Money Order (定額小為替), which in 400, 500, and 1000 denominations, was the de facto standard for magazine goodies. Previously the cost for a money order slip was 10 yen, but now its 100 yen. So my usual monthly order of telephone cards consisting of Megami Magazine (メガミマガジン), Animedia (アニメディア), Animage (アニマージェ), etc increases by about the cost of another telephone card. Buying those money orders used to be as easy as breathing, but now it makes me think twice. Moving money around shouldn't be so expensive, but I suppose moving money around safely isn't easy.

Already in the glass case on the first day: Doki Doki Majo Shinpan

(tags game, Dual Screen, loli, telephone card)

Like I said, Friday night was frantic for goods collecting. My mission was collecting the telephone cards (TCs) I saw a week earlier. As I was working my way up Nipponbashi Den-Den Town from Books Lashinbang, I noticed that the all-ages otaku game of the moment, Doki Doki Majo Shinpan (どきどき魔女神判), was sold out in all my favorite stores except at A-Too where the price is not nice. I didn't pre-order it, because the TC situation for it was pretty dire. There were different designs at different stores and some stores were not in Kansai. So I was content with a picture of the all TCs from this news article.

All of that changed when I spied the Sofmap version TC in the show case at Sofmap's Treasure Box area. 2000 yen? Not that bad for the first day. I'll take it.

(At the same shop, I also got a used but unopened copy of Submarine Super 99 (サバマリン スパー99) on UMD. When it comes to anime on UMD, I don't have a problem, as long as it is cheap.)

So since I started digging that hole, I thought why don't I just jump on in? I still didn't see the omake Japanese-style amulet with the cute picture, until I went to the meager show cases at Big Tiger Nipponbashi. There they had a copy of the game, the Sofmap TC and the amulet for 7890 yen. Well, sure I'll take it.

(At the same shop I first bought the Slitherlink DS game for about 1690 yen used, which I was planning to play anyway. It is pretty rare and I didn't find it either new or used in other stores, so getting this 2500 yen game at this price wasn't bad at all.)

(And at both show case areas, the clerks reminded me that the merchandise can't be returned (「委託販売です。返品は承りませんので宜しいですか。」). One even used their finger to point out the return policy explanation in kanji. I take this to mean they recognize me as a kanji-reading foreigner. I get irritated if they start using a lot of hand gestures though.)

Since I was at the end of my Friday purchasing, I could not buy the fan book. I read that it wasn't available at regular bookstores, so I counted on Sofmap Kobe to have a copy. But it wasn't there (!?!?) despite the fact that one of the early stores I visited, Sofmap Nipponbashi 4, had many copies. (On a strange note, Sofmap Kobe had many copies of the game itself.) I finally got the book at Gamers Kobe, bless their character goods hearts.

Also, on Monday, I picked up a second copy of the game with the other telephone card design, that wasn't mentioned anywhere. Sweet.

So there it is, one can get a limited release game if one is in the area specializing in reselling. Yes.

As for playing the game, well that can wait until I finish more Sudoku.

Picked up missed TCs: Ichigo 1 Kimi Kiss, Melon Books, Sofmap

(tags telephone card)

Last week I was in Nipponbashi Den Den Town hunting for Lumines. I saw some interesting TCs then but I did not buy them. But this weekend I decided to pick up the Kimi Kiss (キミキス) TC at Books Lashinbang. And instead of going on the weekend, I decided to go Friday night, which made it more frantic.

Lucky for me it was still there. The illustrator is Masashiro Itosugi. It has a paper frame (台紙), which actually cuts the card if you're not careful. This card was available to all buyers of the Champion RED Ichigo magazine (チャンピオンREDいちご) volume 1, so I don't understand why I didn't mail order it. It turns out that I bought the magazine but failed to read it. Huh. In any case it was 2000 yen, which is 1000 yen more than the original price.

I didn't plan on buying the other cards, but they were interesting enough to nab. The Melon Books TC costs 40 points but I forget when it was released. Usually the Melon Books TCs' designs are too skanky with fan-service, but this one is attractive to me because Melon-chan's hair isn't overloading the colors. The illustrator is 有葉. I got it for 1000 yen, but I saw it at another place for 2500 yen. I can never tell if these things are worth more than 1000 yen.

The last one is probably some Sofmap tokuten but I can't recall when, where or who. But the twin-tailed blonde is totally cute, and yes my "Sofmap" allegiance is growing so I had to have it. It was only 800 yen so it must be scrap.

