# Chuck's Anime Shrine — full blog index > Full text of every published post. Site overview and AI content policy: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/llms.txt ## The Shrine is Reborn - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2026-07-16-the-shrine-reborn/ - Date: 2026-07-16 - Tags: meta, shrine-history - AI-assisted: no After 24 years on the web, Chuck's Anime Shrine gets a modern home — with the entire original 2002–2014 site preserved as The Original Site. Chuck's Anime Shrine first went online in **2002** — hand-written HTML, Flash intros, a figure shop, forums, and the Anime.FM podcast. It grew page by page through the golden age of the personal web. Today the shrine is reborn on a modern stack. And here's the important part: **nothing was bulldozed.** ## The Original Site Every page of the original site — all ~3,200 of them, plus every image, MP3, and Flash file from 2002 to 2014 — is preserved *exactly* as it was, and you can browse it right now at [/old_site/](/old_site/). Flash even plays, thanks to the [Ruffle](https://ruffle.rs) emulator. Think of it as a time capsule of the old internet, with the original 2014 figure shop frozen mid-sale. ## What's coming - **The blog** you're reading now (some posts will be AI-assisted — always clearly marked and human-reviewed) - **The shop**, revived in stages - **Anime.FM** podcasts and playlists, back in a modern player - **Community** — comments and a guestbook, like the old days Welcome back to the shrine. ⛩️ --- ## The Return To The Shrine (Part 1) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2021-03-30-the-return-to-shrine-part-1/ - Date: 2021-03-30 - Tags: anime shrine, chucksanimeshrine, future plans, return - AI-assisted: no Well, it has been a few years. Lots has happened and for the past 5 or so years well, as one can see here the site has been rather dormant with little in terms of posts and/or h...

 


Well, it has been a few years.  Lots has happened and for the past 5 or so years well, as one can see here the site has been rather dormant with little in terms of posts and/or hopes of new content/info.  Hell, seems the last few posts have been nothing but "hey we are trying to come back" or "oops sorry for the delay".  That ends now in this post as there are now tangible items being worked on as I speak.

Some things were said prior posts in regards to this but lots of life changes (mostly positive) happened after what was a fall from grace.  The anime site and store was so close to being the full time gig & center of mine and my wife's (yep, Danielle's finally my wife now and we have a little girl named Yuna).  But, well...that didn't happen due to Hurricane Sandy & things beyond our control from then.   This was followed shortly by the sudden loss of our main artist, Kenneos as well as a big door to anime voice acting being closed for the honest questioning of a very jaded and then self centered western anime voice actor. 

That all began in 2012, 9 years ago...and were mentioned in prior posts a bit too.  What happened later was all positive but with a catch.  I got that decently paying programming job I worked 10+ years to prove I was worthy of, a job that to this day has kept me on my toes and without much sleep.  With it came a little bit of the spoils like ability to buy a house.  I was able to marry the woman who has been with me since only a few weeks after the start of this very site in March of 2002, who I was engaged to from x-mas eve of 2007.  A wedding almost always delayed due to a lack of money, a wedding that was to happen in 2013 had the events prior didn't happen...but that job help bring finally in September of 2016.  Another positive was becoming the voice of a popular and award winning dog, Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund.  

The negatives were that my time to do anything I loved outside of programming was brought to a near halt...even playing video games and watching anime.  Up until recently even the time to do much was and has been a struggle.  You'd think with the recent world changing pandemic from covid 19 that I'd be able to finally check off all my items and get things rolling again, but that doesn't come easy when you are the father of a 2 year old and with a demanding job.  

However, that job for a while has kept me in the know and sharpening the skills I've had for quite some time.  For years I've been planning the return to all of this and something happened just recently that might finally have the stars aligned and the motivation to return to the hobby, site store and more that was left on the shelf... left to grow the mold we see in this wonderful art piece above that I wish I knew the source to.

In the podcasts that you heard my wife and I on, you heard my distain for a new age of moral panic, not by the antagonists of old, but of a new breed of perpetually offended...by the people who claimed to have once been on the side of our fandom and other things one would say are progressive free and were scrutinized. 

Well, the moral panic by a new age of puritans has hit a fever pitch and it would seem that they have come after anime fans, anime / Japanese artists, collectors, voice actors who choose not to participate in this cult without a deity and against all we hold dear.  

This isn't new for me, I became an anime fan thanks to my childhood friend Tiago B. around 1996 thanks to a turn of events that can all oddly stem from me getting a Sega CD with no plug (maybe more on that another day); a chain of events that lead to this site and me meeting my now wife (again...maybe more on that too...very Love Hina on that one).  When I was in high school, I was teased by people who hated anime for the reason of it being different and being asian.  I grew to love the aesthetic, the culture, the positives of the habits of the people of Japan, and yes, I married into a part Japanese family too.

The people who teased my love for video games and anime were the "popular types" and the types today who'd probably get canceled to hell for acting a certain demographic they are clearly not.  Professors balked at my wanting to program for video games and at home, the religious right wing were ever so prudish about the sexyness and power seen with anime and Japanese women.  

Now, we are seeing it with those who are on the other extreme of the spectrum, people who claim to be anime fans but are anything but.  Those in big industries are attacking video games and particularly now anime...even people in the western anime industry. Gone is my trust in Funimation, CrunchyRoll, RoosterTeeth, ANN and Kotaku.  The latter two I used to get my news from and they used to in some cases with me as well before they blew up in popularity and lost their ways.  These entities mock and make fun of fans and the very culture that got them on the radar in the first place... all too familiar to those people I dealt with in high school.  

It's gotten too much for me to bear and hold my tongue.  I try to and will continue to be positive as I can as the community I do represent with my voice acting role as Crusoe is actually one of the most positive communities I have ever seen.  They kind of remind me of the old anime community and old group of anime voice actors who are just there fro the love of the content...not for political brownie points, not for silly scandals and not for anything backhanded.  They are so positive in an internet that has always been a rough place to be but only has gotten worse due to the amount of pointless eggshells one must walk over.  The fact of the matter is, people need to stand up and realize the eggshells and those who put them there are weak if firmly stood against.

What has happened?  Why am I ranting like this?  What's the goal?  

Well, the straw that broke the camel's back was what some of you probably are visiting about...the fact that anime figures are now being banned.  This isn't something new (I reported the inklings of this two years ago)...but it has totally grown by leaps and bounds.  Amazon particularly at the moment, but how far will they go?  How much more of an anti-Japanese, anti anime rhetoric do we have to see and hear?  This coming from entities that claim they are "trying to stop asian hate".  Please...we all see you never cared until it made you all look good.

This is why I've had to come back...but this time I have experience and a long yearning for a return.  The world of tech and internet applications has changed a ton and while I was away, I became part of the forefront of it all.  Even way back in 2014, just before I sold some of the last figures on hand form my store, I made it where you can buy with Bitcoin.  Crypto is just the tip of the iceberg and I for the past few years stood at the shoulders as the R&D tech person for brands and businesses that would make all of those blogging companies shrivel with fear in the corporate sphere.  

From demoing the Hololens to the CEO of PepsiCo while working side by side with the CEO of MTNDew, to making the 1st 3D ad with Google's team, to the beta testing of Twitter's now retired Fabric, to building a Unreal Engine AR scene for the International Read Cross, to an AR experience for the fashion industry that took up the entire Javits Center (you know...where NYCC is hosted), to a Unity project for the MTA, to even ironically building a platform for chat and web content delivery on Amazon's AWS...I've gone through the trails of fire in tech that most never do.  I own my own house now.  I have resources & knowledge I never had back when I added that anime figure store to this here site in 2008 to a whopping $200,000+ in figure sales.  

Amazon and the actions of the new age of the "always offended" have made a bad enemy; someone in industries and tech that their hipster blogs only wish they could compete with.  I have a few projects I left dormant and on the drawing board that I will go into in upcoming posts in more detail but let's put it this way...I'll make sure to add my name to the list of those who won't be stepped on.  There's lots of good for humanity that those with a passion in these forms of entertainment, tech and art can (and have brought) to the table.  The people who cry "I'm offended" are the crabs in the bucket.  Their time was the 2010s...this is the decade that this must come to an end.  You should not be ashamed of your culture, your love/respect for a culture nor your creative & positive hobbies.  

The first step...I'm bringing back my anime store.  Will only be small at first but let's bring this back.  

Second, the blog here which.. well, yes it's back now but it sure needs an update. 

Third: the podcast will return.

Fourth: I'm going to return to let's plays

Fifth and more... more on those as I create them.  Might be best I don't mention them too much until they are about ready (something I learned well in my work)

Oh, and Google ads...they are going to go away.  For years they said my posts about anime and the various art, tropes, memes, etc are a "violation" on adSense.  That's ok... there's enough sites with site destroying ads.  Those need to go.

My job and being a father is still a ton of work but damn... I feel a new life in me.  

Let's GO!

--- ## The Long Gap, But Not The End - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2018-05-01-the-long-gap-but-not-end/ - Date: 2018-05-01 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Hey there, Been a long time hasn't it? Almost 2 years of nothing?! My sites, stores and general content has been...let's say nonexistent the past almost 2 years and nothing here...

Hey there,
Been a long time hasn't it?  Almost 2 years of nothing?!
My sites, stores and general content has been...let's say nonexistent the past almost 2 years and nothing here on our blog has been updated with much care or order for a while.  Well, that is hopefully going to start changing (hopefully not jinxing it).  
I'm finally settled enough in my home to begin what I wanted to do in the first place; grow/reboot my online presence, sites, content and business.  A ton has happened in the past few years.  It was like the life changes that should have happened all combined at once since 2015.  I got a very important job role in NYC as a Lead Developer, I got married to Danielle who's been a part of my life since 2002 and my fiancee since late 2007 and I bought our first home!  Heck, even just these past few months I became the voice of a famous online pup, Crusoe The Celebrity Dachshund, so my voice acting has been keeping me busy as well.  The downturn (and financial issues) my anime figure business suffered by the events of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 are now gone and there is another store site in the works.  
The insane number of life changes, 24+ hour project sprints and tasks life threw at me these past few years was beyond tiring so Danielle and I took a week off to Disney in Orlando (the same place we went for our honeymoon). The vacation was exactly what I needed so it's time to get things back on track. 
First things first, hopefully more content and to get things going... I'm not going to keep the Anime Figure Bot  in it's "in dev state".  She will now answer questions and eventually move toward being a dynamic assistant to our anime store's revival.  
Also, moving forward we do wish to update the site/blog and all to be out of it's 2009 state as well as phase out Google Adsense as well a number of other Google services being used on this site.  Google over the past few years has made their platforms increasingly restrictive on free speech and with ever puritan-like prudish nature.  We are not fans of crazy non-related ads, Google's overall actions and honestly not into much advertising in general beyond what we need to keep the site afloat. 
Advertising on this site will for a time stay as I am talking to a number of people who wish advertise here (all anime related) so ads in general will change here.  Down the road we might just restrict advertising to a single Patreon pledge banner, mention of our anime store items and quick sponsors in online videos / podcasts.  This will allow us to keep making content and not worry that attractive, non-pornographic anime art will get flagged by a platform and people who will eventually die out in obscurity by then end of this decade when the next set of outrage culture fiends finds their next mindless topic to waste their efforts on.  
Ranting aside, we are not gone and if time stays my friend (and we are not jinxing ourselves yet again) we do have plans for more content and still being a part of the community we've been a part of since 2002. 
--- ## Anime Shrine PodCast Episode 6: New Year, Google's Continued Prude Algorithm Garbage - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2017-01-16-new-year-googles-continued-prude/ - Date: 2017-01-16 - Tags: adsense, gamer girls, gamergate, google, podcast, sjws, videogames - AI-assisted: no After a year of silence...we are back and talking about how 2016 was NOT a bad year for us despite the internet still loving to hate 2016 as well as more ranting about the crapp...



After a year of silence...we are back and talking about how 2016 was NOT a bad year for us despite the internet still loving to hate 2016 as well as more ranting about the crappy Adsense censorship and Youtube algorithm that has been a bane to long time online content creators.


(Warning: Explicit Language)




Direct Link
--- ## The Loss of A Friend and The Song of Our Return - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2016-12-11-the-loss-of-friend-and-song-of-our/ - Date: 2016-12-11 - Tags: anime, announcement, Kenneos, Tenshi-Oni - AI-assisted: no 2016 has been an interesting year. It started on a promising note after a low point for me when I had to quit from the NYC job that originally freed me from a dead end job. It w...



2016 has been an interesting year.  It started on a promising note after a low point for me when I had to quit from the NYC job that originally freed me from a dead end job.  It was a horrid place to work for and a perfect example of the clueless world of the "posh" NYC elite.  Things changed for us when I got the position as a Unity developer for a smaller startup company that was in desperate need to finish a project for a beer company.  Without the efforts of me and my fellow devs, the company would have fell apart.  As stated in the prior posts, success came after working the longest consecutive hours I've ever had to do.  The rewards since have been wonderful.  2016, despite what is popular right now, was and will probably one of the greatest years in my life.  Danielle and I, after dating only a month after launching this site almost 15 years ago and being engaged since 2007...finally, finally got married in September.  Here's a picture of us...not too often do I show anything buy anime on the site but I do like shutting up the complainers of 2016...



Not everything was happy and wonderful for us in 2016.  This was stated a while back on our Facebook page but I also promised to talk more about this...

Just before our wedding in September, we lost a dear friend and somebody who was very important to us at Chuck's Anime Shrine.  Our main artist and probably one of our site's number one fans, Kenneos (real name, Victoria Chamizo)... tragically passed away.  It was real a shock for Danielle and I.  Her death and the fact that I've been extremely busy as the now lead developer of my current job... is why this blog and site was left dormant yet again for much of the year.

Here are some pictures Kenneos made for us.






This picture was the last one she made.  Since our mascots matched the Pokemon Go Team colors so she was to draw all three with their respected teams; Fumi for Team Mystic, Demon for Team Valor and Angel Fumi for Team Instinct.. seen below.  This was the only one she was able to finish since she past away shortly after this image's completion.


Her death almost made it feel like it was time to pack our bags here with the site as well.  However... with everything going on the internet like the fact that many of the major gaming and "geek" blogs are now over ran by fan-hating marketing hipsters and the way Google, adsense and Youtube are screwing over the independent creator...there is a need for people of the "original internet" to step up.
Throughout the years we had a number of opportunities to be like many of the big names out there as we were the firsts in a number of things we either never cultivated or simply had inconveniently bad situations that prevented our progression.  We were one of the first to post AMVs online, before Youtube was a glimmer in anyone's eye.  We could have eventually moved to licenced anime streaming and been Crunchy Roll way before them.  We were one of the first indie "geek" blogs posting games and anime reviews after receiving actual review copies from the industry.  We could have been Kotaku before Kotaku...hell, before Kotaku went off the hipster/SJW deep end...we used to be one of their biggest supporters.  We were one of the first anime figure businesses in the US to be a legit distributor of Good Smile Company & Figma figures back in 2006/2007...long before Crunchy Roll took that market into their own as well.  We were one of the first sites to delve into Indie game development.

So many what ifs, so many missed chances.  Yet... things this year have never been better and I've been coming into this industry on a different angle.  I'm the lead dev to a rapidly growing startup that is all in the fields I love.  Despite being blackballed/gate-keeped by some from doing anime voice acting...I've done a fair share of various other voice acting projects/ genres with others in the pipeline as we speak.

Still...various questions arise...

Should I continue blogging?
Should I continue updating this site and anime.fm?
Should I continue the Tenshi-Oni game?
Should I bring turn the anime store back on?
Should I continue making content online despite being one of the earliest content creators on the internet yet being a nobody in comparison to other content creators after many years?

Yes, yes I should continue all of that.

Kenneos would have wanted that and just the other day I got a message on my old AMVs on Youtube from a few people.  They told me they were nostalgic about our AMVs and it was those videos that got them into anime, games and these hobbies that are now the forefront of popular culture... over 10 years ago.  There are music artists who are still wishing to see the Tenshi-Oni game come to fruition.  There are artists we support and others we would love to support by bringing their talents into our sites, our games and our content.  There is so much we can do even as old forgotten starters of the internet.  My job keeps me very, very busy but it's all doing the highest levels of development that is related or connected to these hobbies.  I might not be able to get in as many updates and be able to man the anime figure business constantly (that is still going through a php "white screen of death" issue), but I have a wonderful wife who has been here since a month after this site started in April of 2002.  You guys might hear more from here than me when I'm too busy to even post.

Since money is not as big of an issue as it used to be for this site and since I want to stick it to Google Adsense for trying to censor my blog posts...we'll be phasing out Adsense ads (I mean who views/clicks them anyways...I use adblock too).  We'll instead let the anime figure store (sorry, it's still down ^^;;) and donations on our new Patreon Page keep the site going.

We hope that we are indeed "back" again.  I did promise a song.  A bit weird and cheesy, I know, but this song is what got us through the end of 2015 and into the start of the life changing year of 2016.  It's honestly the song and cover version I want to licence in our Tenshi-oni game...granted it's from an anime too so who knows if I'd ever be able to licence the cover for use.



Happy end of 2016 and here's us moving on and moving forward.





--- ## Game Development is Science & Art...but Not Contemporary Art - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2016-08-26-game-development-is-science-artbut-not/ - Date: 2016-08-26 - Tags: gamergate, indie games, news, no mans sky, videogames - AI-assisted: no Sounds weird, right? Claiming that video game development is an art but not contemporary when video games have only been around for the past ~40-50 years. Hear me out here becau...

Sounds weird, right?  Claiming that video game development is an art but not contemporary when video games have only been around for the past ~40-50 years.  Hear me out here because a lack of understanding this is positively ruining the game industry as well as the credibility of indie game development; possibly even game development as a whole.

Listen, I'm guilty of being one of the many over the past decade who pushed for categorizing both anime and video games as art.  This is from decades of dealing with a usually right winged, religious conservative mentality that since the 80's tried to demonize our hobbies and games from either a position of ignorance or a position of envy that they have no discerning hobbies and dreams.  Since my early years of gaming in the 80's I've been told a number of times that I was "wasting my time" with my love for video games from those in my own social circle, on public news and even my academic sphere of influence in Computer Science during the early 00's.  Oddly, we are now seeing the same bullying from those on the far left.

Kid trying to talk to great aunt about Pokemon Go; who's desperately wanting to return to a life of no hobbies. Source 

It was a battle of creditability that many of us fought and still try to fight to this day.  Thing is something (mostly) great happened.  A few years after I finished left college in 2004-2005 a threshold was reached, games became bigger than Hollywood movies.  The "game" changed.  Video games pierced into the main stream media and has since only grown and expanded in the 10+ years since; maintained by the fact that we, the gamers, became adults and to the dismay of the past generations, didn't shed our supposedly childish love.  From that point on, game development & programming courses became a norm in many schools and eventually it was finally recognized as an art of both technology and design as oppose to some "childish fad" some hoped it was going only to be.

So the battle was won right?  We did it.  We, the gamers (and yes, even anime fans to some degree) didn't have to be shunned for liking a hobby that was scientifically proven to improve a number of our senses and expand our imagination; with the development of which encompassing the entirety of of Computer Science and also responsible for moving that field forward.  Trust me, the old hat enterprise apps being outsourced to India in the early 00's were in no way improving Computer Science.  Much of the mobile / smart phone revolution was due to gaming... as is the current revolution of VR and AR.   Games have and will always move tech forward.

Dark Souls 3: A game that is a work of art in addition to being a fun game

Depression Quest: A game created for the sake of being "artsy" 


Not so fast with the celebration, though...
With this great improvement of the field and hobby came some issues; one of which was a ghost of gaming's past that almost killed it before.  The main issue is that the popularity of games and thus the money that can be had from clinging onto it's coattails invited a feverish group of marketeers and later, non-tech contemporary "artists" into the field.  The prior, the marketers, where actually the group who almost killed games in the 1980's, whom shunned games after a crash they created, and whom their succesors today like to keep the indie game scene in some sort of clique.  If you are not a part of that clique, forget any preemptive rewards, accolades, blog posts and well... hype.  The "clique" now includes a bunch of well positioned non engineer contemporary "artists" who don't know what it takes to make / code a game but want to "change" the industry similar to how a contemporary artist wants to "change" art with a canvas full of literal, actual shit.

See the above example of two games; Depression Quest (DQ) and Dark Souls 3 (DS3).  First off, I initially honored Depression Quest's "doing something different" angle.  Though one was by one person and the other was by a big budgeted studio, the politically motivated gate keeping created by the maker & bloggers supporting DQ shows what is wrong with the Western Indie game dev scene.  Dark Souls was created by a person (Hidetaka Miyazaki) who, like me, was told he'd never be good enough for the industry.  The creator of DQ took the fame to her head, not looking for improvement of the craft while Miyazaki stays humble and always trying to do better with each game since Demon Souls.  If you are to be a true game designer, the latter is the way to go and how you make art out of the craft.  The other way is like being a cat who sprays the yard to keep others out while also letting the yard die from the abundance of urine.

Like Art, Game Development and Programming is a Craft & Skill
da Vinci's art vs...

...contemporary art.

Before even the 00's, to make a game was a mostly engineering feat that, once set up, could then be given a focus on art, gameplay and design.  You had to know Computer Science and programming first and foremost and create your own game engine.  The improvement of the game development field was moved along by people like John Carmack who understood the science of both light and what gets displayed on to the screen.  Even in the early 00's I read the insane details on how to code for the Game Boy Advance in C++.  Once you got a working game engine, you can then get to work on the "real" development.  This steep learning curve was why Flash and actionscript2 took off in the early 00's as much of the initial engine set up was done.  This lead to many game devs beginning in the field thanks to mainly Newgrounds.com.  in 2002-2003 it was either 1) Go to Computer Science in college and secretly do it for game development (since you'd have been shunned then) or 2) Self teach some action script and Flash and get posting on Newgrounds.  I did a little bit of both.  Later when IOS game development reached a peak in 2010, me and other devs had engines like Cocos2D, Cocos3D and later SpriteKit / SceneKit to get going on apps.  Today it's even easier with the Unity game engine taking the lead as Flash did then with others like Unreal Engine and other easily available engines at our disposal. To be a game dev now is like saying you were a blogger in 2008... it's not hard to be a game dev at the minimum... and that is fine.   

However, like good art, there are basics one should know before being able to do something truly great with the craft.  Even with great tools like Unity and Unreal Engine, a lack of understanding the science/coding behind it will become apparent to the masses of gamers, your real client, in the form of missing features, lag and overall bad execution.

For Da Vinci to have even begun his art, he had to study human anatomy and lighting.   Many artists know this and a good art school will train the artists with those two main keys to their teaching.  That scientific detail to the craft in art is no different when you learn the update loop cycle to a game, or understanding that you need to keep polygons, lighting and scripting lean on mobile devices or even on consoles.  No being a so-called "true" artist is the driving force to the tenants of contemporary art and also due to the paradox-like idea of the question of "what is art?" You can (sadly) get away with an empty canvas due to some weird artsy notion of "emptiness" or some drivel like that.  

To the dismay of bloggers posing as news companies and some indie devs...you can't pull the same crap in game development.  Your clients, the gamers, will see right through it.  It's a fragile foundation to build a game on and no amount of mass demonization of those who call this out will protect you from the obvious... that you'd need to get back to the drawing board. 

The issues of Over-Hyping By Marketers, Devs and Computer Illiterate Journalism 

The promised look of No Man's Sky at E3 2014

Back when a non gaming marketing-based company like Warner Bros took over a then new industry when they bought out Atari in the 80's, it echoed the current situations of when major blogs posing as news sites (blogs younger than even this blog) haphazardly promote or degrade individuals via political motives with the end goal of who gets the most clicks while awarding and promoting games that aren't even out in the market.  WB was an uptight, stuffy, suit-filled cubicle factory that saw the groups of free loving Atari devs, cabinet builders and it's former owner as a bunch of hooligans.  In what became a development hell for Yar's Revenge's creator Howard Scott Warshaw, the computer illiterate marketers / owners of WB tried to ride the hype of the E.T movie and rush out a game based on the movie.  This mistake and ignorance of what it takes for developers to make a good game was what lead to the crash of '83 (and not Warsaw's fault).

When you have people who are not familiar with the craft trying to sell the craft, you run into a big problem.  There have been a number of companies who have done this mistake over the years but the most recent example of this was with the game, No Man's Sky.  This one was a collision of two of the bad issues that arose in video games being in the mainstream.  Not only was this game over hyped by bloggers and game "journalists" who hardly know about the technology (just how to spin things for clicks) it also was over hyped by it's main designer, director and yes, the rare thing of also being a developer as well.. Sean Murray.  As a fellow dev who loves procedural computing, I really feel for why he was maybe a bit too excited about this.  To make a game even like the final output of No Man's Sky all procedurally is a feat of the science.  However, the current Indie culture does nothing but make insane expectations for upcoming games and applications.  Marketers are paid to do just that, market products and make them look good.  To a point we can see where they were coming from but we have to stop over selling something that isn't even out.  Even worse, when you look at games like Fez or No Man's Sky... the games were not even out, yet the creators were given awards and accolades for what was nothing but hot air at the time of the awards.  The indie "clique" is creating a hashtag leeching, gatekeeping "club" of people who are all high on themselves.  Instead of the humble attitudes we see from someone like Miyazaki, we see nothing but pats on the back, oddly synchronized well edited Youtube videos and blog posts for a select batch of games the "club" feels worth it.  Not only is this counter to what it means to be an indie dev, as all of these "indie" award conferences resemble the averous of the Oscars, but it also goes a few steps further in it's delusion by shunning and blackballing those who call them out.  It's awarding devs too early in what the Oscar equivalent would be like giving the Oscar away to a movie where only the trailer was shown.

So, how do we fix this?  How do we, the gamers and game devs stop the over hype?  It's unfair to the gamers who are already tired of the now over two years of being demonized by people "in the industry" who don't even represent the end clients.  It's also not fair to developers who work hard to get a game out but have to feverishly try to match the extra hype that might not have matched the scope of the work they had to do; an extra scope brought on by the blindly passed accolades & overzealous, uninformed bloggers.

To fix this, we have to realize that great game development is the combination of both great science and great art.  Flimsy contemporary art methodology could maybe work on the most abstract, upper level...an after thought after the presentation, but won't fly as the foundation of the development.  Secondly, in addition to gamers (and some devs) speaking out against the collusion in the game journalism and the indie scene, we have to also let it be known that journalists have to know at least some of the technology before they go out and hashtag bomb the hell out of social media about some "industry changing game."  We need less business people and marketers behind the voice of games and more gamers and game devs being that voice.  If you are a game dev like me, get blogging and though I've be a "dev" technically for over 15 years, I'm not some amazing dev, I'm always improving and learning. Yes, the blogs that spawned a few years after this one became huge and yes, they love to blackball devs and gamers who go against their marketing campaigns or political agendas (things that have no place in this field) but your voice can matter.  Gamers still love it when a dev is open and honest about the hard work that it takes to make even a basic game. It might drown out the marketers who are only writing about games because it's a hot topic is just a feather in withered cap of journalism.

In the case of No Man's Sky, it was also much to the fault of it's director. So studios, indie or not, need to find that median between what they are delivering and representing it in a good promotional fashion to the gamers.  Basically, under promise, over deliver.


--- ## So About Our Long Blog Post Hiatus... - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2016-08-23-so-about-our-long-blog-post-hiatus/ - Date: 2016-08-23 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, news, updates - AI-assisted: no Well... it's been some time. Our last blog post (not including the previously sponsored one) was back 9 months ago in November. Simply tons of things have happened in that time ...

Well... it's been some time.  Our last blog post (not including the previously sponsored one) was back 9 months ago in November.  Simply tons of things have happened in that time and it's about damn time to get this site (and the anime figure store) back in gear.  There is just too much going on not to talk about and with a number of anime, gaming and pop culture blogs/sites, most much younger than this site getting too much lime light (and some falling off the deep end of selling out)....I think it's about time we keep our hands game....or am I just talking to myself here?

Where the hell have we been? (wait, didn't I ask this in the last post?!?)

The last post talked about something that finally happened in the 16+ years I've been working a job and something sadly most of us today might never experience... 1) being treated like a human being and equal at the job 2) being in the field / job you wanted to.

To somewhat summarize..I was trying to get out of a dead end "web dev" job.  I almost did that with the anime figure business and voice acting when Hurricane Sandy wiped much of that away (well, much of the figure business that is; voice acting helped a bit after).  Since the late 90's and after many years of being told of how stupid I was for doing it by "professionals" in Computer Science, I was always looking to be a game / app developer.  The forever unfinished game Tenshi-Oni and the characters from it whom are the mascots of this site came from a flash game idea I started in 2003.   Then I moved to IOS native and almost got Tenshi-Oni rolling out on IOS in 2012; yet another victim of that storm's aftermath.  This later turned to Unity development.

With voice acting picking up and getting the honor to write my own published IOS development book, I somehow broke free from the IT recruiter purgatory and got a Unity developer job in NYC for a major production company.  They sadly were wolves in sheep's clothing and I actually flat out quit them for the sake of my sanity and to not give such terribly ran places the satisfaction of having developers at 1/4th the pay and 4x the workload/stress.   During that time, my anime figure store's php code got nerfed by some .htaccess hack that I to this day haven't had the chance to undo. (just frontend stuff, nothing else in terms of logins and whatnot)

There was a silver lining in me quitting as within that week I got scooped up by a smaller yet much more awesome group of developers in NYC who were in desperate need for a Unity developer who worked with game and particularly non game work; something I did exclusively for the few months I was with that horrid & vapid production company.  Working with non game applications in Unity was (and still kind of is) something almost nobody is doing so I instantly became a need asset for this and other companies.  This was ALL without the help from IT recruiters who now more than ever come to me with roles, to which I gladly say, "sorry, I'm taken."  It's seriously like relationships...the moment you are taken, people want you.

Speaking of relationships.  I started this site only a month before I met my fiancee Danielle in April of 2002 and we got engaged..get this.. Xmas eve 2007.  The various trials of life always kept the wedding and a chance to move on in life far away.  Thing is, in about 3 weeks, Danielle and I will be finally married...FINALLY!  The wedding ceremony was officially signed for back in January....near the beginning of this long blog hiatus.

Up until now, the Unity work was indeed rather grueling with any all nighters and weeks of crazy debugging and fixes.  The app was for an awesome famous beer company who made the process much easier to bare (unlike the jewelry client I had the misfortune to work with under that production company).

However, to think I've abandoned this blog, the site, the figure store, Tenshi-Oni and the voice acting you are completely wrong ^_^

This crazy 2016 year:

So... if there aren't many posts after the one.. soon after the wedding on Sept 10th and the much needed 2 week honeymoon vacation, we will be hard at work to get back to regular posts, finally get the store back up, back to Tenshi-Oni work and maybe upgrade the look and feel of our sites as well. (feeling very 2007 around here).

This year has been the most insane, eventful year I have ever witnessed in my almost 33 years alive; not just for me personally but in terms of public news and events.. from the insanity brought on by Pokemon GO last month, to the anime and gaming news, to the wonderful and much needed death of Gawker and to the explosion in new emerging tech.  There is just too much to talk about and we should have been talking about more.  The internet moves fast and forgets fast but as always, we are still here and will soon catch the next wave back into the fray. --- ## Anime Invades Las Vegas - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2016-06-05-anime-invades-las-vegas/ - Date: 2016-06-05 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Use anime on almost anything and it will become an instant hit due to its vast global appeal. Today its popularity has made it where our favorite series can be seen on clothes, ...



 Use anime on almost anything and it will become an instant hit due to its vast global appeal. Today its popularity has made it where our favorite series can be seen on clothes, shoes, bags, video games, and now, even slot machines in Las Vegas casinos.

 Anime is appreciated by both children and adults nowadays - the latter growing up watching Dragonball's Goku to Naruto. Now, it seems that anime's appeal has transcended to the grandest of casinos, as its artwork is being utilized as core themes on a slew of gaming machines. Even online slot machines have started incorporating anime. Spin Genie was one of the first portals to showcase the groundbreaking Koi Princess game which has garnered mainstream success among anime fans.

 Slot makers are even partnering up with triple-a game publishers to draw and animate character designs for slot machines in order to attract people who adore them. Konami, in particular, has created several titles with anime themes such as Pretty Devil and Sakura Lady. Perhaps it's only a matter of time until other video game companies follow Konami's lead, as the market for these kinds of games are huge. A quick glance at Play Store or iTunes' casino game genre and you’ll see just how many people play these kinds of games. And that's just the free-to-play games. Right now, apart from anime, there's an ongoing trend where slot machines are using commercially licensed themes from pop culture and superheroes from both Marvel and DC. For instance, the Superman slot is extremely cool given its animations and realistic sounds – a far cry from the traditional slot machines that only feature bars, 7s, and cherries on their reels. There's also a Star Trek slot machine now, which presents players with awesome graphics as well as snippets from classic Star Trek episodes whenever players hit the jackpot.

 It looks inevitable that we’ll see more anime-themed slots in the near future what with the popularity of the genre. What are your favorite anime titles? Let us know in the comments section below. --- ## Where Have We Been Since July? Back from the Trial of Fire Known as 2015 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-12-28-where-have-we-been-since-july-back-from/ - Date: 2015-12-28 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, one punch man, update, updates - AI-assisted: no Where Have We Been? Ok, we have to come clear with some things. It has been months since our last blogs posts. With the prior post about supporting Kenneos on Patreon, we have c...

Where Have We Been?

Ok, we have to come clear with some things.  It has been months since our last blogs posts.  With the prior post about supporting Kenneos on Patreon, we have come back from almost near silence since our last post in July!  Ironically, that blog post was about how not to make your job define you yet it was indeed my new job (and book) that caused the "hiatus".  It wasn't a true hiatus as I simply didn't have the time to do much of anything these past few months (and I'm actually not out of the woods yet).

So, what have I/we been doing?   Where the hell is the anime store?  Why are you using a picture of Saitama from One Punch Man as the header?

(update 12/2017: Daisuki is sadly gone now but here are some alternatives: http://ctech.link/daisuki-alternatives.  Thanks Sophie ^_^ )

To explain, back in June of this year something finally happened and (I believe) we mentioned in our last post.  Basically I got a developer position with a major NYC studio.  For years I was working as a very very underpaid web developer for a semi-local camera store...nearly 9 years to the day that I finally left.  I used that job's mundane monotony to of course revive the site from stagnation that started in 2004 by starting this blog, running the anime business and beginning my own independent development work with our (seemingly forever unfinished) Tenshi-Oni game.  The camera job hardly let me do anything development wise, Hurricane Sandy wiped out my anime figure business's momentum and like Saitama here in episode 1, I was searching for work for a long time, stuck in a sad state of loss and numbness.  I had some programming jobs and even some well known game companies turn the other way either due to antiquated code tests or simply because of insane prerequisites.  Nearly 5+ years of time wasting, hope raising daily emails from practically useless spam-like IT recruiters did nothing.  My success as a business owner and skills in various fields that outdo most college grads meant nothing to them... and for some time, it was killing me.

It was back in April of this year that things started to finally break the status quo.  I got an interesting email from the good people  over at Packt Publishing.  They wanted me to write a programming book centered on IOS game development and in April I began the tough work of writing a programming book.  Not too long after that, I was emailed form the co-owner of that studio I mentioned before.  They were looking for Unity developers to join their team.  Interestingly enough, in November of 2014, shortly after publishing PikiPop, I taught myself Unity development.  My past code-centric training that began in 2001 with C++ made knowing Unity a breeze and I was confident I could have been of help to that studio.  It was that last blog post in July when I was already in the thick of things, working on projects for things such as The Late Show with Steven Colbert and some big business that oddly wanted boring boardroom garbage in VR apps.

There was a major problem with all of this that I couldn't mention until today...and that was the ridiculous hell that position put me through.  Here I was finally leaving that camera store web job, excited about what this could be for my future as a developer and for what the move could be for the site as well...and at the same time I'm writing a 200+ page IOS game dev book.  Problem was, this place didn't tell me my salary up front...something very sneaky; even more so when it's a studio with a shit ton of money and celebrity clients.  I ignored this red flag due to my years of struggling to get out of my past position and the heart break of what Hurricane Sandy did to the anime business that could have broke me free much sooner.  To the dismay of family and friends who warned me of the cryptic salary and expectations, I dove in and started that new position at the very start of June.

It goes without saying that with my book and this new job, my time for what remains of the store and this site was hampered.  I was working 5 days a week in NYC from about 9:00am until 6:00pm with a train that takes 2 hours to get to and from NYC.  My work day started at 6:45am and didn't end until about 9:00pm...and even then my bosses (all 4 of them) had me do work for them until 1 am from home.  Most weekends was me also working all day, doing web tasks that nobody seemed to know how to do with projects that weren't even my own.  I traded 1 depressingly computer illiterate boss for 4 horrendously developer illiterate & (mostly) computer illiterate bosses (half of them being bipolar).  I was put into a place of great pressure to perform, but at times oddly was given some great tools to work with (ie: they gave my personal Unity account full pro benefits)  Every day was both a kiss and a slap in the face.  It took almost two weeks in before I found my salary..and it wasn't even close to the ~$60K that junior Unity devs make...it was half. I was making almost exact to the previous camera job.  Ok, they did pay for my $400 monthly train ride and paid for lunch... but I always felt like I was being guilt tripped into it; yet people from MTV events and social media people at the place would just leech off the hours and relax while I struggled doing everything from web design to helping other people code their projects.  Add this and the fact that they were having an unpaid intern work 30+ hours a week on development projects and at times calling developers "crazy and you can see the motivation to that post I made in July about not making your job your identity.  That post was my realization that I jumped into a trap.

Not too long after that post, I began my own project...an insanely over exaggerated, rushed timeline app for a major diamond dealer.  It was utter hell, given 6 weeks to work on an app solely (well, originally by myself) with ever changing features for a client that didn't even know what an app was, while still being told to assist my coworker 40 hours a week.  It was enough to make a person go mad.  After the app eventually went past the deadline (was really only given 3 weeks to focus on it)  I got some extra time on it, with lovely bipolar scolding about how worthless I am to boot.

