Wet Calamari

It looks like 2008 is going to be a bumper year for anime events in Singapore! First we had the inaugural Singapore Toy and Comic Convention, and now we have the Anime Festival Asia in November! According to their press conference, there will be 6 experience zones, aimed at everyone from the hobbyist to industry members. In addition Koji Morimoto (Studio 4oC) has just been confirmed as a speaker during the event. Here're the details. Date: 22-23 November 2008 (Saturday and Sunday) Opening Hours: 10.00am to ... Read More

Natsu Matsuri season is here again, and there'll be swarms of people using yukatas at the Japanese School soon. Be prepared for an influx of criticism in local forums if your photo appears and you've got your yukata on left to right, or back to front, or upside down. But now you can avoid over-zealous Singapore fashion police by watching these youtube videos showing how to get it right. Vid 1 Vid 2 Want more? There's a step-by-step guide with photos here. And another one ... Read More

Today I present something a little different - street fashion direct from London. Ho hum, you say, but the way it's presented is so much like everyone's favorite street fashion mag from Japan, Fruits. In fact, London fashion is at times even more gaudy and chaotic than that of Japan! Visit londonstreetfashion now! And here's something on a similar note - a  New York fashion blog. Now who says Japan is the only place with the coolest stuff? Read More

Lisa Black is an artist who melds taxidermy and clockwork steampunk-inspired sculptures in her work. The results are... disturbing but strangely calming. She's been featured in numerous magazines and her work is really inspirational. Check out her portfolio here. Now where did I put all my old clock parts? Read More

[Via Robot Watch] It's not often that we get to see life-size mecha (Remember that 'almost life-sized' Fujita Z gundam from years back), and this one's really amazing. VOTOMS is a series that features humanoid mecha slightly larger than humans, with an emphasis on realism. They don't fly and they lumber across the ground slowly, or on wheels. That lends itself nicely to 'what-if-it-really-existed' scenarios in the real world, and Japanese ironsmith Kogoro Kurata made this out of cast iron in 2005, ... Read More

Akibanana is an up and coming otaku portal covering anything of interest to us all across Japan, but primarily focusing on Akiba. Anime, manga, games, figures, maids & idols, tech & gadgets, and giant battling robots are standard fare for this incredible journal of the ever-changing landscape of the holy land of otakus. The last time I checked it out was in February 2008 and it was still pretty bare at that time, but in less than 6 months they have amassed ... Read More

Yesterday was exhausting. I reached home at around 8 pm and immediately started charging all my batteries for the long day ahead, and loaded my film camera as a backup. And Sunday eventually arrived. I arrived earlier today at around 12 noon,and there weren't many people around yet. They must have been be too tired to wake up early, either from that post-event party yesterday, or just the actual event itself yesterday. The hall hadn't filled up yet, but it would shortly... I hung ... Read More

World Cyber Games is coming again in August, and there are 2 cosplay competitions in store this time - one organized by Samsung, and the other by the WCG Organizers. 9 August 2008 (Saturday) SAMSUNG STAGE SLOT (3.30pm - 4pm) Registration period begins 10 July 2008 Online Registration at www.moviemania.com.sg/coscon@wcg.html. Closes 9 August 2008, midnight. 9 August 2008 (Saturday) COSPLAY 2pm - 3.30pm "Be a part in our annual Coscon Contest and dress up as your favourite movie/game/TV character and walk away with wonderful prizes." No age ... Read More

Okay folks, time once again for another cosplay photo report, this time for the recently-concluded annual Cosfest at Downtown East. CosFest has now been given numerical titles, so this year's event was called Cosfest VII, and subtitled "Super Henshin" (I've no idea why). The other thing that changed this year was the weather. While it had been ridiculously hot every year, this year it was both hot and rainy. Read More

Seems like there's another Matsuri event at Vivocity on Aug 30-31! Details when I get them. Read More