Charlotte's Got ME AHHHHH!

If you want detailed instructions on how to get there, you can leave me a comment, and I’ll tell you.

The cafe is fully themed to fit the anime from the food to all the decorations.  What’s more?  The cafe encourages you to take pictures of everything, since it brings in more people!

Mami Soulgem Drink

Some shots of the cafe itself.

There are also a tons of artwork on display.

Of course there’s always merchandising

As always, for more pictures, check out the gallery!

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Sengoku Nadeko is one of the heroines of an anime/light novel series called Bakemonogatari by an author who goes by the name NisiOisiN.  I think it’s safe to say that this is one of Good Smile Company’s finest creations yet.

Her legs are normally cut at the knee to give you the impression that she’s knee-deep in water, but you can give her back her tasty legs if you so desire.

You can't even tell that the legs are detachable.

And to finish off!

Wonder Festival is an event that happens twice a year, once in January and once in July.  It’s a bit like Comiket except the focus is on figures and independent figures as opposed to art and books.  Though due to limited quantities, things sell out even faster than at Comiket.  Tons of planning and rushing is needed if you want to acquire what you want.

Thankfully, all I wanted were photos though!  I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Figures!

Cosplayers!

Yep, there are cosplayers at Wonderfes too!

As usual, all the extra pictures are in the gallery below!

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She's here with the stationary!

Let’s get the standard front, back, left and right shots out of the way.

Ok now for the interesting part.  Sorry that most of these are portrait instead of landscape.

PANCHIRA!

Hmm, nice stationary

In my defense, this song was never released as a single.  It was released with a magazine called Aoharu as their magazine “theme songs”.  Yes, in Japan everything has a theme song, even magazines.  This song will be included in their second album that will be out some time in February.

I translated the lyrics because I love Supercell that much, and now it’s time to spread the word!

Japanese Lyrics:

(Lyrics taken from Nico Nico Douga)

友達と喋ってるその子の笑顔はあまりに可憐で
その姿は思い描いた漫画のヒロインのようだ
ひとめ見て恋に落ちた
ホンキのホンキで好きになった
でもね　僕の容姿じゃ
きっと嫌われてしまう

ほらまただ　くすくす笑う声
いいんだ　そんなの慣れっこだから
忘れてしまえ　だけど胸は張り裂けそうだ

少年はそして出会う
それはきっと偶然じゃなくて願った
キミに出会えますように
何万回だって願おういつか必ず！
けれど人はそんな奇跡
信じられるわけないと言った

少女たちはささやいた
「あの子さっきからこっち見てる
なんなのあれ　気味悪いわ
近づかないでネクラさん」
すみませんそんなつもりじゃ……
うつむく僕に彼女の声
「私この人知ってる！」
周りは唖然　僕も呆然

「見ちゃったんだな　あの机の絵をね
全部キミが描いてたりするの？」
ああ！また笑われる
だけどキミは
「ああいうの好きなんです」

少年はそして出会う
たとえ何億何万光年離れていようがさ
絶対惹かれ合うから
そこにどんな障害があっても
乗り越えていく
それを運命と呼ぶなら
彼はまさにヒーローだ

だけどその日僕は見たんだ
一人目をはらし泣くキミを
僕はなんて無力なんだろう
いいや　彼女は何て言った？
疑うな　自分の存在を
少女は救いを待ってる

「強がりでホントは泣き虫で
えっとこれって　まるで私みたい」
やっと笑った！喜ぶ僕の前で
ぽろりぽろりと泣き出す彼女
どうしたらいい！？
キミは言ったんだ
「ありがとう」って

少年はキミと出会い
生きる意味を知るんだ
嘘じゃない　ホントさ
そしてキミを守る騎士になる
いつかきっとね
彼の左手には彼女の右手
ぎゅっと握って離しはしないから

そして僕はキミに出会う

English Translation:

Lyrics:
That girl’s smiling face as she talked to her friends looked so pitiful.
She looked almost like a heroine from a manga.
I fell in love at first sight.
I really really loved her.
But, with my appearance,
she would definitely hate me.

Oh look, they’re giggling again.
It’s fine.  I’m used to this already.
I tell myself to forget it, but my chest feels like it’s going to burst.

