In a nutshell.. am trying to make this website as user friendly and as possible so that people will enjoy visiting here. Thinking of implementing a forum so kuji-an.com can grow into a decent otaku community.

Main principle for now is: simple = good.

Character displayed above is Nanami Yume of dannychoo.com, more info about her can be found here.

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope Santa brings you all the otaku goodies you asked for!

Been working with my macbook for roughly 3 weeks now and figured I’d share what kind of apps I’ve been using on a daily bases. Been playing around with a few but most of them got deleted and I’m pretty much set now. If you’d happen to notice that I’m not using a cool app you know of then feel free to drop me a line with the contact page! On to the apps! Note that I didn’t list them in any particular order. Just the first ones that came to mind! ^^;

Firefox

http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/

Tried working with Safari for a while but for some reason I keep coming back to firefox over and over again. Maybe it’s because it’s an awesome and reliable browser that so far never seems to fail or maybe I’ve grown accustomed to it. Either way, everyone needs a web browser and Firefox suits my needs perfectly. What web browser do you use?

Thunderbird

http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-GB/thunderbird/

I never really used an e-mail client before when I was using windows. Never really saw a need for it, msn messenger always notified me as soon as I got mail but when I switched to mac OSX and ditched windows live messenger for Adium, which doesn’t have e-mail  notification I noticed it becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of my e-mail. My cousin who is almost a big of a mozilla fanboy as I am recommended I check out Thunderbird and now it’s one of the first programs I launch after switching my beloved macbook on

Adium

http://adium.im/

Not a whole lot to say about this application except that it’s an open source multi-protocol instant messaging client for Mac OS X. Basically every messenger you’ve ever seen into 1 application. I personally use it for Facebook and Msn chats ^^;
Handy if you have a lot of friends all using different systems (ICQ, MSN, AIM, Facebook, … just off the top of my head) and not only is it simple to use but the interface can be entirely adjusted to your needs! dock icons, sound sets etc…

those intrested in my settings, I switched the birdie dock icon for the stormtrooper helmet and am using the Madome Nanami sound set. which can be found here:

Madome Nanami sound set: http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=7283
Stormtrooper dock icon: http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=6712

iCal

Comes free with mac OSX, been messing around with it and quite frankly it’s the best organiser I’ve ever had. I love the way it integrates with the dashboard! Enough said.

Microsoft Word 2008

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.mspx

Yes, I could be using iWork instead of microsoft office but I’ve noticed my lay out’s getting screwed up when using compability mode, fonts not matching page formats getting lost etc.. kind of a pain in the ass if you’re working on a lot of school projects so I caved, apologized to my wallet and got the cheapest version of Office I could find.

Microsoft Powerpoint 2008

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.mspx

Same issue as with word. Kind of HAD to get it for school purposes as I have a LOT of presentations that I have to do. Although I have resorted to just plugging in my mac on the beamer. Powerpoint came with the office package. iWork’s Keynote does seem nicer and easier to work with but why buy 2 office suites? My wallet already dislikes me as it is, wouldn’t wanna piss it off even further!

VLC Media Player

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

It plays -EVERYTHING- enough said. Go get it, you won’t be disappointed!

As I have explained in one of my previous posts, I will be commuting a lot (in fact, i’m commuting around almost 3 hours on a daily bases). So what better way to keep busy on the train than to buy a macbook pro so one can blog and work while on the road?

Have purchased the 13 inch version with the following  specs: intel core duo 2, 4GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive, SD card slot, NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics.

Have loved mac ever since I got to try out the older iMac G5 iSight my mom lent me but this little puppy brings my love for apple products on a whole new level! Have purchased some accessories along with it, namely the apple remote and VGA adapter so I can hook up my macbook at school on the beamers and give a decent presentation for once. Blasted school computers always find a way to screw you over. Either by a means of freezing up to the point of no return, not opening presentations or simply by screwing up your entire slideshow due to “compability issues” (they really need to update their software). It always ends up in me and other students having to do our presentation a couple days late and it started annoying the crap out of me. One prepares for a presentation and just wants to get it over with! Not postpone it.