Thing is, I was doing stuff with Unity that nobody did before in time frames that would make any legit developer's head spin.  In reality, like Saitama here, I went through a trial by fire.  Out of it I realized I was indeed a legit programmer; able to solve problems that most programmers would throw the towel in for.  I also physically got stronger.  Despite the emotional distraught that job did (got nervous breakdowns that I haven't seen since I worked as a manager at Friendly's while in college 10+ years ago), I was physically getting stronger from the walking and train rides to and from NYC.  The horrible work environment was uncovering the programmer I truly am and molded my physical body back to my high school age.  Emotionally, the work was taking its toll and the client was making me see first hand some of the truth in some preconceived notions I had about NYC and what that city would deem as "successful" in certain "high ranking" individuals.  I was seeing NYC through eyes that sees nothing but garbage, stupidity and evil that is the real NYC and the real New York/Long Island workplace.

To the shock of many who didn't know my struggles, I quit that job...with the true colors of my past employer quickly showing in light of me finally standing up for myself.  As a business owner, author of a programming book and a fully realized programmer, it was my time to finally end the nearly 20 years of being a door mat by employers.  One would think that I would be happy to be free... but it was only a brief time of relief as the realization of the debt I still faced (and still do) was now looking at me straight in the face now.  What remains of my anime figure business and this site was not enough to survive.  So,in a panic I applied for a retail job at a Costco near my apartment and even managed to begin the training stages of a consultancy job I found through Flexjobs.com.  One week out of that last NYC job I was now having to wait for the processes of two jobs to come through and feel the grief of returning the the horrors of retail/food after a decade of being away from it.  At the same time we were losing my fiancee's grandmother to the complications of heart disease and age; soon to be the 4th grandparent we've lost since November of 2013.  As one can guess, things have not been great up to this point.  Yet, despite the despair and fear, I felt a sense of calm and a feeling that all will be ok now that now I'm free from the employers that bound me and hindered me from my goals all these years.... or maybe... I finally cracked.   It was what happened next that took me by surprise.

The week after I quit that NYC studio didn't give me time to rest nor did it grant me the ability to grieve over the fact that the woman who gave us an apartment to live in, my fiancee's grandmother, was on her death bed.  Recruiters were ruthless now that I came from a developer position.  The change to Unity last November was a blessing as it oddly gave me more credibility than my C++ and iOS native coding experience (skills that are more advanced than Unity honestly).  IT recruiters were on me like flies on shit and I was on the phone hours on end. I wanted to reboot the store and my own projects but was in the full time job known as ferrying IT recruiters and going through, again, mostly time wasting pre-interviews and questionieers.  I was on the verge of getting two low paid jobs (Costco and that social media consultancy) but they too had me wait and go through hoops.

Then, amongst all of the emails, Linkedin posts and calls was one LinkedIn message from a studio in NYC.  This wasn't some recruiter but one of the heads of the company.  Granted... this was the same scenario as what got me the job at that hellish the studio I quit; a company head messaging me directly on Linkedin.  Understandably, I was a bit hesitant at first.  I did the routine I have become so accustomed to, scheduling a call and preparing to tell my job situation now with the caveat of the recent Unity dev hell I went through.  To my surprise, the manager was really nice and they were a studio really looking for my exact skills, skills I came to learn are almost nowhere to be found...the ability to make non-game features / APIs in Unity (since Unity is a game engine).  That development hell made me a rare commodity in the programming world.  I found out from this person that I was ranked as the #1 person in the NYC area on LinkedIn for Unity development; my constant phone calls and emails were the result of this.  He hired me on the spot, at 2x the pay I was making at that last studio with the ability to work from home some days and via contract.  In other words, I'm still my own business owner but get to help a studio, a studio who this past month I've come to see really likes me and is just an amazing group of people to work with.  I work with other devs and for the first time in the 17 years I first started working a job, I felt like I am actually appreciated for my work and skills.  The hours up until x-mas eve were in some cases (due to the project) even worse than my last studio job... but I didn't care.  It makes me tear up in happiness thinking about it.  My first job was as a baseball umpire at 15 for my baseball league..I was told I didn't have what it takes.  My next job was a toy stocker at Kay Bee Toys during the x-mas of 2000 when the PS2 was launched...I was never told that I was seasonal.  The following role was that horrid job at Friendly's in April of 2001, the job that I found first hand how horrible people from my town were.  I was call a retard by people, treated like garbage and worked to the bone while in college.  In college I was doing computer science mainly with the goal to make videogames...I was told I was an idiot for not wanting to do CS for what it "really is for".  The hatred for the job at Friendly's made me join a network marketing group that I worked my ass off...only to come out as the only person willing to put in work and ending up $40,000 in debt.  After Friendly's I got a job at Office Max... and was told I was stupid by customers who thought I was "on speed" because I drink one energy drink in the day instead of the 10 cups of coffee most do.   I left Office Max to work at an eBay consignment job...that soon went out of business (though it did help the start of the anime store).  The next job in the summer of 2006 was that camera store "web dev" job... a job I was told I was useless in as well and got stuck in until June of this year.  Then finally that studio in NYC in June... where I was told I was a useless programmer.
As one can see, I've been stepped on for many years and now, now it's finally time I stand amidst the ruins of the past.  Not only has this job finally give me a sense of confidence and an eagerness to improve myself, it also helped start something that now finally is happening...the marriage to my other half who's been here since the site started in March/April of 2002.  On x-mas eve of 2007 I proposed to her but we stand still not married thanks to the myriad of events that tried to prevent it.  Now, we stand here with that date, September 10th, 2016.  The papers have been signed and we are getting ready for the wedding that should have happened so long ago.  I'm hoping this new studio will last for at least all of next year but even then., I know we will continue to stand stronger than ever before.

With this, it is now time to get back to the anime store, my voice acting and oh yes..the Tenshi-Oni game...


Where is the anime store?

In the middle of my development hell chaos there was a change in security measures for online stores and retail in general in the US.  Many of you probably got those surprise credit cards in the mail with the chips on them...yep, that security measure.  Well, we had to update the SSL of the site for the additional safety of the customers.  Granted, we don't keep any payment information on the store.  All of that is done on the site of Paypal, Amazon and Bitpay.  So the store was automatically taken down in absence of a new early enforced SSL certificate.  We got it back but the database connect is still off.  So, as we speak the anime store is still down but once we tidy up the SSL and reconnect the database (something we couldn't even focus on in the few months it's been down), the store will be back up.  In the mean time we will soon (I know, it's after x-mas) have a bunch of our new and old stock on the store on our Ebay and Amazon branches in the mean time.  The store is not gone and we have a number of really great figures on hand we need to move out before we even think of doing any more preorders, pre-orders going forward that unfortunately will have to have deposits due to a number of customers abusing our generous no-deposit preorders we've been doing since 2007 :-/.

Tenshi-Oni's Status...

It's the game that both won't ever die nor ever seem to come to life in a completed form.  It started in 2003 and almost became a full game on iOS back in 2012.  So many music artists in particular gave us music to use for the game... a number of people have waited and have gotten nothing in return.  I have promised Tenshi-Oni for many years and it is killing me that it keeps being stuck in limbo.

I'll use this to announce that in secret I've been rebuilding Tenshi-Oni in Unity.  With a combination of my vastly improved skills as a developer and the tools I have as a Unity pro developer... Tenshi Oni is back in production and it is planned to be greater than it ever was, being a "living AMV" 2.5D-side scrolling slashing bullet hell.  If any of you are following our other site, Anime.fm....you will get a hint of what we have on the development block.  I know I have sometimes bashed Kickstarter and other crowd funding platforms, but to help make this as close to looking like a AAA title as possible, I will make a prototype/tech demo as soon as possible and that will be used to promote a crowd funding campaign.  I want all artists who have helped us thus far (and others we plan to contract along the way) to get compensated in what can be a really great game if my vision is brought to the numerous platforms Unity can export to.  AMVs were what got this site on the map back when internet fame wasn't even a thing and it could be AMVs that inspire a major part of the gameplay in this game.  After working in production studios as one of the lead developer in numerous current gen projects, I could very well make Tenshi-Oni something far beyond the amateur iOS build it was a few years ago.

I don't want to jinx myself again with that game so we will only post new Tenshi-Oni status when there is more to show...but it is being reworked into Unity.  Like Saitama, it was through the pain of extensive training that has brought us back from the brink.

Here's to a bright new future in 2016.  It had a long time coming. --- ## Support Kenneos on Patreon! ^.^ (https://www.patreon.com/kenneos) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-12-18-support-kenneos-on-patreon/ - Date: 2015-12-18 - Tags: artists, chucksanimeshrine, Kenneos, patreon, Tenshi-Oni - AI-assisted: no @Kenneos is one of the artists who made our site, anime store and Tenshi-Oni art come to life. The banner you've seen for years on our pages has been thanks to her and artists l...


@Kenneos is one of the artists who made our site, anime store and Tenshi-Oni art come to life.  The banner you've seen for years on our pages has been thanks to her and artists like her.  We are happy to announce that she now has a Patreon page for you all to support.

Go check out her Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/kenneos

In due time we will also have our Patreon page all set up as well (once we get an idea which of the many creative tasks we can make worthwhile for Patrons ^^;;)  Make sure to give her some support or at the very least follow her page.  It's thanks to her and a number of our fan artists that help us keep this site going after almost 14 years now.


--- ## Remember What Defines You and Never Let that Be A Job - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-07-05-remember-what-defines-you-and-never-let/ - Date: 2015-07-05 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone, a bit of an odd post (with a tad bit of title porn), but I thought it was a good time to give an update as the site, figure store and blog here probably deserves o...

Hey everyone, a bit of an odd post (with a tad bit of title porn), but I thought it was a good time to give an update as the site, figure store and blog here probably deserves one.

Remember that rather long term situation I've dealt with? You know, the 8+ years of working at an underpaid web dev job while trying to bring this anime site, the store and indie game development into my main 9-5 workflow?   Well, a few months ago that finally changed.  Not sure what happened...hell froze over? the Cubs won? there was a glitch in the matrix?  Yamcha didn't die in a DBZ fight?

What ever it was, a few months ago I got an interesting message from a site I all but thrown out as anything to care about, LinkedIn.  Despite getting some success with voice acting, publishing the PikiPop game, getting into podcasting, Let's Playing and returning to the forever forgotten project, Tenshi-Oni...I've basically thrown out any seriousness I took from recruiters and contacts from job/ project sites.  After dealing with IT recruiters for so long I learned quickly how much of a waste of time they are.  They come at you with arms flailing, saying you'd be the "perfect fit", waste your time and phone minutes doing an "interview" while never letting you talk to their client's (the job potentially at hand) and simply forgetting you exist after they take your email and phone for their quotas.  Even after I mention this interesting news....any of you going through the trials of IT/programmer recruiters...due take note of the scam artists many of them are.  Just build your own projects first and don't let them waste time you could be using to complete such projects.

Anyways, a few months ago I got an amazing email from a publisher in the UK.  The offer to author an IOS game development book.  For the past few months I've been working on that book.  More on it in a future post as I'm now half way done with that...but it's partially why we've been a bit weak with the updates and figure listing posts around here.  A little over a month ago, as said before I got what I never thought I'd see from LinkedIn, an interview invite.  Not some recruiter, not some test of a test of a test to have an interview.  A flat out, "hey, we think you could be a fit, come to the office for an interview."

With in a few weeks, here I am now working as a developer in NYC for that said company.  The underpaid camera store web dev job is over!  I'm now a full fledged pro Unity dev and am working with some cool stuff for some big clients...mainly in the realm of non-game VR experiences.  Stuff I'm still trying to get better at as I'm more of a game dev in the traditional coding sense and Unity is also still a newer platform for me.

So, does this mean this is the end of the anime site, the anime figure store and Tenshi-Oni or my own game dev projects?  Quite the opposite.  First off, the reason why I submitted my ego to the 9-5 job (when I'm obviously more fit for just running my own ship), is because sadly, past events outside of my control ruined my original run to have that life people like YouTube celebs, indie game devs and anime hobbyists have where their online sites/stores/activities pay for their lives.  I almost did it but (as seen in a past post, a certain "Sandy" storm ruined that).  I don't come from wealth like some of those people do whom can stand on such a platform and just grow it...so, like the rest of us I have to work a crap job that pays the bills; hence the camera store "web dev" job I had for all this time.

This new position is very great, I do like it and I even got to see some celebrities we get to work with in NYC.  My long train ride is taken care of and I get to eat some good sushi during lunch.  But... I came to know something about myself and I'm certain some of you might have gone through the same.  As great as this job is, as much as I've fought to get it and as much I've dealt with in the past, I wasn't prepared for the shell shock coming out of my comfort zone was.  In some ways I reverted back to my personality of my high school years (mind you I graduated high school in 2002, so it's been some time).  Much of the professionalism, personality fixes and all got reverted back to the subservient mentality that honestly doesn't help me in the new job or anywhere else in general.

I do love the job, I have awesome new coworkers and all but I can not forget my goal of this,  to utilize the job as a stepping stone for my true goals and dreams.  The shock of a new work environment is finally starting to fade away and as soon as I finish the game dev book, we shall be back to normal here.  Actually, I hope to bring things back to pre Hurricane Sandy times as I realized that it is indeed anime, video games, game dev and this site (and the sister sites) that I love.  I probably won't be truly happy until my fiancee and I are married, living in our own home (not an apartment) and we are surrounded by these hobbies and the work we can and have done in them.

The past job was not helping that overall goal and this one hopefully will.  It will still be a challenge until that day of true freedom comes but be it a great new job or an old job...don't let that position make you forget who you are and the hobbies you love.  Sometimes the work obligations and such live changes in general could make us almost forget or feel guilty for liking our hobbies...but don't do that.  Don't let a job (good or bad) change who you are.  Always make sure your goal is to do what you love ALL days so that you'd never work a day in your life.  There's still some work for me to do but now I believe I have a better vehicle with the new job to do that.

After this busy month, there should be some new stuff on the horizon here and in general for the site.  No matter what life throws at us, we won't forget who we are..and hell, there's new Dragon Ball episodes, news Sailor Moon and Final Fantasy VII is getting a damn remake!

There's so much to miss by forgetting who you are and what you love, so, we are still here ^_^. --- ## Final Fantasy VII Remake is Real - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-06-15-final-fantasy-vii-remake-is-real/ - Date: 2015-06-15 - Tags: E3, E32015, FFVII, final fantasy VII - AI-assisted: no Honestly thought the hype to this was a joke, but yes, as we see here from this year's E3 event, Final Fantasy VII is indeed getting a PS4 remake. Square-Enix listened and proba...

Honestly thought the hype to this was a joke, but yes, as we see here from this year's E3 event, Final Fantasy VII is indeed getting a PS4 remake.  Square-Enix listened and probably have been making this under the scenes for some time.

FFVII was the game that made me an anime fan back in '97 and thus the creation of this site in 2002.  I think many of us should be excited about this game but also try not to expect the same charm as the original.  Maybe expect something new and different.

and also.. holy s*** we are going to see Tifa in PS4 goodness!!! 0-0







...
On a side note: pardon (yet again) for lack of updates and anime store updates.  There's actually been some very good happenings with us here at CAS.  As of a month ago, I got commissioned to write an IOS Game Dev book by a major publisher and (as of today actually), finalized my position as a Unity/VR game developer in my 9-5; finally ridding myself of that old "web dev" job I've been trying to be free from for so long.  Lots of really great stuff this 6/15/15.

Until my book is done in late July and as I begin my new 9-5 role as a Unity/IOS game dev, expect probably not too much updates until after then ^^;;  For this bit of news..we couldn't not mention it.  


--- ## New Dragon Ball Series! Dragon Ball Super - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-04-28-new-dragon-ball-series-dragon-ball-super/ - Date: 2015-04-28 - Tags: anime, anime news, dragon ball, dragon ball super, dragon ball z - AI-assisted: no Yep, it's official , a New Dragon Ball series is on the way and will be airing this July in Japan! Dragon Ball's last series, Dragon Ball GT, ended in Japan over 18 years ago! A...


Yep, it's official, a New Dragon Ball series is on the way and will be airing this July in Japan!

Dragon Ball's last series, Dragon Ball GT, ended in Japan over 18 years ago!  At around that time, Dragon Ball Z was first airing here in the US on cable stations and soon on the then newly created Toonami block on Cartoon Network. Oddly, there was also an English dub of the Dragon Ball GT Final Bout game for the Playstation 1 briefly available during the initial US airing.  That game was actually my first exposure to the Dragon Ball franchise.  I would visit a friend of mine, Tiago, who owned the game, whom later went on to work at Cartoon Network.  We would play Final Bout, Final Fantasy VII and the game Bust a Groove since I was a pure Nintendo fan boy at the time and didn't own a PS1.  It was those three games as well as being introduced to Toonami by Tiago that helped me become an anime fan.  What I'm saying is that, like many of you, Dragon Ball Z was what made us anime fans and this news, though not surprising considering the success of the two DBZ movies and the truncated/edited DBZ Kai series, is so awesome to hear.

Dragon Ball GT, though the last series true series, wasn't made by the series creator Akira Toryama. For years, fans wanted a new post GT series; usually in the form of the fan-made Dragon Ball AF...which in my opinion is worse than the worst even GT ever came up with.  (An SSJ 6 grey haired Goku? wat?.please.. no).  

Back in 2013, with the creation of the Battle Of Gods movie by Arika Toriyama, the entire GT series became defunct. (BoG Spoilers)  Not only ending with the creation of a new type of Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan God...but also hinting how there are now many universes with Beerus being the most powerful in our Universe and Whis, who's even more powerful, not even from this universe.  This left the series open ended and with the release of the Revival of F movie and now this bit of info...it became apparent that the series is truly moving forward. 

As a DBZ fan since 1996... this is amazing news and here's hoping the series will be better than GT was.

New sources:

http://nichegamer.com/2015/04/dragon-ball-super-the-first-new-season-in-18-years-is-revealed/

http://www.famitsu.com/news/201504/28077773.html

http://www.toei-animation.com/en/content/new_dragon_ball_super
--- ## April 2015 Anime Figure Preorders and Anime Figure News - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-04-20-april-2015-anime-figure-preorders-and/ - Date: 2015-04-20 - Tags: anime, anime figures, Celty, kill la kill, Tony, update, updates - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone. Pardon the long gap in seeing new figure pre-orders in our store ^^;; No worries though as a fresh batch of anime figure pre-orders are now up for the taking...but...

Hey everyone.  Pardon the long gap in seeing new figure pre-orders in our store ^^;; No worries though as a fresh batch of anime figure pre-orders are now up for the taking...but remember, there's only a limited time to reserve yours and that time is marked on the product listing pages.

In this batch of figures you'll find some really awesome ones like:


Check out the full list here

As for important figure news for both new and past customers, we wanted to let you all know that as of a little over a month ago, the west coast port labor dispute that was causing anime products (and products from practically every industry) to be delayed by up to 3 months has been over and thus for the most part, business is back to normal.  One of our main wholesalers, Ultra Tokyo Japan, also moved their location which also explains why some of you have been waiting for some pre-orders longer than usual.  Just want to let you all know that we still have your pre-orders on file and once we hear they are finally enroute, we will be emailing you asap.  

If you have any questions or concerns, you can always email us at orders@chucksanimeshrine.com.
--- ## Our Trip To NYC and Channel Frederator - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-04-19-our-trip-to-nyc-and-channel-frederator/ - Date: 2015-04-19 - Tags: Cartoon Hangover, cartoon network, Frederator, nintendo, Nintendo World, NYC, Toy Pizza, updates - AI-assisted: no On Friday we had the honor of meeting our friends over at Channel Frederator / Cartoon Hangover ( @channelfred / @ cartoonhangover ) My fiancee Danielle has been a member of the...


On Friday we had the honor of meeting our friends over at Channel Frederator / Cartoon Hangover (@channelfred /@cartoonhangover) My fiancee Danielle has been a member of their awesome network and for a number of months, I've became friends with Nicky from Cartoon Hangover and particularly when he by chance was stocking up on Nendoroids and other figures for the ToyPizza show ^_^  Danielle and I had the honor of meeting up & having lunch with Nicky, Cade and other wonderful people at the Channel Frederator office.  It really was like all of us were friends for much longer as we love talking about the same topics, be it anime, figures, video games and the Cartoon Hangover shows like Adventure Time, Bee & Puppycat & Steven Universe.

If you guys are reading this blog, we want to thank you all again ^_^ Was a great day in NYC.

Here's some images from out trip and when Danielle an I went to visit Nintendo World later in the day:

Here's the Frederator Office ^^


PuppyCat in Lego form


More of that awesome Lego table


Me and Nicky when Danielle, me , Cade and others had some lunch at the office. 
(Danielle being silly with the Instagram effects)


Some pics from after our meetup, as we walked to Nintendo World and then Central Park 
(CatBug joining the adventure ^^)


@ Nintendo World ^^








Danielle playing some Smash Bros on the Wii U



Danielle Playing some DBZ Xenoverse later on over at Toys R US


Over at Central Park


CatBug enjoying the weather ^^

CatBug watching me write my IOS Game Dev book on the train home (more on that in a future post ^_^)


Home and having some Pizza with CatBug


Was such a great time and hope to visit our friends at Frederator / Cartoon Hangover again soon ^_^



Check out Nicky And Cade's Cartoon Hangover updates


and the Toy Pizza Show





--- ## We Are Supporting Artists On Patreon! ^_^ - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-04-19-we-are-supporting-artists-on-patreon/ - Date: 2015-04-19 - Tags: art, patreon, Sakimichan, updates, Zeronis - AI-assisted: no For years we here at Chuck's Anime Shrine have been supportive of artists big and small behind our favorite media. We create content online as well and we know how hard it can b...

For years we here at Chuck's Anime Shrine have been supportive of artists big and small behind our favorite media.  We create content online as well and we know how hard it can be to do what we love while the daily struggles of life (mundane/underpaying 9-5 jobs...or lack thereof, etc) can derail the dreams and goals of artists, voice actors, video editors, game devs and other creative people.  Like us, many of the artists and content creators out there have a simple dream...to do what we love for a living; making creations that can financially free us from the confines of the average daily life.  If you don't come from wealth jobs or personal situations tend to never be what we want to do nor actually accomplish anything beyond running in circles for somebody else's dreams/goals.  Thanks to the internet, some crowdfunding services have come up in recent years to help all of us break free from that endless loop; adding to the already established platforms like Newgrounds, Youtube, deviantart, Pixiv and other staples of internet content submission.

From the artists Kenneos and Eefi whom helped build the image of our mascots to other fan artists we try to promote here, we do what we can to show that we are here with you in this quest.  (Also want to note that every day that our flagship game, Tenshi-Oni, isn't published... I feel a bit ashamed as I know so many talented music artists have granted us the rights to use their amazing music for free ^^;;)

One of the recent platforms for content creators to come up in recent years is the site, Patreon.  Now, I'll admit, in roughly the past year I've been rather critical of crowd funding...moreso how some people have warped these services into some sort of welfare system just for existing and using false victimhood to get said funds.  I've seen people use Patreon, GoFundMe and Kickstarter literally saying "help me pay for my bills because I'm 'so-and-so' ...I have nothing to give..but just pay me".  Adding insult to injury, the people who tend to do this usually are those who already come from wealth/free-time/opportunity and thus bastardize the main goals of these platforms and the many people who work hard for their fans, whom are grateful that they are at or on their way to reaching that wonderful dream of doing what you want to do for a living.

Anyways...politics and semantics aside, on to why we have this post in the first place...

We are proud to say that we are now officially Patrons to two wonderful artists on Patreon... Zeronis (https://www.patreon.com/Zeronis) and Sakimichan (https://www.patreon.com/sakimichan) ^_^

Please do check out their work.  As our anime business rebounds and our own game dev work progresses we will do what we can to add to this list.  Sakimichan and Zeronis are rather well known and albeit, rather well funded creators now but they, like many of us started from the ground up and got where they are because of their skill and hard work.  They are also very humble and great people who do indeed care about their fans.  That's one thing we're liking about Patreon, is that the funding for the creators is  based on them actually creating something for their backers/patrons.  (Also want to note, outside of Patreon, we are currently commissioning a sprite artist who's working hard on making cool animations of our main mascot Fumi and her forms ^^)

So, what about Chuck's Anime Shrine and Patreon?  Well, yes, we do have a Patreon account and we are in the process of building it up correctly for any of you who wish to be our patrons.  You can check out our Patreon page here:

https://www.patreon.com/animeshrine

Granted, as of the writing of this post, the page is in dire need of editing and some palatable creations on there...pretty much just slapped stuff together initially and learning the platform ^^;;  From me being a game dev, video editor, Let's Player, animator, voice actor, web dev and even recently a bit of a music composer to Danielle being an animator with Channel Frederator...we should soon be able to give people a reason to be our patrons.  If we can achieve that dream...something we almost had with this anime site a few years prior, it will only mean more content here on the site..more figures in the store, more games (particularly the almost eternally delayed Tenshi-Oni project) and more artists/content creators we will support ^_^.  I know for a fact that if I didn't have to work my current, mundane, underpaying 9-5 web-dev "company's computer guy" job that I oddly still have despite the anime figure business...I'd be working so many hours to make this site and our creations be the worth viewing / playing.


(Please note: we will be backing these two artists for at least the next month or two...we will try to do so longer... but due to financial restrictions there might be a future date that we have to pause said backing. Again, the goal will be to add to the list of artists we support) --- ## Anime Shrine PodCast Episode 5: Gamer Girls and Google Being Stupidly Prude - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-04-04-anime-shrine-podcast-episode-5-gamer/ - Date: 2015-04-04 - Tags: adsense, gamer girls, gamergate, google, podcast, sjws, videogames - AI-assisted: no We are back and this time around, we are pissed. Yes, I get back on the whole gaming/gamergate situation because it's become apparent that be it video games, programming, anime ...


We are back and this time around, we are pissed.  Yes, I get back on the whole gaming/gamergate situation because it's become apparent that be it video games, programming, anime or any artistic venue, there are people more adamant than ever trying to stifle artistic expression under the false guise of "social justice".  The Thought Police has even gotten their hands in conventions with the whole "no aggressive navels " & similar asinine rules and the culture war has even hit close to home with one of our own blog posts flagged under Google Adsense's horrible new "lewd" rules (image of the email from Google seen below).



Sit back, eat some sexy deviled eggs for this Easter weekend post...but make sure you don't drink the SJW punch, because that shit is poison.

(Warning: Explicit Language)





Direct Link

(Applause are welcomed; jazz hands not required)
--- ## #FanServiceFriday #NationalCleavageDay 3/27/2015: Yoko Littner by Stanley Artgerm Lau - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-03-27-fanservicefriday-nationalclevageday/ - Date: 2015-03-27 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, #NationalCleavageDay, anime art, Gurren Lagann, Stanley Artgerm Lau, yoko - AI-assisted: no To celebrate both #FanServiceFriday and #NationalCleavageDay today, here's an amazing art piece of Gurren Lagann's Yoko Littner by Stanley Artgerm Lau. check out his other work ...

To celebrate both #FanServiceFriday and #NationalCleavageDay today, here's an amazing art piece of Gurren Lagann's Yoko Littner by Stanley Artgerm Lau.  check out his other work here: http://new.livestream.com/stanleyartgermlau

It's been making the rounds on social media lately for good reasons (other than the obvious two); simply stunning art of your favorite anime and game characters.

--- ## Video Game Graphics: My Quick Take on GDC 2015, Unity 5 and Unreal Engine 4 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-03-04-video-game-graphics-my-quick-take-on/ - Date: 2015-03-04 - Tags: GDC2015, TitanX, Unity 5, Unreal engine 5, video games, videogames - AI-assisted: no We really are on the cusp of videogame graphics and lighting matching real life. I've been playing games since 1985 and this dream of us gamers and game devs is not too far from...

We really are on the cusp of videogame graphics and lighting matching real life.  I've been playing games since 1985 and this dream of us gamers and game devs is not too far from being accomplished..and I couldn't be more excited; especially now that these tools are available to any dev, AAA or not.  Using the physics & lighting that govern our universe is in the calculations seen in the latest 3D engines... we are becoming masters of light and information.

Next milestone would be to create something in tune to what is in the SAO anime, where this data is streamed to your mind and you live the game or simulation like a dream.  For that, we need to be masters of a computer that's had billions of years to evolve...our brains. --- ## #NetNeutrality: FCC Votes In Favor Of Us, Citizens of The Internet - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-02-26-netneutrality-fcc-votes-in-favor-of-us/ - Date: 2015-02-26 - Tags: #FCC, internet rights, NetNeutrality, Title II - AI-assisted: no Not anime related directly but something we've been a part of on our blog and site for a long time since this can not only affect your anime viewing, but all of the internet in ...


Not anime related directly but something we've been a part of on our blog and site for a long time since this can not only affect your anime viewing, but all of the internet in general.

Today, the FCC officially voted to protect #NetNeutrality by having ISPs and their services be classified under Title II utilities.  There's still much to be done but now the ball is in our court for once when it comes to our internet and how important it is for everyone in our daily lives.  Users of the internet, many whom popularized it with our anime, video games and yes even the memes.. now forced ISPs to end the Oligopoly of their internet services.  This monopoly-like business practice has kept many people away from the internet speeds & pricing that reflect what it should be in 2015 based on current, available technology.. in favor of old hat business practices and good old greed.  Not only that, but the ISPs (Comcast in particular) were getting close to closing the internet to only open it to the highest bidder with things such as "fast lanes" and other tolls that shouldn't exist in what should always stay open, low cost and free of Monopolies or Oligopolies.  The internet is too important to be some BS, outdated, unavoidable cable/satellite/etc package deal.

For once, after all of the pressure we gave the FCC from both inside and outside the US...they are actually listening to us instead of the corporate lobbyists who are paid to stifle the internet.

Again, let's not put our guard down and there's still much to do, but not since the blocking of SOPA has the people of the internet been able to get our voices heard to prevent a terrible future.

Full story:

http://consumerist.com/2015/02/26/fcc-officially-votes-to-protect-net-neutrality-reclassify-broadband/

http://mashable.com/2015/02/26/fcc-net-neutrality-vote/

Reddit Thread:

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2x8tzt/fcc_overturns_state_laws_that_protect_isps_from/

Image credit:

Mashable --- ## Anime Shrine PodCast Episode 4: Valentine's Day, Anime Couples and More with Guest Wanderer Gene - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-02-16-anime-shrine-podcast-episode-4/ - Date: 2015-02-16 - Tags: anime couples, cons, podcast, shipping, valentines day - AI-assisted: no Pardon the late Valentine's Day post. In Episode 4 of our Anime Shrine Podcast, Danielle and I talk about Valentine Day, shipping couples, examples of strong anime, game couples...



Pardon the late Valentine's Day post.  In Episode 4 of our Anime Shrine Podcast, Danielle and I talk about Valentine Day, shipping couples, examples of strong anime, game couples and I still don't know when to shut the hell up about GamerGate rambling.  We also have a guest joining us... our friend Wanderer Gene who talks about some of what he's done in not just attending cons but also doing some panel running and employment work there as well.

(Warning: Explicit Language)






Direct Link
--- ## Anime Shrine PodCast Episode 3: Monty Oum, Magfest and GamerGate with Special Guest, FattyJanai - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-02-08-anime-shrine-podcast-episode-3-monty/ - Date: 2015-02-08 - Tags: FattyJanai, gamergate, Magfest, Monty Oum, podcast - AI-assisted: no In Episode 3 of our Anime Shrine Podcast, Danielle and I talk about the terrible loss of beloved animator and fellow anime fan Monte Oum. We also have our first guest, FattyJana...



In Episode 3 of our Anime Shrine Podcast, Danielle and I talk about the terrible loss of  beloved animator and fellow anime fan Monte Oum.  We also have our first guest, FattyJanai who attended the recent Magfest convention.  FattyJanai & I dive more into the SJW cult invasion of game, anime and overall media which the consumer movement #gamergate is continuing to unravel and make public in their efforts.  We discuss how the new wave of PR policing could stifle the very creativity that game devs and animators like myself and others in this field have work so hard to make mainstream after decades of religious right persecution.

(Warning: Explicit Language)


(Part 1)


(Part 2)





http://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/podcasts/cas_podcast_3.mp3
--- ## RIP Monty Oum - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-02-02-rip-monty-oum/ - Date: 2015-02-02 - Tags: anime news, Dead Fantasy, Monty Oum, RWBY - AI-assisted: no We are really saddened by the news that Dead Fantasy/RWBY creator Monty Oum has passed :-(... http://roosterteeth.com/news/entry.php?id=5448468 This past year has been nothing b...


We are really saddened by the news that Dead Fantasy/RWBY creator Monty Oum has passed :-(...

http://roosterteeth.com/news/entry.php?id=5448468

This past year has been nothing but loss for us personally and now we hear yet another person who inspires us in our creative fields has passed away.

Monty Oum was a person who proved that if you taught yourself and worked hard, you can be successful. It didn't matter what school you came from, or even if you finished school.... what mattered in the end was your love for your craft.

We here at Chuck's Anime Shrine want share our deepest condolences and heartfelt wishes for his family in this time of loss. May he continue to be an inspiration for new and upcoming animators, designers and anime fans alike long after today. I've been around long enough to have seen the entire span of his career and he deserved all success he earned and then some.

It's people like Monty that has kept me an avid anime & animation fan, even as I'm in my 30's now. People like him inspire me to keep improving and to always keep moving forward in this hobby...to not second guess our love for it and what can be accomplished with this love for anime, videogames, programming, voice acting and animation....even if the world around us tries to diminish that love. --- ## #FanServiceFriday 1/30/2015: Angel Fumi By Kenneos - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-30-fanservicefriday-1302015-angel-fumi-by/ - Date: 2015-01-30 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime angel, anime art, chucksanimeshrine, fan art, mascots, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, videogames - AI-assisted: no For today's #FanServiceFriday post... we have none other than one of our mascots, and one of the main characters in our (seemingly forever unreleased ^^;;) game, Tenshi-Oni... ....

For today's #FanServiceFriday post... we have none other than one of our mascots, and one of the main characters in our (seemingly forever unreleased ^^;;) game, Tenshi-Oni...

...the sexy, cute and strong, Angel Fumi!

This is a brand new image drawn by Kenneos.
We will soon also have some new pixel art of Fumi and her forms as well and I hope more info on the game and it's ongoing production.  Now that PikiPop is released, it's time to go back on this project that has tons of code, art and music already a part of it.

....
If any of you want to draw our mascots and have them featured here... feel free to email us and we will gladly show off your art and site(s) --- ## #MoeMonday 1/19/2015: "Revelation" By TID - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-19-moemonday-1192015-revelation-by-tid/ - Date: 2015-01-19 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime art, anime girl, artists, pixiv, Revelation, TID - AI-assisted: no For today's #MoeMonday post, here's a gorgeous and surreal image titled " Revelation " by the pixiv artist: TID . Check out TID's other work (some are NSFW)

For today's #MoeMonday post, here's a gorgeous and surreal image titled "Revelation" by the pixiv artist: TID.

Check out TID's other work (some are NSFW) --- ## #FanServiceFriday 1/16/2015: Angela Balzac By Shirabi - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-16-fanservicefriday-1162015-angela-balzac/ - Date: 2015-01-16 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, Angela Balzac, anime art, anime girl, Rakuen Tsuihou, Shirabi - AI-assisted: no For today's #FanServiceFriday post is a character who's been drawn a bunch lately... the beautiful Angela Balzac from Rakuen Tsuihou: Expelled From Paradise. This particular ima...


For today's #FanServiceFriday post is a character who's been drawn a bunch lately... the beautiful Angela Balzac from Rakuen Tsuihou: Expelled From Paradise.

This particular image is done by Shirabi.

(source: https://yande.re/post/show/306802/angela_balzac-bodysuit-rakuen_tsuihou-shirabi) --- ## Anime Figure Pre-Orders 1/13/2015: Rider Nendoroid Rerelease, Idol Asuna, Amatsukaze figFIX - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-13-anime-figure-pre-orders-1132015-rider/ - Date: 2015-01-13 - Tags: anime figure pre-orders, anime figures, anime girls, Asuna, figures, Kantai Collection KanColle, rider - AI-assisted: no A little late with announcing these ^^;; but here's some of the newest anime figure pre-orders we currently have in our store . For this batch, we see the return of a classic Ne...


A little late with announcing these ^^;; but here's some of the newest anime figure pre-orders we currently have in our store.

For this batch, we see the return of a classic Nendoroid...Rider from Fate/Stay/Night.  There's also the adorable Idol Asuna and more ^^

Here's a list of some of the newest figures.


--- ## #MoeMonday 1/12/2015: Cute Japanese Shrine Maiden by ZiZi - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-12-moemonday-1122015-cute-japanese-shrine/ - Date: 2015-01-12 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime art, anime girl, moe, shrine maiden, Zizi - AI-assisted: no For today's #MoeMonday post, may we present this newly done and wonderful cute shrine maiden image. From the pose to the artistic polish, this simply a great pic. Drawn by the a...


For today's #MoeMonday post, may we present this newly done and wonderful cute shrine maiden image.  From the pose to the artistic polish, this simply a great pic.

 Drawn by the artist, ZiZi. This and other great images by Zizi can be found right here. --- ## Anime Shrine PodCast Episode 2: More 2015 Predictions, Nickelodeon Anime, Delayed Dreams - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-11-anime-shrine-podcast-episode-2-more/ - Date: 2015-01-11 - Tags: 80s anime, new years, podcast - AI-assisted: no In Episode 2 of our Anime Shrine Podcast, Danielle and I continue our New Years talk, Nickelodeon anime from the 80's, a little bit on us being pro-gamergate and how we should h...


In Episode 2 of our Anime Shrine Podcast, Danielle and I continue our New Years talk, Nickelodeon anime from the 80's, a little bit on us being pro-gamergate and how we should have done our hobbies full time before it's now a common thing.