Free magazine, but expensive collectables: A-Station Telephone Cards

(tags magazine, free, anime, illustrator, telephone card)

A-Station magazine is a free glossy magazine "for the Akiba-otaku". They just celebrated 1 year of publication. It has some reviews of recent and upcoming anime/manga, as well as maid cafe and poster inserts. It is pretty limited distribution here in Kobe, but I am able to obtain a copy at "otaku" stores like Gamers, since they have increased their publication to 10_0000 copies. Pretty much I collect it based on the magazine cover illustrations alone:

These are the work of illustrator Atsushi Yoshinari (吉成篤). Moe!

Actually these are scans of the collectable telephone cards up for sale right now at the web store. They have online ordering by debit-prepay card, but I am doing the old-fashioned way by sending them postal checks (定額小為替). 1200 yen per card, ouch. There is a limited print run of 200 cards per design, on a first-come first-served basis. For the whole Japan. This is not a familiar system. It's either a limited print run by draw, or all-applicants print run. I sent my money last month pretty quickly, but I wonder if it got through. They are doing the same run this month, so I'm buying an incomplete second set. Heheh.

Before this, I was able to buy A-Station's first three issue covers reprinted onto telephone cards. It was totally easy to obtain it by postal check order, so I hope its the same for the above 9 cards.

Lack of desire

(tags telephone card, anime, purchase, EC site)

None of the telephone cards in the new Animate "Summer AV Matsuri Fair" (2007年 アニメイト 夏のAVまつり) interest me, so I won't go crazy like I did last time.

Doki Doki Majo is the 2D Dead or Alive

(tags game, Dual Screen, sexy, telephone card)

According a demo-movie review by Akiba Blog (more than 10 days ago), that otaku oriented DS game Doki Doki Majo Shinpan (どきどき魔女神判) has animated bouncing breasts. They are as bad (good?) as the original Dead or Alive phenomenon. Greatest!

edit: corrected to "shinpan", and added picture of telephone card from NGC France article via DS Fanboy. Also checkout the rest of the telephone card designs as exposed by Dengeki Online.com via DS Fanboy.

Telephone and Quo card catch up

(tags DVD region 2, telephone card, character goods)

I wasn't planning on getting Mizuki Nana (奈々水樹) concert DVD "NANA MIZUKI LIVE MUSEUM× UNIVERSE", but it came with a pretty good telephone card and card backing (台紙). That is, until I had the idea to put that card in plastic. Now I see it's scratched where the paper holds it in. Ugh. I really like this picture of her, though, smiling. The otaku blogs are giving this DVD release some serious lovin' (thanks senakablog, akiba blog).

Moving on to the top right, Gamers had another telephone card / Quo card "festival" (a thinly-veiled exclusive time-limited sale of TCs and Quo that moves from each chain store). This Kamichama Karin (かみちゃまかりん) design is on a pencil card (下敷) already, but I am the telephone card freak so I got this as well. In the same "festival" there was a old-school Galaxy Angel with Vanilla H making an appearance, but unfortunately I didn't pick it up before it was sold out.

Finally, in the middle is a Quo card with a design by Hiromu Minato (湊ヒロム) of Blue☆Wind. It's a gothic lolita style blond gal with requisite zettai ryoiki in front of Kobe Tower. Definately a thumbs up for me! I don't have many anime/doujin telephone cards with backgrounds inspired by real places. Anyways, I could have got the Quo card yesterday, but I mistook yesterday for today. When researching Hiromu Minato for a link, I came across her webpage, but it announced that she passed away a few months ago at the young age of 29. Her art was featured in otaku/bishojo magazines like Elfics and Dengeki Hime (電撃姫).

Hajimaru yo! Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!

(tags anime, season 2007/01, DVD region 2, Japan, telephone card)

Manabi shouts, "Hajimaru yo!" (Start it up! lol)

Gakuen Utopia Manbi Straight! (がくえんゆーとぴあ まなびストレート!)

What a totally positive anime. I saw the first three episodes back in January and decided to get/watch the DVDs instead. Then again I already got the 5 character songs set last Autumn.

Yui Horie (堀江由衣) headlining this anime, with babyface Ai Nonaka (野中藍), I-don't-know-her-yet Marina Inoue (井上麻里奈), no-talent Aya Hirano (平野綾), and I-just-saw-her-on-Tokimeki Saki Fujita (藤田咲).

In another way, it's "starting up" for me too:

Another 6 DVDs and I'll have another telephone card, heh.

Am I going to mention the CD character song set with pencil box? The PlayStation 2 game with telephone card? The magazine telephone card? The character goods? Links to the future posts here.