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Saturday, February 27, 2010

K-On! Figma Figures


Yes, here's yet another K-On! figure post by me. (deal with it -_-)  For those of you that have been tracking my little rants, a recent pet-peeve of mine has been the fact that licensees in Japan have become a bit scared of making money and try to keep some anime and figures in Japan only for themselves.  Well, looks as if some of the complaining (and the good old power of $) has paid off and with the second release of 2 K-On! figures, comes the rights for us here in the states to actually buy a legit K-On! figma locally. 

Yes, that's correct, you won't have to pay $20-$30+ in shipping from a store in Japan if you want a Mio figma figure of a Ritsu figma figure (if you live in the US...and international customers are still welcome ^^).  I have gotten the rights through my business and my trusty (legit) suppliers to acquire these cuties for the store.





Rather shoot us an email to get yourself onto a waiting list?  You can do so here.

Once the number of figures coming to my store get filled, that's it since I want to make sure ALL who order or get on the list get one when they come out in June or July...so don't wait too long.

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posted by princetrunks @ 11:00 AM


Friday, February 26, 2010

Mio Akiyama (Moe Moe Kyun) Figure


You thought I'd leave for the weekend without mentioning this oh so Moe figure? For those who might have not heard the news from a few days ago, FREEing and Good Smile Company joined together to come up with the "Moe Moe Kyun" version of K-On!'s Mio Akiyama.

Of course, she's up in the store for pre-order for those who just have to have a moe figure for themselves.

Thanks for spilling the beans on this one, Danny Choo.

Here's the a fan-made clip from youtube from that seen. I know, us anime fans can be weird (and oh so funny) at times...but let us enjoy some moe cuteness.


...oh and more pictures of her too:

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posted by princetrunks @ 8:06 PM


Monday, February 15, 2010

Localized Anime Licensing Killing the Industry?


You all know you love your anime and you do what you can to get it, right?  Well, most of you know that if you are viewing shows like K-On! with English subtitles, that the fan-subbing done with the series was illegal, correct?

Despite the huge popularity world wide for K-On! and some other shows in Japan, there has yet to news of them being licensed for (legal) viewing outside Japan and it almost seems like the licencees simply don't want you to watch them or own their products if you are a gaijin (foreigner).  Yes, FUNimation is doing their best to bring many new series here.  Even NIS, the guys popular for great anime games just got the rights for Toradora but even THEY can't get some well loved series here...and it ain't all about the money.

Being that most anime fans are computer literate, they easily get around the red tape but obviously, the large amount of pirating has also undermined the entire industry, killed entire anime companies and in fact probably prevented even better series from getting to the fans or ever created. Of course there are a large number of series that have been given the go and we can watch on Blu-ray, DVD or for free (legally) on sites like CrunchyRoll, YouTube and Hulu, but the industry seems to not understand how to profit (enough) from the new media paradigm.



The pirating is a problem with ALL electronic media in this internet age but to blame the internet trend and the pirating masses is only blaming half the problem.  The other half comes from the way anime shows and media content in general are passed around from the creators to the content creators/end-animators and to the licensees.  A map of it I believe was done by Anime News Network and I can't help but keep the word, clusterf$^% from leaving my brain.  The internet age now lets the people creating content to simply cut out the middleman and getting straight to the fans.  This has happened in the music industry, self-made fame on YouTube and recently in anime we have seen it with Cenceroll.  This straight-to-all-fans-worldwide marketing scheme is ticking off the old hats of the licensing world by both virally advertising videos to much more fans than the old way of throwing money at an advertiser would and (more importantly) creators are making far more money by ignoring localized licensing rules and just letting their creation go into the wild of the internet.  The internet is the great equalizer now; if something is good, it will grow via word of mouth. If it's not worthy, it won't get very far at all.  In other words, the success of say an anime, manga series, a music artist or any show in general is based on their talent  and the quality of the content and NOT whether a big name is behind them.

So, why the large rant, Chuck?  Well, as an anime fan, anime site webmaster and anime store owner, I see things both from the view of the fans and from the business point of view. The way shows like the Sailor Moon anniversary DVDs and K-On! figures + shows are being handled, is not very smart business at all.  The localization of certain titles is money lost for the content creators, unfair to the fans and only breeding more urge for fans to pirate meida and thus undermining the industry.

Notice I don't have ANY K-On! Figma figures for sale?  Well, that's because the licensing behind K-On! is so anti-foreign sales that they won't allow the legit stores to sell those figures...if you are an overseas seller.  Silly, right?  Actually, the licensees told Good Smile Company to not sell K-On! overseas.  I got word two weeks ago from the good people over at AAAanime.com that Good Smile Company was forced to limit the amount of K-On! items that go overseas and thus, if you pre-ordered items from a store not in Japan...chances are your K-On! Nendoroids aren't coming (or might simply be fake)  To people who bought from me, thankfully all is good, I have increasingly better relations with the wholesalers both in and outside of Japan.