(Warning: Explicit Language)







http://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/podcasts/cas_podcast_2.mp3
--- ## Steam Anime Game Sale - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-10-steam-anime-game-sale/ - Date: 2015-01-10 - Tags: anime, anime weekend sale, steam, video games - AI-assisted: no In case any of you didn't see it a few days ago, it appears that Steam is giving some love to the anime and anime-inspired games in their store with an Anime Weekend Sale . The ...


In case any of you didn't see it a few days ago, it appears that Steam is giving some love to the anime and anime-inspired games in their store with an Anime Weekend Sale.  The sale goes on until Monday (Jan 12th) and if like other Steam sales, it's the kind of thing you should check on daily to see what new discounts pop up.

Damn...there goes any extra holiday money I might have had left. --- ## #FanServiceFriday 1/9/2015: Zero from Drakengard 3 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-09-fanservicefriday-192015-zero-from/ - Date: 2015-01-09 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, anime girl, drakengard 3, fan service friday, video games, videogames, Zero - AI-assisted: no Here's a game and strong female lead I feel needs much more attention. From the series Drag-on Dragoon 3 (Drakengard 3 outside Japan) is the beautiful, strong, deadly and destru...


Here's a game and strong female lead I feel needs much more attention.  From the series Drag-on Dragoon 3 (Drakengard 3 outside Japan) is the beautiful, strong, deadly and destructive goddess herself, Zero.

Yet another example of why those who cry "there's not enough strong female leads" are completely wrong.  Zero is the main character the player gets to play as and she kills her sister goddesses while stealing their male devotees.  Seriously, playing this game and seeing the sisters is like watching more adult versions of our Tenshi-Oni / site mascots.

(image by (?) ) --- ## Ghost in the Shell: New Movie Edition (2015) Teaser Trailer - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-08-ghost-in-shell-new-movie-edition-2015/ - Date: 2015-01-08 - Tags: Ghost In The Shell, trailers, videos - AI-assisted: no More Ghost in the Shell news. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original anime feature's release, Production I.G has been working on a brand new full feature that is set ...

More Ghost in the Shell news.  To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original anime feature's release, Production I.G has been working on a brand new full feature that is set to release in Japan in the early part of summer this year.  Officially titled: "Koukaku Kidoutai: Shin Gekijyou-ban" (Ghost in the Shell: New Movie Edition) here's the first teaser trailer..



(source: http://kokaku-a.jp/blog/1420680916.html ) --- ## Anime Pic of The Day 1/7/2015: Kancolle - Repair Ship Akashi - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-07-anime-pic-of-day-172015-kancolle-repair/ - Date: 2015-01-07 - Tags: Akashi, anime pic of the day, Kantai Collection KanColle - AI-assisted: no Showcasing another beautiful image from the Kancolle series... here's an image of Akashi, the repair ship. (source: https://yande.re/post/show/305462 )


Showcasing another beautiful image from the Kancolle series... here's an image of Akashi, the repair ship.

(source: https://yande.re/post/show/305462) --- ## Scarlett Johansson Asked To Star In Dreamworks' Live Action Ghost In The Shell - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-05-scarlett-johansson-asked-to-star-in/ - Date: 2015-01-05 - Tags: anime news, Dreamworks, Ghost In The Shell, Motoko Kusanagi, Scarlett Johansson - AI-assisted: no Suddenly trending even beyond the news circles of anime... it appears that Scarlett Johansson was asked to star (we assume) as the Major, Motoko Kusanagi in the Dreamworks adapt...

Suddenly trending even beyond the news circles of anime... it appears that Scarlett Johansson was asked to star (we assume) as the Major, Motoko Kusanagi in the Dreamworks adaptation of Ghost In The Shell.  Unlike the probably-never-happening Cowboy Bebop movie... it seems this one is moving along with much of the production crew behind recent Dreamworks movies like Snow White and the Huntsman behind the project as well as Steven Spielberg being a big fan of the series and whom has wanted a live adaptation of it for some time now.

Johansson's cast type with recent movies like Lucy (which was somewhat anime-ish) and of course her role as Black Widow in Avengers do make her a good fit.  As an anime fan I have mixed feelings.  Hollywood hasn't been all too kind to anime and, as brought up by actors like George Takei... seems to still have some odd issue with placing Asian roles in the hands of great Asian actors.  I don't deny that Johansson could act and sell that role as the Major, (who's played most of the time by the awesome voice actress Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in the English dub).  I'm also not the SJW-type who wants even diversity for the sake of diversity but one can't deny that many roles that could be filled in by Asian actors are being snubbed out by bigger named american actors for the sake of selling the title to the public.  Kusanagi, like Spike from Cowboy Bebop though can be done very well by non Asian actors so it's a bit of a moot point.  Hell, the opposite is appearing to be the case with the Attack On Titan live action adaption...all but Mikasa in that cast is actually cast correctly... so the statement can go both ways.  One series doing very well at being a gripping series with a combination of the best aspects of western productions and eastern / western casting.. would be the Netflix series Marco Polo.  One could hope at the very least, it treats the IP correctly... no matter who's playing the role.  The original anime feature was, like the classic Akira, an astonishing accomplishment of art so Dreamworks has some shoes to fill.

What do you guys think of this casting?

As of the original source, Variety.com, she supposedly did in fact agree to the role. --- ## Anime Shrine PodCast Episode 1: New Years, DBZ and 2015 Predictions - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-03-podcast-episode-1-new-years-dbz-and/ - Date: 2015-01-03 - Tags: 2015, anime, dbz, itunes, new years, podcast, soundcloud - AI-assisted: no I mentioned on twitter that we were working on working on a number of "special projects" and here's one of them... we finally have a podcast! ^_^ Here is episode one... where Da...

I mentioned on twitter that we were working on working on a number of "special projects" and here's one of them... we finally have a podcast! ^_^ 

Here is episode one... where Danielle and I talk about anime, videogames, New Years and why I'm not always kept on other podcasts ^^;;  We hope to provide an episode a week and plan on answering any questions you guys might have too.

(Warning: Explicit Language)





Podomatic Link
http://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/podcasts/cas_podcast_1.mp3
--- ## #FanServiceFriday 1/2/2015: Kantai Collection -KanColle- Yamato Kai (NSFW) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-02-fanservicefriday-122015-kantai/ - Date: 2015-01-02 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime art, anime girl, Kantai Collection KanColle, Yamato Kai - AI-assisted: no For today's #FanServiceFriday post we present official art work from the game where you command war ships personified as cute girls... Kantai Collection -KanColle-. The 1st of t...

For today's #FanServiceFriday post we present official art work from the game where you command war ships personified as cute girls... Kantai Collection -KanColle-.  The 1st of the Yamato-class battleships herself, Yamato Kai

This is a sexy & beautiful piece that's a familiar image to fans of the game.  Used by many as their avatar. --- ## Anime Pic of The Day 1/1/2015: Shingeki No Bahamut Angel By Lee Hyeseug - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2015-01-01-anime-pic-of-day-112015-shingeki-no/ - Date: 2015-01-01 - Tags: anime angel, anime pic of the day, shingeki no bahamut - AI-assisted: no Something we haven't done in some time is the Anime Pic of The Day. Like practically all of the art from the game, Rage of Bahamut (Shingeki No Bahamut), this image is just too ...


Something we haven't done in some time is the Anime Pic of The Day.  Like practically all of the art from the game, Rage of Bahamut (Shingeki No Bahamut), this image is just too stunning not to share.  Add the fact that we are really huge fans of anime angles and demons (ie: Tenshi-Oni).. and I simply had to bring this blog feature back.

image source(?): https://yande.re/post?tags=lee_hyeseung --- ## Happy New Year 2015 From Chuck's Anime Shrine - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-12-31-happy-new-year-2015-from-chucks-anime/ - Date: 2014-12-31 - Tags: 2015, chucksanimeshrine, new years - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone. Just want to wish you all a happy healthy and even better year to come in 2015 ^_^ (image creator: unknown...leave in comments if you know ^^;;)

Hey everyone.  Just want to wish you all a happy healthy and even better year to come in 2015 ^_^

(image creator: unknown...leave in comments if you know ^^;;) --- ## Hatred Game Greenlit On Steam - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-12-30-hatred-game-greenlit-on-steam/ - Date: 2014-12-30 - Tags: gamergate, gaming, hatred game, indie games, steam, videogames - AI-assisted: no The Interview isn't the only piece of media that recently was given a second chance thanks to consumer revolt. The granted, very violent and gruesome game, Hatred by game studio...

The Interview isn't the only piece of media that recently was given a second chance thanks to consumer revolt.  The granted, very violent and gruesome game, Hatred by game studio Destructive Creation http://www.destructivecreations.pl/ got greenlit on one of not the biggest gaming marketplace, Steam.  Like The Interview, the game became the target of individuals who want to control what people think, watch and play.

(screenshot of Hatred being greenlit by reddit user  Logan_Mac)

Unlike The Interview, it wasn't a totalitarian brainwashing dictator threatening terrorism that censored it... but instead a group of rather loud PR police (aka Social Justice Warriors) with ideals that sadly somewhat mirror the ideals of a totalitarian dictator.  This isn't anything new to gaming as we've dealt with similar types since the days of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap... but what makes this new PR Police different is that they hide behind a guise of "social justice" when in reality it's a game of narcism, nepotism and internet panhandling that closes any type of criticism.  This new type nanny-state mentality is also different since it has permeated the blogging/news and gaming reviews media through professional self victimization so much so that it created the current clashes with the whole GamerGate/SJW revolt.  Hatred, like other games that aren't even the slightest bit violent, like SeedScape, have had these people cry for censorship and banning be it for the game's content or the views of the developer.

For a short period of time, thus adding to the controversy, members of Steam either caved or sided with the PR police and out of nowhere removed the game from Steam's voting process. (ref: https://archive.today/ix3MU#selection-563.0-563.160) As the story shows, apparently Valve's  Doug Lombardi said that it just needed to go based on what was happening in the greenlight process.  What was happening was that SJWs across twitter were demonizing members gamergate and the game, putting focus on it (you know instead of actual social issues like India's marriage culture and east asia's human trafficking...but no, be it Samus being sexy in Smash Bros, or a videogame being extra violent...those are apparently the top issues of "social justice") Through both the Streisand Effect & them & members of gamergate bringing up the game, it's Greenlight votes and the focus on the game's approval saw a spike, with most people voting yes for the game.  It was this spike in activity that became the scapegoat to the game being pulled...in addition to it's very violent nature.

This action by members of Valve got overturned a day later by the head of the company himself, Gabe Newell.  (Email proof shown here by Let's Player, game critic, one of Steam's top curators, and somebody I've been following on YouTube for a few years now, TotalBiscuit: https://twitter.com/Totalbiscuit/status/545195909555163137).

As of yesterday, thanks to the game being back from it's initial pull and the controversy surrounding it, it quickly got it's deserved greenlight.

...when will the internet PR police learn that the more you tell people not to do something that doesn't actually hurt anybody...it just makes them want to do it more??

I'll admit, Hatred is a terribly disturbing game, I am disturbed by it's content and I feel I probably won't have the ability to play it unless I want to maybe vent some very long time frustrations.  Heck, even the torture scene in GTA V made me kind of want to put the controller down (but then I went back to the fun that can be had in GTA V)   Had SJWs not made a stink about it, I probably wouldn't have been blogging about it now or have been one of the many who voted yes for it to be greenlit.

No matter what you think of the content and what the final product will become, it being greenlit and given the chance for release is a win in the arena of freedom of speech and artistic freedom, just like how The Interview being released is a win in that realm as well.

If you don't want to play it, just don't.  The mentality that wanted to prevent people from watching The Interview is the same mentality that didn't want the creation of this game and whom tell you what anime and games to watch and play.  If anyone is worried about real dangers to society, look no further than North Korea..whom tell their people what to watch, see and think. --- ## Anime Figure Pre-Orders 12/29/2014: GGO Kirito Figma, Miku Risa Ebata ver & More - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-12-29-anime-figure-pre-orders-12292014-ggo/ - Date: 2014-12-29 - Tags: anime figure pre-orders, anime figures, Asuna, figma, Kirito, Miku Hatsune, Sword Art Online - AI-assisted: no I'm back from the holiday break and as promised, we are back to blogging more content as part of our promise as we move on to 2015. It's been a while since we've blogged about a...


I'm back from the holiday break and as promised, we are back to blogging more content as part of our promise as we move on to 2015.   It's been a while since we've blogged about anime figures but we love collecting and sharing these figures too much not to share

Here's some of what's brand new to preorder in our store as of today (ok, some have been up on the other sites for a few days, but we do our best to keep up ^^;;)


Sword Art Online II figma Kirito GGO ver

Sword Art Online - figma Asuna (rerelease)

Hatsune Miku: Risa Ebata Ver. Figure

Mami Tomoe: Yukata Ver. (The Movie Rebellion)

TERRAFORMARS - Michelle K. Davis Figure

Jack the Ripper Fate/Apocrypha (Original Edition) Figure

Cardcaptor Sakura: Tomoyo Daidouji Nendoroid

IDOLM@STER - Miki Hoshii: Yukata Ver.

Kantai Collection KanColle: Kirishima Nendoroid

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Leonardo GSC Figure

Free! - figma Makoto Tachibana



Recently Restocked but going fast:

Link The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword figma

Samus Aran METROID Other M figma --- ## Looking Forward to 2015 with the Goal of More Content & Games - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-12-28-looking-forward-to-2015-with-goal-of/ - Date: 2014-12-28 - Tags: 2015, Let's Plays, videogames, videos, youtube - AI-assisted: no We returned to our Let's Plays after an over 7 month hiatus...caused mainly from the TV we use for Let's plays breaking but also since we took extra time on producing our first ...

We returned to our Let's Plays after an over 7 month hiatus...caused mainly from the TV we use for Let's plays breaking but also since we took extra time on producing our first game, PikiPop.

As we move on to 2015, our goal is to simply make more content... heck, we've been uploading content since before YouTube existed..so I think it's about time we move to prove that.  Not just going the semi-easy route of Let's Plays but other content as well, like:

-Updates and add-ons to PikiPop
-Back to work on the Tenshi-Oni game
-gameplay footage of our own indie games
-More flash animations from Danielle
-Game music by me and showcasing the other music artists via Anime.fm
-the return of fanart contests of our games and mascots (?)
-video edits, parodies(...and my return to doing flash animation?)
-a return to blogging about anime, games & programming
-vlogs of our anime figure store products

To start our return to Let's Plays and creating YT content... here's the unedited, uncut footage of our recent BioShock Infinite Let's Play live feed from yesterday.
Do note that this feed is low in quality since it's from the live streaming we did...and I stupidly didn't record it on my computer when we went live ^^;;

Disclaimer: Due to violence, (my dirty mouth) and other mature themes of this game...this long and sometimes boring (IMO) uncut Let's Play is suited for mature viewers.

Hope to have more (and hopefully much better quality) content soon and for 2015.
--- ## #MoeMonday 12/22/14 Anime Angel By Hotaru Takeda - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-12-22-moemonday-122214-anime-angel-by-hotaru/ - Date: 2014-12-22 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime angel, anime girl, Ginmaru, holidays, Hotaru Takeda - AI-assisted: no For today's #MoeMonday post, thought I'd share an image that can be both seen as a holiday image and one to share year round. This beautiful piece is done by the artist, Hotaru ...

For today's #MoeMonday post, thought I'd share an image that can be both seen as a holiday image and one to share year round.

This beautiful piece is done by the artist, Hotaru Takeda.

Here's Hotaru's Otakumode page with more images and products with this image

https://otakumode.com/shop/creator/hotarutakeda

...
Actually..as a Christmas bonus... here's a cute Maki & Nico holiday image by Pixiv artist Ginmaru


http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=47684927

Happy Holidays --- ## North Korea, Meet The Streisand Effect - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-12-18-north-korea-meet-streisand-effect/ - Date: 2014-12-18 - Tags: Censorship, North Korea, sony, Streisand Effect, The Interview, world news - AI-assisted: no Oh North Korea...a land where SJWs would be in heaven as it's an authoritarian country that was it's own batshit crazy echo chamber long before anyone on tumblr made their own p...

Oh North Korea...a land where SJWs would be in heaven as it's an authoritarian country that was it's own batshit crazy echo chamber long before anyone on tumblr made their own personal padded rooms. I've in the past made it known that I don't like North Korea but like the rest of the world, I simply toned them out to not give them the honor of being heard. My handle online is often "princetrunks" for two main reasons, the first, is that I feel I resemble Trunks from DBZ and I love the character as well as the time travel aspect of his future self. The second, is that I like to make a mockery of so-called "royalty" and those in power. Anyone who know me knows that I am not too keen on so-called "leaders" and will be the first to even question police for their actions and with my knowledge of the current scientific understandings of the universe...I see anyone claiming to be the "leader" or "royalty" to be no different than if I claimed I was the "king of the universe". People stupidly subservient to primitive tribal ideologies like nationalism is shown in it's full extent when you look at North Korea. It's pathetic when the ego of any one person gets as high as Kim Jong-Un.. be it a so-called "leader" or celebrity. As he gargled under his many chins, the world ignored him... that is, until he hacked Sony and scared them into not bringing out the movie, The Interview recently. My relationship with Sony is rather rocky as I deal with their god-awful pro-camera division during the work day and absolutely loath their SURE MAP pricing policies..yet at the same time I like their PlayStation division. Anyone who work with Sony knows that one hand doesn't speak to the other.. which is probably why NK so easily hacked their systems in the first place.


 So, in retaliation against Sony's pathetic move and the bloated ego of Kim Jong-Un...the internet today has been mocking the fat turd and his late father with everything from the memes of them to posts like this. One of the rules of the internet is... don't tell us not to watch or play something. Censorship is the model of authoritarian morons... be it pumpkin-spice sipping SJWs of upper middle class cul-de-sacs who tell you what video games you can play... or fat dumpy dictator turds like Kim Jong-Un who tell people how to live their lives. To that, I ad my voice to the Streisand Effect of this by showing meme imagery of Kim Jong-Un and (until it's removed)... here's his death scene from The Interview






--- ## Moe Monday 12/15/2014 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-12-15-moe-monday-12152014/ - Date: 2014-12-15 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday is a weekly post that I've for some time haven't done... and looking at the trend on twitter and on social media, seems it has dropped as well. Well, time to fix that... #MoeMonday is a weekly post that I've for some time haven't done... and looking at the trend on twitter and on social media, seems it has dropped as well.

Well, time to fix that with today's entry being a simply gorgeous work of art by 東條希 | briska


Direct Pixiv Link
Artist's Profile Page

--- ## On the Topic of GamerGate, Ethics, This Anime/Game Blog's History and Future - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-12-11-on-topic-of-gamergate-ethics-this/ - Date: 2014-12-11 - Tags: anime blog, gamergate, meta - AI-assisted: no I think I've made it apparent on social media in the recent months that I'm indeed a Pro-GamerGate game developer (and a blogger, voice actor, anime store owner, anime fan and o...


I think I've made it apparent on social media in the recent months that I'm indeed a Pro-GamerGate game developer (and a blogger, voice actor, anime store owner, anime fan and of course, long time gamer).  Before I say anything else I want to get that out of the way.  I also want to quickly point out that my goal going forward in this blog is to not make everything GamerGate/AntiGamerGate/etc related; I want to keep the blog anime, game and otaku themed.  If you want to hate me, my anime mascots that have been here since 2003, my games, my anime figure business, etc for my choice, that's your decision and I won't call you a "harasser" or "hate group" for a simple disagreement.  I'm an anime fan and gamer first before I am a blogger, game developer, voice actor or anything else that brings me any sort of income.

GamerGate and It's Influence in the Game/Anime & Blogosphere

Before I move on I also want to note that in case you have any Wil Wheaton level of ignorance as to what being pro-gamergate means... no I am not out to doxx, harass or hurt anybody...frankly I've seen that far, far too often coming form the other side...and no, criticism is not harassment.  As bloggers, site mods, etc, we should be welcomed to honest and constructive criticism... shutting that off and yelling "I'm right, you are harassing me, lalalalalala!!" is not how you create discussion on the web or in person.  Shutting down the ability for discussion makes it look like you are guilty of knowing you are wrong.

My support of GamerGate stems from a number of things from experiences both in and outside the businesses put in the spotlight these past months.  As I've said, I'm a game developer/programmer, a blogger since 2006 and somebody who's been a part of the internet culture since the days of AOL in the late 90's.  I've been through a number of the changes caused by the raise of the internet and on a few occasions almost became one of the so-called "web celebs" because of it. I've been there when Newgrounds was the only place to post content and be known, this very site here was one of the first to host/create AMVs before the raise of Youtube. I've seen Digg fall from their ver 4.0 update, the Digg Patriots and other nepotism-related garbage...an event that led to the raise of Reddit.  I watched as a subreddit (section of Reddit) called /r/ShitRedditSays went from a circlejerk joke section to place the progressively became more serious and forgot that all of it was a joke.  That subreddit became the breeding grounds for the so-extreme-left-they-are-extreme-right I'm-offended-by-everything, so-called "Social Justice Warriors".  I watched as they "claimed Tumblr" and gave a first try to "claim" 4chan.. a site a year younger than mine here that was started by a anime fan who's now lost himself in the SJW rhetoric.  Honestly, I didn't even know about /r/ShitRedditSays or SJWs until a little over a year ago when they came after me for when I defended my stance with the LGBT community by pointing out something off with the southern community's chicken-touting support of Chick-Fil-La.

It was that point that I saw the events leading up to GamerGate, from the disintegration of blogs-turned-ego-maniac-journalism like Polygon and, a once site favorite here, Kotaku.  I saw the terrible review of Dragon's Crown on Polygon by the same reviewer who later praised the game Going Home.  Her connections with the Going Home and the weak defense of hating Dragon's Crown over the sexy characters made the gamer, game reviewer and game developer in me see right behind the curtain put up by these sites.  These are the same sites that were younger and newer than my own here and all of whom started as simple blogs like the this blog here that I added to this then 4 year old site as an addon.  This site almost became one of them and as they rose to power, I sat and just watched yet another escape from the 9-5 job world slip past me.  I too was a game reviewer given "swag" for the post I made simply for the love of gaming and anime...but when I didn't clickbait like they did, I got left to the wayside.

I've also seen the wave of new game developers and not too long began to question their apparent rise to fame.  I saw people like Phil Fish (whom I at one time supported) get tons of accolades for a game he hardly completed until much later.  That's like if I suddenly got nominated for an Indie award for my long unfinished game, Tenshi-Oni. I got my degree in Compute Science back in 2005.., back when there really was no such thing as game development courses... hell, it was taboo to even mention that you where in CS for the purpose to program video games.  I remember learning on my own how to take C++ and make Game boy Advance games on printouts I got from the library.  I remember starting Tenshi-Oni in 2003 in actionScript2 back when I taught myself Flash from reading an entire ~900page book on it.  I later in 2011 brought back Tenshi-Oni (called "Project Fumi" originally) after teaching myself Objective-C and using the coding skills I learned way back in college in formal CS programming courses.  Even more recently I read the book on Apple Swift and released my first completed game after all these years, PikiPop, written almost entirely in that language (sans the custom Obj-C fonts I talked about in my past post back in October).  It's a very simple game, done in honor of our since passed pet bird, Pikachu and done to finally shut up those in the job search world that I'm indeed a freaken programmer.

So here I am going through all of this, for all these years, juggling a demanding 9-5 job that I must keep to make up for the debts created from events I couldn't have prevented (Hurricane Sandy), doing as many side jobs/skills/etc to try to break free form the stupid job (from doing voice acting, the anime figure business, blogging, the game development, etc) while these newbie, "I only know JavaScript & perl yet I'm the greatest game programmers around" game journo-approved "devs" get put into the limelight for their unfinished and sub par products?!  Most of these "devs" only got there because either 1) They got the funding handed to them (either via Kickstarter.. or in the case of Brianna Wu, $200,000 from her rich mommy and daddy and/or 2) The knew somebody in the game journo industry.

How in the fuck is that fair to people like me and many others who built their businesses from scratch for YEARS and have yet seen enough fruit from their labor to quit the stupid day jobs and run their craft full time?!

My anime figure business was created from $300 I saved that I used to originally sell Swarovski crystals I was able to buy from a dealer from a past job which then sales from that lead me to be one of the first official sellers of Good Smile Company's Nendoroids and other products in the US.  Hell, every year since 2011 I've paid the $100 yearly fee to Apple to be a developer to have the rights to test my apps on actual devices.. it wasn't until last month that I finally published my first app after the development hell (caused by Apple's changes) they've made it for me with Tenshi-Oni.  My having to do this stuff part time with a needy family, insane debt and a dumb, dumb ass day job makes it all the more tougher than somebody like Wu who can just go to mommy and daddy for $200,000.  My fiancee and I have been together since April 2002, a month after this site went live, and have been engaged since Xmas eve of 2007.  We grow tired every year hearing "when are you getting married" from those who, like Wu did with her studio, got everything paid for.  Our extra long engagement is due to the lack of money.. a problem we try to fix with our anime business, this blog, my game development, her animations, my animations, my voice acting, etc. I'll admit, my content, game(s) etc aren't ground breaking are amazing... but unlike those propped up who know far less programming than I do... I know when to be humble about my creations.  A real creative person is always looking to make better and never sees their creations as perfect.  Some of those promoted by the game journalist think they are the second coming yet I know I can code ad dev circles around them.

It's a complete insult to me and others like me to see some of these games and "developers" get the limelight all because of nepotism and money and hen us gamers & anime fans get the added insult of being called "dead", "misogynists" or what ever else these fake journalists want to spout at us.  How could I not stand up to this as a game programmer since 2003 and a gamer since 1985?

The whole SJW mantra right now is exactly equivalent to the 1950's "decency" propaganda that was promoted by extreme right wing Christians with just the added caveat that "you must hate yourself for being a straight white male."  This same mentality was what the 1970's feminism and social freedom movements of the late 1960's, early 1970s fought against.  A woman (be it an real woman or imaginary game/aim character) being shown as sexy is in no ways an insult to women.. it's the opposite frankly.  This false feminism propaganda that has permeated into large internet media sites like Gawker, Kotaku, Polygon, and even TheGuardian is a joke and an insult to gaming and anime culture.  If you like sexy anime girls (or guys) congrats to you, and/or if you like violent videogames..you shouldn't be vilified by these clickbaiting "swag-taking "journalists"  I've seen this mentality born from /r/ShitRedditSays even get to the cosplay circles.. where attractive cosplayers get harassed and called "sluts" by these tumblr SJWs because they feel that an attractive cosplayer is some sort of front.  If you are attractive or not, have a great costume, or not... you don't deserve to be harassed and belittled by those hiding behind "social justice" who are simply upset out of envy and spite.

This mentality hitting the internet in full force and effecting anime and game culture is why I am so passionate about it enough to make this post, to disclose my own site's/blog's background & dealings for the sake of transparency & ethics and why I now want to once again make this blog (and the one on anime.fm) become as a daily as I used to make it.

What GamerGate has shown is that we need the small independent blogs again... since the ones who got big back when I started.. have long since lost their way and are using their power to silence discussion and bring on some sort of fake-feminism authoritarianism.

I have actually seen this industry for the inside a little bit and that's where I bring on my next segment...

Disclosures & How I Almost Became A Game Journo

This blog was added to the site back in ~2006.  Back then Digg was a growing entity, personal blogs became where you'd go for info on the internet if you didn't want to see the main stream media.  Sites like Digg (and early Reddit before it got all imgur happy) promoted smaller sites using the upvote and downvote system. Wordpress wasn't the powerhouse it is now and SEO was the name of the game... so me and many others used Blogger as our tool to write our blogs.  Heck, it's still what I use here and in it's original format, was completely hosted here on ChucksAnimeShrine.

My initial goal was not exactly to make money, but to discuss what I like, anime, videogames, etc.  If I eventually made money... great.. but it wasn't the goal and back then, there really weren't many blogs giving independents and livable wage.  To this day I still have adsense ads on this page and just at least was looking to pay for the upkeep of the site.  I posted sometimes, here and there but tried to make it more steady as I aw that I indeed was able to pay for this site and a bit more.  At it's best, I was making $100 every 2-3 months from Google... this was probably only the year's span of 2008-2009 back also when I got invited to BusinessWeek's headquarters and wrote an article about the need for companies (particularly IT) to stop outsourcing.  I also eventually added the Project Wonderful ad box you might see up top (if you don't have adblock of course ^^;;).  From that I probably in total made about $100 in those years...nothing stellar but for some time until maybe around 2011, enough to keep the site up.  Sadly, not enough to quit my day job... something that was actually almost done thanks to my anime figure store... that sadly fell a bit from grace (recovering now though) after the events of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.  So, for years I've been a slave to debt, a stupid day job and the various anime/game/voice acting/ video editing projects I try to do to get the hell out of a stupid day job and be my own boss.

There was one post I made years ago (I'll link it if I can find it) where I out of the love for Final Fantasy VII, made a full review of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core for the PSP.  I made that review purely from the wanting to make a review and because FFVII can actually be attributed to the creation of this site as well as my meeting my wonderful fiancee, Danielle.

About a month after I made that Crisis Core review.. I got an email from Fathom Entertainment.  They told me that they will GIVE ME GAMES to review here on this blog.  I want to disclose a few things about that deal:

  1. I indeed got those games for FREE..but I never got paid.. just hops of my traffic and thus more ad revenue
  2. I was never told to review positively or negatively for ever game I was given.  The score was up to me based on my review.
  3. I was given a time to finish the reviews as I got the games early before other people saw them.
  4. The list of games is not in my head at the moment (it was honestly no more than like 5-6 games) but one of them was a DBZ game for the Xbox 360.  That review and the others were indeed the result of me getting the games early for free to promote.
Eventually though... with Kotaku and others gaining more fame compared to this blog... Fathom Entertainment left me in the dust and never again gave me games to review.  Once again, I was left to fend for myself simply due to others growing quicker than me... an later, thanks to the raise of Let's Players (which I am one now and whom I support greatly).

For the sake of being true to my stance on ethics, if me having those games given to me for free to review was something leading to mistrust of my info here, I apologize.  If at all in the future this blog (and my Let's Play videos on my YT channel) get me in a similar "swag" situation, I will fully disclose it. It think I might have then but going forward, if I am lucky enough to be in that circle again, I will disclose that.

It also goes without saying so much but when I promote anime figures or my games or my mascots here on this site.. it is indeed to help their exposure for my benefit.  Again, my goal is to eventually be free from my 9-5 job ad just be a blogger, voice actor and game dev full time, so I will indeed try to build things with the goal of making a living... but unlike the other blogs and "journalists" the goal is the content and not the money; the hobby, not the Kickstarter; the creation, not the limelight that creation might bring.

I've also seen how stupid some of the new "journalist" sites can be.  Particularly with a certain, UpWorthy site. You see, since Hurricane Sandy ruined my anime figure business's chance of freeing me from my 9-5 jail...my work on this blog, my web design and programming has gotten me a number of IT recruiters messaging me daily. (Yet, oddly here I am still at the same stupid day job almost 3 years later!!)  

Some of those recruiters come from blogging & social media job companies... particularly when I was a member of Flexjobs.com.  One of those companies that reached out for me was indeed Upworthy.com, one of the many clickbait trolls on the internet.  The recruiter/rep of the company was very nice to me (at first) and she wanted to get me to the next step in the interview process.  Those of you looking for work in any of these fields know that getting beyond the resume submission is now effing rare.  Now I was at the time (and still) talking with a number of companies daily.  It's tough to honestly look into the details of companies on the spot and while talking to others.  Over the phone her question was, "What do you think Upworthy.com is?"  I answered honestly from what I saw browsing it... a "Reddit-like news site with individual contributors"... apparently she didn't like that answer, completely changed her tune and rushed to tell me of this so-called "Curation" test I needed to finish.  Which, was one of the most time consuming and dumbest things I've ever freaken seen.  Basically I was told to make a blog post with images matching some odd scavenger hunt.  I took most of the day to complete it.. Emailed her it and tried to call back confirmation that it was seen by them over at Upworthy.com... no answer.  I was left in the dark and put some stupid cryptic post on my own separate blog outside of this one.  

For those maybe wondering.. here's that post:

http://chuckgaffney.blogspot.com/2013/03/curation-test.html

Yes, observe in awe at what those at Upworthy and those at the clickbaiting journo sites feel is a test to determine your ability to blog..I'm sorry.. be a "journalist".  Confused? Don't worry, that's a legitimate human reaction to something like that.  If maybe you aren't exactly human, drank some pumpkin spice while on a Skype call with Upworthy and touted about "the patriarchy"...then maybe you'd pass this "test" and get the job at one of these "news" companies.  Or, as it seems to be done, sleep around with those in the industry.. or know them personally (or financially)  Nepotism...who needs talent and hard work when you "know a guy"?

The Return Of The Independent Blogs

No matter where you stand (or don't stand at all) with GamerGate, a few things have arose from this.  For one.. companies are learning quickly that it's not ok to crap on your customers.  Are there bad people out there harassing others for their hobbies or for being against those hobbies/products... absolutely.  Be it doxxing or harassing, if you do it, you are wrong.  Don't try to confuse criticism for harassment though as that is an insult to those who have been harassed for real. In my experience since seeing the first downvote brigades of /r/ShitredditSays... where this prudish & false representation pf feminism and "social justice" first took place.. it seems to be more those crying wolf that have been doing the most harassment and personal insults. To say either side hasn't harassed is a lie but at least I've seen GG point out trolls and denounce their actions...something I fail to see from the other side and from the side of forum moderators on reddit and the big journalist sites.  This disillusion with their clientbase and denying of their own mistakes has actually done a good thing by bringing back blogs like mine and other small independent voices who since the rise of these giants, been left in the dust and are now becoming the places to bring up real discussions without being called terrible names for simply criticizing the points of some their peers; peer whom they fail to disclose as peers.   A blog and site very similar to what I wanted this blog to be, NicheGamer has rose in the ranks since the start of GamerGate because people don't want to be silenced on the web.  Nobody should have to adhere to an extremist left (yet so left it's extreme right) agenda that has since the early days of just /r/ShitReddit says, has been bought out with both sex and money in the name of "social justice".  If anyone wants to talk a "hate campaign" see how some of these SJWs treat men, minorities and themselves at times.  It's a sad sight to behold and probably stems from many having strong bipolar issues that probably need medical help instead of tumblr echo chambers and disgruntled game reviews of boobies.  another great independent voice who doen't have an army of clickbaiters behind him is my old friend Robert Catalano (robertcatalano.com).  He is indeed somebody I have known outside of the confines of the internet and who has promoted me in the past. If I'm not mistaken I knew Robert and his family since our school days and he separately has made a name for himself until we recently reconnected via social media.  To keep with the promise of ethics, I wanted to make sure I disclosed that too going forward.  

Back to the topic of this segment, that's what good has come from this... the need for more independent blogs via transparency and correct ethics.  I'm very happy to see Robert's site and Brandon's site over at NicheGamer move into a bit of that limelight due to the failings of the bigger blogs.

So, going forward with this blog.. I know.. many many times I go and say "I'm back" and then go away from blogging but I will from now on try to make it an effort to bring back this blog.  I thought that with the bigger blogs taking over since a few years ago that nobody cared about the little guys.. but it seems maybe, just maybe we smaller blogs might have a chance due to this.  

To help support this site, you can do a number of things, 

-you can download my game(s) like PikiPop (I promise to make more to the game if I can.. I know it's really simple ^^)

-Support my mascots by making fan art and hopefully being on board with Tenshi-Oni if I can get free enough to make it full time

-Shop with my anime store

-Comment and visit this blog.. especially as I try to add more content

-and maybe support mine and Danielle's YouTube channels (Chucks Anime Shrine & PikaLoveChu).  We both want to make more content but we sadly are caught in the catch 22 of having to work soul less jobs thus can't make enough quality content.

Is this a plug to my stuff.. to be transparent.. absolutely... I won't lie and say that it's not.  But going forward I will just keep trucking and trying to make as great of content as physically possible.  We are not the best in the world at this stuff... probably why we are still small, but as part of the goals of GamerGate, the plan is to give everyone a fighting chance and via hard work.  From bloggers like NicheGamer.. to independent game developers like Jennifer D'aww who recently got her SeedScape game green-lighted on Steam, we want people to continue to gain internet fame and recognition not because the "know somebody" or fulfilled a political demographic.. but because they make content worth following.  I will try to do that yet again going forward.  I want to keep this blog going, renewed and maybe, better than ever; same with everything else we do creatively to exit out of the dayjobs we have to do.. and work doing what we WANT to do.  

(Note: Not sure who made that awesome Vivian Jame image but will credit them here or in the comments below)
--- ## How to Add GlyphDesigner Custom Bitmap Fonts To a Swift Spritekit Game - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-10-20-how-to-add-glyphdesigner-custom-bitmap/ - Date: 2014-10-20 - Tags: Apple Swift, code tips, game programming, gamedev, GlyphDesigner, SpriteKit - AI-assisted: no Back in June, Apple announced an entirely new programming language to us IOS developers; that language being Swift. After coding Tenshi-Oni on and off since 2011 in Objective-C,...

Back in June, Apple announced an entirely new programming language to us IOS developers; that language being Swift.  After coding Tenshi-Oni on and off since 2011 in Objective-C, I quickly came to like the new programming language since it felt more modern and easy to dive into. Swift has similarities to Python, Scala, AS3 & Javascript while supposedly almost matching the speed of a hardcoded C/C++ project; Apple claims it's .  As programmers, particularly game programmers, we want our games to be as fast as possible no matter how much we pack into a game scene; 60fps is the mantra and no, 30fps is not "cinematic".. it's a sign that somebody couldn't make fast enough code for a certain device.  Those of us that design the art assets also want to customize what goes on the screen as much as possible..this is where a tool like Glyph Designer comes into play.  Since Swift is so new... there wasn't any tutorials on how to use Glyph Designer with a Swift developed game in the SpriteKit framework.  After a weekend of puling out my hair and finding the solution.. I thought Id share it all with you...

