Operation Kairu ga Kaeru (カイルが帰る) Day 5 – The Asakusa Man

This day started off with a lie in.  During this trip I’ve tried to avoid wasting too much time in this way but with a busy few days it’s become an occasional necessity.  My original plan was to spend a second morning in Akihabara then meet Kyle in Asakusa.  Since I was feeling particularly tired, I skipped the first part of the plan and head out to Asakusa after an extended sleep.

The Asakusa district is one of the places in Tokyo I love to visit.  Rehashing what I’ve written in the blog for previous trips, its streets are a winding maze leading to the Sensou-ji temple and a nice marketplace.

I had two objectives when visiting Asakusa this trip.  The first was to find a set of wedding dolls for my cousin who is getting married shortly after the UK.  The second was to replace the worlds unluckiest charm.  The first August I visited Kyle (back in 2012), he bought me a purple omamori from the temple.  Part of the reason for this is that it’s a Buddhist temple so the omamori has a Buddhist swastika on it (Kyle, as you already know, has a warped sense of humour). I carried it with me until the August of the following year(2013) when it fell out of my jacket pocket when I put my jacket in to the overhead storage locker on the plane (that must have confused the crew when it turned up!).  During that trip I visited Asakusa again so I decided to buy a replacement.  About a month after my return to the UK, I had that omamori in my bag at work.  The omamori was subsequently destroyed when a fire broke out at work.  At that point I did start to wonder if this was an “unlucky charm”, but I’m probably just being paranoid.  As for the second objective, my plan was to look for a few different styles of wedding doll.  I’d previously bought kokeshi dolls (wooden) for friends who were getting married so I thought I’d go for a different style if possible.

After the market, Kyle and I decided to explore a little more of Asakusa.  We eventually decided that this wasn’t such a good idea as the days weather forecast could easily be confused with that of Hell.  We clearly needed to get indoors.  With that, we decided to return to train station and head back.  That wasn’t the end of the day’s expedition.  On the way back we decided to explore Kita-Senju, another station on the Tsukuba Express line.  Kita-Senju is two stops away from Asakusa (in the direction of Tsukuba) and was therefore part of our journey back to Misato (well via Minami-Nagareyama) anyway.  It should also be noted that Kita-Senju is in Tokyo Prefecture but outside of the Tokyo Ward (the metropolitan area of Tokyo).

Arriving in Kita-Senju, we decided to check out the large shopping centre next to the station.  Before exploring many floors of shopping (the centre is 9 floors) we headed to the food court on the 9^th floor as neither of us had had lunch and our stomachs were starting to become a serious noise violation.  As is the theme of most trips to Japan, I was insistent on having Ramen (despite Kyle’s groans).  After a particularly good ramen, I’d have to say nicer than the ramen in Misato, Kyle grudgingly conceded that ramen was indeed a good idea.

Tasty Ramen!

With our stomachs full (and sufficiently fuelled) we set about exploring the assorted floors of shops.  One of the floors had a Tokyu Hands store, providing me with the perfect opportunity to stock up on stationary.  The stich line notebooks available in Japan (they have little spaces along each horizontal line, breaking up lines in to “cells”) are very useful for writing up notes in Japanese class as they provide the right amount of horizontal space when writing Kanji/Hiragana/Katakana.  In addition to this, B5 format notebooks are popular in Japan and I find these to be the right balance between A4 and A5.  They are more convenient than A4 but offer more space than A5.  I also took the opportunity to get a new 0.3mm mechanical pencil (I haven’t seen them at stationary shops in the UK for a while but I have a massive box of 0,3 lead) and some folder cases for A5 notebooks.

After we’d browsed enough, we decided to have a look at the rooftop garden.  I don’t exactly have a head for heights but the views were spectacular and it was nice to visit such a peaceful space.

The Rooftop Garden - With Mandatory View Of The Sky Tree

With our exploration of Kita-Senju complete, it was time to return to Misato where Yamashita San was coming round later in the evening. Yamashita San had kindly offered to drive us to some of the outlying areas we can’t normally visit so we needed to work out the details of the plan in the evening.  As Yamashita San was offering us to much help, it was only fair that I supply the beer for the evening.  Having a laptop with an HDMI port proved very useful as we were able to check the route and destinations (via google maps) on the big television.  Unfortunately, using it to show Yamashita San our hometown of Bradford made the poor man despair.