I made a formal complaint to the licensees of K-On! about this through AAAanime.com and hopefully something good will come from it.  I know you guys want to see all Japan has to offer and I know you'd love to see shows like Sailor Moon and K-On! be on the TV, DVD, Blu-ray block in the states.  From a business standpoint, they might not want to allow a series to go to the states and probably fall short, thus losing sales and money but at the very least, K-On! and Sailor Moon (yep still to this day), as well as a few others are $ in the bank for all involved and for us fans...we just want to see them. The demand is there and with demand for content comes sales, business 101.

...
Discuss what you think the anime biz should do to both give us the series we want to see (outside Japan and legally) and to calm down the pirating crazies out there from destroying everything we love about anime.

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posted by princetrunks @ 10:00 AM


Thursday, February 11, 2010

K-on! - Nakano Azusa Alter Ver.


Just when you thought there was too much cuteness with the Nakano Azusa Nendoroid figure, Alter goes and announces a wonderfully cute 1/8th scale model her too.

Expected to come out some time in June or so, Nakano isn't as expensive as some of the other 1/8th scale figures but a price tag of $85-$90 still makes you wish the Yen was weak again and the US gets it's financial game back in gear (along with many other issues).

Still though, if you are like me, you will probably get one for yourself ^^ and yes, she's found in my store here for pre-order or you can reserve one by email with this link.

...
(btw, good to be back. Darn cold, the web work I do over at Berger-Bros.com, a crazy blizzard here in NY, as well as a boost in anime biz sales kept me from blogging. Obviously the latter I'm all for but the other stuff sure would be love if erased from my schedule for good. Anyways, more posts to come)

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posted by princetrunks @ 10:28 PM


Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Nendoroid Nakano Azusa


What a week. Been sick most of it (today included) and yesterday Danny Choo announced the new Nendoroid Nakano Azusa. Sadly, Good Smile Company decided to tell only HobbySearch and Amiami of this figure and they simply bought them all -_- and pre-orders were sold out...before even I could get dibs on them (another even madder face -_-).

Well, thankfully Good Smile Company just announced a second production release and I wasted no time in making sure MY STORE gets the rights to sell her too -_-.
...Yeah, there ARE other anime stores out there that are legit, guys.



Anyways, this is of course the Nendoroid figure of Nakano Azusa with her having the nekomimi ears as well. A very, very cute figure that even I will be keeping for me and my fiancee Danielle (she just melted from the cuteness when she saw it).

I reserved quite a few so you can go to her page in my store here. Be sure to chose "Cash/Money order" choice at the end so you don't have to pay via paypal until she arrives.

To get on an email list instead of using the store to later be billed when she arrives, instead of using the store...
Click here to email your pre-order reservation

Unless stated otherwise, unless something terrible happens, you are pretty much guaranteed to get one; but only if you act quickly. Once all the quantities that I ordered for the store are used up, the only chance you have of getting her is to hope for a cancellation from those before you.

This batch of Nakanos will be in some time in late June or so. For those lucky enough to pre-order from Amiami and HobbySearch, those will be in some time in May.

For those worried about bootlegs, be assure I DON'T EVER stock bootlegs...only the real deal. Still worried? Check the list of legit stores on Danny Choo's blog. My store won't be on that list till I pay for advertisement on his site, so it's why I'm not on that list yet -_-

After seeing the craziness behind anything K-ON!...why the hell the series isn't officially here in the states is beyond me.

Here's a great vid with clips of Azusa ^^



Here's some more pics of her:
 

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posted by princetrunks @ 9:51 AM


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

K-ON! Season 2




Thanks yet again to ANN for breaking the news on K-ON!  That's right, 2010 will have yet more Moe with this second season slated for a January 20th DVD/Blu Ray release (in Japan). Still wondering when we can watch K-ON! (legally) here in the state.  Fans are waiting and to the licensees...that's money down the drain.  I'm all for legal downloads to continue to help the industry but if you don't give the worldwide (particularly US) fans what they want...expect the pirating to continue.  Can't say I didn't warn them.

Anyways, check out the K-ON! official site here

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posted by princetrunks @ 5:26 PM


Monday, December 14, 2009

#MoeMonday 12/14/09



#MoeMonday (#MM) is back with this week's moe anime post. This image a wonderfully moe image of K-On!'s Mio. This one is a keeper.