In my game, Tenshi-Oni (yes a game still in development as of this post ^^;;), I've used the Glyph Designer program to make custom fonts.  Anyone familiar with Glyph Designer knows how wonderful of a tool it is to create beautiful bitmap fonts. Tenshi-Oni runs in the Cocos2D framework and Glyph Designer works like a charm in it.

To use a custom, stylized font in Cocos2D, you simply...

  1. Export a .fnt file, which outputs a .png to which the .fnt file uses to parse through
  2. Create a CCLabelBMFont with the fntFile NSString parameter matching the .fnt file name 
  3. and it's ready to use with that CCLabelBMFont


This also works well in the Sparrow Framework from what I understand.

...but for the SpriteKit Framework... things get a little bit more invovled...

Let's backtrack and say you wish to just use a custom (non bitmap) font in SpriteKit. As of IOS 8, you have to:

  1. Import the font to the project (in either the .otf or .ttf format)
  2. In your project's info.plist file, you have to add a field titled Fonts provided by application
  3. On item 0, create a String matching your font's name and the .otf or .ttf extension ie: "yourfont.ttf"
Great, this creates a custom font that you maybe got from say fontsquirrel.com or made yourself...

but... it doesn't quite help with the actual stylizing of that font.  

For me, and I'd imagine other programmer/designers, I found that SpriteKit doesn't do a great job of customizing a font's look.  You can maybe hardcode two fonts on top of eachother to give the effect of a dropshadow or stroke...but it never seems to look right.  I feel I'd rather have more control of the font's look and feel than just slapping in a font that I can only change it's color or size.  A well stylized font not only catches the player's attention but becomes easier to designer around as you don't have to worry about say.. what background color is behind a "SCORE" text.  Always remember this design rule when it comes to text.  Using a solid color font might look great on a few different color backgrounds... but what if you create new levels with different color schemes?  You'd have to code that font to change color and doing so might change the whole theme you had already established.  At least, that's how I feel as a designer in addition to a programmer.

How to work with Glyph Designer Bitmap Fonts (Before Swift / in Objective-C)

Before Swift, Glyph Designer's creators at 71squared already came up with some great helper classes to make up for SpriteKit's inability to use their .fnt methodology.  The process for anyone coding in Objective-C was pretty simple..

NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"myFont"
                                        ofType:@"skf"];
NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:path];
NSError *error;
SSBitmapFont *bitmapFont = [[SSBitmapFont alloc] initWithFile:url
                                                 error:&error];

if (error)
{
    NSLog(@"%@ : %@", error.domain, error.localizedDescription);
    return nil;
}



SSBitmapFontLabelNode *myLabel = [bitmapFont nodeFromString:@"Hello World!!"];
[self addChild:myLabel];
myLabel.horizontalAlignment = SSBMFLabelHorizontalAlignmentModeCenter;
myLabel.verticalAlignment = SSBMFLabelVerticalAlignmentModeLeft;

For people coding in Objective-C... great.. it's works fine.  But what about doing this in Swift?!?

HOW TO USE GLYPH DESIGNER FONTS IN SWIFT...

At first, I thought about rewriting the entire SSBitMapFont and SSBitMapFontLabel classes in Swift... but unfortunately you only have access to their interface files (.h files) and not their (.m) implementation files; it's all packed into libSSBitmapFont.a since I'd imagine the implementation code (though probably still obtainable) is proprietary code.  

As of the date of this posting, 71squared has yet to make these classes in Swift... so, how do you use the code? Simple: Accessing Objecive-C classes via a Bridging Header.  In short, a bridging header is a .h interface file that lets you use Objective-C and Swift in the same project.  The file is usually named YourProjectName-Bridging-Header.h. 

How do you use it in a mostly Swift project?(Like my game PikiPop seen above) 
Again, very simple... add the import statements to the file exactly like you would add them in an Objective-c project. ie:

#import "SSBitmapFont.h"
#import "SSBitmapFontLabelNode.h"


That's it! That is all my PikiPop-Bridging-Header.h file has and now my entire Swift project can use SSBitmapFont and SSBitmapFontLabelNode objects


Now, you are not out of the woods yet. You still need to create your SSBitmapFont object to then be used by SSBitmapFontLabelNodes.


Here's how you rewrite implementation of these objects in Swift:


To create the SSBitmapFont object (remember to have your .skf file(s) and texture atlases imported into your project at this point) here's how I do it in PikiPop.  First I created a function that returns an SSBitmapFont object.  This is the swift version of how 71Squared did it in their demo file.


class func bitmapFontForFile(filename:String) -> SSBitmapFont{



        // Generate a path to the font file



        let path = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource(filename, ofType: "skf")!



        //assert(path.isEmpty, "Could not find font file")



        // Create a new instance of SSBitmapFont using the font file and check for errors



        let errorPointer = NSErrorPointer()



        let url = NSURL.fileURLWithPath(path)



        let bitmapFont = SSBitmapFont(file: url, error: errorPointer)



        //assert(errorPointer != nil, "\(errorPointer.memory) : \(errorPointer.debugDescription)")



        return bitmapFont



    }

Do note that I made this a class function since I'm using this function during the game's asset loading screen at it's initial dispatch...thus I needed to make this a function of (in this case) my HUD.swift class. I also use global shared variables as storage of this data; this is to only allocate memory once for these font objects instead of calling them over and over again. You don't have to do this but Swift, unlike C/C++/Objective-C easily makes true full copies of objects (not just references) and I don't want to inadvertently cause ARC to do a massive garbage collect nor bog the CPU/Stack by creating another hard copy of something I can just reference to.

 Also note that as of this post I didn't create the assert warnings well. They seemed to have been firing off no matter if the file URL was right or wrong. I'd advise anyone using this to maybe complete that aspect so to better catch errors than what I did here in commenting them out.


Next, create the SSBitmapFont object.  Here's how I did it for the "combo_text" font I made... seen in the picture at the top of this post.



let comboBitMapFont:SSBitmapFont = bitmapFontForFile("combo_text")

Then I finally create the SSBitmapFontLabelNode that uses this font and add it to my HUD object (which is a child of my game's scene)



let comboTextNum = comboBitMapFont_.nodeFromString("x\(comboCount)")



comboTextNum.position = CGPointMake(currentScene.frame.size.width * 0.47, currentScene.frame.size.height * 0.8)



self.addChild(comboTextNum)


and there it is.  That's the "X3" you see in the photo up top.  The "Combo x" uses another font object and so does the "SCORE" text.  Also note that the bitmapFontForFile("combo_text") line will use either the .skf file or the .skf@2x file based on which resolution the player is using on their device.  So, there's no need to create separate SSBitmapFont objects for each resolution.

Anyways, I hope this helps allow you to add much better looking fonts into your Swift/SpriteKit games and apps ^_^



--- ## #FanServiceFriday 9/26/2014 Sexy Yoko Littner Wallpaper - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-09-26-fanservicefriday-9262014-sexy-yoko/ - Date: 2014-09-26 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime art, anime girl, anime wallpaper, Gurren Lagann, sexy, yoko - AI-assisted: no For today's #fanservicefriday post.. here's a rather sexy and well drawn fan art of Yoko from Gurren Lagann. Not 100% of the source for this. Best match I can find is http://alp...


For today's #fanservicefriday post.. here's a rather sexy and well drawn fan art of Yoko from Gurren Lagann.

Not 100% of the source for this.  Best match I can find is

http://alpha.wallhaven.cc/user/themedic
--- ## Introducing Our New Mascot Piki and Our New Game PikiPop! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-09-23-introducing-our-new-mascot-piki-and-our/ - Date: 2014-09-23 - Tags: gamedev, mascots, Piki, PikiPop, videogames - AI-assisted: no Back in June, Apple announced a brand new programming language called, Swift. Tired of being behind the game with some of the new announcements (as they tend to affect my develo...

Back in June, Apple announced a brand new programming language called, Swift.  Tired of being behind the game with some of the new announcements (as they tend to affect my development of Tenshi-Oni), I dove right in... and shortly became hooked onto the new language and what it could bring to the table for not just game dev but programming in general.  In short, Swift has (almost) the speed of C/C++ while at the same time allowing for strong, modern Object Oriented Design. Our on-again, off-again game project, Tenshi-Oni uses Objective-C but in many, many cases, uses C++ to do some heavy lifting.  Swift, in addition to having the ability to do really neat code with Generics... is supposedly really fast.  In game dev... code and FPS efficiency is the name of the game.  Stuff as much polish as you can in one game loop while keeping it at 60 FPS at all times is the mantra of game programming.

To honor our real-life mascot Pikachu (our 16 year old spanish cockatiel who we sadly lost back in February), we came up with Piki and to be the star of our new, semi-suprise game... PikiPop. Obviously we can't use her real name since... well I think Nintendo would be pretty pissed.

I want to point out that I did not abandon Tenshi-Oni... actually some of the code in PikiPop was made to be used in the ongoing production of Tenshi-Oni.  PikiPop is, we are hoping, to be the game that get's us on the map as game developers.  I've been coding for games all the way back in 2003 in Flash actionScript when I began Project Fumi, now Tenshi-Oni and PikiPop is just a simple game that I want to just finally spearhead my rightful position as indie game dev... as it's been a long, long time coming.



The goal is for PikiPop to be a fun and simple game that will allow us to make Tenshi-Oni's eventual release a much, much bigger production than originally planned.

Here's the even better news about PikiPop... it's almost done!  In the next week or two max, we plan to release it.  Be on the look out in the Apple/IOS app store.  It's initial release will be for the iPhone 4s, 6 and yes, even the 6 Plus.  If there's further success, it will be made for the various iPads and maybe even an Android port.

Oh, and the game will be FREE.  Not that "Pay to Play" Freemium game crap... really FREE.  The game will have unobtrusive ads but no... you will not pay for lives, and updates.  Updates and addons to the game will also be FREE and if there is ever any "in app purchase"...It'll be only to remove the ads permanently.

I should have some video previews of it soon but in the mean time... here's some sprite art I made of Piki for the game ^^





--- ## DeviantArt Shoutouts and the ReAwakening or Our DeviantArt Page - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-09-22-deviantart-shoutouts-and-reawakening-or/ - Date: 2014-09-22 - Tags: anime art, artists, deviantart - AI-assisted: no Decided to wake up our long dormant DeviantArt page. http://princetrunks415.deviantart.com/ We've had a page on there since DA's beginnings practically but haven't done much upd...

Decided to wake up our long dormant DeviantArt page.

http://princetrunks415.deviantart.com/

We've had a page on there since DA's beginnings practically but haven't done much updating since I added my original sketch work and Tenshi-Oni concept pics.

Now with PikiPop soon to be released with some work done by me and the fact that I'm back to getting back to being an artist/animator after all these years.... I thought now would be the time to get that back in gear.

In addition to that, I also wanted to make a shoutout to a number of talented artists on Deviant Art, from sprite artists to Tenshi-Oni photo-realistic art, here's some of the artists I follow and would advise you do as well:

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Kenneos: 
  

 


The artist responsible for much of the art here on Chuck's Anime Shrine, Anime.FM and behind our game, Tenshi-Oni

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kawacy: http://kawacy.deviantart.com/




Does astounding Legend Of Zelda work and others, including the image used as this post's header

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kr0npr1nz:  http://kr0npr1nz.deviantart.com/

 
Russian artist who does amazing anime, game and movie art

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ekurepu: http://ekurepu.deviantart.com/

Very talented sprite artist.  Created this sprite animation of Kill La Kill's Matoi

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Carlos Quevedo: http://carlos-quevedo.deviantart.com/ 






Simply stunning photo manipulation imagery.  Some of his photos/art look like something out of an anime.  would go to him if I needed live actors to be in a Tenshi-Oni live still art.

.
Twilit-Arawen: http://twilit-arawen.deviantart.com/


















Creates some wonderful Peach fanart.  We've showcased his work before and can't get enough of it.

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Vashperado: http://vashperado.deviantart.com/




This Canadian artist has a great range in his art.  From both the styles and the concepts, you don't know what great piece might come next.


Got any artists you follow?  Want to show off yours?  Leave a link / uploads (if possible) in the comments ^^ --- ## The Indie Game Journalism Scandal and Where I Stand On It - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-08-25-the-indie-game-journalism-scandal-and/ - Date: 2014-08-25 - Tags: 4chan, game journalism, Kotaku, Quinnspiracy, videogames, vivian james - AI-assisted: no The indie game scene has been going through a bit of an uproar lately, namely the whole Quinnspiracy . I thought as an anime retailer, indie game dev/programmer, Let's Player, F...


The indie game scene has been going through a  bit of an uproar lately, namely the whole Quinnspiracy.

I thought as an anime retailer, indie game dev/programmer, Let's Player, Flash animator, blogger, former Business Week Columnist and voice actor...I'd make a statement about the whole thing as well since this hits very close to home.  If anyone has seen from my various tweets or following me on Reddit...in short, no I'm not on the Zoe Quinn / game journalism's side.  I'm more on par with Let's Player TotalBiscut, others not financially tied to Kotaku, Polygon, etc or those contractually tied to major channels like Machinima and Polaris and yes, I'm even on the side of 4chan's /v/ on this.

If any of you have known me and this site that's been around long before all of these sites existed...you'll know that we're truly independent and won't pussyfoot around tough subjects for the sake of PR.

I will also use this post to from this point on, denounce Kotaku and advise other anime fans to do so toward that site and of course the whole Gawker network that has for a long while been a pathetic excuse of journalism.  For a long time I've ignored Gawker's terrible practices and have linked, shared and sided with most Kotaku posts.. but from here on in.. no more.  Polygon got my blood boiling last year when there was an obvious agenda behind the Dragon's Crown game review.. a review I've poked fun at in Danielle and our playthroughs of the game...playthroughs that will continue in the fall.

To not get into the rough details of an ongoing PR mess, the summery of what happened is this:


Instead of fighting the topics feminism should fight in the real world against (rape, arranged marriage, REAL misogyny), they want to instead impose their deranged version of what they think causes this on gaming and anime.  No...Samus wearing a sexy outfit is not man culture raping women.  Removing expressive freedom in games and anime to show human sexuality (of either genders) only imposes the same rules to society that extreme religious countries, particularity Muslim countries, do to their citizens.  Last I checked, those countries are absolutely ramped with women being abused and keep them constantly from being true citizens of society.  When we see a sexy anime or game character or cosplayer posing as that character, it's not an attack on women... it's a freedom for that person (man or woman) to express themselves.  The problem with the whole SJW "movement" is that most issues brought up by them are non issues and are hurting any cause ACTUAL feminism does to help abused women across the world.  A girl in a white rich cul-de-sac posting on Tumblr that the sorceress in Dragon's Crown having her boobs jiggle is a "trigger" for her and has "raped" her emotions... puts a wrong image on what feminism is suppose to be.  This obscure image of gaming and anime has been the overall talking piece for the "indie" game scene, game journalism and gaming as a whole for a few years now and thus, if you are not a part of this mindset, you are shunned, banned and any creation you make.. any youtube channel you have is either ignored or banned.

What the revelations of Zoe Quinn has shown is that it goes to the petty nepotism and even sleeping with those in the news organisations to help better your chance for success.  Do I agree with 4Chan and others making personal attacks, giving up personal info (address and phone numbers) of Zoe and others?... no.  Do Does this stuff happen in other industries?.. of course it does and it does also come with this criticism from the fan/userbase, as it should.  

To block people from openly discussing the issue and try to come up with ways to not have nepotism and bribing infect the game journalism scene... is a terrible way to combat people who are probably at times going to far with this and personally acting people like Zoe.  Professionally though, they should be questioned and called out for this... instead many tied to channels like Kotaku, Polygon, Machinima, Polaris, etc are joining in on trying to cover it up, the "nothing to see here" move and by bashing the very gamers they are suppose to be serving as both developers and journalists; demonizing all who honestly question the obvious under handed and favoritism that's going on and has been unearthed by what was has been known about Zoe and others.

To make things worse, Zoe went and had reddit admins silence the discussion on r/gaming and I think also r/videos as well.  While all of this was happening, 4chan's /v/ went and created an anime mascot called Vivian (seen in the image above) to do something we don't see often from 4chan, actual positive trolling.

Now, let's get the record straight, am I a 4Channer... not exactly.  This site here, Chuck's Anime Shrine is actually a year older than 4chan.  Moot, 4Chan's creator is an anime fan and my site is actually part of the same family of sites that existed 10+ years ago... 4chan obviously being the far more successful -_-... but I'm still here.

I actually very rarely ever go to 4chan except in situations like this... over the years I've really been a more active member of Reddit, this after the whole Digg situation in 2008.  I know there are many people in 4chan that are well... what SJW can rightfully say are misogynists... but in this situation, 4chan is actually trying to do something right to prove a very valid point.  The point that SJWs like Zoe and those pushing this faux feminism agenda in the gaming industry are not doing this for the betterment of others , but for their own narcissistic motives.  This was proven to be completely true by the actions made over the weekend. Here's an image link to some of the this and the whole topic in general. Here's another video showing another angle on this as well.

Anyways, on to the charity issue and the Vivian character seen in the title image to this wall of text here...

Here's the full story from 4chan on this.  In short, a group who's trying to something god for both charity and women in gaming, The Fine Young Capitalists, was being bashed by Zoe and her f*&^buddies under the the screwed assumption that women are working for free to make games.  Instead, 8% of profits will go to the finalist, 8% to the developers/programmers and the REST to charity.  Vivian James (a play on the word video game/vidiya games) was created to represent the project with the financial backing of many from 4chan.  The charity of choice.. for colon cancer to poke fun at the "butthurt" SJWs feel that a group they hate is doing something actually right for girl gamers and charity.  It's back up today, but yesterday the Indiegogo page was hacked.  The charity has now become an example of 4chan doing something for a positive change and calling out the entire SJW narrative for the fake help they claim they bring... ad thus this hack was a terrible showing of that and what happens when you question this new status quo that's trying to get a foothold on (and sully) indie gaming.

I would like to say officially that we at Chuck's Anime Shrine (my fiancee Danielle and myself) full support The Fine Young Capitalists.

For the record, we do NO support Phil Fish's site, Polytron being hacked..though our opinion of him has made a 180 since first seeing the Indie Gamer movie but we also do not support the president that Zoe Quinn and her bed buddies bring to the table with this.  If there is to be any sort of integrity in indie gaming, there needs to be no favoritism and purposeful doxxing of rival projects.

I have two games in the works, the recently copyrighted Tenshi-Oni game and one (a much smaller scale game just to get out there essentially while I build up Tenshi-Oni) I'm keeping hidden until the end of this week.

As stated I've been a part of this business for a long while... granted for many years on the sidelines.  If I continued my path in 2004, I would have been probably more known than other flash animators, game devs, etc... but now I'm playing a game of catchup.  I have my beautiful fiancee Danielle with me, a person whom I met only a month after this site was made back in April of 2002... I have to reason to do any sexual favors to get my games on the scene and nobody should have to go through any kind of hoop to do so in this industry. 
The quality & fun of the game is what should be tested and reviewed, not the underpinning narrative of the year or who slept with who.

Also for the record, I want come out clean about the involvement I have had in this industry, though, again rather light anyways...

In 2007, in addition to adding this blog to the site and the anime store, I made a game review of Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core.  his was a review I made all on my own free will and excitement for the game.  Shortly after, Fathom Events saw the review and for the next batch of game reviews, I was actually given the games to review here on this blog.  This was before Let's Plays and YouTube game reviews took their hold so I was doing it all here on my blog.  I was in a way paid to do them... with the games as the payment.  If I didn't mention this in a prior post, I am now.  It wasn't too long after starting this that Fathom Events ignored my emails and just simply stopped sending me games to review.  I was never though told to make a review go one way or another... I was told to be keep the review as honest as any gamer should.

As for the art assets in Tenshi-Oni and here on this site.  The artist Kenneos provided most of the art all actually on her own free will and thus why I haven't gotten new art since her current paying job has her making artwork like crazy for their site (all watermarked like crazy on there though).  I want to go on the record before somebody accuses me of misogyny that Kenneos was indeed not paid for any of this yet.  Before she wasn't able to give me any more art, I was indeed though planning on giving her a portion of the game's profits once released.  I've on a number of occasions insisted on paying her but she said no to every time I've insisted and instead I've ended up gifting her a Nendoroid or two.  Many of the fan artists who've done images of our characters have done it because they want to and I did set up (and wish to build up) the Cafepress store showcasing their work for them to make money on.  The point I'm getting here is that many artists are unpaid not because of "misogyny" but because they just want their art to be seen and in some cases refuse payment.. just wanting recognition; recognition I hope I've done an ok job with doing and will do for artists who help dnaielle and I out on our game dev projects.  

So please, let's get back to gaming but those in the game industry understand this... you have to cater to the gamers first and foremost.  Favoritism and nepotism is shameful and needs to be called out.  ALL game devs, game artists and so forth need an equal chance in this gaming arena, no matter who they are.
--- ## A Message to Japan and Anime Studios On Their New Piracy Witch Hunt, From an Official Anime Retailer, Voice Actor, Game Designer and Fan - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-07-31-a-message-to-japan-and-anime-studios-on/ - Date: 2014-07-31 - Tags: anime, anime piracy, japan - AI-assisted: no As some of you might have heard, Japan and anime studios are on a new piracy witchhunt to thwart mainly Chinese piracy sites. I thought I'd put my two cents in as 1) an official...

As some of you might have heard, Japan and anime studios are on a new piracy witchhunt to thwart mainly Chinese piracy sites.  I thought I'd put my two cents in as 1) an official anime retailer 2) a game developer with my own IP that I paid copyrights for 3) a paid voice actor 4) and most importantly, an anime fan...

First off, yes, there are sites that are hurting the industry, particularly ones in China that make bootleg figures and distribute full episodes to content that is available online...but they aren't the only targets of this governmental act, fans and the very fabric of what makes the anime community tick are in the crosshairs of this new (and not unique to Japan) in-bed-with-the-entertainment-businesses governmental action.  I'll start with quoting what I stated on G+ but want to elaborate more on....

Japan may try but they are going at piracy the wrong way. Take a page from Steam and Netflix; make worldwide, instant legal access for all anime/manga and drop these pathetic licensing/copyright/region-centric laws that hurt the fans and go against the tide with the Internet-driven market. We will pay for the real thing, but if there's no legal way to do so, then piracy it is. I'm an anime retailer, game developer and even a voice actor now but a fan first and I don't mind publicly stating this
...we anime fans are not criminals, just smarter than the braindead execs living in an entertainment business model reminiscent of the 1980's. I have no problem if people use my characters, my games and my music in the range of Fair Use. Unlike you Japan, and studios stupidly doing this witch hunt, i understand the power of the internet and viral marketing. So make your let's plays, AMVs, mods, OP/Ending posts of my content as I bring it out. I'll make the full content of my games and project affordable and global and unlike you Japan, I won't treat any fans of my content as criminals.
No legal, cost friendly access?..Then even I will don my eyepatch and make the pirate's life for me. Yo Ho

When I first started this site, which is now also a legit/official anime store site, I started it in 2002 in my then high school web design class.  This site became one of the many anime "shrine" sites, most of whom are long gone now.  This site stayed somewhat relevant when I started creating AMV pre-Youtube era.  There was a point where my site got taken down from all the bandwidth people downloading and linking to all of our AMVs.  Now, understandably, AMVs, like Let's Plays have been a grey area in the terms of copyright.  They were however in the realm of Fair Use, though both anime studios and music artists to this day never understood that. They still, in an age where social media is far more a part of life than in 2002, don't get that exposure through fan-based content is one of the best way for people to see and eventually wish to PAY for your product.

In the times I made AMVs (something I might jump back into with my knowledge of Premiere and After Effects now), I never made a penny off those creations.  I didn't want to since I knew the music and the art wasn't mine, but I thus became the free advertisement for those IP.  When Youtube came to be in 2005, I of course put my videos on there to mainly get the bandwidth issue out of the way.  I was also getting ready to do what many Youtube celebrities do now and post Flash parodies and such on YT.  In 2005, my videos were getting 250K views... in 2015!.  I not only look alot like the top Youtuber, Pewdiepie, but I would have been far ahead of the game compared to everyone else and would have made my own original content back then! (something I'm only now starting to do with my "chucksanimeshrine" YT page)

What caused this to all be derailed outside of personal life challenges was that my original Youtube channel "princetrunks" got taken down due to copyright infringement... that I couldn't defend myself from even when one music artist, QED, wanted me to be their inhouse editor after seeing my AMV!  I wasn't posting full anime episodes online... I just had ~4minute music video mashups and I was treated like some sort of criminal.

This criminalizing fans is what Japans government and the studios backing this crap up are doing.  Even today, in 2014 we will see an obviously successful production, like Attack On Titan, take over a year before it goes to English dubbing because of crazy slow licencing.  I don't condone nor support those who post whole episodes in piracy.. but what do you expect people to do?!  The industry is still the main reason why the piracy is so common.  It doesn't have to be but when the legal option is blocked by region control and take downs of the legit content due to licensing circlejerking... of course fans (who were going to pay mostly) are going to pirate.  It doesn't just go to the obvious full episode uploads... those I understand why they need to be regulated (if and only if there's a legal and affordable alternative).. it even goes to Opening and Ending clips.. so akin to the crap I dealt with back in 2005.

For example, try linking to a youtube video with the Sailor Moon Crystal Opening.  Since there's no official Youtube channel with that content (which for the studio could make a decent amount of money with adsense if they did)... of course fans will post the openings and endings.  Let them.  Is it the full episodes?, no... but yet every day Toei and the Content ID trolling they work with take down videos that are only spreading the advertisement of this new anime series.

In short, it's stupid and contradictory to criminalize your own fans.  Anime has thankfully come back from the "anime is ending " garbage that the cowardly heads of TokyoPop spewed a few years ago.

Anime is vibrant today due to social media, a medium anime fans first embraced before the rest of the #selfie obsessed world did.  Leaning on outdated copyright laws are a fools game in the modern world... and this is coming from somebody who paid the us government to copyright my game, Tenshi-Oni!!  I only did that to prevent people from making money off my idea in the sense of a copied game and to keep people from saying I made a game they made.. when this game and the characters here on Chuck's Anime Shrine (Fumi, Fumi's ability to transform into an angel or a demon, Lily, Yumi, etc) have been around since 2003 when I announced them (sans Yumi) and began making Tenshi-Oni (then called "Project Fumi") as a flash game.

Once I finally, finally get Tenshi-Oni, and this semi-secret game I'm making, out to the public.. will I demand people take down Let's Plays of the games, Amvs with my characters, fan art, fan fiction and the rest?? NO.

Actually, please do so.. turn Fumi and my characters into memes.  Make CG parodies like Miku gets, post all over the deviantart site.  MAKE MONEY from my characters with your fan art at cons, profit from views on your AMVs and Let's plays that have my Tenshi-Oni characters.  Unlike you, studios invovled in this witch hunt, I understand when word of mouth and viral marketing will only grow my IPs and I hope they do.  At the same time, I'll have the legal full copies of my games and music available for ALL with no region locks or other BS.  It's 2014 as of this post... the entertainment industry has to get out of the 1980's and stop trying to push the internet down with SOPA/PIPA/CISA-like laws to keep hold of their 1980' money.  I guess the fact that a lone anime fan can make his own content and probably not need a licence studio is why these laws and rules keep coming up.  Either change with the times or watch people pirate anyways.




--- ## #FanServiceFriday Ryuko Matoi by JimboBox - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-07-11-fanservicefriday-ryuko-matoi-by-jimbobox/ - Date: 2014-07-11 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, kill la kill, Matoi - AI-assisted: no Been a while since we posted a #FanServiceFriday image. Check out this absolutely stunning Ryuko Matoi image by JimboBox Source: http://jimbobox.deviantart.com/art/Ryuko-Matoi-4...


Been a while since we posted a #FanServiceFriday image.  Check out this absolutely stunning Ryuko Matoi image by JimboBox

Source:

http://jimbobox.deviantart.com/art/Ryuko-Matoi-436780347

--- ## Sailor Moon Crystal Premiere - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-07-05-sailor-moon-crystal-premiere/ - Date: 2014-07-05 - Tags: #SailorMoon, anime, crunchyroll, Sailor Moon, sailormooncrystal, videos - AI-assisted: no #SailorMoonDay has finally arrived! The premiere of Sailor Moon Crystal aired just a few hours ago and can be aired on a number of sites, including Crunchy Roll . To summarize t...


#SailorMoonDay has finally arrived!  The premiere of Sailor Moon Crystal aired just a few hours ago  and can be aired on a number of sites, including Crunchy Roll.

To summarize the first episode, it basically matches what the original first episode was those many years ago.  Crystal will supposedly be more like the manga than the original anime series was.
In the manga, the girls were a bit different in personalities... for example, Amy was more of the stuck up type than Mars was made out to be in the anime.  Also, the manga went into more detail on Tuxedo Mask / Endymion's powers as well as how important Sailor V was to the group in their past lives and during their fight with Queen Beryl.

Below are some more screen shots from the episode and if you guys visit our ever-growing Facebook Page, we are currently giving out some free two day passes at random so that you don't have to watch Sailor Moon Crystal with commercials and in 1080p.  We only have about 3 left so I'd expect them to be gone by today ^^;;

It's great to see anime's princess back after all these years and for a whole new generation to see.





--- ## Kantai Collection: Nendoriod Ooi - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-06-18-kantai-collection-nendoriod-ooi/ - Date: 2014-06-18 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no It's been some time since I've featured an anime figure here on the blog, so here's the newly announced, Nendoriod Ooi figure . She's a cutie and very much like the Kitakami Nen...

It's been some time since I've featured an anime figure here on the blog, so here's the newly announced, Nendoriod Ooi figure.

She's a cutie and very much like the Kitakami Nendoroid that was announced last week, also from the Kantai Collection anime/game.

 She's set to arrive in the states some time in October or November ^^

Here's some more images of her...









--- ## An Update On Tenshi-Oni and a New Swift-coded Game! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-06-13-an-update-on-tenshi-oni-and-new-swift/ - Date: 2014-06-13 - Tags: game programming, gamedev, programming, Swift, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, videogames - AI-assisted: no As some of you know from my past posts on G+ and Facebook, I've been doing nothing but learning Swift the past week+ since it's announcement at WWDC14... I'm still of course wor...

As some of you know from my past posts on G+ and Facebook, I've been doing nothing but learning Swift the past week+ since it's announcement at WWDC14...

 I'm still of course working on Tenshi-Oni, my iOS game that's been on / off since 2011 (originally a Flash game concept I thought up in 2003 actually ^^;;).  I will probably add some Swift code to it moving forward but, like I've stated, it's still going to be what the 1000s of lines of code already are... Objective-C.  I plan on porting it to Android and with Swift being so new... it probably will be a while before Swift code can be easily ported to devices outside of OS-X/IOS.

 Anyways, I'm going to be now taking a page from more modern game devs by going the easy route... ie: making a quick, simple, silly game to get things rolling.  In other words, before Tenshi-Oni comes out, I'll be rolling out another game first; a game made solely in Swift but not as ambitious as I want Tenshi-Oni to be. It'll be quick, simple and free ^_^

 I've already came up with the game's concept and like Swift (and oddly many other iOS games) I'll be around a certain bird.. a new mascot that'll be added to the Chuck's Anime Shrine cast.

 I feel this will do a few things...

 1) prove to the gaming industry that this long-time-always-on-the-sidelines gamer/programmer can code a game despite this new game not being anywhere as complex as Tenshi-Oni 

 2) Shame the companies that have rejected me thus far in getting a better 9-5 day job; companies that through the moronic decision of not hiring me have kept me STILL stuck working as an underpaid "Company's Computer Guy" for a camera store.

 3) Learn the process of the actual shipping of a game on to the Apple App Store...better I learn the ins and outs with a simple game and not with this major project I have with Tenshi-Oni

 4) Actually make some money to start which will a) maybe help me not even need a job as a programmer for another company which will then b) make my focus 9-5 be making games and not just doing them in my VERY limited spare time and c) Fund a more polished completion of Tenshi-Oni and even more future games.

 What I have been doing for a long while was try to start big... a mistake game programmers from the days before the indie-game-programming-everywhere industry we have today, like me have done.  I should have started small and, though so late to a party I could have been in in 2003... will get some first bites into with this other, much smaller simple game I'm making in Swift in addition to Tenshi-Oni ^_^

 tl;dr: I'm making another game! a short, simple game in Swift to come out before Tenshi-Oni does and to hopefully help me move to a workday where I'm more focused on being an indie game dev and my other anime site/voice acting related tasks that continue to get hampered by a 9-5 job --- ## Lady Palutena Super Smash Bros Wii U Anime Intro - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-06-13-lady-palutena-super-smash-bros-wii-u/ - Date: 2014-06-13 - Tags: anime, E3, E32014, Lady Palutena, Smash Bros WiiU, videos, WiiU - AI-assisted: no There's so many really awesome #E32014 games and news. I'm certain you guys have seen a bunch of it the past few days from either me or others throughout the web. Thought I'd sh...


There's so many really awesome #E32014 games and news.  I'm certain you guys have seen a bunch of it the past few days from either me or others throughout the web.  Thought I'd share this introduction to Lady Palutena being a part of the Smash Bros WiiU roster.  What of course stands out is that it's got a really polished anime opening scene to it with Pit fighting Link.

Check it out if you guys haven't yet

--- ## For the First Time In America, Uncut Sailor Moon On Blu-ray With the Final Season [Viz] - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-05-16-for-first-time-in-america-uncut-sailor/ - Date: 2014-05-16 - Tags: #SailorMoon, Sailor Moon, sailor moon 2014 - AI-assisted: no In preparation for the new Sailor Moon Crystal series, Viz announced something fans of Sailor Moon have never seen in the states... The ENTIRE Sailor Moon series and on Blu-ray....


In preparation for the new Sailor Moon Crystal series, Viz announced something fans of Sailor Moon have never seen in the states... The ENTIRE Sailor Moon series and on Blu-ray.  Not only that, but it will be streamed on Neonalley.com and Hulu starting May 19th!

Here's the announcement video from Viz



Never in the states has the final season of Sailor Moon been aired (officially) so this is big news for fans of the states... and it's also completely uncut; something us fans here had to use bootlegs to get around.

As a long time anime fan, the sight of Sailor Moon coming back to a new generation, both in it's original form and soon the new Crystal series, makes us really, really happy.  Add that new Gundam Origin series and it's turning out to be a great spring/summer season for fans old and new.


As for purchasing the Blu-rays, we shall see if we can stock them in our store ^_^

via: https://twitter.com/Im__Sailor_Moon/status/467089833815728128/photo/1

--- ## The Fight For Net Neutrality! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-05-16-pardon-non-anime-subject-of-this/ - Date: 2014-05-16 - Tags: #FCC, #NetNeutrality, Comcast, internet rights, non-anime, PIPA, SOPA - AI-assisted: no Pardon the non anime subject of this..but this is very important for our sites (chucksanimeshrine.com, anime.fm & tenshioni.com) and practically ALL of the internet. The FCC...

Pardon the non anime subject of this..but this is very important for our sites (chucksanimeshrine.com, anime.fm & tenshioni.com) and practically ALL of the internet.  The FCC approved a plan that would put the entire internet at an even worse situation than even what the terrible laws of SOPA/PIPA would have done.

Basically their new plan, due to listening to the bribes by ISPs here in the states,  is to turn the internet into a slow/fast lane.  Basically giving only sites that pay bribes to ISPs the ability to have their content stream at normal speeds (of course normal speeds here in the US are already far slower than the rest of the developed world due to the ISP oligopolies).

Small companies and sites like ours and even some big players like Netflix will, heck have already been affected by the ISP cartels trying to double dip in a system they never had the rights to control in the first place.

ALL internet traffic is equal.. this is what #NetNeutrality means and the FCC, the ISP cartels, fronted by Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and Time Warner Cable are trying to destroy the internet as we know it.

What you need to do:

If you are a US citizen:

1) CALL The FCC and it's Comcast shill head, Tom Wheeler:
https://act.freepress.net/call/internet_wheeler_nn/

2) CALL Congress and your representatives:

https://act.freepress.net/call/internet_congress_nn/

If you are not a US citizen:

Petitions are not always as effective as some of our peers might say, but they can and do help at times... particularly when there's enough involvement....

Sign the petition here to stop the Internet Slow Lane
https://openmedia.org/SlowLane/

I'll return to anime/videogame news/feeds, etc shortly ^^;// but please, we have to take action on this

Don't let the internet become THIS!

(top image: via: http://bgr.com/2014/05/16/net-neutrality-fcc-proposal/) --- ## #SexySamusSaturday and the Problem of SJWs - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-05-03-sexysamussaturday-and-problem-of-sjws/ - Date: 2014-05-03 - Tags: #SexySamusSaturday, anime girl, videogames - AI-assisted: no A major issue on the internet has been bubbling for some time. An issue that has been a detriment to gamers, cosplayers and anime fans alike. That is, well are, SJWs, or Social ...

A major issue on the internet has been bubbling for some time.  An issue that has been a detriment to gamers, cosplayers and anime fans alike.  That is, well are, SJWs, or Social Justice Warriors.

Ever since the start of the internet, cyberbullying has existed.  I remember the late 90's and the chat rooms of AOL, later the forums of Newgrounds and the incarnation of what became 2chan and 4chan.  Trust me, I've been there, we both (Danielle and I) have been there.  In the real world and on the internet Danielle and I have been the victims of bullying and gender hating.   As somebody who was more of a mix of an athlete & nerd I didn't get some of the teasing that some of you might have gotten.  Bullying hurts people in the real world and the internet and it's understandable where SJWs come from but it's also important to realize who the SJWs speak for... and it's not us, the ones who have been bullied, teased and abused online and the real world.. they are just a voice for themselves and lost in their own illusion that they aid people.   