Tomorrow – road trip!

Operation Kairu ga Kaeru (カイルが帰る) Day 4 – Figures for All

Being as indispensable as ever, Kyle had been called in to work and would be indisposed for most of the morning.  This wasn’t an issue as I had been hoping to check out Akihabara (and pick up a few new figures for my collection) so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.  The plan was that I would go to Akihabara during the morning, then meet up with Kyle when he had finished work.  I knew Kyle wouldn’t be in work for long so I decided to set off early so I could maximise my time.  After leaving the apartment around half 8, I arrived in Akihabara at around 9.

At that point I realised the flaw in my plan.  Most of the shops open later than someone in the UK would normally expect, many of them opening around 10 or 11 (but closing much later).  With few other options, I opted to turn the situation to my advantage and took the opportunity to do a little recon.  In previous years I’ve sometimes had difficulty locating the figure shop I normally use.  This time round, finding the shop was relatively straightforward (found it within five minutes of leaving the station) and noted the Manseibashi police station as a landmark as this was close the main junction.

The Figure Shop I've Used Previously

Having already found the place I was looking for and walked around the area, it was still only 09:30 and I had some time to kill before the shop opened so I clearly needed something to do.  The morning heat was already building up and I knew I had to get indoors and get something cold to drink before I melted.  Having reached the plaza surrounding the UDX building (you can see it if you leave the JR Akihabara station from the exit next to “Gundam Café”) I decided to give Excelsior Caffe a try.  At times like this I’m grateful that my Katakana is improving and even more grateful that I was carrying my trusty smartphone.  Even in airplane mode, the Obenkyo application helped to fill in any gaps in Katakana words that I couldn’t quite figure out.  For those who are not familiar with Katakana, it’s a writing system used for foreign words.  Since coffee shops have almost the entire menu in Katakana, it’s pretty useful to know.

With a little stumbling I was able to order an iced coffee drink and enjoyed the nice, air conditioned, surroundings until I was sure the shops would be open.  Iced coffee drinks are very popular in Japan in summer and I can confirm that they’re much more refreshing than hot coffee.

With the Hobby Figure open for business, I set about choosing some figures to add to my collection.  One thing I was taking in to account was that I have a Revoltech Sheriff Woody “creepy woody” (do a search for “hentai woody” on google and you’ll see what I mean) figure on preorder – so I’d need some figures that I can make it look like he’s harassing.  I'm going to have a lot of fun ruining peoples memories of Toy Story with this!

This is why the figure is sometimes called "Creepy Woody"

After much deliberating (and cursing my lack of suitcase space – even with two suitcases on the way home) I opted for a figure of Leafa from Sword Art Online and a Nendoroid of Hachikuji from the Monogatari series.

Leafa From Sword Art Online (2nd arc)

Hachikuji from Monogatari

With a little time to spare before meeting Kyle, I decided to do a little more exploration and check a few more shops (and pick up a few more goodies). This was close to midday, the time I usually try to avoid being outdoors.  In Akihabara, I found there was a significant advantage to this time.  At the hottest and brightest point in the day, only the hardiest maids dared venture outdoors.  The end result – I only saw a single maid. You see, I’ve been asked before if I don’t like cute maids.  The answer is that getting pestered to visit maid cafes does get very old, very fast (although I will admit that the initial novelty is part of Akihabara).  Among the tokens and trinkets I picked up, one I was particularly happy with was a Sword Art Online “Immortal Object” flag T-Shirt.  This time I had the good sense to order a Large size – the Medium sized Evangelion shirts I picked up last time are just a little on the small side (though they are a good motivator to lose weight at least)

With everything I wanted to check in Akihabara sorted, it was time to meet Kyle at Akihabara station.  Upon meeting Kyle, a surprise was revealed.  Kyle was with Sato Sensei (from his previous school)  and she had kindly offered to show us around our choice of museum in Ueno.  Before heading out to Ueno, the three of us got some lunch (this was especially good news for me as I’d been on my feet all morning so I was looking forward to food).  The plan was to go to Sato Sensei’s favourite sushi restaurant (in Akihabara).  It was already known that I’m not a particularly big sushi fan but the restaurant also had a choice of hot and cold soba (buckwheat) noodle dishes.  I opted for a hot noodle dish, Kyle and Sato opted for an assortment of sushi.  Over lunch we chatted and discussed the differences between the education systems in the UK and Japan.