Also working on my very first GIP assignment. Given by our Geography teacher so be sure to tune in later this week for the first installment in the Japan Section!

Ragnarok DS, how could a former Ragnarok Online player resist playing this RPG? I sure couldn’t. More info on Ragnarok Online can be found here: http://iro.ragnarokonline.com
More info on Ragnarok DS can be found here: http://www.ragnarokds.com/

On to the DS variant!

First, let’s have a quick look at the trailer shall we?

*claps hands* simply awesome. Was a bit awkward to play at first using the DS Stylus but like anything else you get used to it. Personally I’m a bit saddened by the lack of the 2-2 job classes as my favorite classes are Sage and Rogue but.. unfortunately there’s nothing to be done about it. 2 new classes, Dark Knight and Shaman,  have been added which become accessible once you complete the game.

In Ragnarok DS you start out as “Ales” the main character (though the name can be edited when you first start playing the game) and a Novice in the world of Rune Midgard. Soon enough you hook up with Sierra, a Shaman who has amnesia and begin the story. Ales aims to be a great adventurer and travels the world with Sierra meeting new companions to join your party, and later on your guild.

I’m still dabbeling early on in the game so reviewing it would be impossible, however so far it does not disappoint! More so, it promises to get even better as Mirage Tower comes along, which is a multiplayer dungeon! ^^

The only downside of this awesome game is that it’s making me want to play Ragnarok Online yet again ^^;
Will probably restart Ragnarok Online once I have my macbook and the time and funding to do so :3

It was this or the new XL version and quite frankly I want my handheld consoles to be as compact as possible. Opted for the nintendo DSi over a sony psp because ehh… well, the rpg selection and amount of anime related games looks decent and.. well back in the day I used to be a huge Ragnarok Online addict and when I heard about Ragnarok DS I just had to purchase the game + a nintendo DSi !

More about Ragnarok DS can be found here.

Purchased Ayaka-chan many moons ago on archonia.com. Took me until now to actually write up a post about her, will do so for other already purchased figures as well! She was an inexpensive cute figure and I just couldn’t resist. Impulse buy, but totally worth it! ^^;

Click for more pictures of Ayaka-chan!

Ayaka-chan is from the original “To Heart” game, more info about the character itself can be found here.

Had originally purchased Ayaka-chan because she was a bargain, not because she was a must have and thus did not expect high quality. Imagine my surprise when I unpacked her and was absolutely stunned by her!  Seamlines are barely visible, the level of detail is amazing and the paintjob is very well done.

Figure info

• Sculpted by Tomoki Maeda
• Produced by Kotobukiya back in 1999
• 1/8 scale (Stands about 16 cm tall)
• Price: ¥3,480 (I bought her as low as 18 euros ^^; told you it was a bargain)

Couldn’t find her on archonia.com anymore, which is not surprising seeing how long ago I purchased her. BUT! Should you still be interested in giving Ayaka-chan a home then you can adopt her at hlj.com!

After browsing figure.fm today I noticed that a LOT of people posted their anime harem and after seeing a couple I felt like making my own, harem so here it is! These are by no means my all time favorites, just my spur of the moment favorites. Notice how 3 of them are from Queen’s Blade? That’s because I’ve just watched the anime ^^;
Will maybe make an all time favorites harem one day but I don’t have a clue as to who I wanna put in that harem right now. Not sure if Mirai from dannychoo.com really counts … but there is an anime in the making so .. why not? ^^; they’re not organized in any particular order. For example, I like Chii better than Shigure but Shigure is posted higher up.

First row, left to right:

• Mirai Suenaga – Chinka
• Izumi Konata – Lucky star
• Nanael – Queen’s Blade
• Lucy Heartfilia – Fairy Tail

Second row, left to right:

• Listy “risty” – Queen’s Blade
• Echidna – Queen’s Blade
• Kosaka Shigure – History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi
• Erza Scarlet – Fairy Tail

Third row, left to right:

• Teresa of the Faint Smile – Claymore
• Rangiku Matsumoto – Bleach
• “Thief Cat” Nami – One Piece
• Chii – Chobits

Sadly, when I lost most of the posts from my database the post about Nozomi-san got deleted as well! So here’s a small repost with different pictures than last time. Top page photo is my absolute favorite of them all though! She looks simply stunning there.