(How to piss off a SJW: post a sexy gamer girl who knows she's sexy)

SJWs of tumblr and the subreddit r/ShitRedditSays are themselves becoming one of the most offensive / bullying groups on the internet today.  They have been hiding under the guise of social tolerance and fronting much of the talk with feminism in videogames.  I will agree there ARE terrible gamer guys who will degrade and hate women, cosplayers and gamer girls like the SJW claim.  Problem is that this group is performing seppuku on the entire medium in the sake of being politically correct.  They will hate an bash gamer girls and cosplayers who happen to be attractive and ironically perform the very cyberbulling that they claim they are trying to fight against.  Think Westboro Baptist Church but instead of making religion (ok, religion doesn't need the help of WBC to do that) they make feminists and those trying to help the innocent and bullied look bad.

My first encounter with the SJWs happened one year ago, back when there was that situation with Chick-Fil-A.  To recap, the LGBT and allies of LGBT like myself were fronting a movement to boycott Chick-Fil-A because of their anti gay stance. (Granted, it's a damn restaurant and politics and religion have no place in it. ) To fight back against those who are boycotting it, an image of a southern black community church standing together with Chick-Fil-A fried chicken was posted on various sites.  One was on the r/Atheism section where I (princetrunks) left the comment in the vein of "the southern black community's strong religious affliction is a pure example of historical Stockholm Syndrome"  As a former Catholic turned atheist,  I'll add that this is the case for really any young religious people because many aren't given the choice of faith at youth but forced into it anyways.  My comment, though a bit rough on the edges was shot to the top of that topic thread and caught the attention of the SJWs of /r/ShitRedditSays.  In other words, I pissed the BRDs off.  I quickly got harassed and called various names like "shitbag" "neckbeard" "racist" and a plethora of statements.  I got to comment and open up dialog with them on R/ShitRedditSays and without being able to speak an communicate in an adult fashion, I was banned from that subreddit.  This is one of the issues with SJWs...just like the hateful people who are indeed out there that they claim to protect people from... there is a one way direction of communication; a "guilty even if proven innocent" mentality.   Or as SJWs will state: "a man is a rapist even if they never raped a girl" .  

Seriously, that's the stuff these people think and it's even sadder that with the help of gaming sites like Polygon and of course various tumblr groups, these bipolar nutjobs whom most themselves never been the victims of rape, teasing and such are ones fronting the dialog about the representation of girls in games and tout as the "voice" of the victims of bullying, rape, racism, political correctiveness, or as SJWs put it: "people not checking their privileges".   It is a worthy topic to talk about... but my goodness are they spinning in too far in the wrong direction.  They will vote down games like Dragon's Crown only because the sorceress is being sexy.  Their bitching led to Polygon giving it a lower score and even making the game creators change the box art.  

I'll be blunt.. I one time in my life had to go through therapy because I was ready to KILL guys who sexually harassed, threatened and even raped close people to me when my school district did nothing to defend them.  When a customer in a restaurant or store is harassing a worker.. I stand up to the irate asshat customer and don't stand in the background.  I freaken owned this anime site since 2002 and have defended anime from people who simply hate anime and anime fans for the sake of teasing us.   I know very well how and what it takes to fight for those who ARE being oppressed... but don't let a SJWs campaign to ban Sexy Samus or the Sorceress of Dragon's Crown fool you.  If I go and claim how terrible the heinous culture of arranged marriage is a cancer to cultures in India and elsewhere (something you'd think these people would fight if they are really fighting for women's rights)...they'd yell that I'm a "neckbeard" who needs to check my privileges


(Here's Carlin's take on this.  The SJWs are both pretending to be the voice of those offended, stifling comedy and doing what they can to censor even the slightest "offense")

Even more recently they've gotten into a stink about an offcolor joke done on Game Grumps...and as this post will do as a stand against them.. they are also getting upset with Nintendo about Samus Aran still being sexy (and now sporting heels) in the upcoming Smash Bros game for WiiU.   It's like this episode of South Park... where everyone being offended over EVERYTHING does nothing for the betterment of those oppressed and kills creativity and comedy:


(http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/150048/non-offensive-christmas-icon)

This is where my need to make this post and promote #SexSamusSaturday stems from.  It's a way of telling these SJWs that being a straight male and finding an attractive girl (gamer, anime or real life) sexy, is not criminal.   If they want to help women's rights and stop REAL asshole "neckbeards"...they need to not get offended over this stuff... and check their privileges....because they are stealing everyone's privilege to speak and express... and that...that is not how this world works and they are NOT being of any help to those oppressed,teased and hurt.  The SJWs are themselves offending us who have been hurt, teased and whom have defended victims in the real world. 

Anyways.. no more chatting... here's the sexy, strong rolemodel for gamer girls, Samus Aran:



(source: http://xushiox.deviantart.com/art/Zero-suit-315226471)

(source:http://xushiox.deviantart.com/art/Samus-Sketch-260754846)







--- ## Sony Sells Square Enix Stock Due To Sony's Poor Fiscal Health, Not Square Enix - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-04-16-sony-sells-square-enix-stock-due-to/ - Date: 2014-04-16 - Tags: business, news, sony, square-enix, video games - AI-assisted: no Across the internet today, word is out that Sony is selling all of it's entire stock in Square-Enix ; roughly $47 million worth. Now, mind you, we know that Square-Enix has been...


Across the internet today, word is out that Sony is selling all of it's entire stock in Square-Enix; roughly $47 million worth.  Now, mind you, we know that Square-Enix has been having issues with some of the fans when it comes to amongst other things, drawn out sequels and forced characters.  Square-Enix though has had some success and even the urge to go back to JRPGs thanks to better than expected sales with the Bravely Default game.

The fiscal numbers for Sony isn't out yet and many of the gaming news news sites are creating an idiotic panic fueling a "is Square Enix going down?" fear.  The truth of the matter is actually the opposite.  This is a question I actually can answer because I work somewhat with Sony... just sadly not their gaming division.

For almost 8 years now, I've been the web content editor for a pro camera store out on Long Island.  we are literately down the road from the US headquarters of Canon and Nikon.  One of the other manufactures we sell products for, work with sales & tech reps for.. is Sony.  Sony's DSLR division in addition to their PlayStation division as we gamers and anime fans know... are actually Sony's only current profitable divisions.  You see, Sony's been having a bit of an identity crisis since the 1990s.  The days of the Walkman are long gone.. as seen from this recent post by People Magazine and others a few days back.  Just..don't tell that to Sony.  From the ongoing success of the PlayStation from PS1 to PS4 and being the third/fourth wheel in the pro camera department, Sony's departments (all terribly disjointed mind you) thought that they were still the grand kings of ALL of electronics.  Despite the rise of Apple, Samsung, LG and other electronic manufacturers...Sony still mentally held on to the notion that they were, in the rest of the electronics market, as great as they were in the 80's and 90's in the years before Playstation when the Walkman was their cash cow.

I personally saw this ignorance to this reality evident in the pricing policies that they enforced in their DSLR division a few years back.  At around 2009 and 2010, Sony, and then later followed by Nikon and others, created a very strict MAP (Minimum Advertising Policy) to their camera products.  They call it their SURE Policy and every reseller (ok except apparently the seller in Japan and China) MUST abide by it.  MAP policies are basically a company saying, "If you sell x or y product for any lower than the MAP price, you lose your rights to sell that product or even lose the rights to sell ANY Sony product."  This forced pricing and in some cases for the consumer, price fixing/gouging was done and later copied and named silly stuff like MVP/UPP, etc by other companies to deter online sellers for selling the products at a deep discount.  Makes scene for the reseller and boy at times I wish this was the case for the anime products I sell, but not only do these policies get REALLY silly, they most of the time ignore the fact that most of the time, the current online selling price IS the real value of that product.  Many drop in value quick because in 2-3 months they are all replaced by a marginally better product (trust me I add these damn things daily to my job's site).  Also, as stated before... a US retailer will be barraged with policies while a Japan-local dealer will oddly be excluded from such policies.  Sony's SURE policies are some of the dumbiest in all of MAP policies, even out derping Nikon's MVP price fixing / regional locking policy.  Sony tells us to make sure there's at least three bullet points and a Sony reseller sticker on their product listings or risk being flagged.  Really, really stupid stuff.

Sony's attitude in this market is that they are the TOP electronics company...but anyone alive in the past 10-15 years can tell you that their Playstation is all we know and care about.  all of those other divisions must be bleeding money... and yep they are

So, how do I know this info before the numbers go out that Sony is hurting?  Well, straight from people I know in their SLR division. As of two weeks ago, their Camera Division had 40% of their workforce cut. Mind you this one of Sony's profitable divisions.  Every division is seeing this and it comes to no surprise that the sell off of Square-Enix stock is a desperate money grab for Sony.  The reality they tried to hide in their SURE polices and their marketing is finally starting to come to fruition and Sony's new management is doing what it needs to cut the fat and grab all they can.

The terrible thing about this is that people will think Square-Enix is the one falling when in reality it's Sony.  Either way it's not good for either company but before you think Meteor is falling realize the force of desperation in this move is coming form Sony as they realign their goals, NOT Square-Enix.  Even in the Gamespot article they tell of this.

Keep an eye for Sony's numbers after today, I bet you all they will show a loss in their other departments and lower forecast profits in their only two good divisions left. --- ## A Note About the Heartbleed Bug - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-04-11-a-note-about-heartbleed-bug/ - Date: 2014-04-11 - Tags: anime store, heartbleed bug, programming, security, updates - AI-assisted: no Wanted to make a quick note of assurance to those that might be worried about the Heartbleed bug and it's possible effect on our site, or particularly, your data in our store . ...

Wanted to make a quick note of assurance to those that might be worried about the Heartbleed bug and it's possible effect on our site, or particularly, your data in our store.

The good news is...you are all safe here ^_^

Here at chucksanimeshrine.com, our webhost is, and has been since 2004, globat.com.  Since the store was created in 2007, we've used their SSL service to keep your data safe so we don't use OpenSSL for our store's encryption.  Instead, we use RapidSSL.

Also, when the store recently was upgraded and ported to the /shop/ address, I took extra measures in security to make sure the HTML coding and the PHP backend code in the store's Oscommerce engine was the very newest version (at the time of this writing ver 2.3.3.4) and that the encryption passed Google Chrome's strenuous SSL test.  Any of you using Chrome will see in the store's cart page the green lock icon showing it's safety.

It's always good to be more safe than sorry and even if our site is safe from the bug, your login info elsewhere on the internet might not be...and if you use the same login credentials across the internet, a hacker could use that to login to your account anywhere.

 To help stop the automation of such an act, I've also recently added reCapcha requirements for account creation and password changes on the store... this way, bots potentially using your info stolen from other sites affected by Heartbleed... won't get far here.

So, if you feel you need to change your info nonetheless, go right ahead.  All customers of the old store design can log in like they did before the store upgrade; same username and all.  Oh, and use the store's own password reset.  Like any good secured site, neither me or anybody else has a plain text copy of your credentials.

Here's a list of site affected by the bug... keep safe and watch your personal data.

(PS: Anime.fm and TenshiOni.com do in fact use GoDaddy (a host effected by this bug) as their webhosts but currently there's no customer credentials there, so those are unaffected by this bug as well)

(IMAGE: MASHABLE COMPOSITE. ISTOCKPHOTO, SOBERP) --- ## Tenshi-Oni Officially Copyrighted - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-04-02-tenshi-oni-officially-copyrighted/ - Date: 2014-04-02 - Tags: copyright, gamedev, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone. Wanted to get people up to date about my long running video game project, "Tenshi-Oni" This project is almost as old as this site and though having a very long and...


Hey everyone.  Wanted to get people up to date about my long running video game project, "Tenshi-Oni"  This project is almost as old as this site and though having a very long and drawn out development cycle, hindered by negative life & work events, it's been on the move and only positive life/work events seem to be keeping the release info and development slow now.  That's a good thing though as there's been lots of great things happening this year both with the game and with other aspects of this site (...and even my voice acting career.)

Ok, so.. here's the deal.  The game, site mascots, story originally dubbed "Project Fumi" in 2003 and later named "Tenshi-Oni" is now officially a licensed/copyrighted property.  Granted, they technically have been since 2003 as the mascots, Fumi and Lily have been here on the site since the beginning with Yumi coming in around 2007 with the creation of the anime store section.

Since then there's been some art contests and such with the characters and, though not truly known as more newer mascots, like my friend Danny Choo's Mirai and co... they still are somewhat known...or, once the game comes out, will definitely be.

As of this week, the IP of "Tenshi-Oni", the characters, story about a blue-haired Japanese school girl named Fumi who can transform into an angel or demon and the game's code has been officially copyrighted on paper.

Why did I doing this?  A few reasons:

1) These characters have been around since 2003, so I have to protect them from people who will think I took them from something or simply claim ownership over them when or before the game goes public.  There hasn't been any cases of this but it's a good CYA (Cover Your Ass) method in squashing Copyright Trolls.  Copyright Trolls (a company claiming people's work or a basic phase, like "Candy" and then suing everybody who "violate" that is a major, major issue nowadays.  One example being YouTube's abysmal Content ID system

2) The game will be on iPhone to start.  If successful I'll be able to work full time on it for even greater versions/upgrades of the game, more games and on more devices/systems.   With that comes the inevitability of copycats.  Look at FlappyBird for example.  My goodness did the copycats came along during and after it' eventual takedown by it's creator.  I'm not against people emulating what I'm doing with the game..I mean, my game takes bits and piece of game play style from a few things, particularly 2D side shooters...but then it opens the door for a Candy Crush-like situation.  What do I mean by a Candy Crush situation?  To put it briefly, in 2010 an indie game dev made a game very similar to Candy Crush... before the game even came out.  The devs at King basically copied this game to create Candy Crush.  The most damning issue wasn't so much that the game emulated CandySwipe almost to the tee...it was that King went and sued the creator of CandySwipe after their copycat game got big.  Yet another incarnation of a Copyright Troll.  If Tenshi-Oni becomes even semi-popular and worth copying..it'll inevitably happen.  I can't stop that, in some cases I'll welcome it if I'm the head of the pack/the real macoy... but I want to squash the Trolls using the system itself before they come after me; even after the fact the game's been an IP since 2003.

3) To protect the fans from Copyright Trolls.  One thing I want to make certain about my legally binding the name "Tenshi-Oni", "Project Fumi", etc... I do NOT want to steal a fan's ability to showcase, fanfic, etc this work.  Problem is, as we see with YouTube's terrible Content ID system... a fan of Tenshi-Oni could say, show a Let's Play of it, draw fanart, make a music video of it, and do what us here at CAS and other fans have one for years with anime/game IP we love..simply share their love for it.  Copyright Trolls have gotten so bad that ha I not do this, a fan could make an AMV of the game, post it on youtube (and I' be 1000% OK with that).but a copyright troll could claim it and pull down the video under my name...when it wasn't actually me.  This happens DAILY on Youtube since they "updated" their Content ID system.  If Tenshi-Oni becomes loved enough to be worthy of AMVs, Let's Plays, fan art, etc...I want to be on the front lines to make sure you fans can do so without ANY slack from a Copyright Troll claiming my work as theirs.

tl;dr:  

--- ## Kill La Kill Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-03-28-kill-la-kill-figures/ - Date: 2014-03-28 - Tags: #FF, #figurefriday, anime figures, figma, figures, kill la kill, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no As some of you might know, today the final episode of Kill La Kill has aired. (don't spoil it for me, I'm still in the early episodes ^^;;) I thought I'd make a special #figuref...

As some of you might know, today the final episode of Kill La Kill has aired. (don't spoil it for me, I'm still in the early episodes ^^;;)  I thought I'd make a special #figurefriday post, posts I plan on doing more in the future, to mention the newest batch of pre-orders I have added to my newly redesigned anime store.  That, my fellow Kill La Kill fans is the announcement of the newest pre-orders in our crazy awesome series.

Here they are:

FIGMA RYUKO MATOI


SRP $51.99 
$44.99 (until 4/17)

NENDOROID #408 MAKO MANKANSHOKU

Price: $44.99 

NENDOROID: KILL LA KILL - RYUKO MATOI FIGURE

Price: $37.99


There they are, freaken awesome looking as we'd imagine.  Just for reference to anyone new to my site, blog and store, I wanted to again note that we are an official Good Smile Company partnerstore (so NO bootlegs here), and our store section has been around since 2007 ^_^  

Also, something new...we not only let you simply reserve a pre-order, or pay in full before hand via Paypal, Amazon, or credit card (in either the Paypal or amazon payment portal), but we also now let you pay in Bitcoin!  

We've also recently teamed up with the new legit US Good Smile Company wholesaler...
Ultra Tokyo Connect!  They now join the ranks of our other legit anime distributors, like AAAanime, YesAnime, Diamond Comics and others ^_^


Here's some more images of the figures:














 


--- ## FanService Friday 3/14/2014: Sexy in Red, by Deneb (NSFW) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-03-14-fanservice-friday-3142014-sexy-in-red/ - Date: 2014-03-14 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl - AI-assisted: no For today's Fan Service Friday post, Here's a stunning, beautiful and sexy anime girl image done by the artist, Deneb (a little NSFW). #fanServiceFriday


For today's Fan Service Friday post, Here's a stunning, beautiful and sexy anime girl image done by the artist, Deneb (a little NSFW).

#fanServiceFriday --- ## Alluring Anime Fox Girl By Momopoco (Ahri from LoL) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-03-11-alluring-anime-fox-girl-by-momopoco/ - Date: 2014-03-11 - Tags: anime art, anime girl, anime pic of the day, Momopoco - AI-assisted: no Looking more at Momopoco's work, an artist we've showed a number of times here, I was just driven to showcase this one. An absolutely stunning anime fox girl with blue hair and ...


Looking more at Momopoco's work, an artist we've showed a number of times here, I was just driven to showcase this one.  An absolutely stunning anime fox girl with blue hair and a red kimono (edit: It appears to be Ahri from League of Legends).  This image gives that old 90's anime detailed feel while at the same time having that more contemporary computer bush art detail we see from today's anime artists.

source: http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1605574?tags=momoko_%28momopoco%29 --- ## Moe Monday 3/10/2014: Elegant Fairy Knight (Momopoco) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-03-10-moe-monday-3102014-elegant-fairy-knight/ - Date: 2014-03-10 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime girl, moe, Momopoco - AI-assisted: no For today's Moe Monday post, here's a pretty picture by the very talented Momopoco. Check out more of Momopoco's work on pixiv and on danbooru

For today's Moe Monday post, here's a pretty picture by the very talented Momopoco.

Check out more of Momopoco's work on pixiv and on danbooru --- ## Touhou Project: Bad Apple w/ Traditional Japanese Instruments - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-03-07-touhou-project-bad-apple-w-traditional/ - Date: 2014-03-07 - Tags: japan, music, Touhou Project, videos - AI-assisted: no Over at our sister site, Anime.FM we posted the video of a really great Nightstep remix of the Touhou Project song, Bad Apple. Thought we'd show another really amazing remix of ...


Over at our sister site, Anime.FM we posted the video of a really great Nightstep remix of the Touhou Project song, Bad Apple.  Thought we'd show another really amazing remix of that song done in traditional Japanese instruments from back in 2011.  Yes, it sounds as magical as you'd imagine.




Here's the details of the arrangement from the youtube page:

 Touhou BGM played in a traditional Japanese Instruments sound on tradtional stage.

Shamisen1: Nami Kineie [http://www.kineienami.jp]
Shamisen2: Sakurako Satoh
Koto: Nahoko Ohata [http://music.geocities.jp/mizukawatos...]
Shakuhachi1: Makoto Takei [http://www.takeimakoto.com]
Shakuhachi2: Toshiya Mizukawa [http://music.geocities.jp/mizukawatos...]
Drums: Keiko Tada [http://blog.livedoor.jp/tara8/]

Arrangement: Yorihide Fukushima [http://www.fukushima-yorihide.com]
Recorded and mixed by: Toshiya Mizukawa [http://music.geocities.jp/mizukawatoshiya]
Calligraphy: Jiro Shirosuzu [http://siroisuzu.web.fc2.com/]
Photography, Editing: Ikiro P [http://www.voiceblog.jp/johson/]
Head: Kohtaro Fujiyama [http://www.wazuma.jp]


Original: BadApple!! [ZUN ~Team Shanghai Alice~] [Toho Gensokyo ~Stage 3] --- ## Bitcoin Founder Revealed, Buy Anime Figures in Bitcoin and Bitcoin-chan - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-03-06-bitcoin-founder-revealed-buy-anime/ - Date: 2014-03-06 - Tags: anime business, anime figures, bitcoin, business, figures - AI-assisted: no Pardon the Bitcoin-heavy title but I thought it'd be best to post this all together in a single post ^^;; Bitcoin Creator Unmasked Bitcoin is in the news again today but thankfu...

Pardon the Bitcoin-heavy title but I thought it'd be best to post this all together in a single post ^^;;

Bitcoin Creator Unmasked

Bitcoin is in the news again today but thankfully not due to something negative/naysaying like that whole Mt. Gox issue.  Instead, today the creator of this open sourced currency finally revealed who his is.  Before today, he was only known as "Satoshi".  I'll admit, before I began to understand Bitcoin and crypto currencies, his secretive identity for a while lead me to not want to be bothered by it; as has been the case with many people who aren't computer scientists like myself, who can appreciate the potential such a system can have.  Satoshi was revealed as Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64 year old Japanese-American who was once an engineer for RCA.  As many of us anime fans know about some famous anime celebrities, particularly manga artists / novel writers, Satoshi kept his secrecy mainly because he didn't want to be out in public doing meetings, press conferences and the like. also, the system works for itself with or without him...which is what us business owners and computer scientists share in our goals for the different projects an businesses we strive to create.   Bitcoin being OpenSource allows that and of course helped create the multitude of other cryptocurrencies... like the one time joke currency of DogeCoin which recently was the funding source behind the Jamaican bobsled team making it the recently ended 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.  Now that there's a face to Bitcoin's creation, with the transparency of it's opensource nature, hopefully this means even more adoption and trust in the currency even after the separate entities like BTC exchanges sometimes are not trustworthy to their clientele (ie: Mt. Gox)

...

Bitcoin-Chan


As shown by CrunchyRoll, Bitcoin recently got it's own anime mascot, Bitcoin-chan.  This cute mascot was made by Eroge artist Mochiko Kagamino (warning, NSFW link!).  She's become a free-to-use mascot (except for product sales) and will have a manga strip soon.

...

Buy Anime Figures With Bitcoin! (thanks to us here on Chuck's Anime Shrine!)


I'm not 100% certain if I can make this claim but screw it, I'll do it anyway until somebody shows me proof otherwise....

As of last week, on Friday February 28th 2014, we here at Chuck's Anime Shrine became the FIRST (?) official anime retailer to offer payment of anime figures and anime-related merchandise in Bitcoin!

 The store is still building up from the once bustling business it was before Hurricane Sandy but we are proud to say that if you wish to pay for anime goods in Bitcoin, you can do that HERE.  We utilize a secure SSL setup insite with the added security of an external Bitpay account to process your payments in Bitcoin based on it's value at that very moment.  More details and fine print will be posted in our store section in the coming week concerning Bitcoin transactions but we join the ranks of Overstock.com and Tiger Direct when it comes to Bitcoin.  So don't be scared of Bitcoin.  Give the banks corporations something to sweat about and get your anime goods with those Satoshis. --- ## Our Newly Revamped Anime Store! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-02-28-our-newly-revamped-anime-store/ - Date: 2014-02-28 - Tags: #figurefriday, anime figures, anime store - AI-assisted: no A very special #figureFriday Post (sorry if you guys on our newsletter saw this already ^^;;) ... About 7 years ago, we added our very own anime store; a place by fans for fans....

A very special #figureFriday Post (sorry if you guys on our newsletter saw this already ^^;;)
...
About 7 years ago, we added our very own anime store; a place by fans for fans.  It's been a great run; we became a name here in the US, selling over $100K anime figures & accessories within the first few years.  We were there selling Official/non-bootleg Nendoroids and Figmas right from the start of their production.

As some of you know, in late 2012, Hurricane Sandy ruined the track record for the store; causing pre-orders to not arrive to the east coast and flat out ruin the chance this store had in being right up there with the likes of stores we've shopped at in the past like  AmiAmi, Hobby Search and Anime List.

After a long year+ of rebuilding, we are very happy to announce we are "back" with the creation of a new version of the anime store! ^_^

Here's a rundown of what's new:
Currently the listings are a bit slim as we continue to sell our old stock..but more older "hidden" stock will become available as well as the return of the anime figure pre-orders and maybe even the return of Swarovski figures & the inclusion of new lines of products.

Thank you all for shopping with us in the past and we hope to create an even better place for anime fans to shop for the future ^_^
--- ## Anime Store Redesign Pending - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-02-11-anime-store-redesign-pending/ - Date: 2014-02-11 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, announcement, updates - AI-assisted: no ( Update: Still working on the brand new anime store section... but I was able to fix the old store that kinda got fudged in my creation of the new store. So you can still visit...


(Update: Still working on the brand new anime store section... but I was able to fix the old store that kinda got fudged in my creation of the new store.  So you can still visit and log into the old store as I roll out the new store any day now ^^.  Oh, and all 800+ of you will be able to log in to the new store..no needing to resign up with the new store is launched.)

Pardon the look of the anime store at the moment... ^^;;

Actually today I was going to announce the first figure to go on pre-order after more than a year of recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy... but the store's engine (OSCommerce) was using a version and code that dates back to 2005.  As we speak (and with tons of coffee thanks to MySQL databases such a pain to deal with), I'm adding a brand new store in every way; will be CSS3, HTML5 , Responsive Design.  You'll be able to buy anime products on your phone too...oh, and I also plan on adding Bitcoin as a payment option.  At the moment it seems everyone (all 800+ of you) who are registered customers to my store might have to reinput your login info / addresses again...but I'm seeing if I can merge old data with the new (again... lots of coffee over this)... so if in the end I can't, my sincere apologies.   The goal is to truly bring back my anime store and prove that we are right on par with the likes of Crunchy Roll, Hobby Search, Hobby Stock, etc.  Then again, CAS has been around since 2002, had the store added in 2007, is a Good Smile Company Partner Store.  So yeah, I think I should show the others whose boss :p --- ## Hyperdimension Neptunia: Purple Heart 1/7 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-02-11-hyperdimension-neptunia-purple-heart-17/ - Date: 2014-02-11 - Tags: anime figures, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Purple Heart - AI-assisted: no Took me a bit of time to get the ball rolling on this but Pre-Orders are finally back in my anime store! ^_^ As some of you might have known, the store got a bit of a year+ long...


Took me a bit of time to get the ball rolling on this but Pre-Orders are finally back in my anime store! ^_^

As some of you might have known, the store got a bit of a year+ long hiatus of sorts due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  The first figure to for you all to pre-order is one that has been on the pre-order charts for a few weeks but is absolutly impressive, the Hyperdimension Neptunia: Purple Heart 1/7 Scale Figure by Good Smile Company & Wing.

Like many anime figure pre-orders, she's got some long ways before she'll be released (~8/2014)...and yes, unfortunately US retailers get them a month or so after Hobby Stock and other Japan-local stores do (-_-), but I know some fans prefer to order locally and I'm glad to say I'm giving people that choice again.  As one of the few US Good Smile Company Partner Stores, I think it's my mission to do so ^^.

So, hurry up and make your pre-order soon though, since after 2/28/2014... the deadline for pre-orders close and she might not be available to order after that.

Here's some more images of her:






#animefigures

--- ## Today, Take a Stand Against The NSA & Mass Surveillance - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-02-11-today-take-stand-against-nsa-mass/ - Date: 2014-02-11 - Tags: announcement, fight back, NSA, update - AI-assisted: no Today is the day many of us on the internet are taking a stand against the NSA and the horrible, unconstitutional, broad and invasive mass surveillance they have on ALL of us, n...

Today is the day many of us on the internet are taking a stand against the NSA and the horrible, unconstitutional, broad and invasive mass surveillance they have on ALL of us, not just the citizens of the US... but the entire world.

The NSA has placed gag orders on major companies while they bug their software and hardware, they even go as far as using the games on your smart phones to mine everything about you.

They can turn on your phone's microphone at any time.  They can and do have all of your email content, your personal photos, every bit of detail about your life that they can harvest and put a case against you when ever they feel that you might fit their ever changing and broadening definition of a "terrorist".  Take it from me, a New Yorker who was a senior in high school when 9/11 happened.. 600 people died in my area...but since that day, the government has been using the lives of those lost like tools to violate the rights of those living.  My area, Suffolk County on Long Island was one of the first areas to use red light cameras amongst other new laws that at first appears to be for safety but later were found out to be mainly for profit, control and cataloging without a warrant.  We've been the testing grounds here before these things get implemented for the rest of the country and the world... all in the horrible dishonor to those who died on 9/11.

For anyone that's somehow still not phased by the NSA/FISA court violations on our privacy/rights... I'll see if I can provide a timeline of events, lies by the government on these and the Snowden documents proving these to be lies.  As a 30 year old computer scientist as well, I feel I have the same calling as Snowden in getting the word out on how bad this surveillance has become.

Here's a plan of action on what to do based on Reddit Admin hueypriest:

If you're in the U.S., Call Congress today. Dial 202-552-0505 or click here[1] to enter your phone number and have the call tool connect you. Ask your legislators to oppose the FISA Improvements Act[2] (a bill that attempts to legalize bulk data collection of phone records), support the USA Freedom Act[3] (a bill that works to curtail NSA surveillance abuses), and enact protections for non-Americans. Details on these bills and other legislation can be found in the blog post.
Here's what you should say:
I'd like Senator/Representative __ to support and co-sponsor H.R. 3361/S. 1599, the USA Freedom Act. I would also like you to oppose S. 1631, the so-called FISA Improvements Act. Moreover, I'd like you to work to prevent the NSA from undermining encryption standards and to protect the privacy rights of non-Americans.
If you're not in the U.S., demand that privacy protections be instituted[4] .
It takes five minutes, and it DOES have an impact. Make the phones on Capitol Hill melt down, Lawnmower Man 

Here's a link for non americans who wish to fight back:
https://necessaryandproportionate.org/take-action/EFF

Here's a link for those who wish to add their name to the class action lawsuit going against the NSA and government for this

http://www.rand-2016.com/nsa_lawsuit_signup16.aspx?pid=0610


Just like with SOPA and PIPA, if enough of us fight back we can help end the NSA's surveillance.


image by http://vashperado.deviantart.com/art/r-e-c-h-a-r-g-e-384275509


reddit post

http://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/1xm3qu/today_we_fight_back_against_mass_surveillance/ --- ## MoeMonday 2/10/14: Moe MP3 - Chiri (Atlanta) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-02-10-moemonday-21014-moe-mp3-chiri-atlanta/ - Date: 2014-02-10 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, music girls - AI-assisted: no For today's #MoeMonday image, we have this cute image by the anime artist, Chiri (Atlanta), aka aratant. source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id...


For today's #MoeMonday image, we have this cute image by the anime artist, Chiri (Atlanta), aka aratant.

source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=25915769 --- ## FanServiceFriday 1/31/2014 Airi Totoki - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2014-01-31-fanservicefriday-1312014-airi-totoki/ - Date: 2014-01-31 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, IDOLM@STER - AI-assisted: no Here's the first #FanService Friday pic of 2014... it's Airi Totoki from IDOLM@STER Source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=41238830


Here's the first #FanService Friday pic of 2014... it's Airi Totoki from IDOLM@STER

Source:  http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=41238830 --- ## My New Bio / Voice Acting Bio Site - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-30-my-new-bio-voice-acting-bio-site/ - Date: 2013-12-30 - Tags: chuck gaffney, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no In addition to the new blogs...I went and updated the rather neglected CharlesGaffney.com to show a bio of my my various work and to be a platform for my voice acting work as we...

In addition to the new blogs...I went and updated the rather neglected CharlesGaffney.com to show a bio of my my various work and to be a platform for my voice acting work as well (in addition to my voices.com profile of course ^^;;)

What this has to do with this site is that well, the rest of the site is next in line to get an HTML5/CSS3/W3C upgrade ^^, same thing with the Tenshi-Oni site.  Actually speaking of Tenshi-Oni, expect some new screens and hopefully a trailer soon ^^

...now, on to some needed rest... been coding like a mad man @_@ --- ## New Kawaii Blog Site - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-29-new-kawaii-blog-site/ - Date: 2013-12-29 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no First this blog, Anime.fm and now the Kawaii blog . I've gone and fully redesigned the page's code, look and feel. The template I used as a skeleton for the design was actually ...

First this blog, Anime.fm and now the Kawaii blog. I've gone and fully redesigned the page's code, look and feel. The template I used as a skeleton for the design was actually distributed by a fellow anime fan... http://www.softwanime.com/.

 The Kawaii Blog as we call it is my fiancee Danielle's own blog. She talks about anime, animation and other topics there, so check it out ^_^ --- ## #MoeMonday 12/16/2013: Mami Tomoe by fal maro - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-16-moemonday-12162013-mami-tomoe-by-fal/ - Date: 2013-12-16 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime, anime girl, Madoka Magica, Mami Tomoe - AI-assisted: no For this week's #MoeMonday image.. here's a wonderfully drawn Mami Tomoe image by the artist, fal maro. source: http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1274371?tags=fal_maro
 
 For this week's #MoeMonday image.. here's a wonderfully drawn Mami Tomoe image by the artist, fal maro.

 source: http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1274371?tags=fal_maro --- ## Godzilla 2014 Trailer - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-11-godzilla-2014-trailer/ - Date: 2013-12-11 - Tags: godzilla, godzilla 2014, movies, video - AI-assisted: no In case any of you missed it yesterday (and didn't go to SDCC 2013). After the long wait, here's the first trailer to the new Godzilla movie. Yes internet, as a Breaking Bad fan...

In case any of you missed it yesterday (and didn't go to SDCC 2013).  After the long wait, here's the first trailer to the new Godzilla movie.  Yes internet, as a Breaking Bad fan, I know Bryan Cranston plays a major role in it. (ok, I'm psyched about that too).  There is some hope that this could be the Hollywood-created Godzilla movie that fans have been wanting and not the "that's a lot of fish" joke that "Zilla" from the last Hollywood Godzilla movie was.



Godzilla also continues to grow in size in every movie he's in.  Check out this chart I first saw today from @tokyodesu on twitter.


I wouldn't say I've been a rabid fan of Godzilla but as an anime/japan fan... I think it comes with the territory.  Heck, there are movie goers and fans of the big radioactive lizard who want nothing to do with anime or japanese media but drop everything to see and collect all that is Godzilla.  Actually, without Hollywood's help, the recent Godzilla movies developed in Japan have been rather great productions from what I hear from these fans.  Will this movie bring Godzilla into the mainstream culture (again), will it be a fan favorite / cult classic or will it be the unfortunate victim of Hollywood exposition and simply "not getting" Japanese story telling?  I guess we can only find out...but looking at his massive scale, the devastation he's leaving and the creature actually looking like Godzilla this time...it's looking really hopeful.

#Godzilla #Godzilla2014
--- ## Anime Music Girl (Miku?) by KD - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-10-anime-music-girl-miku-by-kd/ - Date: 2013-12-10 - Tags: anime, anime art, anime girl, Miku Hatsune, serafuku - AI-assisted: no The pixiv artist KD has done a number of really great images that have passed through the social media sites a few times. This one just titled with a music note is either Miku H...

The pixiv artist KD has done a number of really great images that have passed through the social media sites a few times.  This one just titled with a music note is either Miku Hatsune in a school girl outfit (#serafuku) or just an original character similar to Miku.

Check out KD's page here
--- ## The New Chuck's Anime Shrine Blog - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-10-the-new-chucks-anime-shrine-blog/ - Date: 2013-12-10 - Tags: anime blog, chucksanimeshrine, css3, html5, updates - AI-assisted: no Notice the big difference today with the blog? My push for improvements across the board for all my sites, stores and blogs continues today with the reveal of this new look and ...


Notice the big difference today with the blog?  My push for improvements across the board for all my sites, stores and blogs continues today with the reveal of this new look and feel to the blog.  It's all HTML5/CSS3/W3C compliant*, mobile and tablet friendly and a big improvement from the older blog that was having some growing pains from the advent of social media's boom since the blog's last update back in ~2009.

 (* sadly Twitter Cards and Open Graph meta tags are so new they aren't really w3c compliant yet and Blogger's custom b: XHTML namespace isn't also w3c/HTML5 compliant I found out -_-...going to work more on that aspect as I learn to again recode these "errors" not in my control.  My goal is to eventually get the whole site w3c complaint and 100% HTML5 compliant... the latter more true than the prior though)

Due to the nature of Blogger's widgets and XHTML setup, I unfortunately can't do a 100% pure turnover and so... don't mind me as I fix up the place a bit more and iron out some CSS bugs & discrepancies.  I still have to reinstall the disqus comment system as I don't want to again have everyone's comments be lost to another update..though the template I used to get things started does wonderful comment formatting.  Also, I plan to put back the rotating fan banner since I simply love the banners you all made of our mascots over the years and want to keep them posted (and you all can submit more if you like :3)... as well as the blogroll that I welcome any anime and game-related blog/site/deviantart/pixiv site, etc to join.

Want to thank the people over at http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.net/ for the awesome template that saved me a bunch of time in setting this up.  Gotta run, still got some work to do on this and next up, Anime.fm, tenshi-oni.com and my own personal blog.


--- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine on Tumblr - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-06-chucks-anime-shrine-on-tumblr/ - Date: 2013-12-06 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, tumblr, updates - AI-assisted: no Beginning a big push to bring my sites back to life, implementing current social media, RSS, CSS3, HTML5 paradigms and basically programming everything to work seamlessly across...

Beginning a big push to bring my sites back to life, implementing current social media, RSS, CSS3, HTML5 paradigms and basically programming everything to work seamlessly across all that this site and my other site are located and can be in today's socially driven internet.  Basically creating Chuck's Anime Shrine v5.0.  This blog here is still in dire needs of some cosmetic updating but in addition to putting Anime.fm on G+, I reactivated the long dormant Tumblr page.  Should be synced to this blog and more so that way, those of you who use tumblr, can also be plugged into anime news, game reviews, anime pics, anime figure listings and more as I continue to build things up.

