2012-11-28

Here There Be Monsters.

I don't watch any Japanese TV apart from the odd cartoon or old horror movie but this show intrigues me. From the title, MONSTERS, it looks interesting but it's not about actual monsters, it's some kind of detective drama starring one of the SMAP boys, Shingo Katori. meh.

But the marketing for it is abundant. First there are the snacks:



There's also a Cup Noodle that has a pair of characters from the show dolled up in Hello Kitty headgear.



There is also one of those "Pay 500¥ and get some random piece of memorabilia" and the loot is rather odd and, for a change, practical. I haven't snagged the top 3 prizes, a clock radio or a couple of towels but I have managed to wrangle the following:

A set of Post-it notes. (I actually have 2 sets now.)


A couple of Band-aids in a mini-carrying case.


Two different File folders with accompanying clear pages.


And a Notebook with stickers.



The other goodies are just key chains so I don't think I'll be picking up anymore of these. I do believe the campaign finishes on Friday, so pop over to 7-11 before then to get your Monsters-goods!

2012-11-21

Cat Got Your Tongue?

I bought this from a Conbini a while back. It has Felix the Cat riding a cow with a huge tongue. Presumably this tongue will soon be made into delicious 牛タン Gyutan!





Hey cool, I wanted a Felix cartoon with a cow in it and this one was written by my Facebook friend, Mark Evanier!

In other news, I was given a free coupon to UFO Catch (like I need an excuse) when I attended the Cinema last night. I was unsuccessful in winning anything but I sure would have liked one of these!



I'm going to bed early tonight. G'nite!

009, License to Thrill.

I just watched 009 Re: Cyborg and it was amazing! I didn't understand a thing that transpired, something about a buried angel, lots of blowing stuff up, 009 with memory loss, and some kick-ass ass kicking! Much to my chagrin, there has been absolutely no swag to be had anywhere.

If you check out the link above, you can click around for some cool stuff but I will scam the Pepsi Nex/009 ads that they ran. Curiously I haven't seen any Pepsi tie-ins with the movie either.







Pretty funky stuff.

Hopefully I'll have more 009 stuff to share anon.

2012-11-19

What a Crock!

I've taken a week off from blogging, no particular reason, just slightly burnt out. But now I'm back with a vengeance! Here are some pictures of downtown Sendai and the results of a UFO-Catch binge!

First up is Sendai Shiro-Claus. Sendai Shiro was an actual person who lived in the 19th century. Any store he visited prospered, and any store he refused to enter went out of business. (The preceding was stolen from my friend Ed's FB page. Check out his blog on dining out in Sendai if you're looking for somewhere to eat.)




Then I went on my binge. I was already hauling around a bag full of Preacher's garb so I couldn't carry too much though I did manage to obtain a lot. I believe the first item I tried for took about 7 tries, fortunately it was a special 100 Yen day because this item usually costs 200¥a pop. It's a Gloomy Crock pot. Not sure what or how to cook in it, but it does look cool!


There's a Game Centre across from the Disney Store that has been closed down since 3/11/11 and has recently reopened. I'm not impressed by much of its wares but they do have a game where all of the dregs of previous machines have been gathered together. They're piled up high and with the right nudge of the claws, the items cascade into the pit. For 300 or 400¥ I captured all of this loot! (What I'll do with it, I have no idea. Most of it is pretty crappy. But it was cheaply won crap!)








Finally I popped into my favourite one in the city and landed a Mari! Once again, a little tough to wrangle but fortunately one of the handlers was nice enough to reposition it for me and it plopped gently into my mitts. This guy has worked at several different UFO Catch/Game Centres in the city for at least the last dozen years. Every time a game centre closes down, he pops up in a new one.

A new Evangelion movie opened last weekend. Once I've acquainted myself with the first two, I'll probably go see it. Details to follow...

2012-11-11

Happy Pretz Day!

Formally it is Pocky Day but I prefer the taste of Pretz, so I dub thee Pretz Day!


It has been marketed more fervently than past years with one of the coolest crossovers ever.

I bought several boxes of Pocky & Pretz in order to obtain a PPG clear file. At first I'd only seen two different ones. Then I went to a different Family Mart and found a third. I have 3-4 copies of each of these now and today I saw a fourth one! Dang, how many of these are there?



Powerpuff Girls have teamed up with Pocky and Cartoon Network to produce these awesome clear files.





Family Mart isn't the only conbini with a Pocky/Pretz Present though. I popped into a Ministop and sure 'nuff, they had a give-away as well. Buy two Pocky products and you get this mystery box. Within are one of four Pocky premiums.



I got a little eraser-type thing that is used for cleaning your iPhone.


Happy Pretz or Pocky Day everyone in Japan.
Happy Poppy or Remembrance Day to everyone in Canada (and other Commonwealth countries.)
Happy Veteran's Day to America.

Peace!

REVISION: If you'd like to read a good book on 1812, check out this!

2012-11-10

WTF? HTF!

Feeling in a pretty good mood today, I treated myself to a magazine. The fashion mags often come with a freebie such as a bag or a pouch. This time I got both! Be sure to check out the Happy Tree Friends website for new episodes and other goodies!



The bag is pretty sweet and the pouch is close to my heart.




きゃりーぽみゅぽみゅ (Karry Pomyu-pomyu?) is a funky celeb who really digs the HTF. The more hideous she gets, the cuter she gets.

 If you haven't seen her most famous tune, you don't know what you're missing.






 Mmm. Candy!



I love the last one. Coppertone bum?



The following is not for the squeamish. Click the link at the top if you're not offended by cute little characters getting mauled. Otherwise, avert your eyes now:



What follows are a half dozen Halloween episodes. You can surf around for more yourself.








Just a tad gruesome.

Of course, you can't have a hint of cuteness without marketing it. So much stuff...






Clothing too!





I wouldn't mind a pair of those socks. They look cozy. I can wear them when I dig into this cake!



I had a student (10-year old girl) ask me if I knew about HTF. I proudly answered in the affirmative!


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