Then the boy met her.
I prayed that our meeting was not a coincidence.
I prayed that we could meet again.
I prayed tens of thousands of times that we must meet again one day.
But everyone who heard about this miracle,
said there was no way they could believe it.

The girls whispered amongst themselves,
“That boy has been looking over since a little while ago,
What’s that about, how creepy.
I wish he wouldn’t come over here.”
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way…
As I sunk my head in shame, I heard her voice,
“I know him!”
Everyone was stunned.  I was shocked.

“I saw them.  Those pictures on the desk, did you draw them all?
Ah!  I’m being laughed at again!
But you just said,
“Ah, I like that kind of thing.”

Then the boy met her.
No matter how many millions of light years it feels like we are seperated by,
We will definitely be drawn to each other.
No matter what obstacles are there,
I will overcome them.
This is what you call destiny.
He was what you could call a hero.

But that day, I saw you.
You were crying all alone,
I realized how powerless I was.
No. What did she say?
Don’t doubt your own existence!
She is waiting for her savior.

“You pretend to be strong, but you’re really a crybaby,
Um… you’re almost like me.”
Yes!  You laughed! In front of the joyful me,
You, who were crying buckets,
What do I do!?
But you said,
“Thank You.”

The boy learned the meaning of life,
from their meeting.
It’s no lie, it’s the truth.
And I will become a knight to protect you.
One day, I will be.
The boy’s left hand held the girl’s right hand,
so very tightly, because they were never letting go.

And so, I met you.

Lyrics in Romaji:

(Transliterating is such a pain in the ass, especially when you can read the kanji):

Tomodachi to shabeteiru
Sono ko no egao wa amari ni karen de
Sono sugata wa omoi egaita
Manga no heroine no you da
Hitome mite koi ni ochita
Honki no honki de suki ni natta
Demo ne boku no mitekure ja
kitto kirawareteshimau

Hora mata da kusukusu warau koe
Iin da sonna no narekko dakara
Wasurete shimae

Dakedo
Mune wa hari sake sou da
Shounen wa soshite deau
Sore wa kitto guuzen nanka janakute negatta
Kimi ni deae masu you ni
Nanman kai datte negaou
Itsuka kanarazu!
Keredo hito wa sonna kiseki
Shinjirareru wake nai to itta

Shoujotachi wa sasayaita
“Ano ko sakki kara kocchi miteru
Nanna no are kimiwarui wa
Chikazukanai de nekurasan”
Sumimasen sonna tsumori ja……
Utsumuku boku ni kanojo no koe
“Watashi kono hito shitteru!”
Amari wa azen boku mo bouzen

“Michattan da na ano tsukue no e wo ne
Zenbu kimi ga kaitetari suru no?”
Aa! Mata warawareru

Dakedo
Kimi wa “Aa iu no suki nan desu”
Shounen wa soshite deau
Tatoe nan oku nan man kounen hanarete iyou ga sa
Zettai hikare au kara
Soko ni donna
Shougai ga atte mo
Norikoeteiku sore wo unmei to yobu nara
Kare wa masa ni hero da!

Dakedo sono hi boku wa mitanda
Hitori me wo harashi naku kimi wo
Boku wa nante muryoku nan darou
Ii ya kanojo wa nante itta?
Utagau na jibun no sonzai wo
Shoujo wa sukui wo matteiru

“Tsuyogari de honto wa nakimushi de
Etto korette maru de watashi mitai”
Yatto waratta! yorokobu boku no mae de
Porori porori to naki dasu kanojo doushitara ii!?

Kimi wa
Ittanda “Arigatou”tte
Shounen wa kimi to deai
Ikiru imi wo shirunda
Uso janai honto sa
Soshite kimi wo mamoru kishi (naitou) ni naru
Itsuka kitto ne
Kare no hidari te ni wa kanojo no nigi te
Gyutto nigitte hanashi wa shinai kara

Soshite boku wa kimi ni de au

Pretty self explanatory post!  Why are Japanese cosplayers so much better than their North American counterparts?

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Corporate stuffs

Commercial Items!

I guess we’ll start with the special highlights from corporate!

Chogkin Miku and a EFS 50mm F1.4 lens!

Next we have…

An Angel Beats Bag!

I also got…

VN02 Miku + BRS Limited Box

Also, I got a nendoroid Dead Master!