With our hunger abated we departed for Ueno.  The museum we opted for was the National Museum of Science and Nature.  We chose this as there was a special exhibition of fossils of prehistoric Japanese mammals.  This is something for which there is very little documentation/material available outside of Japan so it was a great opportunity to see a very rare sight.  The museum didn’t have many English translations available, so Sato Sensei’s translations of exhibit notes were much appreciated.

National Museum of Science and Nature

The fossils showed various, now extinct, mammals including elephants.  It was quite amazing to see how the elephants had changed in the time since Japan separated from mainland Asia.  Part of the exhibit included a model of how this process is believed to have happened.  From what I was able to gather, much of it involved changes in the sea level.

Some of the Fossils on Display

Among the many exhibits in the main area of the museum, there was an exhibit showing how modern humans evolved.  This exhibit showed mannequins/models of an early man and woman.  These models were… shall we say… anatomically correct.  Being adults with an interest in science and learning, the three of us thought nothing of this.  After walking away, we heard a kid yell “Oppai”.  I knew I’d heard this word before, unless I was mistaken it was “boobs”.  So I asked Kyle “did he just say what I think he said?”, before Kyle could answer we once again heard “oppai, oppai”.  None of us could keep a straight face at this point.

After absorbing so much information that our heads were at risk of exploding, we headed over to the museum café for a coffee and a snack.  This being Japan, the deserts were in cute shapes and I couldn’t resist the panda parfait.

Following an enjoyable museum tour, we thanked Sato Sensai and parted ways, with Kyle and staying to have a look around Ueno park.

Compared with Yoyogi park, which Kyle and I visited when we were staying in Shibuya, I can safely say that I prefer Ueno park.  This is, of course, a subjective opinion so do try to visit both.

Ueno Park

There’s also a shrine in Ueno park, so it provided a perfect opportunity for Kyle to add another shrine to the list of (400 or so) shrines he’s visited since he first stepped foot in Japan.  I found that shrine to be a particularly interesting one as there was a line of Torrii… what is the plural of Torii?  Anyway, I found it to be an interesting feature.

What's the Plural of Torii?

By the time we had finished looking around the shrine, we could tell it was going to get dark soon so we thought it would be safer to head back to familiar territory.  I should note that this wasn’t because we were afraid of crime or anything like that, it was simply that the area wasn’t familiar so could be problematic for Kyle.  Since we were attempting to cram as many activities in to the day as possible, we headed back to Akihabara.

While in Akihabara we made a rather sad discovery.  Kyle suggested that I buy an artbook from the “Panty and Stocking” series and that K-Books would be a good place to buy it.  K-Books is a well known bookshop in Akihabara that offers the usual manga and artbooks along with a wide selection of doujinshi (fan made comics).  The sad news is that we found that K-Books was nowhere to be found.  The 2 floors of the building it occupied were vacant.  There was no sign suggesting they had moved.  Could this be the shape of things to come?  I’ve heard that the “New Akiba” is trying to shake off the image of the otaku haven.  It does make me worry that Akihabara will become just another shopping district.

To console ourselves, Kyle took me to his favourite curry restaurant where I was introduced to “Home Run” curry.  This is the curry equivalent of “The Works” for pizza.

More Curry Than I Can Eat!

With that, we decided it was time to head back to Misato.  Leaving it until around 22:00 meant that the Tsukuba Express was at it's busiest, the same applied to the Musashino line as well.
It was a long day but I got to see some great sights and try great food.  See you later folks.

Review - Gin-Iro No Kami No Agito (Origin: Spirits of the Past)

It's been a few months since I first watched this film (and posted a few words on my Facebook profile), so I thought it time for me to write something a little more detail.

