Ahoi Shonen!! JUMP SHOP in Kourakuen, Tokyo

Jump Shop Kourakuen

 Love manga classics like Dragonball, Naruto and One Piece? Well then the Kourakuen Jump Shop will be your place to go. Right next to the TOKYO DOME AMUSEMENT PARK is where you can take a picture with some of your favourite Anime/Manga heros and shop yourself mad on Jump merchandise.









I stumbled upon it rather by accident, but the fact that you can take a Kame-hame-ha picture with Goku was just too tempting to let it pass.

KAMEHAMEHAAAAA

While many stores in Japan are quite strict (and often a real pain) about taking pictures in their stores, the Jump shop is a lot more lenient and it was a pure delight to take some snaps of the sparkly goods.

They sell pretty much everything from the shonen jump francise, from "classics" to newer pieces  and for all audiences - from sparkly necklaces to boobie-mousepads.

If you just want a fancy drink then they also have some special anime designed bottles in the shape of Dragonball characters and more.

 At the back are also some Crane Catchers. If you want to make a whole day out of it then you can get your ticket to the Tokyo Dome Amusement park right on the opposite of the Jump store and ride their Jetcoaster that even dashes through a hole in the near shopping center.

With a Jump Shop and "J-world indoor Amusement Park" in Ikebukuro, Jump is having more and more exciting attractions near the Ikebukuro Area. It was a nice find and a good chance to get your Kamehamehas out :)
X
CAT

Colourful&Collectible: Japanese Anime themed sweets

Who doesn't love sweets?! What's even more exciting are sweets that are anime themed or that do collaborations with famous anime series or characters. Let me show you some of the sweet, cute and collectible edibles I got while in Japan!

Morinaga brought out chocolate wavers in the Miku Hatsune Design! The sweets are fairly basic, but the package and cards were Vocaloid themed! Each package contains 1 of 18 collectible cards. Mine was of Rin and had a see through pattern. The artist's style was pretty awesome too.

Galbo did a convenience store Anime collaboration special. If you bought two of their sweets, you got a free sticker of "Natsume's book of friends" to stick onto your monthly suica train card (not the normal ones though). The sticker can be used for other purposes as well. The sweets are green tea or strawberry covered chocolate bits that claim they don't melt in the summer sun!

Coolest collaboration that month was the Madoka Magica Movie special. Buying two of the campaign sweets in a convenience store, you could receive a free clear file of either of the characters. I got one pack of Madoka themed candies (right hand side) that contain one sticker (bottom right). The collaboration was so popular that the stores ran out of the files pretty quickly though. By the time I arrived, Sayaka was the only one left, so I was lucky I got one at all.

If you go to a convenience store in Tokyo, it's always good to check if there are Anime offers or collaborations running at the time. You might get some rare goodies of your favourite anime! Family Mart is known for its Miku Hatsune items, but they are usually not on a special offer but rather just rare designs (they are quite pricey though).
If there are free collaboration items, just make sure that the things you pick are actually included in the offer. If you pick the wrong sweets, you might not get the item you wanted!

That's it for today! Thanks for reading!
Stay sweet

x
Cat

Giveaway of Japanese goodies!

Cute Japanese goodies, Pokémon plushies, Lolita fashion accessories, Anime merchandise and lots of other cute little things I brought back from Japan: The new video is up!

I will now also do giveaway for Xmas and you have the chance to win one of the four prices.
Check out my HAUL video to know more:


I decided to also do a giveaway specifically for my Blog!

I picked a random selection of sweet things that I like, for you to win:
Decorated Tissues, Swimmer CDR, Hello Kitty Lash Case, Kewpie Pen,
2 Erasers, Chocolate comb, Cake reflector, Bear keyring, bracelet

Steps to join the BLOG PRIZE of Cute Japanese Goodies

1) Please be subscribed to my youtube channel of course :)

2) Like my Facebook (Feel free to enter if you don't have Facebook)

3) Follow my Blog via Friend connect
It's easy. Just supply the email address that you use for your youtube, or other services, and you will show up on my friend list

4) Please comment: What do you want for Christmas?

Full details are on my Youtube channel video so please check it out.

I am looking forward to hearing what things you would like to have for Christmas! Is it a hug, a partner, a present, more time, karate skills, magic power? I wonder!

I can tell you what I want, I want a means to travel to different places instantly.

That way I could deliver all packages and Christmas cards like that in person and meet you all!!

Hope you have a lovely end of the weekend and a fun start into next week!

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Love

x

Cat

How to turn yourself into a Manga - Otaku Camera!

 

 If you are like me, and you like manga, then sooner or later you will have picked up a pen and tried to draw (insert favorite manga/anime character of your choice) or, well, yourself.
Now, for all those who terribly failed at the drawing yourself part, there is now an App for that.
It's called Otaku Camera

My Friend Lo. Caption: "Ugaaa"

 I had just found an app that made it possible to enlarge eyes on a taken photograph and decided to give my friend Lo the Anime-eye treatment. Lo did a counter combo with a manga picture of herself (see picture on the left). That's how I started venturing deeper into the Google Play store to find that certain app.