Nothing much on tumblr yet, but the goal is to make it just as vibrant as it can be. --- ## Fan Service Friday 12/6/2013 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-06-fan-service-friday-1262013/ - Date: 2013-12-06 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, saber lily - AI-assisted: no Back again from another hiatus ^^;;, but for today's #fanservicefriday post...here's an amazing (and a bit NSFW) image of Saber Lily. Source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust....


Back again from another hiatus ^^;;, but for today's #fanservicefriday post...here's an amazing (and a bit NSFW) image of Saber Lily.

Source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=14728187
--- ## Anime on Viewster - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-05-anime-on-viewster/ - Date: 2013-12-05 - Tags: anime, streaming, video, viewster - AI-assisted: no Let's face it, TV as it used to be is, well, a dieing model. Studios and telco companies can kick and scream all they want about it but when you have a number of streaming servi...


Let's face it, TV as it used to be is, well, a dieing model.  Studios and telco companies can kick and scream all they want about it but when you have a number of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Crunchyroll and others...who in their right mind would pay $100+ a month for a service that 90% of the channels you don't watch and still bombards you with commercials?  A question for anime fans is, where does anime viewing sit in all of this?  Back in the early/mid 90's, the only way to get any kind of anime in the US was to nab bootleg VHS tapes.  The only anime really playing in the states at the time was Sailor Moon and later on, the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z.  Eventually Toonami helped in bringing anime to the masses with Inuyasha, DBZ, Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bebop & FLCL leading the pack.  Toonami At Midnight became Adult Swim and anime receded a bit back until last year when Toonami made it's return.  Other than Scifi SyFy having their own block of anime... this was the way to legally watch anime on TV....that is, before internet streaming.

Getting anime throughout though has always been tied to it's pirated roots; be it the bootleg VHS's at a con, to downloading unseen-in-the-states series and movie specials via Kazaa, ThePirateBay, or any other site over that time.  Many of us did and still bought our anime legally when available...but you can bet if some sort of region lock or other restriction was there when we had our money ready to actually, legally own the content....we'd us these sites too.

Today, and not surprising to anime fans, yet still a shocker to some studios...online streaming has become the way to go when it comes to watching anime.  Give the fans what they want and my goodness..they'll watch it! Crunchyroll started as one of those "bad" sites and eventually became a name in anime streaming.

Streaming is here to stay and thankfully for us anime fans who actually want to support the industry... there are more and more sources of legal anime streaming.  You can see anime on Netflix, Hulu, and of course Crunchyroll... but there's now another service with anime...Viewster.  Not only is Viewster now providing anime for the US & UK but soon it'll add other countries to that list as well as more anime titles.  The more legal streaming services the better.  I know there are shows that Crunchyroll & Netflix will drop that I still wanted to complete.  Viewster could very well help fill in that gap since their focus outside of anime is for movies and series that are more niche.  I'll keep you guys all posted on Viewster since I might be working out a deal to stream some anime here on this site...or maybe even via my other site that needs a 2013/2014 upgrade... Anime.fm.  Any way to help legally watch anime, get more anime to the masses and quell the need to pirate, I'm for it ^_^ --- ## Kill La Kill Pic - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-05-kill-la-kill-pic/ - Date: 2013-12-05 - Tags: anime, kill la kill, test post - AI-assisted: no Mainly testing if posting to Blogger can now simultaneously post on the Chuck's Anime Shrine facebook page , Twitter and G+ all at the same time... so here's a Kill La Kill pic ...


Mainly testing if posting to Blogger can now simultaneously post on the Chuck's Anime Shrine facebook page, Twitter and G+ all at the same time... so here's a Kill La Kill pic for fun ^_^ #killlakill --- ## The Return of My Anime Figure Store - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-12-02-the-return-of-my-anime-figure-store/ - Date: 2013-12-02 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, chucksanimeshrine, cyber monday, updates - AI-assisted: no Back in 2007, I added the anime figure store to the then 5 year old site and it got off to a great start. It was just when popular (and sadly highly bootlegged) Nendoroid figure...


Back in 2007, I added the anime figure store to the then 5 year old site and it got off to a great start.  It was just when popular (and sadly highly bootlegged) Nendoroid figures, Alter statues & Kotobukiya Bishoujo figures got their beginnings.  The store was loved by fans of dannychoo.com...slowly creeping up the popularity list of anime stores with the likes of hobbystock, Amiami, and others.  The store even got a nod in BusinessWeek and I have always been so humbled by the kind comments people made on myfigurecollection.com and figure.fm.  I have to say, the anime community has some of the best customers and it was sad to see things fall to pieces when Hurricane Sandy hit (details in this previous post).

Life has been hard this past year with things even recently adding insult to injury (ie: our apartment getting flooded this Thanksgiving break)..it's been a slow and arduous step out of the financial and emotional rubble.  With what I had and what I almost accomplished (fully automated store using Fulfilment by Amazon) and now seeing everyone and their dog selling what used to be a more niche product line... link many things in my life, I feel I got there too late or fell off the race tracks due to events out of my control, while I not only fall back in line in said race, but there's now more "racers" amplifying my obscurity & track to regain.

Back in September, a glimmer of hope came in the form of voice acting work.  As of today I got 4 voice jobs with 3 different and large companies; Jack & Jones, World Vision & a hiking shoe company I can't exactly name yet.  Even more recent, I got invited to an anime game audition & got a few roles in an independent anime RPG game.  This success in what at times still seems to be a sea of chaos, dysfunction, bad luck & calamity has kept me going and I'm thankful to say that the gears of possible change have started moving.  Today, Cyber Monday 2013, I announce that my anime store is in fact "back".  It never really left but it was in such shambles that it was better no sales really happened in the interm.  Pre-orders might still have to wait; I know I missed out in providing all of you some amazing figures like the Attack On Titan figures, the Necomimi, mind-activated Cat ears, and the fully replicated Sailor Moon wand... just to name a few.  For now, the inventory in my store will be the older stock that I've had and either couldn't or didn't have the time to list.   As of right now, my ebay store and the main store here reflect what I actually have in stock and can ship out to anyone who wants them.  Granted, at the time of this post, the figures "featured" on the main store's banner are long gone, but if you see a figure in actual store part of the site (and somebody didn't just a few moments ago buy it), it's there.

There's a bunch more to post and I will throughout the x-mas season and beyond continue to list what I have and make offers if I can on the older stock.  Once these items are cleared out, I expect to be back in gear with taking pre-orders.  Thanks to new partnerships with Diamond Comics, YesAnime & Bluefin Distributions, I can provide some really great figures in the future...and hopefully...one day, be back on AAAanime.com's good side.  Anyone from that distributor reading this....I apologize for the pre-orders that were left in limbo; Hurricane Sandy messed things up bad and I want you guys to return with me as I pick up the pieces.

So, welcome anyone who's new and who has been here for a long while.  I plan on updating the look & feel of the store, this blog and the site in general so the goal is to also post all the content I should have been;  I do wish to return to getting games to review, anime to discuss in the podcasts and all the other things that either forgot I was here or simply thought I left.  I'm not gone, and neither is the Tenshi-Oni game nor anime.fm.  I have a rocking Facebook page with over 6K followers and we are only getting started.  Posted some videos onto Youtube with more planned that don't just include cute animals and what might be considered "extended Vies" of daily life.

Heck, even while writing this, I got the first order on the site in the longest time.

So, I wish everyone a happy holidays and it's time to get to work...there's so much to do and I won't let life kick me down, no matter how many times it tries to ^_~ --- ## Anime Halloween 2013 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-10-27-anime-halloween-2013/ - Date: 2013-10-27 - Tags: anime art, anime girl, halloween - AI-assisted: no Ok, it's not exactly Halloween yet, but since Halloween this year is during the week, I'd imagine many of you (myself included) are celebrating at a halloween party this weekend...

Ok, it's not exactly Halloween yet, but since Halloween this year is during the week, I'd imagine many of you (myself included) are celebrating at a halloween party this weekend.  It's that one time of year when everyone cosplays, even people who don't know what cosplay is.

Since many of us anime fans are pretty much experts in this field, feel free to show off any really cool costumes you've come up with this year.  (you can do so in the comments below if any of you would like ^_^)

As with other holidays, anime artists show off their work to celebrate the season.  Here's a number of other anime halloween themed images for this year...

(source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?illust_id=39318185&mode=medium)


(source: https://yande.re/post/show/270745)





(not sure of all the source links for all of them ^^;;, if known, feel free to comment) 



--- ## Fan Service Friday 10/25/2013 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-10-25-fan-service-friday-10252013/ - Date: 2013-10-25 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no Think it's about time I bring back #fanservicefriday? (and heck, the blog posts in general?). Well, happy Friday to you all and enjoy this really beautiful, sexy and masterfully...

Think it's about time I bring back #fanservicefriday? (and heck, the blog posts in general?).  Well, happy Friday to you all and enjoy this really beautiful, sexy and masterfully drawn anime girl image.  Not sure of the source on this one, but if you know, leave the link in the comments below.  I'm always for showcasing the various talented anime artists and given credit where credit's due ^_^

edit:
source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=23672223 (thanks +wara zashi ) --- ## One Year After Hurricane Sandy, My Struggles and the Rebuilding of My Anime Figure Store - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-10-25-one-year-after-hurricane-sandy-my/ - Date: 2013-10-25 - Tags: anime blog, anime business, anime figures, anime store, chucksanimeshrine, Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy, updates - AI-assisted: no I have to come clean about what has been up with my anime figure store this past year. As many of you probably know, Hurricane Sandy devastated my area here on Long Island one y...

I have to come clean about what has been up with my anime figure store this past year.  As many of you probably know, Hurricane Sandy devastated my area here on Long Island one year ago.  It wasn't just that storm that caused so much struggle for me..it was only the start of a chain of events that made me hate living on this overpriced island even more...

Back in 2006/2007, I brought this site back to life after I sort of kept it too quiet here.  My work schedule with my manager job at Friendly's, my Amway distributorship and college really made life a living hell from the trifecta of being a busy slave.  Heck, that terrible schedule was what got me kidney stones at age 22 back then and subsequently, I had to quit college shortly after getting my Associates in Computer Science.  This site, though mostly with no updates, was still enjoyed by fans...mainly due to our AMVs we made that were a hit on Newgrounds.

I felt it was my calling to bring this site up to speed and continue where I left off in 2004 with it.  I soon did a complete site makeover, created the blog, even got sponsored to do game reviews, be part of anime podcasts and in that time, created my anime figure business.  My goal, as it was and still is today, is to be my own boss.  I'm not and never will be complacent with taking orders from somebody else nor being told when and where I have to be on a daily basis like some wage slave.

For the past few years, I was so very close to that goal.  There was a point where I was making more money than my job.  Had it not been for the enormous debt I got around the time of my college/past business fallout..I would have quit my job and just ran the anime figure business and this here site.  Heck..actually, there was a post I made back when I did put in my two weeks; I shortly retracted my resignation and still at the point of writing this...still work for that company.  It's a far better job than the hell Friendly's or later Office Max was; I sit in front of a desk and so some web dev for a camera store...mostly computer bitch work but it's better than serving retards who clammer for ice cream in the dead of winter back in my hometown of Selden.  Problem with this job is that, not only do I wish to not work for a boss, but also, the pay has been $15/hr for the entire 7 years here & I have to drive 70 miles round trip each day to do work I can easily do from home.  My schedule involves being a prisoner out in Amityville from 9-7/8 most of the work week.  I get Tuesdays off but it usually becomes a day of catchup and doing errands for others who think I'm taking a day off when in reality I'm trying to build our future.

Before Hurricane Sandy and the events after, Tuesdays were days I'd be spending most of the day shipping anime figures orders...and to survive on overpriced/mediocre/bad climate Long Island... I needed to be making 2-3x what my job pays me to truly be able to be free.  That, as any business owner will know, involves not just selling more but stocking more.  So, what I did was boost the pre-order quantities in my anime figure business by telling my suppliers, that I needed more stock.  There was demand for them though, I went based on customer requests and added a bit more.  As some of you might remember, I'd post only the quantities of figures I had set for pre-order...and not just put up items and wait for people to pre-order before I tell my suppliers what quantity to get. So, my stock grew...and so did the bills.  Again, nothing of an issue...except, logistics.  I was living at the time half of the time at my fiancee's and half the time at my parent's house.  My figure stock was all stored in the secondary room of my parent's basement and as the business grew, the space got less, the amount of time to ship increased and thus were I thought I could use the newly started at the time.. Amazon fulfillment.  Thing was, it took sadly until this year where Fulfillment by Amazon made shipping items overseas a possibility..great if Hurricane Sandy didn't hit...but was no help to me when I needed it for my business.

Reason I mention the logistics of my anime figure business is because Hurricane Sandy wasn't the first storm to mess things up.  In 2011, Long Island got hit with the worst flooding they have seen in years.  For the first time in my almost 30 years alive and coincidentally the time when the basement was so important... it got flooded.  Thankfully it was only one batch of figures, but financially, it was a bit of a blow.  Nothing too bad but the enormous amount of figure pre-orders pending loomed over my head.  It wasn't where I could sell the items, but if my supplier would be loyal to the quantities.  In most cases they were but there were times where I would not get figures promised and got stuck buying them from other retailers at or above SRP.

Then, fast forward a few months, Long Island gets hit with it's first Hurricane to directly hit it since Gloria in 1985...no, not Sandy, Hurricane Irene.  I since then elevated my figure boxes and kept them safe from the, you guessed it, second time in 30 years that my basement coincidentally flooded.  That wasn't the issue though..Irene, like Gloria caused mass power outages with my house without power for nearly two weeks after the storm...making my finances a bit strained and to not be a priority retailer with my supplier due to the understandably tough was to pay early..you know, because of a fucking Hurricane.

Fast forward to the ever end of 2011.  Continuing mindless family drama on my fiancee's end made it where she had to be booted out of the house...not because my fiancee was the issue.  No, the nut job in the home was a younger sister who probably shouldn't even have been left out of the nut house when she did.  It wasn't even her either, though it made our life hell to be involved in a household where ant hills where treated like mountains with people who were already emotionally unstable enough once stupid monr crap was blown out of proportion.  It was the equally crazy, typical Selden resident aunt and her baggage as to why my fiancee and I had to be booted out of her house.  Her aunt was being foreclosed on after years of no pay to her home and we were getting the boot.  Thankfully, my fiancee's grandmother offered us to rent out her beautiful, fully furnished basement apartment so that we wouldn't be out in the street.  As one might expect, our cost of living went up, but at the time my fiancee that summer got a second job watching a kid with CP and so the split rent wasn't going to be much and we were actually on track to clear my old debts and finally, finally have our wedding...since you know, we've been dating since 2002 & engaged since 2007.  Shipping for my anime business got a bit tougher as I would then had to ship back at my old home and then drive back to my current home..but with my fiancee now making about the same as I do in my camera web dev job...it was still tough but was going to be manageable.

Well, as the theme seems to be with my fiancee and I...we aren't allowed a bit of happiness without some equal or greater unhappiness.  Once the word came in that her aunt was moving in and that we were to move into the new apartment...my fiancee lost her second, more profitable job watching that kid; her other job is a very low paying clothing retail job...and like most of those silly jobs, they aren't ones you can rely on for help.  She got fired for simply calling out sick one day.  The parents of that kid were nice at first but I found that they were part of a very strict and of course assbackwards-to-all-logic Christ cult calibur church...the types that force people into their religion and make it some sort of mission to bring others into the cult.  So, it was ok she was away from that environment but the finances weren't of help and I was stuck to pay for most of the rent..slowing our ability to move forward since most of my money was stuck in the pre-orders.

Almost up to Hurricane Sandy but the shit spiral got a nice little push in August of 2012. You see, my rating as an anime retailer was/is actually really good.  I was happy to told I was being spoken of very kindly on myanimelist and myfigurecollection.  My bending over backwards for my fellow anime fans and customers showed in my ratings on ebay, amazon and elsewhere.  Well, in August I got in a few Sonic The Hedgehog Nendoroid figures.  They were tough figures to get and sold very quickly.  I had about 2 left one night and I woke up to 3 orders split on ebay and amazon.  I had no choice but to cancel the order for the third person, who was a customer on Amazon.  I usually, and to the detriment of my finances, would buy the extra figure from another retailer and have it sent their way when I oversell.  I couldn't for this one case since the figures were all gone elsewhere but through me.  Amazon actually doesn't charge the customer until I as the seller mark it as "shipped".  So, with my cancelation of that person's order, they lucky never actually paid for it.  Problem was, I go and look at my feedback on amazon and there without warning, without any prior message to me was a 1 out of 5 rating with the words "customer service"  The customer, without talking to me or even paying for the item...was able to sneak a bad feedback on my then flawless amazon seller account.  People of course didn't see the hundreds of positive perfect feedbacks prior to this one...and so my sales on Amazon tanked for a bit; doing ok on ebay and the site here but now hindered a bit because of a vague and misguided negative.  To add insult to injury..even before I talk about Sandy... the sudden drop of sales then kept me out of selling for the x-mas season on amazon since amazon needed a number of prerequisites to do so, prerequisites I passed for every year prior to that negative. Now, roughly a year ago today, here comes the second storm to hit Long Island in only two years, Hurricane Sandy.

 When I was in grade school and even a bit into college, I had a fascination with meteorology.  This storm was something you never ever see.  It was basically like the so-called "Perfect Storm" that stayed mostly off the coast back in the late 90's...of which that movie was based off of.  This one, though still considered weak compared to storms that hit the gulf and Florida often... was moving in and at the worst angle a storm can for the tri-state area and was the latest a Hurricane could really be here..thus has properties of both a nor'easter & hurricane.

So, like Irene, we lost lots of trees and had even worse coastal flooding than before.  People here on Long Island don't know when to stay the fuck home, be it because of their idiot jobs or ADD, so there was more damage and issues than there should have been in the first day or so.  No power for a about 8 days for us but surprisingly...power returned after only one day at my parent's house; unlike the 14 days it did during Irene.  New Jersey and the coast got hit worse so for us in central/eastern Long Island, the storm wasn't really much different than Irene...it was what happened after that made things far worse and the reason for my posting this and why my anime figure business was basically decimated...

Go back to roughly a day or so after the storm hit...residents here on Long Island get the news that oil/gas supplies were cut off for all of us.... thus, there was a mad dash to the gs stations.  Trees down, power out for most and here we started to see society break down because of the fear of a gas shortage.  Don't get me wrong, there was indeed a gas shortage but the panic here by the idiots who live on this sand barge made things 10x worse.  For over two months after the storm, gas was rationed at stations.  If you remember, I worked 40 minutes away (needlessly) in Amityville...so if anyone needed gas, it was me... yet I didn't run to the stations like a mad man.  There were cases where people would just go to fill there tank up $1 just because they can; yeah, that kind of stupid I live with here on Long Island.

As people could guess, I couldn't go to work, couldn't ship or receive anime figures for my business and was stuck just reading how to code C# in the dark. why was I reading about C#.  Well, since 2011, as you all know, as one of the many plans I have to try to be my own boss and run the helm,and just to fulfill a childhood dream and 10 year old promise on this site... I was coding my IOS game, Tenshi-Oni.  One of my good customers a few weeks before the storm wanted to help me get out of my stupid underpaying web dev job but possibly getting me in as a game dev with him over at Arkadium Games in NYC.  Very awesome, would be a dream come true to at least work in a place that caters to my goals as a programmer...and if you ever seen their facebook posts.. it's a fun really work environment; a damn dream job, even for someone like me who wants to be their own boss (ie: profit share in games you make with them).  For the past few years I've been in IOS development, but they were to be the first company making games for Windows 8 and thus, I had to teach myself C# / Windows game dev.  With his help, I revamped my resume, held my production of Tenshi-Oni back a bit and tried to get myself ready to put my best foot forward...well, about 5 days after my resume was sent to their HR department, you guessed it, that's when Hurricane Sandy hit.  Also, to make it worse, their offices in NYC were part of the area that was flooded and without power.  It wasn't until December, when some other crap happened, that they then basically forgot about me as they went to more super senior game devs...and not somebody like me who's been trying to crawl out of my underpaid job hell thus having not "true" experience other than what I'm able to to in my little free time.

So, for two weeks, because of Sandy, I couldn't go to work...I couldn't ship anime figures, I couldn't even receive anime figures not just because of the pay..but because the UPS trucks couldn't even get here.  Then, my boss, a man who cried for Hurricane Sandy donations all because his food went bad in the fridges of his two mansions, kept the hours at my job lean.  For the month of November 2012, I basically lost an entire month's pay.  So, where was the money going to come from to pay for the bills and old debt I just barely could pay for without a hurricane causing man-made armageddon?  Yep, I had to cannibalize my anime business.  That involved selling things off quick on ebay; ebay auctions being then and now the worst way to sell anime figures since most are completely underpriced final auction prices...due to bootleg figures on ebay being dressed as real, but really being fake and for Buy-It-Now prices that are below what us legit anime figure retailers buy this stuff from from our suppliers.  Speaking of suppliers, Hurricane Sandy kept me out of communication from AAAanime for a few weeks.  In that time they supposedly had a new and big batch of pre-order figures that were waiting for me to pay them for.  Tough thing to do with what just happened on this side of the states...they were living fine in California while people were stabbing each other here for a $1 worth of gas.  I do a few weeks later pay for the pre-order to them, thanks in part to underpriced ebay auctions that should have sold for 2-3x more.  Then, I look and some figures were missing.  I was suppose to get a number of figures, most of them were for customers who not only were waiting, but paid me in advance for them.  The other figures that actually did come, had to then be sold off on ebay in the same, sad way where the buyers on ebay didn't get that the $20 final auction was actually for  $115 1/7th scale figures...yes, KaKa anime from Hong Kong was selling the figures for $40...but people still didn't realize those were bootlegs and mine weren't.  So into December, I go and try to sell down my stock and buy back figures that AAAanime didn't get to me because I wa later told I didn't pay in time..again, ignoring that my part of the earth was ruined by a Hurricane.

Think that's bad enough? Wait, there's more.  One week after the storm hit, my fiancee's mother and grandmother separately fell.  Her mother fell outside and broke her wrist and her grandmother, our landlord, fell inside before dinner and broke her hip.  Then, in December... with Sandy's damage still prevalent (hell, parts of the island STILL haven't been helped a year later) we get hit with the biggest blizzard in the 30 years I've been alive.  It was a bad storm, but, the salt in the wound was that my town, Lake Grove, got hit with 37 inches of snow that night while the rest of the area only had about 15 inches of snow.  Yep, those pictures of cars abandoned in the highway that were i newspapers all over the world and on reddit...were only a few blocks from me.  Can't find the exact image right now, will probably make it the title image of this wall of text, but that was right at the intersection at 347 near the Smith Haven Mall , Lowes and the then empty Borders Books location; actually the same spot where my old job at Office Max was.  It's since became a Staples.  This lead to more delays in my anime business and more financial heartache; making my new debt almost mimic the life destroying old debt I got from my stupid dealings when my amway business was growing.  Since then I've been job hunting but like with Arkadium, I've gotten nothing but rejections, unanswered resume submissions and even promised positions that then get retracted.  No help whatsoever no matter how hard I fight the universe back.  At one point, I was actually suicidal.  It was brief and maybe only spanned about a week in the middle of 2012, but I had it.  I'm the type that fights back when life pisses on me but every person I guess has their limits of how much shit they can take.  Don't worry, though things are still kind of shitty, I'm back to laughing at life as it piles the shit on..waiting for my moment to punch it in the face and show it who's boss.

The past year has been me paying back customers who per-ordered (and paid) me in advance.  As of this post, I still owe 3 people their figures. So...this is why since then, there really hasn't been any new anime figures on the figure post and why for a while, I didn't blog anything.  I felt my "empire", my life's work crumble.  The awesome notion of being an anime retailer then became a painful thing to think of.  Heck, I nearly lost faith in all anime as since this issue, there's now 100's of anime retailer on ebay and amazon and the processes that gave me so much trouble then...are now all too late in being finally convenient.

Despite all of this, I did finally get some glimmer of hope.  There's still Tenshi-Oni to finish and get out into the market before another 5 different iPhones and IOS updates are announced, our Facebook page has grown immensely, I feel I now have the fandom and more that we had in the past.  This only then opens me up to have an audition for this blog again, future youtube content and more.  And...as you guys might have heard, I've finally became a voice actor.  I have two recurring commercial voice roles for two big companies...I'll leave the details in another post but I feel that it has given me hope for the future.  I'm a bit cautious to be too happy as you can see (and with now 200+ "failed" auditions since getting these roles for other places),  it was such a wonderful feeling to get these roles.

Also, as of yesterday, I got a job offer from EA, yep Electronic Arts... to be a senior game developer with IOS.  The only bit of studying I need to do is to just get back to making Tenshi-Oni ^_^  It can be an even greater job offer than what Arkadium Games was.  Yes, I know many gamers and anime fans alike have their qualms with EA; trust me, I've posted my opinions with some of the business decisions...but this might be a new page in my life.  If I get it, I'd have to move to Salt Lake City, Utah; which would also get me closer to voice acting opportunities since NYC isn't the place for animation voice over work anymore.

Who knows what will happen with EA, but here's what I plan for my future and the future of this site...

Pardon this wall of text.  I wanted to let everyone know what has been happening and to see the full picture.  I'd like to say I guess, like I've said in my number of hiatuses...that... I'm back ^_^

(title image source: Long Island Press)




...
(edit: Like some unfair game…a few days ago, the night I wrote this, my family's dog Lucky, a loving Dalmation I have owned since the 7th grade back in 1997…passed away suddenly.  We knew it was going to happen soon but like some sort of mathematical insult the universe wants to pull on me…I wasn't allowed to be given an inkling of hope and happiness before being shot down again.  I'll be fine but I'm making the point that it seems that it's been nothing but unlucky for us this whole year since Hurricane Sandy.)
--- ## Haunting Anime Angel (Ghost Girl By Kriss) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-10-21-haunting-anime-angel/ - Date: 2013-10-21 - Tags: anime, anime art, halloween, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni - AI-assisted: no Thought it would be neat to share this amazing and haunting image that looks very much like Angel Fumi from our game, Tenshi-Oni. Being that we are close to Halloween, I thought...
Thought it would be neat to share this amazing and haunting image that looks very much like Angel Fumi from our game, Tenshi-Oni. Being that we are close to Halloween, I thought it's relevant to show this image. Beautiful, scary, haunting and powerful

source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=36841713

(The title of this piece is Ghost Girl, by the talented artist: Kriss) --- ## Hiroshi Yamauchi, Third President of Nintendo, Passes Away at 85 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-09-19-hiroshi-yamauchi-third-president-of/ - Date: 2013-09-19 - Tags: news, nintendo, video games, videogames - AI-assisted: no Sad day for us gamers. I first started playing video games in 1985, before I was even 2 years old and it was during that year that Nintendo, with the direction of Yamauchi, brou...

Sad day for us gamers. I first started playing video games in 1985, before I was even 2 years old and it was during that year that Nintendo, with the direction of Yamauchi, brought the Famicom to America effectively reversing the 1983 video game crash. That system of course known as the NES. If it wasn't for the NES and Super Mario, video games might have just stayed dead, lost to garage sales of the late 80's and antique stores of today. We wouldn't have seen the astonishing $800 million one day sale of GTA V and the impact video games have now on our culture. I can attribute video games as the source of my thirst for knowledge, my yearning to keep that child-like imagination, the source of my affinity to anime, voice acting and animation. I sit here today coding my own video game for a device that probably would have just stayed a phone or a boring PDA. Yamauchi might have been a bit tough on his programmers & designers...throwing out completed games that reached his desk, but we still can't forget that it was under his direction that video games returned from an almost certain death. 

RIP Mr. Yamauchi, us children of the 80's and 90's thank you for making our childhood, teenage years and beyond a more fun and imaginative place than it would have been without video games and Nintendo.

 (header image thanks to Reddit)

 (full news article on his passing)

 --- ## Tenshi-Oni Intro GUI - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-09-13-tenshi-oni-intro-gui/ - Date: 2013-09-13 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, gamedev, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no Hey guys... I sure as heck need to get back to blogging on here ^^;; Anyways... been having some good things happening. People who follow me on Facebook and twitter know of the ...


Hey guys... I sure as heck need to get back to blogging on here ^^;;  Anyways... been having some good things happening.  People who follow me on Facebook and twitter know of the recent news n the voice acting front, I'll make a full post about that when everything comes together.  As for why else I've not been around (nor updating the blog and store like I should ^^;) is because I've been hard at work preparing Tenshi-Oni for release.  It's only a matter of time and I thought I post even newer images of the intro that I posted on G+ and FB recently.  I think this time I got the balance of text and imagery going.  If I can, I'll make a .gif of it as these two images don't give it justice.




I'm basically at the point of the "meat and potatoes" of the game.  Where I focus all of my time on the enemies, bosses and levels that Fumi will transverse now that most of her attacks, transformations, etc are done.  Once part is done, I'll have the first releasable build of the game! From then on I'll continue adding levels, a Story Mode, an Android port and more to updated versions....with the aim for the DLC to be free updates for those who buy the paid version of the game.  I'm, well, not into the whole micro transaction / trivial DLC purchase bit that other game devs and studios like to milk promote to gamers.


...
                                       
Did somebody say "potatoes"?

--- ## The "Soul" of Fumi - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-08-19-the-soul-of-fumi/ - Date: 2013-08-19 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, game dev, gamedev, programming, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates - AI-assisted: no Programming in Objective-C/C++ has been the name of the game the past two weeks. Every spare second of free time I can muster during the week; time (mostly and sadly) stolen by ...


Programming in Objective-C/C++ has been the name of the game the past two weeks.  Every spare second of free time I can muster during the week; time (mostly and sadly) stolen by the day job or driving to the day job, has been on my video game, Tenshi-Oni.  Almost a month ago I past a major hurdle in the development  by eradicating game crashing memory allocations and by plugging every memory leak up to this point in the development.  There's still more ways I can optimize memory allocation but my goodness am I glad that was done and as a bonus...doing so helped improve the game's framerate.

That was earlier in the month...what about now?  If anyone looks at the game compared to months ago one might say... "yeah, sure, you have done 'so much more' to the game" .   Externally, the game is almost the same sans a few new slashing and particle effects, but internally.. the game is now vastly different and it's starting to look like it was done by an actual programmer instead of somebody who was piggybacking on premade code.

When I first started developing the game in late 2011, I was new to Objective-C/Objective-C++.  Sadly, my Computer Science knowledge from my HS & college years in the early 2000s was waning.  My current job as a "web designer" for a pro camera store is anything but web design and leagues away from computer programming.  Never again did I think I would see class declarations, subclassing, instance variables, etc again with the way my work pattern has become in the past few years.  Since 2006 my days at work have been nothing but mindless intern-level computer errand dribble.  Work that mainly involves updating prices on a crappy MiVa powered web cart where the owner doesn't like or want the internet to play a role.  I'm lucky if I can even put any basic HTML code in anything.  Every moment I'm not checking the prices of B&H Camera compared to us... I then become just the "company's computer guy"; the person everyone cries to when critical thinking and using Google is too hard of a task.  Since last month though, I've put my nose to the grindstone, regained my lost CS knowledge and got to work with the next large task for the game, and the purpose of this post/update... modularizing the code.

To recap, Tenshi-Oni uses the Space Game Starter Kit 2D shooter engine by iOS dev and teacher, Ray Wenderlich.  For a long while now, I've greatly expanded the code started by Ray adding dynamically loading levels, the various "soul types" of player, a slew of moves, a combo system, voice acting, sprites that split in half & pieces, and more.  The problem that I knew I had to address was how all of this code, like Ray's original engine had, was being run in the main "actionLayer" class.  I did make and imported some separate classes to work with actionLayer...but for the sake of getting the code to work right...almost everything pertaining to the player (the character Fumi), Lily and even other options were all being done in actionLayer.  Before a few days ago, the actionLayer implementation file ( an obj-c++ .mm file), had a massive 12k+ lines of code!  Any other programmers reading this would of course know that that had to be changed, especially if I was to expand the game.   It HAD to be modularized.

It was a bit scary.  Here's my code, albeit bloated in one file, running smoothly and ready for more features and polishing and now I had to tear it apart and reassemble it into separate classes.  Backups ready...I dove in and it was rough.  I hardly got any sleep since my last blog post and been using Sublime Text to "cheat" or more accurately, blind code outside the XCode IDE during the work day when I'm stuck in front of the XP powered PC at work; sneaking in some code during downtime.

 Amazingly, I was able to do it.  Last night all but one error  was fixed and now, in a sense, Fumi has a "soul";  a separate class dedicated to her in the code.  It wasn't just Fumi though...Lily's AI is all done separate from actionLayer as well as Fumi's voice acting (added into a category of Fumi), enemies, the new Options menu I created, the credits and even a parent class to be used for all boss characters.  The only bug I can't fix at the moment is Fumi's HP/SP bar not showing up; something I can probably fix with a little more investigation.  Everything else, even when it comes to memory allocation and leaks, are perfect.  What was once a 12k+ line file is now dropped to about 7K.  I can safely say now that the game's code is now more mine than anyone else's.  With Fumi and other aspects of the game having their own file, their own "soul", now it's just expanding the game further.

As people might know about me...I'm not the religious type; odd for me to mention Fumi's "soul" outside of her soul type functionality in the game.  In the end, we are all not far off from a computer program as logic runs our world too.. not just a video game world.  Making Fumi's own class in a way has given her a solid personality, you can call it a "soul", "brain", etc.  To me, as the programmer, I made her more "real".  Thus why above I posted an image Fumi in front of her code.

You all can view some of the code if you'd like.  I posted it here.  I'm still trying to show this world and the job market that I am indeed a game programmer.  Not saying my code is perfect; I'd imagine you guys can find lots of ways to make it better; I know I will.  What it's there for as well, is to show that I'm far better than this petty "company computer guy" job I currently have, more than qualified for the jobs since Hurricane Sandy that erroneously stated I wasn't good enough, and to for something else.... If Tenshi-Oni does become big, or at least big enough to end my need to have a boss/day job.  I want every place that has told me I'm not good enough to regret their decision not to add me to their team.  I want it to fester in their minds that a game that became a hit is nowhere in their grasp nor the developer in charge of it...all because they didn't give somebody a chance and asked fro too much up front.  If anything these past few weeks have taught me, it's that any programmer can improve themself; even when they thought they were washed up, rusty or "not good enough".  There's a pool of talented people with and without all the right degrees just sitting and waiting to bloom as experts in their field.  I've seen it with myself and everyone who's helped me with this game.  The current job market's expectations for those to be experts without experience and/or having experience without work is a grave mistake.  Eventually, we are all going to make our creative dreams come true...even if we do it ourselves. --- ## Current Status of Tenshi-Oni - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-08-08-current-status-of-tenshi-oni/ - Date: 2013-08-08 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, game design, game dev, gamedev, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, video games - AI-assisted: no Again, really sorry about having yet another hiatus here on the site. Been busy with a number of tasks like coding a newer / better blog here at CAS, finally getting something v...

Again, really sorry about having yet another hiatus here on the site.  Been busy with a number of tasks like coding a newer / better blog here at CAS, finally getting something viable for Anime.fm, doing voice acting auditions over at voices.com, fixes/some important changes for the anime figure store and, most of all...work on my game, Tenshi-Oni.  The game has sure become somewhat like Phil Fish's FEZ, nothing but talk, talk, and more talk about it's development with little gains over the past 2+ years.  Well, like FEZ's development, the game is being made by mostly me and like Phil... life & the disappointments it can bring got in the way numerous times throughout development.

Actually, FEZ has nothing on me in terms of delay. If any of you have been here with the site since the beginning, you'd know the game and the character of Fumi with her angel/demon transformations were first thought up in 2003 & I began a very early alpha build in Flash in '04.  So.. this game is really something that has been 10 years in the making...that's Duke Nukem Forever territory!  Hopefully, unlike Duke Nukem Forever, this won't be a complete disappointment.  Being that it's based on original characters and starting on IOS...don't expect a game like Last Of Us but at the same time, I hope to bring the same fun, polish and hopefully the engagement/fandom seen in something like Angry Birds (oh just a fraction of that and I'd be a free man from the day job forever).

So, what's actually new about Tenshi-Oni beyond my typical "it's coming out eventually"?  Well, a few things...and no... no amount of fan bitching (if this ever gets popular enough for it) will deter me from game development like the bitching & downright pettiness of some fans did to Mr. Fish and his now cancelled FEZ 2 game.

Here's where Tenshi-Oni stands, and it's some good news...

Second to life's crazy challenges causing my game dev to be delayed was some very dire fixes needed for the game.  First, the game was allocating way too much memory and it continued to do so until the game would blow up like a balloon and well... pop.. or well, crash since the iPhone has safeguards from extreme memory usage.   The game does have full length songs in it, a healthy amount of particle effects and pre-rendered graphics but it's no Infinity Blade 2.  There's no reason why a 2D side scrolling shooter with anime sprites should be causing my iPhone 4s to have lag and blow up the ram when the player restarts a stage.  I was sort of dealing with the same issues the devs of Skyrim dealt with with the PS3...but with a much simpler game.  So, I needed to know my code inside-out AND become a better programmer.

Despite being kept with only a few hours with work and all to do this, I did it...I fixed the memory problem.  When a player changes to a new stage or the title screen, the game allocates & deallocates like it's suppose to.  With the help of the sometimes confusing mac Instruments app, I not only found the source of the game's ballooning allocation, but I even was able to fix ALL of the memory leaks.  In doing so the game become noticeably faster.  It was a thing of beauty to see it finally do not only what I programmed it to do, but to do it with almost no lag.

Another fix I did thanks to this was the "Lily bug".  The Lily bug was a game crashing bug when the player summoned Lily.  It was the first major bug I had and until now wasn't fixed since it would happen randomly.  I won't go into the details on what caused it but in short...you should never have an NPC run actions before it exists.