I'll start off with a little background.  Origin: Spirits of the Past is a 2006 film by the studio Gonzo and was Gonzo's first foray in to feature films (Previously they've produced series such as the Anime adaption of the Gantz Manga).  I stumbled across this little gem when browsing for DVDs in HMV and noticed Origin for the princely sum of £3 - Worth taking a chance on, I thought.

"Long, long ago, there was a seed, which shook the heart of the forest. A Forest Dragon fell from the moon. Man trembled at the Forest Dragon’s red breath. Man cowered at the Forest Dragon’s green tears. Long, long ago, when the Forest Dragon’s tears dried up, man strained his ears to hear the voice of the forest"

Origin is set in a post apocalyptic Japan after extensive genetic experimentation on trees caused the trees to become sentient, fracturing the moon, and returning to Earth in a fiery holocaust, wiping out most of the human race and eventually turning much of the surface in to a giant forest.  Not only are the trees sentient, they are incredibly powerful and generally hostile to humans.

Setting new standards for hentai, Origin manages to tentacle rape an entire planet!

The story starts out in Neutral City, a growing town built in the ruins of the skyscrapers of the cities of old.  Neutral city sits between the forest and the military state of Ragna.  Where the people of Neutral City try to live alongside the forest (negotiating with the forests messengers, the tree-like druids, for the forests water), Ragna intends to use military power to bring the forest under control.

Neutral City

One day, a boy from Neutral City, named Agito stumbles upon an old cryogenic stasis pod.  Frozen in the pod is a young girl, Toola.  Once revived Toola finds it difficult to adapt to a world that seems completely alien to her.  She is further distressed upon meeting Agitos father, a man who became enhanced by the forest to help him build Neutral City.  Having overused the forests power, he began turning in to a tree.  A world of violent trees that attack people, ruined cities and people turning in to trees is too much for her to handle.

As the apocalypse approaches, a frightened Toola is placed in stasis

Toola was not the only person from the past.  Shunack, an officer in the Ragna army, had previously been discovered but chose to defect to Ragna.  When Shunack tells her that she holds the key to her fathers work, the ability to tame the forest and restore the cities of old, Toola must choose a side.

Overall I liked this film.  It's similar in concept to Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of The Valley of the Wind.  Having seen both, I'd say that Origin is more morally ambiguous than Nausicaa.  Where Nausicaa (the character) has a clear belief in humans living in harmony with the Fukai, Toola is much more conflicted.  As someone out of time and place it is harder for her to choose between maintaining the tentative peace the people of Neutral City have created and using the power of her time to restore the world as it was.

The forest with the fractured moon in the background

Visually, Origin looks like it was inspired partly by Nausicaa (hardly surprising as Miyazaki is regarded as one of Japans masters of animation).  The steampunk style of the Ragna tanks reminded me of the live action adaptation of Casshern.

Now the crucial question - to watch in Japanese or English?  Having watched in Japanese (with English subtitles) and the English dub I can safely say

Unfortunately, like many Anime films Origin suffers from poor execution.  I felt the ending was a little disappointing.  Not that I'm saying it was bad, I just think it could have been better.

My recommendation:  If you liked Nausicaa or Princess Mononoke I think this film will likely be up your street.  If you're expecting something as deep as Nausicaa or Mononoke, you'll be disappointed.

NERV Theme for Fedora

Once again I find myself getting bored with the (Plymouth) loading/splash screen on my Fedora installation so I decided to customize it with a new image.

This time round I opted for the NERV logo from Non Genesis Evangelion.

Unlike previous Plymouth splash screens I've modified, this one does not scale an image to the screen.  Instead, it centers a fixed image.  This is possible due to the small size of the logo and the black background.

When I have a little free time (this weekend, hopefully) I'm going to see about changing the loading bar from horizontal to vertical and add a second bar.  This way I can have a loading bar to the left and right of the logo.

Once I have the updated version up and running I'll try to upload some fresh images or a video.

For those who are interested in creating Plymouth splash screens, there is an excellent guide at the Not a Number blog.