And now, as promised here’s Nozomi Sasaki. She’s a Japanese fashion model and gravure idol from Akita prefecture. Nozomi-chan started as a teen model when she won two modeling competitions Young Jump’s GYARUKON Grand Prix 2005 and Princess Pinky Grand Prix 2006. She has been featured many times as fashion model for Pinky magazine though she has also been featured Young Jump, Up To Boy, Weekly Playboy, Sabra, Bidan and some fashion catalogs .

She has also appeared in several TV commercials for CHERICHE perfume, POLA cosmetics, Sokenbicha Tea 爽健美茶 (Coca Cola), NTT Do Co Mo, Sony Internet SO-Net and Kate Ruber jewellery, a music video for Jpop group Aqua Timez and besides wanting to be a successful model, her future plan is to have an acting or TV career. She co hosts TVMX’s Entertainment Audition show Garimpeiro ガリンペイロeX and Wowwow’s UEFA Euro 2008 soccer coverage.

information source: got most of it here.

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Our comrades over at Tsunacon are proudly presenting their 3rd big annual event around modern and traditional Japanese culture!

General info:

Name: Tsunacon 2011
Alternative name: Tsunacon 3
Organized by: Tsunacon Foundation (Stichting Tsunacon in dutch)
Theme: To be anounced!
Date: Sunday 30th of Januari 2011
Location: De Lockhorst, Sliedrecht (The Netherlands)
Time: 10:00-20:00
Tickets: € 12,50
Website: http://www.tsunacon.nl/
Contact: contact@tsunacon.nl

For more info about activities, ticket sales, etc.. click read more!

Theme

Has not been chosen yet but our comrades at the Tsunacon Foundation have promised to update us as soon as they have more info! You can of course expect a follow up post on this one as soon as more info is released!

Activities

From Anime till Zen, all activities at Tsunacon center around Japanese culture! Every year they try to make their conventions as informative and as fun as possible by brainstorming on ideas given to them by the visitors as well as volunteers. Yet the classics remain: AMV competition, cosplay contest and the 10 for Akihabara quiz are of course availble in the 2011 edition!

Should you, whether it be by yourself or with your group, have any ideas or concepts of anything and everything that’d fit at this convention than feel free to contact them at the above mentioned e-mail adress!

Ticket Sales

The costs of the ticket remains the same for the entire period, just like the year before. Whether you pre-order them online or buy them on site you will pay around €12,50 for a ticket to go to this convention. Pre-ordering can be done on the Tsunacon website (pre-order page lives here). 200 tickets are put aside for the special night at Selexyz Donner (where you can only pay cash). Ticket sales on site are only available if there are tickets left (gone=gone). So pre-ordering is certainly advised!

Location

Tsunacons 3rd edition will be held at the “zalencentrum de Lockhorst” at “Sliedrecht”. It is located around the A15 between Gorinchem and Rotterdam, at a walking distance from the trainstation and bus stop. There’s also free parking available should you come by car!

Vendors, partners and sponsors

Tsunacon tries to offer as much as possible for as cheap as possible for folks interested in having their own booth at their convention. Feel like selling your doujinshi or showing off your 1337 skills and are Otaku your target audience? Then Tsunacon is the place to be, they prodive a lot of space with plenty of room to walk around and are happy to share that space with business ventures and advertising! The informationpackage with prices and possibilities will be available on request on the Tsunacon website starting from April/May.

Volunteers

The convention and organisation is done entirely by volunteers. They can certainly use all the help they can get. So if you’re motivated, have a passion for Japanese culture or if you just want to meet new people with similar hobbies in a fun way? Then rush over to the Tsunacon website and apply for a position as volunteer!

Regular volunteers can be found on the board, management and staff. Temporary volunteers will become special crewmembers, crewmembers or security. You can start applying for crew/security in August!