With these major fixes completed, I soon got back to actually building the game.  Though a bit of a learning curve (and with recent updates to the APIs), I've installed Facebook and Twitter functionality in it and two nights ago.. I surprised myself by completely coding from scratch fairly polished scrolling credits that read image urls and various text straight from a .txt file.  In short, I feel I'm becoming a true programmer.  There's still many flaws in the way I code, like one of my .mm, where all the action happens, being 12,000 lines long instead of being modularized.  Yet, I feel I've regained the ground that I lost when I began working at my webdev job.  A dayjob that sadly has me doing everything but real web dev.

So what's left for the first release of TenshiOni?  I still need to add some game options, control instructions (but not the kind that holds your hand), fix up the Final Attacks, add some more enemies and add that fan art gallery I promised.  For the sake of getting the game out sooner, I'm NOT going to have the Story Mode available for the initial release.  Trust me, it's a goal, but something I'd imagine I could flesh out a lot better and make much more enjoyable for the player if the game becomes my main source of income.  I'll instead put in a Time Challenge Mode with various challenges to complete the stage.  Any smart phone game is great when you can play a stage or two while waiting in line or in other situations where you need to just kill off small chunks of time.  Also, the game is almost set up for me to make this kind of mode anyways.  A Story Mode is meant for those who want to be more involved with the (minor) lure I'm trying to create with this game and I hope once it's made, that I can create an oldschool gaming experience.

As stated before, the game will be available in both a Free version and a Paid version (for $.99). Both the paid and free version will have the Survival Mode and Time Challenge Mode stated and of course and both will have most if not all current and future play mechanics.  The free version won't have as many stages/challenges as the paid version though and will have some ads (I promise to keep the ads from being too intrusive).  The paid version will of course have no ads, more stages, more challenges, the full Story Mode (once made).  Also, I plan to create a secret mode in the game after the release... let's just say you get to play as some rather grumpy individuals if you make a certain score out of 10.

 That last bit is up in the air but I know if I make that mode (and do it right), the game would skyrocket in popularity on the web...thus I'll more than likely have that mode unlockable in both versions for all you gamers out there.  Before the game is released, I plan to do one more video preview oh, and make sure those in the Beta can play it early too.

..now, back to my coding. --- ## #MikuMonday 6/10/2013: Green Angel Fairy - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-06-10-mikumonday-6102013-green-angel-fairy/ - Date: 2013-06-10 - Tags: #mikumonday, anime art, anime girl, Miku Hatsune - AI-assisted: no In celebration of #MikuMonday…here's an astonishingly cute and beautiful image of Miku Hatsune. by: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=34353793 (al...


In celebration of #MikuMonday…here's an astonishingly cute and beautiful image of Miku Hatsune.

by: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=34353793


(also, I'm not gone… been through a bit of challenges for the past few months… yet I'm still here and in hopes I can move the blog and site forward with current web dev paradigms) --- ## Miku Monday 4/29/2013: Miku Hatsune in a Wedding Dress - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-04-29-miku-monday-4292013-miku-hatsune-in/ - Date: 2013-04-29 - Tags: #mikumonday, #MM, anime girl, Miku Hatsune - AI-assisted: no Thought I'd get back to the #MikuMonday posts with this piece by Risou mMaeda Again, pardon the lack of blog posts... been getting back to Tenshi-Oni development ^^;; There is a...

Thought I'd get back to the #MikuMonday posts with this piece by Risou mMaeda

Again, pardon the lack of blog posts... been getting back to Tenshi-Oni development ^^;;

There is a plan to update the site and anime.fm to be on par with HTML5/CSS3 standards though.  Hope I can actually show the changes instead of continuing to jinx myself with announcements of supposed changes.

Got a Miku picture to post?  Post in the comments below ^^ (I'm certain the Disqus comment system now lets you all embed images) --- ## MoeMonday 4/15/2013: Moe Madoka Ultimate - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-04-15-moemonday-4152013-moe-madoka-ultimate/ - Date: 2013-04-15 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime, anime girl, Madoka Magica - AI-assisted: no Found this amazing Madoka fan art that'd be perfect for today's #MoeMonday post ^_^ Found this while browsing reddit . Here's the artist's original page .

Found this amazing Madoka fan art that'd be perfect for today's #MoeMonday post ^_^

Found this while browsing reddit.

Here's the artist's original page. --- ## Anime Summer Lineup 2013: Sailor Moon Remake, Monogatari and more.. - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-04-12-anime-summer-lineup-2013-sailor-moon/ - Date: 2013-04-12 - Tags: anime, lineup, news, Sailor Moon, sailor moon 2013 - AI-assisted: no Crunchyroll and AnimeNews Network have released the list of new anime for the summer of 2013... and it appears that the Sailor Moon remake will be a part of it. Lots of other gr...

Crunchyroll and AnimeNews Network have released the list of new anime for the summer of 2013... and it appears that the Sailor Moon remake will be a part of it.  Lots of other great anime of course but I'd imagine the anime community hasn't forgot about their princess?.. you know, the one who represented anime long before Hatsune Miku was even a thought?  right, guys?



Chart by http://neregate.com/blog/2013/04/11/summer-2013-anime/

--- ## Anime Fans Against CISPA - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-04-11-anime-fans-against-cispa/ - Date: 2013-04-11 - Tags: #cispa, CISPA, internet rights, news, otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Not entirely anime related but I know the otaku community is very much a part of the fight for Internet rights. From 4Chan to Reddit to Anonymous & other venues, since the e...

Not entirely anime related but I know the otaku community is very much a part of the fight for Internet rights.  From 4Chan to Reddit to Anonymous & other venues, since the early 2000s, the anime/gamer/otaku community created the foundations of the internet, it's memes and it's overall direction.

We have been the ones who taught and/or inspired the computer illiterate masses to "get" the internet and for the past decade, made the internet the place it is today where you can anonymously or publicly have your voice heard, your ideas shared and engage in a community of your peers.  In a way, the internet is becoming a global republic.

So, who are the enemies of this republic?  Well, those in governments across the world; from China's Great Firewall, to North Korea's propaganda machine, to the US's DHS, SOPA, PIPA, CISPA, to Iran & Syria's military regimes and others.

The problem is, the internet is a threat to the business models and governments of old.

Over a year ago we saw that when the US proposed the terrible laws of SOPA & PIPA, that would cripple your rights as a "netizen" Like many of these terrible laws, they are under the guise of "internet security" when in actuality, it's control of a system they don't get and fear and backed with tons of money by businesses of old who want to control the free flow of information and whom want to arrest individuals who might use the internet to whislelblow the illegal/heinous acts of said companies.

Because the masses came together, SOPA and PIPA were squashed.  Yet, as we all are very aware of, similar laws try to creep their ugly heads up.  The latest and most prominent being CISPA (it was even given an Executive Order by Obama to be pushed through a few months back) .  As of the past day or so.. it has passed committee and is about to be voted on in Congress.

Here's a video by Reddit's co-founder Alexis Ohanian explaining a bit of the fight and why it's important.

http://www.saveyourprivacypolicy.org/

I run my own website / web store and of course this blog and I have NO right to give out people's personal information to government officials without due cause and without a warrant.  Same thing should be true about Facebook, Google, Twitter and every place on the internet.

As of me posting this, Facebook actually backed down from their support of CISPA... so, it's working... and we need to keep pushing forward.

Also, here's a CNET article about what was added (and omitted) last minute in the committee and it's pretty damning to everyone's rights on the internet.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57579012-38/privacy-protections-booted-from-cispa-data-sharing-bill/

Again, pardon this rather "out of right field" post...  I'll return to our regularly posted anime memes and Tenshi-Oni / CAS news. --- ## Miku Monday 3/25/2013: Miku Append Wallpaper - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-03-25-miku-monday-3252013-miku-append/ - Date: 2013-03-25 - Tags: #mikumonday, #MM, anime girl, anime wallpaper, Miku Hatsune - AI-assisted: no To give a little bit of variety to my blog posts (while I take my sweet time coming up with more original/constant posts like I use to ^^;;)... I'm going to post not only Moe Mo...


To give a little bit of variety to my blog posts (while I take my sweet time coming up with more original/constant posts like I use to ^^;;)... I'm going to post not only Moe Monday images but also do Miku Monday.

For the first entry, here's this wonderful wallpaper I found through zerochan.  If I can find the original artist...I'll make sure to post their name and link of course ^^ --- ## Fan Service Friday 3/22/2013: Sexy Anime Candy Girl - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-03-22-fan-service-friday-3222013-sexy-anime/ - Date: 2013-03-22 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no Here's today's #FanServiceFriday pic. .... (yet another PSA)... Again, pardon the lack of updates on Tenshi-Oni, the blog and the site in general ^^;;... been stuck on some craz...



Here's today's #FanServiceFriday pic.




.... (yet another PSA)...

Again, pardon the lack of updates on Tenshi-Oni, the blog and the site in general  ^^;;... been stuck on some crazy web design projects at my day job and been really pushing the search for a new/better day job that''l help me get the time and money to continue my anime figure business and to work on more tangible web/programming/game programming skills.

Good news is, I've been working eyes deep in CSS3 so I plan on upgrading the blog, the site, anime.fm and more as soon as I get some bearing straight...

..oh and let's not forget our newest Game Grumps Animated in the works, and more video game let's plays. --- ## Moe Monday 3/11/13: Pink Haired Anime Angel - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-03-11-moe-monday-31113-pink-haired-anime-angel/ - Date: 2013-03-11 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no Darn...another really amazing moe anime girl pic that I wish I know the artist was >_< I'm a big fan of anime angel girls and this pic is just stunning. Not sure if from a...

Darn...another really amazing moe anime girl pic that I wish I know the artist was >_< I'm a big fan of anime angel girls and this pic is just stunning.  Not sure if from a series ^^;; --- ## Fan Service Friday 3/8/13: Sword Wielding Anime Girl - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-03-08-fan-service-friday-3813-sword-wielding/ - Date: 2013-03-08 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, anime warrior - AI-assisted: no Sexy, stunning and deadly. I know, the joke with anime warrior girls is that somehow less armor is somehow better armor. Well, this fan-service Friday girl probably would be abl...

Sexy, stunning and deadly.  I know, the joke with anime warrior girls is that somehow less armor is somehow better armor.  Well, this fan-service Friday girl probably would be able to be as fast as SAO's Asuna being that she has less armor :p --- ## Facebook Page Popularity - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-03-07-facebook-page-popularity/ - Date: 2013-03-07 - Tags: anime news, chucksanimeshrine, facebook, updates - AI-assisted: no My goodness, I didn't think this was possible but check out what is going on over at our Facebook page o_o. Just this time last week, the page, which understandably was created ...


My goodness, I didn't think this was possible but check out what is going on over at our Facebook page o_o.

Just this time last week, the page, which understandably was created rather late in Social Media terms (something like August of last year) was only at 50 Likes / Followers to now almost 6000 followers.

It's not a bustling community with a group of new awesome anime fans to join in the ranks of fans to this site. Chuck's Anime Shrine has been around since 2002 and has had it's share of ups and downs in popularity but I just want to say how honored I am to see people coming back to us as an anime fan site ^_^  

My anime store has been a focus over the past few years but I always want to make this site more than a store (besides, the store was added later on anyways)

With this new surge of fans, it's given me the motivation to get things in gear and get some new content and reasons to visit the site ^^

Again, thank you everyone and welcome ^_^

--- ## Moe Monday 3/4/2013: Underwater Anime Ballerina Girl - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-03-04-moe-monday-342013-underwater-anime/ - Date: 2013-03-04 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no Wish I knew the artists for this one but today's #MoeMonday post is a wonderfully done work. Thanks to our friend and one of the site's main fan artists...Eefi, here's the link ...

Wish I knew the artists for this one but today's #MoeMonday post is a wonderfully done work.

 Thanks to our friend and one of the site's main fan artists...Eefi, here's the link to the artist for this piece ^_^:

http://kaze-hime.deviantart.com/


--- ## Fanservice Friday 3/1/2013: Anime Panty Girl - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-03-01-fanservice-friday-312013-anime-panty/ - Date: 2013-03-01 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no Yes, I know, this is a blatant nose-bleed-inducing post. (then again, that's anime fan service). Yet,, this is also wonderful drawn and worth the share ^.~

Yes, I know, this is a blatant nose-bleed-inducing post. (then again, that's anime fan service). Yet,, this is also wonderful drawn and worth the share ^.~ --- ## Dragon Ball Z Battle Of The Gods KFC Commercial - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-02-28-dragon-ball-z-battle-of-gods-kfc/ - Date: 2013-02-28 - Tags: anime, anime news, battle of the gods, dragon ball z, japan, video - AI-assisted: no As many of you know, about a month away will be the premiere of a brand new Dragon Ball Z movie, Battle of The Gods. There's a bunch I can talk about with the movie, like how it...

As many of you know, about a month away will be the premiere of a brand new Dragon Ball Z movie, Battle of The Gods.  There's a bunch I can talk about with the movie, like how it's between Z and GT, how there'll be a Super Saiyan God Form, and more...but...this is great.  Seems KFC in Japan is doing a promo for the movie with glow-in-the-dark-topped DBZ bottles.  Of course, there's a commercial.  Would love it if places here in the states would promo anime like this.

Just one bite Goku?  We know, you'd scarf that and a whole bucket in a second.

Thanks to Living Ichigo for Facebooking the video --- ## Scumbag Art Teacher on Anime - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-02-28-scumbag-art-teacher-on-anime/ - Date: 2013-02-28 - Tags: anime, meme, scumbag art teacher - AI-assisted: no I hate when so-called "art experts" say this. (btw, I'm still alive..and do plan on more posts soon ^^;;)

I hate when so-called "art experts" say this.


(btw, I'm still alive..and do plan on more posts soon ^^;;)
--- ## Fan Service Friday 2/15/2013: Anime Demon Girl in Red - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-02-15-fan-service-friday-2152013-anime-demon/ - Date: 2013-02-15 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl - AI-assisted: no Fan Service Friday today... and here's a stunning pic I saw making the rounds on tumblr and twitter. The the original source can be found here http://kugyuu.tumblr.com/post/4256...

Fan Service Friday today... and here's a stunning pic I saw making the rounds on tumblr and twitter.  The the original source can be found here http://kugyuu.tumblr.com/post/42564311002 --- ## Anime Valentines Day 2013 - Anime Girl Kiss - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-02-14-anime-valentines-day-2013-anime-girl/ - Date: 2013-02-14 - Tags: anime art, anime girl, blizzard nemo, Long Island, updates, valentines day - AI-assisted: no Happy Valentines Day everyone ^_^. Here's cute anime girl chocolate kiss image. If you know the anime series and/or the artist of this piece leave, a note in the comments. ... P...

Happy Valentines Day everyone ^_^.  Here's cute anime girl chocolate kiss image.  If you know the anime series and/or the artist of this piece leave, a note in the comments.

...
Pardon the lack of updates the past month... ever since CES 2013, my day job as the web-dev/web-bitch at that certain Long Island camera store has been utter hell.  Add that to the fact that I'm from the part of Long Island that got 35+ inches of snow in one night from the Blizzard of 2013, aka "Nemo"

Here's what it looked like on Saturday (yes that's me running around in my pjs ^^'')...


More anime figures, anime news, voice acting, Tenshi-Oni and Flash animation posts soon .  Finally dug out of this mess...both the snow and crap work at the job. --- ## FanService Friday 2/1/2013 (NSFW) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-02-01-fanservice-friday-212013-nsfw/ - Date: 2013-02-01 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no Thought I was gone from blogging...think again. Just a bit of a slow blogging/site week due to crazy day job tasks and some anime business fixes. Anyways..here's a sexy and beau...


Thought I was gone from blogging...think again.  Just a bit of a slow blogging/site week due to crazy day job tasks and some anime business fixes.  Anyways..here's a sexy and beautiful anime girl pic.  Sadly, not sure of the artist for this one.

also, I'll make sure to have more than #fanservicefriday posts soon ^^;; --- ## #FanServiceFriday 1/25/2013 - Sleeping Anime Girl (NSFW) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-25-fanservicefriday-1252013-sleeping-anime/ - Date: 2013-01-25 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no (Update 4/23/2015: Again through Google Adsense's new and mindbogglingly retarded "lewd rules": this image had to be censored. The original post though can be found... Here: htt...


(Update 4/23/2015: Again through Google Adsense's new and mindbogglingly retarded "lewd rules": this image had to be censored. The original post though can be found...

Here: http://censoredanimeshrine.blogspot.com/2015/04/fanservicefriday-1252013-sleeping-anime.html

and Here: https://archive.is/EPa2o

Here's a guide to how Google and Adsense want anime and game girls to be displayed on your sites and blogs:



)

Today's fan service Friday image is I believe a Range Murata image..or at the very least, very similar style.  There's detail, sexyness and emotion to it. a bit NSFW though ^^;; --- ## #FanServiceFriday 1/18/2013 - Lingerie Anime Girl (NSFW) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-18-fanservicefriday-1182013-lingerie-anime/ - Date: 2013-01-18 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl - AI-assisted: no Not certain of the artist/character/series for this one but I don't think anyone would mind the beauty of today's Fanservice Friday pic.


Not certain of the artist/character/series for this one but I don't think anyone would  mind the beauty of today's Fanservice Friday pic. --- ## Game Grumps Animated - You Mean It? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-17-game-grumps-animated-you-mean-it/ - Date: 2013-01-17 - Tags: flash animations, game grumps, newgrounds, original content, updates, video games, videos - AI-assisted: no December 2003, I submitted a Flash animation called Sephiroth vs. Mogs to Newgrounds..it was the latest from a list of flash submissions I did at the time. Most of the submissio...


December 2003, I submitted a Flash animation called Sephiroth vs. Mogs to Newgrounds..it was the latest from a list of flash submissions I did at the time.  Most of the submissions were Flash ports of our popular pre-youtube AMVs...but they caught fire on NG and until middle of last year...all but Sephiroth vs. Mogs (and a crappy first flash submission) got erased.  Sadly, due to my involvement in a marketing company in 2004...a long hiatus began that some of you might have remembered.  I never got to create the next episode of that animation...leaving many wondering what the hell happened.

Well, thanks to my urge to get back to this after almost 10 years, programming  my game (still in production -_-) Tenshi-Oni and some inspiration from people like flash artist, Egoraptor and video game reviewer JonTron.... I'm back into Flash animation!  This time around, I'm even better at animating (been on a crash course the past few days).  To start off, Danielle and I are working together where she creates the drawings and I simply animated/edited around them.  Nothing too elaborate...but tedious at the same time. 

So, for my first animation back...we created a Game Grumps animated clip ^^

Here's the video on youtube:


(pardon those who've seen me FB, tweet, reddit, etc this all of yesterday ^^;;)

Check it out on Newgrounds here and please vote for it if you can.

As I speak, we have another animation already scheduled for airing on Youtube and for the future, I have plans on making more of my own parodies... like the long delayed episode 2 of Sephiroth vs. Mogs, my Farkly's series (based on my terrible past job at Friendly's Ice Cream), Tenshi-Oni shorts (maybe) and what ever crazy-ass thing comes to mind.

Oh and be sure to visit the Game Grumps.


(Feels good to be a Flash animator again ^_^)
--- ## Pikalove Plays Short Animation - FFVII... Is it 8? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-17-pikalove-plays-short-animation-ffvii-is/ - Date: 2013-01-17 - Tags: final fantasy, final fantasy VII, flash animations, gaming, original content, updates, video, video games - AI-assisted: no Here's our second new original animation. It's a quick cartoon with audio taken from our PikaLove Plays series of Let's Play videos. Danielle (dressed as Tifa) isn't so great wi...

Here's our second new original animation.  It's a quick cartoon with audio taken from our PikaLove Plays series of Let's Play videos.  Danielle (dressed as Tifa) isn't so great with Roman numerals and tries to tell me that VII means 8.

Here's the video on youtube...nothing yet for Newgrounds but it should be there any day as well:


Here's the video this audio was taken from


--- ## Badass Tifa Lockhart Fanart by Viet-My Bui - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-15-badass-tifa-lockhart-fanart-by-viet-my/ - Date: 2013-01-15 - Tags: anime art, fan art, final fantasy VII, tifa - AI-assisted: no Tifa Lockhart is by far my top anime/game girl. I was completely in awe last week when I first saw this stunning image of FFVII's #1 fighter. All credit goes to Viet-My Bui

Tifa Lockhart is by far my top anime/game girl.  I was completely in awe last week when I first saw this stunning image of FFVII's #1 fighter.  All credit goes to Viet-My Bui --- ## #MoeMonday 1/14/2013 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-14-moemonday-1142013/ - Date: 2013-01-14 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime girl, moe - AI-assisted: no I simply love cute anime angel girl images and today's #MoeMonday post is proof of that ^_^

I simply love cute anime angel girl images and today's #MoeMonday post is proof of that ^_^

--- ## #Fanservice Friday 1/11/2013 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-11-fanservice-friday-1112013/ - Date: 2013-01-11 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, wedding - AI-assisted: no For today's #FanserviceFriday post... here's an elegant wedding anime girl image. Not certain of the artist ^^;;... I think this might actually be Tokugawa Sen from Hyakka Ryora...

For today's #FanserviceFriday post... here's an elegant wedding anime girl image.  Not certain of the artist ^^;;... I think this might actually be Tokugawa Sen from Hyakka Ryoran Samurai Girls...she at least looks like her. --- ## PikaLove Plays: Final Fantasy VII #1 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-11-pikalove-plays-final-fantasy-vii-1/ - Date: 2013-01-11 - Tags: danielle, final fantasy VII, Let's Plays, original content, updates, video games, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no Danielle and I have begun doing some original gaming videos thanks to my x-mas present...the Elgato Game Capture HD. We are continuing to add content to her gaming account, Pika...

Danielle and I have begun doing some original gaming videos thanks to my x-mas present...the Elgato Game Capture HD.  We are continuing to add content to her gaming account, PikaLove415.   Today's featured gameplay is our first video of us playing through of Final Fantasy VII.  Well, Danielle's playing it...I'm just there in the background ^^;)  As stated in the last post about this, we got inspired by Gamegrumps and others to do these kinds of videos.


This video is special though, not just because it's the beginning of us playing through the game sorta responsible for this site, but because this is the first video I'm testing out my new video editing skills.  Hope you all like it. I plan on putting up more videos on my own Youtube page... including a return to Flash animations and more..but if you can, do subscribe to PikaLove415. Oh and we've been posting our Kirby's Epic Yarn playthrough almost daily too.  There's lots of videos for me to go through and edit...so more to come ^_^

List of links:





--- ## #FanServiceFriday: 1/4/2013 Sword Anime Girl - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2013-01-04-fanservicefriday-142013-sword-anime-girl/ - Date: 2013-01-04 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday For this week's Fan Service Friday post... here's an amazing anime sword girl illustration. Actually, she seems to look like a mix between Milla Maxwell and As...

#FanServiceFriday

  For this week's Fan Service Friday post... here's an amazing anime sword girl illustration.  Actually, she seems to look like a mix between Milla Maxwell and Asuna.  Not certain of the artist for this sadly...but if you know...maybe post in the comments below. --- ## Chuck makes Sushi ^_^ - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-31-chuck-makes-sushi/ - Date: 2012-12-31 - Tags: cooking, japan, maki, maki rolls, sushi - AI-assisted: no For Christmas my fiancee and I finally got a rice cooker thanks to my sister, Liz. It's the first time since we moved into our apartment that we've been able to cook some rice. ...
 

For Christmas my fiancee and I finally got a rice cooker thanks to my sister, Liz.  It's the first time since we moved into our apartment that we've been able to cook some rice.  Back when we used to live at our parent's house, I would on occasion make sushi...well attempt to make it.  Took a few times but about 2 years ago I started to master making some maki rolls....and then since then I've been away from it.

Well, now that we got the cooker, I've gotten back to the craft and... it turns out I'm getting good at making maki rolls.  So far, I've not made anything truly tough...Maki rolls, once understood how to cook and prepare, isn't that tough. Best to start with ingredients that aren't raw like sweet potato and pre-cooked tempura.

Here's some images of my most recent concoctions.  Nothing too special... seen are the following maki rolls:





I'll aim at making more sushi a la cart and even more varied maki rolls like tuna, Philly roll, etc.

They taste good and if, like me, you are a fan of all things Japan... making them for yourself is very rewarding (and tasty).
--- ## #MoeMonday 12/31/2012: New Year 2013 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-31-moemonday-12312012-new-year-2013/ - Date: 2012-12-31 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime girl, festival, moe, new years - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday It's the last day of 2012. For today's Moe Monday post, check out this cute festival anime girl image. Sadly, I'm not certain if this is a character from a series nor...


#MoeMonday

  It's the last day of 2012.  For today's Moe Monday post, check out this cute festival anime girl image.  Sadly, I'm not certain if this is a character from a series nor the artist but thought she'd be a fitting for celebrating the new year ^_^ --- ## PikaLove Plays (Danielle's Let's Plays) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-31-pikalove-plays-danielles-lets-plays/ - Date: 2012-12-31 - Tags: danielle, Let's Plays, original content, PikaLove Plays, video, video games, videogames - AI-assisted: no Another awesome gift we got for Christmas was the Game Capture HD. Well, my fiancee Danielle and I wasted no time to start doing some Let's Plays/ Game Grumps-styled. Danielle c...


Another awesome gift we got for Christmas was the Game Capture HD.  Well, my fiancee Danielle and I wasted no time to start doing some Let's Plays/ Game Grumps-styled. Danielle created a separate youtube channel from her original Yuna415 for all of this... called PikaLove415.

Check out our first two videos below:

Pikalove415 Plays: Super Mario Bros. Wii (Bowser's Castle)





Pikalove Plays: Kirby's Epic Yarn



--- ## QuickPlay: Dishonored (PS3) (Twitch.TV and more) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-31-quickplay-dishonored-ps3-twitchtv-and/ - Date: 2012-12-31 - Tags: dishonored, Let's Plays, original content, ps3, QuickPlay, twitch.tv, updates, video games, videogames - AI-assisted: no A trend on YouTube that's been around a while for now are Let's Plays. Some are very good ( Yogscast , Game Grumps , Two Best Friends Play , etc). Like AMVs, it's a common trend...

A trend on YouTube that's been around a while for now are Let's Plays.  Some are very good (Yogscast, Game Grumps, Two Best Friends Play, etc).  Like AMVs, it's a common trend and done by most everybody.  Other really cool video channels (gaming related) are the reviews and parodies of the Normal Boots gang (Jontron, Continue?, The Completionist, and Peanut Butter Gamer) and old Newgrounds brethren like Egoraptor.

Before Youtube, I used to be a big part of Newgrounds my amvs and Sephiroth vs Mogs parody) and our AMVs were some of the first AMVs to populate the site since we were hosting them long before the site existed. Same tired story of mine, I know.

Well, thanks to the awesome videos by those guys and with even friends of mine like, thelordxl and Greg Nugent doing similar videos...I think it was about time I came out of my original content retirement and join the game video bandwagon.  In addition to teaching myself game design for both iOS (for Tenshi-Oni) and XNA (for a possible NYC game dev job).... I've also been hard at work, teaching myself Adobe After Effects and Premier Pro, reteaching myself Abobe Flash...plus learning the ins and outs of my new toy... the Elgato Game Capture HD.

As seen in the prior post (of many today ^^;;)  Danielle and I have been making use of the capture card by doing some Game-Grump-like let's plays.  I also snuck in my own "QuickPlay" of Dishonored for the Playstation 3.  You can probably see, the post editing/rendering of Premier Pro is still giving me some bugs (the "jittering" and lack of HD when the original was VERY HD)

It's ok for a first video but my goal is to edit these a bit better every time and in addition to these "Quick Plays"... I plan on doing Jontron-like gaming reviews/parodies and yes, even back to good old Flash parodies.  This is in addition to the Tenshi-Oni game...I didn't forget about that of course ^_^

Also check out my new Twitch.TV account.  At night after a long day of anime figure shipments and more...I'll do some live gaming feeds and we can all just hang out with hopefully some cool game streaming. (more on that in future pots)

Without further delay...here's my first "QuickPlay".  Do mind though... Dishonored is a bloody, violent game, so viewer discretion is advised.


By the way... make sure to subscribe/follow all of those awesome gaming people I mentioned above if you haven't already.  My goal isn't to copy these awesome gamers but to hopefully be worthy of being part of their group....granted, at 29, I'd be probably the oldest gamer in the group if I ever join say PBG's Hardcore GamePlay group.  (would love to take part in those ^^)
--- ## #FanServiceFriday 12/28/2012: Black Rock Shooter - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-28-fanservicefriday-12282012-black-rock/ - Date: 2012-12-28 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, black rock shooter - AI-assisted: no #FanserviceFriday For today's Fan Service Friday, thought I'd show off the work of the Pixiv Artist, 四々九 . It's a picture of Black Rock Shooter with the styling looking somewhat...

#FanserviceFriday

  For today's Fan Service Friday, thought I'd show off the work of the Pixiv Artist, 四々九.  It's a picture of Black Rock Shooter with the styling looking somewhat how huke draws her. One thing this artist has is the ability to create very tone-heavy, detailed images.  Check out their gallery for more. --- ## Merry Anime X-Mas 2012 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-24-merry-anime-x-mas-2012/ - Date: 2012-12-24 - Tags: anime girl, christmas 2012, x-mas - AI-assisted: no Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Personally, I only celebrate the secular reasons for the season; time with family (if I'm not at work -_-) and looking back at th...


Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  Personally, I only celebrate the secular reasons for the season; time with family (if I'm not at work -_-) and looking back at the past year with it's bitter sweet ending and hopes for a much better new year.

2013 might very well be a really great year for us at CAS if a certain video game job offer I got pans through... won't know until next month but it's looking good if I keep studying what is needed to make good video games.  Much of the learning is of course coming from my Tenshi-Oni game which I plan to have released next year as well :-)

Whether like me you are an atheist or celebrate what ever you holiday,religious or nonreligious... try to be positive and have hope for the future.  Keep what ever differences you have on the side and just be kind.  If you are doing last minute shopping...be kind to the workers missing time from their loved ones... they and those whom lost loved ones over this year, need reasons to cheer up and bad customers make their lives only worse.  So, let's all drop the attitude when we go out and just be accepting of others.

Anyways, enjoy this pic I found of a cute anime girl who looks oddly like our mascot Fumi :3

--- ## Is Sword Art Online The Future of Gaming? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-22-is-sword-art-online-future-of-gaming/ - Date: 2012-12-22 - Tags: anime, gadgets, games, gaming, Sword Art Online, videogames - AI-assisted: no Today the "final"* episode of Sword Art Online airs on Crunchyroll . Thought I'd come out of my little flu-induced hiatus from the week and celebrate the airing of this episode ...

Today the "final"* episode of Sword Art Online airs on Crunchyroll. Thought I'd come out of my little flu-induced hiatus from the week and celebrate the airing of this episode by going into another long scientific rant about the possibilities of technologies in an anime coming to life in the real world.  You can read a similar type of post I made concerning TTGL and how it's story and concepts actually do link up to real paradigms in Quantum and Theoretical Physics.  This time though, it's time to ask the question many of us wonder about  with both Sword Art Online and Accel World.... can this really become the future of gaming?

*(There's actually two more arcs in the ongoing story but as for this first season of the anime...this is the final episode.. concluding the 2nd arch.  We of course hope the next 2 archs get animated..and by the popularity of SAO...chances are, it will)

I've probably said this ad nauseum but to give people a bit of my background (and hopefully some validity in my understanding of said medium), I've been a gamer since just before I was 2 years old way back in 1985.  My first video game system was the Atari 2600, seen here in a recent photo I took while sorting my old systems...



It was given to me during the summer of 1985 as my father noticed I would constantly play with the VCR.  I didn't just mindlessly toy with the thing though, I used to actually program the clock and understand what was going on with the controls...so much so that little 1 1/2 year old me was teaching my mom how use it.  Thing was, I was fascinated by the TV but I wanted control over it.  The VCR was the start of that but the moment I first played Pac Man Jr. (my very first video game), I felt like I had more control on what was on the TV.  That was the spark that kept me a gamer even to this day..and as one would imagine, it's why I ended up becoming a computer scientist with my main goal in CS (though actually shunned by CS professors in the early 2000s) to design video games.  As another little tidbit, my birthday is November 8 and the first week in November is considered the video game focal point when the best titles for the year get released.  so, goes to say, gaming is in my blood.

I've seen the evolution of gaming from it's commercial beginnings.  Video games actually originated a few miles from me over at Brookhaven Labs in 1958 with their Tennis For Two machine.  Later on there was Computer Space and of course the game that got the ball rolling... Pong.  The year I was born, 1983 was actually the year people thought the new video game industry was done for good.  Arcades were losing popularity and corporate greed lead by Warner Bros. and their take over of Atari proved what happens when you bring suits in to do a visionary's job.  This is of course in reference to the messup that was the E.T video game launch.  To this day there is a stigma to video games based off movies and other non-game originating licences .. and for good reason; most don't do well and are usually known as shovelware thanks in part to the greed for selling a popular licence as oppose to understanding the medium and audience of which the product is for.  I can remember seeing the actual display for the E.T game but by 1985 it was in a local place called Cheap Johns in my home town of Selden (today it's the Selden Thrift) .  My mom got me the game that day and to this day I hold a piece of video game history... the game that almost ended video games for good.   If it wasn't for Nintendo and everyone's favorite plumber...the video games would have never came out from the ashes.



So, I've seen a good chunk of what video games have evolved into.  From Pac Man Jr. to my newest game, Dishonored... it's absolutely amazing how far the graphics have gone in roughly 30 years.  So, how does this tie into Sword Art Online? Well, the premise of Sword Art Online is that it's  November 6th 2022 and the biggest game release in Japan is a new MMORPG (see WoW, etc) called Sword Art Online.  Being this is the hypothetical future, it's not just a game with motion controllers, a WII U-like pad, etc.  Nope, it's a VRMMORPG;  A fully immersive virtual reality online RPG ran on a future VR helmet known as Nerve Gear.  In short, it puts the user in a "dream" state and the player can interact entirely in this game as if the body of the character in the game is their own.

Essentially SAO represents the ultimate goal of video games.  In reality, we are on the cusp of reaching the first "goal" of video games... the ability to create graphics that 100% mimic the real world.  Look at new titles  like Farcry 3 and (though I know hard core gamers will hate me saying this) Black Ops 2 and you will see the line getting thinner and thinner.  Of course, as a gamer and game dev, graphics aren't everything so it's not a true "goal" of gaming so to say but a threshold many studios are very close to eventually breaking through.  With the Wii U now out, soon we'll see Microsoft and Sony take their swing at this decade's new gaming hardware. Square Enix already showed off a tech demo using the PS4's hardware (known right now as "Orbis")




We are about one or two more next gen systems away from having graphics that can 100% mimic (or surpass) reality.  Again, if graphics are your main focus... you are at the shallow end of the dream pool.  Since 2006, the Nintendo Wii has proven that immersion and control schemes are also a big part of making a great game.  Mobile games on the iPhone, iPads, Android phones, Windows phones and more recently, Windows 8 devices are gaining ground due to their unique touch/accelerometer control schemes.  Xbox has their Kinect and Sony has the seemingly dragging Sony Move devices to compete with the quickly evolving gaming scene.

Long before all of these recent paradigms in control, there was the virtual reality headset...which, like 3D in general, has been an on and off gimmick.  SAO tries to show a VR headset, the Nerve Gear done "right".  Without getting into the possibility of a thought-driven virtual world (yet)...some reasons why VR headsets  never really taken off is due to a couple of issues, particularly, frame-rate and eye strain.

As a game programmer, heck as a programmer in general, the goal is to create organized and fast code.  Video games and astrophysics simulations have been the driving forces for faster computers, faster graphics cards and overall quicker GUI.  Proof can bee seen in the recently announced supercomputer, Titan.   One of the main bullet points of game design is to have your game run at 60 frames per second.  Every game cycle/tick needs not be hampered by slow code or slow hardware.  This was one of the hurtles for Java before Android came to be.  I remember Java in the early 2000's just being a terrible coding language for games and other graphically heavy applications due to it's garbage collection functions and lack of real pointers.  Back then you were told to learn programming by Java...but make applications/games using C++ since the code was much faster.  Things have changed and as anyone knows, under the hood of Android is Java.  Virtual reality headsets have to update a 360 degree 3D environment in real time...which, as one can imagine, is a touch balance between graphical and processing power.  Having lag while in a 3D headset can cause a number of issues like eye strain, nausea and of course, a lack of immersion. Only recently have we being seeing any progress in that technology with the promising Oculus Rift.



Again, you might wonder.."Ok where's the connection to Sword Art Online?".  Well, as one can see, Reki Kawahara's vision for this series (and Accel World) delves into what will happen after we have graphics that mimic the real world and after all of the different controls schemes have reached their maturity.  If the connectivity of the Internet in just the past 5 years is of any hint...this future gaming world can, though a stretch be a possibility.  I doubt we will make it this far ten years from now in 2022 but we are already on a path to it if you observe the number of gaming and non gaming technologies that can be brought together in the future.

First off, let's list what we need to create a SAO world...ignore for now the main conflict (in the first story arch) where people won't be able to log off and their deaths i the game can kill them in the real world.



Here's whats needed:

  1. Graphics and frame-rates that mimic the real world
  2. A computer system able to handle the slew of data from not just one immersed player, but tens of thousands of online players.
  3. A VR headset that puts the body in a REM state and that is able to portray the players "dream" moments with the game's code.
This is granted, a truncated list but covers the main points.  As I layed out in my rant above, 1) and 2) are basically current technology.  In one or two more next gen (and PC) releases... 1 will be accomplished and we already have a number of extremely robust MMORPG communities that fit in line with #2.  Point #3 is the big hurtle and for point #2 to handle the data from #3...for even one player..then that's where we get beyond today's technology...or is it?