That hair would be awesome for Hime Lolita!

Otaku camera is one of the largest mangafy-yourself apps with 1,000,000+ download. Currently, in certain selected countries, if you buy a toothpase you get a code that enables you to have free Kyari Pamyu Pamyu frames. Nice one.

 Well, for all those other ones, there are a few selectable frames, and the rest you can pick and download from online.

Villain Google Plus being wanted for: Forceful behavior on innocent youtubers and stealing my bed

I first decided to give me character Google Plus the Manga treatment.

 

Probably best matching shot of the day.

Original picture

 I then picked a picture of me and my friend plushy carrot and tried to work out more of the extra frames.

I had to download some more minutes and then I was good to mangafy me and mister carrot.

You can select how dark you want the picture to be and how much of the original will be visible with two bars on the bottom screen. The more you add of your original picture, the less manga-like you will look though.

 Playing around with those two bars, make a change, but sometimes it's better to just re-take the picture to make sure you got the right lighting. Especially for the hair pieces, it's advisable to re-take picture until your head fits in the frame.

Nicer effects if used with other picture apps

 All in all, it was a good laugh using Otaku Camera, but the features are limited to only a very few frames, which is surprising because Otaku Camera is one of the largest manga-fy-yourself apps on the market. This unfortunately means that using the app can get a boring soon, after you've shared a couple of pictures and had a laugh. But it's free and Lo and I definitely had a good time using it.

Lo superpuuunch!

SUMMARY

OTAKU CAMERA APP REVIEW 
(as on the 16.11.2013)

Price: Currently for free

Downloads: 1,000,000+

Available: Google Play Store and Iphone store




  

PLUS:

Easy to use, easy to share

Can bring out fantastic effects if photo fits into the frames

MINUS:

A very limited amount of frames

pictures might have to get re-taken several times to fit into frames

some frames expire after certain dates

VERDICT:

Free and fun, but hopefully will be updated with more frames

 


So that's it for today!
Tomorrow is SUNDAY which means there will be a video up!
I hope you are all looking forward to it, I am looking forward to your comments! Don't let google plus troll you!

Love
x
Cat

Meanwhile in Japan - Totoro and the Ghibli Museum

Meanwhile in Japan...

I've met my neighbour Totoro at the Bus stop in Ikebukuro the other day, and he recommended me to go to the Ghibli Museum Mitaka. He's cool like that, Totoro is.

If you always wanted to know how a perfect fairytale Europe looks like, you should visit Japan. Why? The Ghibli Museum Mitaka is designed with Europe as inspiration (as in many of Miazaki's films), made by a creative mastermind and embodies so many things the fascinating worlds of studio Ghibli stand for. 

Just like Alice in Wonderland you are invited to get lost in the wonderland of animation, art, stories and nature. There are no strict rules on how to venture through the museum, as there isn't one way to look at the marvels inside. There are no time limits (apart from the times of the mini-films) and you can roam the area to your heart's content once you've entered.

Why hello Totoro!

Once inside you will find yourself embraced by a real wonderland of all sorts. Animation techniques and lenses are explained, original sketches and illustrations from Mister Miyazaki are displayed, cute and elegant pieces of art are all across the area. Part Museum, part European house, part play zone, part exploration, part movie theatre, part magical is the Ghibli Museum.

Look closer and you will see the museum's crest

 

Even if you are not an adamant Anime fan, you will still come to enjoy your journey out to elegant Mitaka. If you are one with a love for detail, a soft spot for fairytale and animation, a day out there will be a real experience for you. I always take a whole day off, just so I can take all the sights and details in. Don't rush yourself, there is often much more to see, once you dare to look twice.

And indeed, this cat will remind you maybe of Kiki's delivery service and was just sitting on a tab near the outside restaurant.

If you dare to stop and wonder, you will start to see your surroundings with the eyes of a young explorer again.

Guess what this could be?

A house?

An UFO?

A piece of art?

It's a water fountain for drinking water to stop your thirst during your day out.

These and many other delicate little pices of art,

that are reminiscent of Miazaki's breath and style,

can be found all across the museum.

IF YOU WANT TO GO:

You will need to make a reservation BEFORE going to the Ghibli Museum. Some travel agencies offer help with booking, which might be helpful if you are only there for a week, as you might not be able to get places at short notice. The Ghibli museum is a very popular place to go, so book on the first to avoid disappointment. If you are in Japan for a longer time, you should try and reserve tickets on the first of the month. You can reserve the tickets at LAWSON convenience stores so maybe ask the attendants if they can help you if can't read Japanese.

You are also not allowed to take pictures inside the building, only outside, what explains my choice of pictures.

Dare to look twice, take your time and explore, while finding back to your inner child.

No matter how old you are, it's not too late to believe in fairytales.

The museum's webpage is HERE if you are interested.

 Love

x

Cat