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posted by princetrunks @ 11:23 AM


Monday, November 2, 2009

#MoeMonday 11/2/09

The #MM trend for us anime fans is #MoeMonday. To continue the trend of showing off moe images on Monday, here is this image of the week, the girls of K-on. They are making us here in NY wish it would be summer again soon -_-

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posted by princetrunks @ 10:00 AM


Monday, October 26, 2009

K-ON! Akiyama Mio Original Costume Ver. [Movic]


Just saw this wonderful Mio figure posted for reserve from one of my store's wholesalers mile-stone.jp Looks like it will be coming out in Japan some time in January.
For me in the states...probably later -_- but we'll see.

I will post to the store the instant I can officially reserve her for US sales

She's a 1/8th scale figure and will retail for 7140 JPY (~$85)

Big thanks to eyeonasia for most of the pics.













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posted by princetrunks @ 11:07 AM


Friday, August 21, 2009

Nendoroid: K-ON! - Yui Hirasawa


Of course I make sure to talk about Mio but let not forget Nendoroid Yui. Recently she became available for us USA anime retailers to pre-order...sadly though, looks as if her official US release won't be until Feb 2010 o_0. Darn it! Like anything K-On, we here in the West are getting the scraps...or of course using the power of the internet to bypass silly delays and red tape. As Sony just found out with the spike in sales of the PS3 Slim, you gotta just listen to the fans and customers. Hopefully Studio Blue gets that about the K-On! popularity here in the states -_-



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posted by princetrunks @ 1:02 PM


Sunday, August 16, 2009

K-ON! - Mio Akiyama 1/8 Scale Figure


Alter's Mio Akiyama figure has already been on the top of the pre-order list for many people for the past week and a half or so. I of course had to make her available for pre-order here in my shop. Alter's craftsmanship is stellar as they tend to be and like other Alter figures, expect the prototype to look practically identical to the final product. She's on my list to keep for myself as well ^o^...her official US release doesn't seem to be until January 2010 though -_-




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posted by princetrunks @ 6:47 PM


Friday, July 31, 2009

K-ON! Nendoroid Mio Akiyama



K-ON! and especially Mio fans (like myself) will be happy with this bit of news. Up for pre-order is the Good Smile Company Akiyama Mio Nendoroid figure. The official Japan release date will be some time in November, so for us anime fans here in the US, chances are December is when we'll have her officially released in our neck of the woods. If any of you have been keeping track on dannychoo.com, you knew this figure has been in the works. Hopefully we can see the other girls from K-ON! soon as well ^_^

(I made sure to put her in my store. Click here to go to the pre-order page or email my store's account to be put on a waiting list. She'll be at $39.99USD plus $5 shipping for local, US buyers. If you are overseas, shipping will be rougly $15-$20 or maybe cheaper.)

More pics of Mio:




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posted by princetrunks @ 11:15 AM


Thursday, May 21, 2009

Anime Pic Of the Day: 5/21/09


Ok, this is not such a new picture and it's been publicized on a number of anime sites. Just thought I'd add it to list of favorite anime pics. It's the famous "Mio-Beam" pic featuring K-On!'s Mio in a maid dress firing an insane beam. You gotta admit..the picture is freaken cool and goes well with Mikuru's "Mikuru Beam" ^_^

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posted by princetrunks @ 12:44 PM


Thursday, May 14, 2009

K-ON! Music


Good news for you K-ON! fans. Looks as if Playlist.com has both the "Cagayake! GIRLS" and the "Don't Say Lazy" singles by Aki Toyosaki & co. from the K-ON! opening and ending sequences. Naturally I added them to the Anime.fm Anime Playlist and the anime music section here on CAS. If I can get a hold of the whole Cagayake! GIRLS CD, I'll be sure to post it up in my store. Gotta give the music artists their dues of course.

Enjoy K-ON! fans ^_^.

(Update: Added the Anime.fm widget below...if you don't want to travel to Anime.fm or the Music section of this site)



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posted by princetrunks @ 5:40 PM


Tuesday, May 5, 2009

K-ON!


I'm a little late on the scene but the current fad in Japan and us otaku right now is the new hit show K-ON! Already the show's opening song "Cagayake! GIRLS" has reached #2 in the Japanese charts. at a quick glance you can see that the show was animated by the same people who brought us Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star (Kyoto animation). The opening (seen below) is just wonderfully done and proof that only Japan does animation best.


The story of K-On! revolves around four high school girls who are trying to keep the music club they are a part of from going away. Not only are they the only ones in the group, their one member Yui never played instruments nor does she know how to read music ^^;;



A must for any anime fan and you know for certain DVDs, figures and more will be on their way.



K-ON! Opening


K-ON! Closing

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posted by princetrunks @ 5:04 PM


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