Nendoroid Dead Master? YAY!

And last item, a Razer Orochi!

O wait, I still have 2 epic wall scrolls.

I never really liked baseball, but maybe I should give it another try

Akatsuki no Goei! Post it note to make it seem like it's worse than it actually is .

Doujin Items!

Highlights are….

To those who already know what this is, it has incredible value. To those who don't, it's probably worthless.

This is for you Woxxy!

A photography doujin of a guy as he takes his Miku nendroid everywhere. I'm in!

All the ero is also hidden under the pile!  Which unfortunately is what most of the circles I follow produce.

Let’s start with a bunch of pictures from Tokyo Tower.

And there’s plenty of Akiba too.

The rest of the photos are in the album below.

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How to get there:

Well first things first, let me supply some directions to Toyosato Primary School in case other people haven’t been clear enough on the subject already.  The school is located in Toyosato, Shiga prefecture.  Google maps location here.

View Larger Map

Getting there is actually rather simple, but very time consuming and will set you back about 1,800 yen.

1. Get to Nagoya via your method of choice.  Shinkansen, night bus, local train, express train, anything is fine.

2. Transfer to JR Tokaido Line or the JR東海道本線 heading towards Minoakasaka or 美濃赤坂.

3. After a 3o minute ride, get off at Ogaki or 大垣　and transfer to a train that goes towards towards Osaka or 大阪.

3. Get off at the station named Maibara or 米原.

4. Almost there, but not quite.  Next, transfer to one of the most rickety looking rail services in Japan, the Ohmi rail.  So sketchy, that they don’t even have enough staff to man all their stations.  Their trains only come once an hour so if you miss, you’re out of luck.

The Ohmi rail

5. Finally, get off at Toyosato after another 20 minute ride.  Congratulations, you’re there!

Middle of nowhere! Hell's yea!

What You May See There:

Depending on the time of day, the first thing that you may notice when you arrive is the atmosphere, an abundance of cosplayers, and a lot of otaku.

I think they're missing a person!

Cosplayers aplenty.

The school is BYOC. "Bring your own cosplayer", but alas I am a sneaky stalker.

Of course, where you have cosplayers, you also have creepy photographers.

I don't think I'll ever lie on the ground for the sake of a picture.

The girl you see in the bottom left of this picture pretty much exemplifies what most of the photographers there were like.  They are extremely passionate about K-ON but will not cosplay themselves.  They wait until a cosplayer of their favorite character shows up, promptly mob them, and start snapping shots (usually with permission).  They’re usually well versed enough in the material that they sometimes even teach the cosplayers what poses would be ideal.

The Yui Maid Cafe serves as a gathering of otaku from all over Japan

In the above picture, you can see the guy trying to photograph a Ritsu nendroid, and some otakus showing each other their K-ON merchandise in the middle all while consuming some absolutely terrible and expensive, but K-ON themed food.

The town is also extremely invested in this whole K-ON business in an effort to milk the cow for what it’s worth.  They even went so far as to replace all the signs for their crosswalks with K-ON characters.

Even the bread store is infected!

Also, plenty of Toyosato limited K-ON goods, but since I’m broke I settled for one of their keychains.

God the iPhone 4 camera is terrible.

I think that just about covers everything I saw in that day trip to Toyosato.  I hope you enjoyed my coverage and come back for more!  Also, do leave me comments if you can!

Final picture!

Gamer's Special Edition Package

Facing stiff competition from different retailers and online retailers like Amazon, most brick and mortar otaku stores in Japan have attempted to differentiate themselves by offering different exclusive goods on top of the generic product that all the retailers are offering.  In Gamer’s case, they’ve decided to offer a giant tapestry, a 2011 calender, 2 B2 sized posters, a tote bag, an extra setting book on top of the the information book that comes with the normal package.  Their package is probably the most comprehensive this time around (much better than the barebones that AmiAmi is offering), so I decided to go with them even if it meant paying a premium.

Let’s start with the B2 posters.

Opening the box we get:

The tapestry, the calender, the bluray box itself, and the plastic tubes for hanging up the tapestry and some instructions.

Opening the Blu-ray box gives us:

A page from the setting book that comes with the the default box set too, I think.

And then there’s the extended special edition book.