I'll break down point #3 some more:

Amazingly, we already have devices and game controllers now that do point #3a.  Granted, these are still very basic receiving devices as they only capture a broad array of our thoughts and mash the overall feedback to a simple command (still astonishing nonetheless) . As the the technology progresses, I'd imagine that the commands will become more specific as we are continuing to reverse engineer the human brain.  

Here's some promising progress to getting the exact commands our brains are sending... just recently,   scientists at the University of California, Berkeley created a map of how our brain organizes different thoughts


A future real life SAO programmer could very well make use of this map to command map the different functions for the game.   In essence, it's not much different than mapping the button controls on a current controller (granted if we can fully tap these branches of the brain and know 100% of the time).  

On of the other hurtles is the data collection size.  The more we delve into the brain, the more data it'll take to decrypt the specific message our brain is sending.  Remember, our brain is a complex and extremely fast biological computer with trillions of calculations per second.  It's also thought that the brain might even be a bit of a quantum computer at times...granted, that's probably a bit far fetched yet quantum computers are the next step in computing.   A quantum computer would be more than enough to handle the thoughts of thousands of online real-life SAO players in real time thanks to the odd realities of the quantum world.

The last hurtle is the crux of the struggle in Sword Art Online.... the Nerve Gear (and the later iterations of in in ALO, etc).  In SAO, microwaves and lasers in the Nerve Gear are what control the player's physical state.. and thus turn deadly when the game's creator,  Kayaba Akihiko makes it where the microwaves kill the user when they die in the game.  There is such a machine currently that is somewhat similar to the Nerve Gear, yet using magnetic waves, to change the state of the brain. It's called a TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) Machine.  In short, it changes the magnetic field of the brain... and used to study the various paths of the brain's thoughts as well as supposedly help with a number of neurological disorders like the one the plagues me, migraines.



It's a stretch to say that one day we will be playing the very pinnacle of video games shown by the anime series, SAO...yet, in my honest opinion, I feel one day we will have the ability to make games like this.  The popularity of the series will probably do what has often happened in science fiction... science fiction will open the venues to the creation of said devices.  I wouldn't put it past Japan to make a real life SAO game and Nerve Gear system.  If we continue to decode the brain, utilize quantum computing, and continue to innovate virtual reality and game control schemes, this can happen. 

The series in addition to making you fall in love with Kirito and Asuna in their Cloud/Tifa-like relationship and struggles also brings out the moral questions such a game could bring to humanity...If you die in the game and in the real world, what would you do?  How would you react?  Would you jump to your death like many players did in the first few episodes when they thought there was no hope?  Would you fight on like Kirito, Asuna and the others?


Would a company or game developer go as far as Kayaba Akihiko to test the "reality" of being stuck in the game?  Would we get corporate maniacs like Nobuyuki Sugō who'd want to control people's minds and instill thoughts? (the way suits almost ruined gaming in the 1980's I wouldn't put it past them to do that)

What would a world having a 100% immersive video game universe be like?  Would players ever want to return to the real world and would the meaning of "real" become fuzzy?


The story as played out in the anime has me as a game designer and dreamer of the future think of these questions and I'm certain anyone seeing the series now think so too.  I simply loved for once seeing a male lead in an anime actually take the lead and give no forgiveness to a terrible antagonist once he had him in the corner.  Anime needs more Kiritos and Simons and less Shinjis.  In addition to the prospect of the real future of gaming... it's why this series lead me to make this blog post.  I identify myself with Kirito and as a game developer, I also can peer into the mind of Kayaba Akihiko with some understanding to his thoughts.  Reki Kawahara's anime is one to behold...yes a little over rated at some time by some fans but if you haven't seen it yet, check it out.  Come 2022, maybe we can all play these kinds of video games....just of course, hopefully no life threatening consequences happen.


As a little bonus, here's the awesome battle theme from the anime.  Now go watch it... the last episode just started simulcasting as I finished this post.


....
Bonus content x2:

Get this.  It's postulated that our world is actually a giant computer simulation. It can explain the number of  issues we have with the quantum world pairing up with the "macro" world...

This post was just from just last week..so maybe,... maybe we are already in a game ;-)

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/12/12/physicists-universe-simulation-test-university-of-washington-matrix_n_2282745.html


--- ## #MoeMonday: 12/17/2012 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-17-moemonday-12172012/ - Date: 2012-12-17 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime art, anime girl - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday For this week's MoeMonday... check out this wonderful sword maiden image I found skimming through my G+ feeds. Not sure if this is an original image or from a girl in...
#MoeMonday
  For this week's MoeMonday... check out this wonderful sword maiden image I found skimming through my G+ feeds.  Not sure if this is an original image or from a girl in a series ^^;; but it caught my eyes with it's fiery red with blue color scheme and, one of my favorite artistic methods, the bold black stroke edges seen on her clothing.  Know the artist or the character?  post in the comments below. --- ## #FanService Friday: 12/14/2012 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-14-fanservice-friday-12142012/ - Date: 2012-12-14 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, x-mas - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday Another week, another Fan Service Friday. Being it's already 12/15... about time I show some cute anime girls showing the x-mas spirit. Sadly, I don't know the...

#FanServiceFriday

 Another week, another Fan Service Friday.  Being it's already 12/15... about time I show some cute anime girls showing the x-mas spirit.  Sadly, I don't know the artist of this piece but if you know you can write the link down below in the comments and I'll make sure to link back to the creator. --- ## Sword Art Online: Nendoroid Kirito Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-11-sword-art-online-nendoroid-kirito-figure/ - Date: 2012-12-11 - Tags: anime figures, Asuna, figures, Kirito, Nendoroid, Sword Art Online, updates - AI-assisted: no With only two episodes supposedly left in the Sword Art Online anime, Good Smile Company last night announced the figure we knew was in production, the Nendoroid Kirito Figure ....

With only two episodes supposedly left in the Sword Art Online anime, Good Smile Company last night announced the figure we knew was in production, the Nendoroid Kirito Figure.  GSC doesn't fail to impress with this new figure pre-order announcement.  Kirito looks really well designed, matching him perfectly (well, in chibi form).   A wonderful complement to the really cute Asuna Nendoroid (that I'm going to collect too ^^).  Thought Kirito's announcement would make a perfect restart for my figure blog posts and to also announce that my store is back in gear and…if you might have seen on the front page, loaded with a bunch of new figure pre-orders ^^

As for Kirito, he's scheduled to be released in Japan in May 2013…but the US release tends to be 1-2 months after (-_-) if there isn't any delays on the Japan release.   Check out more images below.










Note to my pending figure customers:

Just wanted to also let my anime figure customers patiently waiting to know that your figures are on the way.  I was, as stated in my emails, notified by my suppliers of a number of figure releases here in the states but the financial burdens brought about by Hurricane Sandy has added additional delays in addition to the typical delays us US anime figure collectors get from the suppliers.  I felt a bit guilty putting up a bunch of figure pre-orders when of course there's been a month+ of "hey, your figure's coming."  Just wanted to know, they are…just waiting for AAAanime.com to release the figures I emailed you all about.  I was told a number of times I'd get a final invoice but due to the holiday season making them busy and a bit of payment delays on my end from recovering from Hurricane Sandy… they still have yet to send the latest batch ^^;; .. this will be changing this week though as everything on my end is set…but due to the holiday rush, AAAanime.com has been inundated with shipments and I'm on the bottom of their list at the moment it seems  ^^';;.

I want this post and the recent surge of figure pre-orders on the store page to let you all know, in short, business is back in gear and after this delayed batch…the only delays in the future will be due to the suppliers & manufacturers directly.  The past two months were tough due to the storm but it's all coming back ^^ --- ## #MoeMonday 12/10/2012: Labrys - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-10-moemonday-12102012-labrys/ - Date: 2012-12-10 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime girl, Persona - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday This week's Moe Monday image is this beautiful illustration of the mechanical maiden Labrys from the Persona series. Her color pallet and personality somewhat resembl...


#MoeMonday

 This week's Moe Monday image is this beautiful illustration of the mechanical maiden Labrys from the Persona series.  Her color pallet and personality somewhat resembles our mascot Fumi in her human form... of course Labrys isn't exactly human ^^;;


--- ## #FanServiceFriday 12/7/2012: Tifa Lockhart by Drageta - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-07-fanservicefriday-1272012-tifa-lockhart/ - Date: 2012-12-07 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, final fantasy VII, tifa - AI-assisted: no #FanserviceFriday Another week, another fan service pic. As some of you may know, Tifa Lockhart is my favorite game/anime girl of all time....so of course I'll post awesome fan ...

#FanserviceFriday

 Another week, another fan service pic.  As some of you may know, Tifa Lockhart is my favorite game/anime girl of all time....so of course I'll post awesome fan images of her from time to time.  Also, in the fashion of the past few weeks, I wanted to also promote specific fan artists and this lovely image of Final Fantasy's number one hand-to-hand fighter was done by Deviant Art artist, Drageta. --- ## Hipster Otaku: Posting AMVs in 2002 before YouTube Existed - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-07-hipster-otaku-posting-amvs-in-2002/ - Date: 2012-12-07 - Tags: amvs, chucksanimeshrine, funny, hipster otaku, meme, youtube - AI-assisted: no This site, Chuck's Anime Shrine was posting AMVs (and hosting them) as far back as late 2002, 3 years before YouTube even existed....so I think I deserve this one, lol XD

This site, Chuck's Anime Shrine was posting AMVs (and hosting them) as far back as late 2002, 3 years before YouTube even existed....so I think I deserve this one, lol XD --- ## #MoeMonday 12/3/2012: SAO Asuna - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-03-moemonday-1232012-sao-asuna/ - Date: 2012-12-03 - Tags: #MM, #MoeMonday, anime, anime girl, Asuna, moe, SAO - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday For today's entry for Moe Monday, here's this simply beautiful image of Sword Art Online's Asuna. I'm one of the many keeping tabs on the series via Crunchy Roll. Lov...

#MoeMonday
For today's entry for Moe Monday, here's this simply beautiful image of Sword Art Online's Asuna.  I'm one of the many keeping tabs on the series via Crunchy Roll.  Love it of course and glad to see the story begin to pick up again after the past few episodes.  Great series overall (I know, I need to read the light novels) and for me it holds a special place as a game designer and gamer.  The games showcased in this future world could very well become a reality ..and so could the issues brought about by having the ultimate goal of gaming fulfilled...the 100% immersive/Matrix-like world.

Not sure who the artist is for this piece...found it on zerochan.  If you know the artist  leave a note or link in the comments below. --- ## Tenshi-Oni: Menu Title Art - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-12-03-tenshi-oni-menu-title-art/ - Date: 2012-12-03 - Tags: game design, game dev, iphone, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, video games, videogames - AI-assisted: no Ok, I think it's about time I give a little update about my game, Tenshi-Oni . As game design goes, sometimes you think, "I'll be able to get this out in x months"...but it then...

Ok, I think it's about time I give a little update about my game, Tenshi-Oni.  As game design goes, sometimes you think, "I'll be able to get this out in x months"...but it then turns out to be x+13 months.  For us indie game designers, this tends to be the case even more than the big studios.  Yet, I want to assure people waiting that I'm indeed working on the game and with some personal matters that got exponentially worse thanks to Hurricane Sandy last month now out of the way, it's time to get back on the track running.  Above you will see this interesting title art I made yesterday.  In addition to the programming aspect of games that I tend to focus on, it's also time I sharpen my actual design skills too.  Some of you might have seen the rough After Effects splash intro that I edited...so it's a bit evident that I'm trying to get back to the editing, design and art I once was not too bad with years ago.  The image above is the first look at what will be on the opening menu screen for the player.  Been getting used to using GlyphDesigner and having some fun with the customizations that can be done relatively easily for not only text in games but for websites and art.

Below is some of the text I'm working on to go in the game since, well, (as my game design friend also pointed out) the text needs more styling.  One issue some indie games have is a bland/monotone HUD.  Being that I've been been very programming-heavy with my design (maybe more on that in a future post), sometimes artistic style takes a hit.  Now that the overall core dynamics of the game are set...it's time to polish this thing up.



So what's next to do for the game?  Well, still a bunch and once my main artist, Kenneos gets back some free time during the holiday season...more art will come in...but I think it's in both our interest that I give a helping hand in the art department a little ^_^

Here's a list of what's up next in the development:

Hope to show some more goodies from Tenshi-Oni.  I wanted the game out earlier but I think it's best that I make it right the first time and build it from there.  Again though, the goal is for a FREE version (with minor ads ^^;) and a paid version will all the bells and whiles and no ads.  With I have DLC?  Well, I'm an old school gamer and my idea of DLC is to have true add-ons, not Capcom-like DLC.  When you order spaghetti for example, you get the spaghetti with the sauce...some companies make it where the "sauce" is DLC when it should be part of the purchased deal.  DLC should be the appetizer dessert or extra course to the said "meal" and for Tensh-Oni, the goal is a full game for the paid version.
--- ## #FanServiceFriday 11/30/2012: Sena Kashiwazaki Bikini - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-30-fanservicefriday-11302012-sena/ - Date: 2012-11-30 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime, anime girl, Sena Kashiwazaki - AI-assisted: no #FanserviceFriday For this week's Fan Service Friday post...I'm posting yet another beach/bikini picture since well... it's freezing here in New York and we want our summer back...

#FanserviceFriday 

For this week's Fan Service Friday post...I'm posting yet another beach/bikini picture since well... it's freezing here in New York and we want our summer back already! T-T

This is of course a picture of Sena Kashiwazaki from the anime Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.  The artist of this picture is another awesome Pixiv artist,  珈琲貴族 

To check out more of this artist's work, click here to view their pixiv page ^_^ (NSFWish)

--- ## Anime Game Review: Shall We Date? (New Game Review Vlog by Danielle) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-28-anime-game-review-shall-we-date-new/ - Date: 2012-11-28 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, danielle, game reviews, updates, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no Today my fiancee Danielle made a separate youtube channel ( PikaLove415 ) for game reviews and the like. She does have a loved page full of AMVs at Yuna415 , but with the worry ...


Today my fiancee Danielle made a separate youtube channel (PikaLove415) for game reviews and the like.  She does have a loved page full of AMVs at Yuna415, but with the worry of copyright trolls not adhering to Fair Use and just to have original content separate...it was best to make a separate page.

Here's her first video reviewing the anime iPhone dating sim: Shall We Date

--- ## New Meme: Hipster Otaku - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-28-new-meme-hipster-otaku/ - Date: 2012-11-28 - Tags: anime, anime figures, black rock shooter, figures, funny, meme, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no I simply had to make this (attempt) at a meme with the image of the new Nendoroid: Black Rock Shooter - Dead Master TV Animation Ver. figure . Basically this explains my look ba...


I simply had to make this (attempt) at a meme with the image of the new Nendoroid: Black Rock Shooter - Dead Master TV Animation Ver. figure.  Basically this explains my look back on 2012 as an anime fan.  I think many of you when looking at the rise of the Gangnam Style song and the popularity of the fanfiction-turned-novel 50 Shades of Gray...you'd had to have thought this.  The themes/content behind these popular icons of 2012 is nothing new to us otaku.

Check out the QuickMeme page for this to make your own Hipster Otaku pic.

--- ## #MoeMonday 11/26/2012: Tenshi-Oni Sketch Moe - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-26-moemonday-11262012-tenshi-oni-sketch-moe/ - Date: 2012-11-26 - Tags: #MoeMonday, danielle, fan art, moe, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday Today's Cyber Monday and the return of the Moe Monday posts ^_^ As a special revival post… the image today is a compilation of two Tenshi-Oni sketches my fiancee Dani...


#MoeMonday

Today's Cyber Monday and the return of the Moe Monday posts ^_^ As a special revival post… the image today is a compilation of two Tenshi-Oni sketches my fiancee Danielle made of Angel and Demon, as two separate human girls (which is part of the background story to the game).  Should have new game images and maybe some more gameplay soon as..well, I really want to get this game out already ^^;; --- ## Tenshi-Oni Splash Intro? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-26-tenshi-oni-splash-intro/ - Date: 2012-11-26 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no I was doing some editing in After Effects and Premier…saw this really cool template and thought it'd be great for an intro not only to the Tenshi-Oni game….but to any original c...


I was doing some editing in After Effects and Premier…saw this really cool template and thought it'd be great for an intro not only to the Tenshi-Oni game….but to any original content I make in general ^_^  The original had all text and blu particles… I changed them to red and yellow to symbolize Angel and Demon Fumi ^^

I want to do better with the audio but for now, I just let youtube use one of their stock tracks.  Wish it would show in it's true HD form I see on my computer…but after a day of rendering and getting up to speed with these programs…it's time for bed. @_@

--- ## #FanServiceFriday 11/23/2012 : Pixiv Artist KKUEM - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-23-fanservicefriday-11232012-pixiv-artist/ - Date: 2012-11-23 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime, anime girl - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday Well, Fan Service Friday is back. Today actually being Black Friday of course...the day us Americans make asses of ourselves by mimicking the Running of the Bu...


#FanServiceFriday

Well, Fan Service Friday is back.  Today actually being Black Friday of course...the day us Americans make asses of ourselves by mimicking the Running of the Bulls..except for reasons no more important than saving $50 on an item that will be $100 less in a few months anyways....and the bulls are people...and usually not as smart as the bulls.

It's cold here in New York this time of year but this image by artist KKUEM will give you a glimpse of where you'd rather be this time of year in NY.

Love this artist's work, the tone, color pallet and detail is nothing short of perfection.

Here's a few more sample's of this person's work; visit their page for more pics.






--- ## Atari 2600 Controller FAIL - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-20-atari-2600-controller-fail/ - Date: 2012-11-20 - Tags: FAIL, meme, videogames - AI-assisted: no #gaming The Atari 2600... it was my first introduction to video games when I was a small child and when I say small child, I mean really small. I was born in November of 1983 an...

#gaming

The Atari 2600... it was my first introduction to video games when I was a small child and when I say small child, I mean really small.  I was born in November of 1983 and already I could have been predicted to become a game programmer, since little infant me was showing my mom how to get the VCR to work..as she most of the time didn't know how to.  I was fascinated with the ability to control what was on the TV and tinkering with the latest electronics was probably my first skill before I even spoke my first sentence.  My father soon got for himself (and me) the slim version of the Atari 2600.  The ability to control the TV soon took a new meaning when I first held the joystick controller and played my first game, PacMan Jr. Then, for my 2nd birthday I can remember vividly opening my gifts, which were a number of 2600 games like Yar's Revenge and PitFall! and I can still recall jumping up and down in pure joy at sight of new games. No joke, little 2 year old me would actually cuddle with the new games in the crib similarly to how kids cuddle with their favorite stuffed animals.  (my bedtime friends were the Pitfall! cartridge and a big Fievel plush).  I actually beat Pacman Jr. before getting these new gifts...ok, there was no "beating" PacMan Jr. since it had 4 revolving stages; the last being a giant dark-green map with a harp bonus bouncing around the stage (see, I still remember).

Why am I bringing up my first foray into videogames...that inevitably got me into anime as well?... well, because a god damn 2 year old knew how to hold an Atari 2600 controller!

 Did you see this mess here?  Ok, what you are looking at is a "new" Atari 2600.  Saw it today at Family Dollar near a similar Sega Genesis.  It's not the true system with the ability to add cartridges, etc....just one of those instant plug-into-the-TV-with-RGB-cords things.  I have the one that's just the controller with about 5 games built into it but this one looks like the original, non-slim 2600 with two controllers and 75 games (most I have though).. and for only $30.  Pretty sweet deal actually but I can't help but laugh at the sheer stupidity going on in the promo photos on it's box.  Do they think they are holding a PS3 controller with sixaxis functionality?!  I mean, what is this?!...I don't even.  Every hired actor in these pictures are holding the controller so wrong.  Have the models for this shot never played videogames before?  Was the set up for this photo shoot like:

Director:  "Ok...we need a shot of the entire controller too, but we need you to still 'act' like you are playing." 
Actor Derp #1:  "Isn't this how we actually play the games, though?"
Director: "The fuck if I know. I wasn't taught 'Joystick Holding 101' in my 5th year of Liberal Arts...that was back high school drama class."
Actor Derp #2: "No worries here boss. I'm an expert at Angry Birds and Words With Friends... I got this."

I think everyone in those images need to go back in time to 1985 and get some lessons in video game playing from 2 year old me (Great Scott!)

Here, by the way, is a current image of my precious first video game system.


Sadly, it's been sitting lonely in my old room's closet back at my parent's house.  Took it out for this photo op and because I'm trying to get all of my systems out to play (and clean if they are looking like this) --- ## Anime Pic of The Day 11/16/2012 Return From The Ashes - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-16-anime-pic-of-day-11162012-return-from/ - Date: 2012-11-16 - Tags: anime, anime-pic-of-the-day, updates - AI-assisted: no It's been a long time coming but I have resurrected parts of the site and blog that have laid dormant or for some, seems to have been lost in time. So what's back? Well, for sta...

It's been a long time coming but I have resurrected parts of the site and blog that have laid dormant or for some, seems to have been lost in time.  So what's back?  Well, for starters, the Anime Picture of the Day posts!  Looking like the mystical bird of resurrection, the Phoenix, this beautiful anime picture captures the fiery power of red hues.

So yes, Anime Pic of the Day is back...and next week, I'll bring back Fan Service Friday, on Monday expect to see another MoeMonday post, as well as some others from the past and new ^_^

What else is back?

Well, go to the Anime Gallery page and you'll see a rebuild in progress.  The Anime Gallery is returning and they will be better categorize than in the past with wonderful jQuery, HTML5, CSS3 goodness and social networking tie-ins as to modernize a now  somewhat retro web site feature (image shrines).

What happened to the galleries from?  Well, thank the devs at Apple for that mess.  I, like many about a  year or two back were paying for the old MobileMe service.  Part of that service was a dropbox-like gallery feature.  Well, when Apple moved to their iCloud service, they erased the galleries and everything with them >_<  Gone were the cosplay images, gone were the Japanese Idols, as well as pics from anime cons... and gone was the anime picture gallery.  Also, a 3rd part site decided to shut down their feed service, so even the relevant feeds from my blog were erased.   Times have changed, it's easier to create rss feeds with thumbnail images and with my increased knowledge in a slew of web-design and programming languages  I thought it was time to bring back parts of the site and make them better than before.  Also, as you could guess...I plan on bringing back the cosplay and Japanese idol sections as well in this revival and expansion of the site.

The blog itself has been getting some facelifts;  Finally, after so many hours of toiling,  I created a thumbnailed RSS feed section here, showing the latest anime figures and products from my store.  You'd think something like this would have be elementary web design...but it still seems you have to jump through hoops to get thumbnails from RSS feeds (especially if I'm pulling it from the PHP-powered OsCommerce cart >_<)


Currently the galleries now just need some filling in of content but, that's what I'll use the blog here for.

This s also to prep from some major overhaul of Anime.FM  I simply can't let such a good URL sit there as a hardly working blog.


--- ## Anime Blog with HTML5, CSS3 & jQuery? Oh My - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-14-anime-blog-with-html5-css3-jquery-oh-my/ - Date: 2012-11-14 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, news, programming, updates - AI-assisted: no As some of you might have seen, the blog got a little bit of a face lift. I replaced the old scrolling gallery with this one I use in the anime store. With it, the blog loads mu...

As some of you might have seen, the blog got a little bit of a face lift.  I replaced the old scrolling gallery with this one I use in the anime store.  With it, the blog loads much, much quicker and I'm able to categorize more featured topics.

A couple other things have been changed, upgraded.  The nav bar up top looks and feels much better and now encompasses many more links than before without using too much space (of course, that's what a common drop-down nav bar can do ^^;;)  Both the new nav bar and the new featured menu utilize HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery.  People with IE7 or earlier might run into some issues but Chrome, Firefox, IE8>, Safari and Opera users should be abe to see these fine.  Granted, I probably could spruce up the nav bar a bit with some better internal backgrounds and maybe some little icons for say Twitter and YouTube, but it's a start.

Many more links have been added but as stated earlier...lots of the photo content sections got ruined from Apple moving from MoblieMe to iCloud... and not bringing the damned iGalleries with them -_-.  As soon as I can, I'll restore them with either Flickr or Picasa libraries...so the anime pics, idols, etc will be coming back.  Anime Sanctuaries, a kind of wiki and throwback to the anime shrine of old is also planned to get some dire updating and filling in of content long overdue.

If any of you have been with the site long enough...you'll see me featuring my old Sephiroth Vs Mogs Flash animation that got (semi)popular on Newgrounds, almost 10 years ago ^^;;  Well, I'm getting back to making Flash animations asap and yes, I plan on eventually making the sequel to that animation since well, I sure as hell left people hanging with that and I think it's my obligation to continue that series.  Newgrounds is still very viable for animations (and actionScript games) plus, as a YouTube Partner, I can utilize YouTube with more original content I've been dying to Completionist get back to.  Thanks to Danny Choo and even more recently, NormalBoots team (JonTron, PBGamer, The, Continue? Show, Egoraptor (I remember him from when I was putting stuff on NG) and GameGrumps), I've been inspired to make some video game related videos.  I'd like to do some Let's Play vids and try to come up with some original game-related videoshow clips.  Basically, my own show on youtube...been a gamer since 1985 and an anime fan since 1997...so I think I'm long overdue to join the rest of the people in my generation dong this stuff on Youtube.

But wait, there's more.  A few posts ago I uploaded a Windows Games/XNA tutorial that could work in  the older Visual C# 2008 / XNA 3.1 environment.  Reason being, in case you see my tweets and FB posts, is since I'm working extra hard to get a position at a video game company in the city.  So, not only am I working on my Tenshi-Oni game for the iOS (and hopefully later on Android)...but I'm actually going to make some smaller games in Windows XNA.  I already have one in the works that I'll give out for free and make as a pre-curser to the first release of Tenshi-Oni.  Heck, all of this programming stuff, though making me tired like the top pic here, is an effort to get out of my current, underpaying day job and to b where I should be with the varied skills I have...that aren't being utilized well at that camera store I go to during the day when I'm not shipping anime figures and programming anime angels and demons.

Since I'm dabbing in so many topics and development tools (I'll list them below)...I also added a better category tab section at the top of the posts on the main page.  This way, I can also blog more since, the blog needs to ge back into gear as well and there's always so many anime figures, anime news, gaming news, things on my mind, etc to talk about.  Non-anime/game memes, etc, I'll post in my pot-luck blog, charlesgaffney.com (site needs some updating too ^^;;).

Oh, and lets not forget Anime.FM... I didn't forget about that site.  I have big plans for it and my recent foray into HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery will be of aid in that project.

Here's' a list of programming languages, environments and tools I'm working in...so in other words, I'm doing what I should have done a long while ago, add lots more content!


(edit: forgot to mention... the Disqus-powered comments have been upgraded too.  Really sorry for the comment system over the years being changed around.  Blame google changing things around with blogger over the years for that -_-  Hopefully with Disqus, the comments will stay here on the site and of course give it more usability.)
--- ## Semi-Fix for XNA 4.0 Tutorial's "No suitable graphics card found" Error - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-03-semi-fix-for-xna-40-tutorials-no/ - Date: 2012-11-03 - Tags: game dev, programming, video games, Visual CS, Windows, xna - AI-assisted: no #GameDev This is a bit of an odd post here on CAS but I thought it'd be useful for people like me who are trying to learn XNA via the XNA Game Studio 4.0's Shooter tutorial and ...

#GameDev
This is a bit of an odd post here on CAS but I thought it'd be useful for people like me who are trying to learn XNA via the XNA Game Studio 4.0's Shooter tutorial and can't get past the "No suitable graphics card error" error when trying to debug.  The true fix for my fellow game developers out there is actually to get a PC with a decent graphics card.  Reading the questions on this that have been posted on forums, stackflow, etc since 2010..seems that the answers are simply, "Y U No have a better PC?"

Well, as many of you know, I've been developing my iOS videogame, Tenshi-Oni on/off for the past year.  I use a 2 year old Macbook pro with the most recent OS (currently Mountain Lion as of this post) and all is fine and dandy.  This Macbook is a jump from my old Dell Dimension I got in 2002 back when I first started this site.  I did upgrade it midway with a Radeon 9200 graphics card for duel monitor support...but yes, it's well done for in terms of modern day development.  I could maybe try to use virtual machine and in a sense turn my Mac into a semi-Hackintosh...but I don't want to possibly ruin my Mac and jeopardize Tenshi-Oni.

"So, why don't you get a new PC?...you can build one for like $500-$600."  Sorry, not an option right now and my reasoning for getting into XNA development all of a sudden is to re-learn how to use the Visual C# IDE and XNA Framework. (more on that in a future post).  So, I'd imagine and seen it from the questions posted (but hardly answered) that many people with sub-par PCs and/or graphics cards want at least get the damn Shooter tutorial game to debug/run on your PC.  So, here's the "solution" I've made:

"Solution":
Not exactly a true fix since you won't be able to test any gestures and frameworks in 4.0...particularly for Windows Phone....but Windows x86 and Xbox builds can be made.  Just downloading the completed tutorial files and building it in Visual c# won't work without a little bit of  footwork...which I did for anyone looking for it...

Solution Download

Linked above is the Shooter XNA 4.0 Completed Tutorial Project...but made to work on Visual C# Express 2008 w/ XNA 3.1.  Granted, it's not an amazing feat of programming at all...for the most part, it's really just a bit of CTRL+C, CTRL+V and minor tweaking.  Some of the minor tweaking included omitting XNA 4.0 Framework references, like the .Touch for Windows phone plus I made the ship spawn a fifth of the way in since it spawning at x=0..doesn't look that great since half the ship will show and half will be off the screen to the left.  Also, the debug screen in x86 on Visual C# seems to have an output height beyond the Shooter Tutorial's graphics...so I fixed that with the graphics.PreferredBackBufferHeight = 480; line in Game1.cs.  

I can confirm it works on my old Dell with the x86 build.  I can't confirm it works on the Xbox 360 for testing but the build is there too.

Hope this helps at least get people like me with less than stellar PC step-ups a chance to get their feet wet with XNA/C# Game Development until we can nab ourselves a serious gaming and dev rig.

oh..and yes...I do plan on porting Tenshi-Oni to Windows...the controls are really best for Windows Phone or Windows 8 tablets as oppose to Xbox/PC but...I'll see if I can fix that once I cross that bridge.  More on why I'm diverting from the moment to XNA...in a bit.
--- ## Where the Hell Have I Been? (Part 2: Hurricane Sandy) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-11-03-where-hell-have-i-been-part-2-hurricane/ - Date: 2012-11-03 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, Hurricane Sandy, Long Island, news, programming, updates - AI-assisted: no Didn't mean for another hiatus in the blog and for the updates with the anime store (and my planned site upgrades) but Korra here got too mad about Star Wars being bought by Dis...

Didn't mean for another hiatus in the blog and for the updates with the anime store (and my planned site upgrades) but Korra here got too mad about Star Wars being bought by Disney, went into her Avatar state and now Long Islanders can't find enough gas to hoard in order to go back to their usual, needless, manic runnings arounds & staring at the even less impressive mediocre/overpriced beaches.  Ok, in all seriousness, this past week has been nuts and it did turn life upside down for myself and others here.  I used to want to be a meteorologist for a good while in my childhood and when I saw what the hell odd "Frankenstorm" Hurricane Sandy became... I joined the rest of the meteorological community who simultaneously thought somebody divided zero... causing not only a strong, late season hurricane but a freaken storm that moved west into the northeastern US.  Basically the worst possible angle any storm can do to the NYC area.

Where I got hit wasn't too bad though in comparison to people west of me.   I live in central/eastern Long Island but as you people can see, Sandy did alot of damage in an area not used to many hurricanes (yet we are now 2/2 for the past two years).  I was out of power for days and even as I type this, there are 400,000+ people just here on LI still without power.  We also practically ran out of gas...and that's not good for an impatient and generally incompetent area of the country.  Honestly, if there ever was a zombie apocalypse...Long Islanders wouldn't make the first day...these are people who are seriously not able to handle being inconvenienced by a storm or anything for that matter.  People in lower Manhattan, Staten Island and New Jersey have much, much more to complain about with the aftermath of Sandy...it's heartbreaking to see what my neighbors in the tri-state area have to deal with and the loss from this odd storm.

Another bit of news that lead to my being away again and the reasoning for posting that XNA bit just a few moments ago is that I'm really on the move when it comes to my dayjob situation.  Yes, I still have the anime store business but when I learned that the web design work I currently do for my current day job is not just underpaying ($15/hr) but massively underpaying me...I decided to take action and try to replace it with a much, much better paying job in NYC.  About 3-4 weeks ago I was interviewed by an IT recruiting firm and thanks to a good friend and customer in my anime store...I'm trying to become a video game programmer for a game company in the city.  My resume was sent in last Friday, just before the storm...



...until today that business was out of power due to the storm.  My current day job...the one that pays web devs $15/hr... was out of power for most of the week and now the boss there is slating cuts for even next week...thus making the need to move on to greener pastors more dire.  I am trying to get web dev positions but this game dev position is what I'm really aiming for...since, well... I got my Computer Science degree back in 2005, before game dev education was taken seriously, because I wanted to code games.  I'm not up to coding for some boring financial firm or doing underpaid web secretary work like I do now for a company that doesn't know the difference between email and gmail and feels that anything involving computers is your fault. Seriously...if you are computer illiterate in this day and age..stop...just stop, and now look in the mirror...cry, take a deep breath, cry some more, get some humility and then get your ass to a damn class about this stuff.  I mean, the owner of the place I currently work for, that camera store that starts with a B, emails me from his iPad...asking me what we sell products for on our own damn web site!...then the next email in his thread of brain-cell killing stupidity is "what does, x website sell y product for?" By His noodley appendages, it's like watching Mitt Romney try to drink a glass of water...



As one can see...I need to change my employment situation and fast, so right after the power finally got back online and after family stopped using me as a taxi...I got my feet running trying to be prepared to be a game developer in NYC.  The company I'm aiming to work with deals with XNA, Xbox Arcade, Games For Windows, and now Windows 8 games...so I'm reteaching myself Visual C# and refreshing my XNA knowledge   Thankfully, my year+ development of Tenshi-Oni on iOS/XCode is making this process much, much easier.  I'm actually rather excited with the chance to work in this field with Windows game dev in addition to the iOS dev I've been teaching myself.  Also, as one could guess, this field can pay more than even the 3x-better-than-silly-camera-store-web-site-$15/hr-job web design positions I've been asked to be a part of.  So, with a cup of coffee, maybe some XS energy drinks and little sleep...it's time I make CAS HTML5/CSS3 compliant, fix up my anime store, restart my youtube page and hell, maybe even get back to making AMVs and Flash animations.  I think that Sephiroth vs Mogs animation left way too many people hanging 9+ years ago ^^;;  I got to at least tie some knots before HL3 is finally announced and made. --- ## Where the Hell Have I Been? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-10-08-where-hell-have-i-been/ - Date: 2012-10-08 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Ok. I think I better explain where I've been for over a month. As usual, seems my life likes to beat me up and spit me out at times. As some of you might know, I burn the candle...


Ok.  I think I better explain where I've been for over a month.  As usual, seems my life likes to beat me up and spit me out at times.  As some of you might know, I burn the candle at both ends.  I run my anime figure business and work full time as a web content editor for a camera company.  The end of August and into September brought about a terrible chain of events that all decided to meet in one place.

 First off, I was still trying to fight the horrible migraine-like headaches that have been an absolute pain for me.  Oddly, they seem to always hit me on days I'm not at the day job, so work on my site, the figure business and the Tenshi-Oni video game got a back seat while I try to not get hospitalized from the pain.

Well, I finally get somewhat of a handle on what is going on and heal my headaches....to only then run into some other terrible chain of events.  You see, late August and September is the time of year the pro camera industry like to tittilize the public with the next batch of mildly better cameras that they soon will replace shortly after x-mas with only better gadgets.  So, sadly, my day job's work went from mild site updates...to full on almost 7 days of product addition hell.  I've been through this so I was somewhat expecting it.  Not the best way to come out of a migraine headache marathon but it was expected.

What wasn't expected was what happened in tandem with the prior events.  Out of the blue, I get a call from my parents who tell me our 13 year old cat was found dead outside the yard...hit by a car. Anyone who owns cats..hell any pet knows how sad the news is.  Didn't help that earlier in the year I lost my baseball coach as well.  To be honest, lots of terrible things and stressful situations have happened to my fiancee and I this entire year...so much so that I've become emotionally numb...is it a sin of depression?  Not sure, but it certainly conflicts with my type A personality that awakened from the events that happened to me 10 years ago (that's another story).  In other words...there's days that I'm TTGL's Kamina and then there are days I'm like
It doesn't end there...I'll come clean with what has been the most moral destroying part of my life since 2007..  what I'm certain is the root cause of my migraines; It's the daily financial pains caused from my years in Amway from 2004 to early 2008.  Not only did health issues in 2005 from working at Friendly's cut my college education short (pretty bad for a former honors student)...but the Amway business.  Well, mainly the (mostly) sticks in the mud who I dragged along with me... never wanted to build a business. I seemed to have been the only one on Long Island that didn't want to work for a boss their whole live and damn did I jump head first into the business.  Another issue with that was that my senior business partners were all in Queens and NJ....I live on eastern Long Island.  Eventually the impossibility of the feat to grow a legit business with people who'd rather kiss a boss's rear across LI lead to me being about $40K in debt.  Nothing really far off from what jobless college grads have to deal with now..but this is something all my own doing.   Mind you, this was ALL before the anime business came to be.  By the time the anime business came to fruition (actually I was going to start it in 2004 just b4 Amway)... I got the better (but still low paying) job I'm still in now.  It was enough money though to pay the monthly payments to quell this horrible burden of debt....which was bailed out for me by my parents.  Well, not exactly....my parents took a loan on their already paid off mortgage to help pay my debts from Amway.  This resulted in a $433 monthly payment...hell freaken jail sentence that won't end until September 2017 if I don't pay it off early.  Looking back, I should have just filed for bankruptcy  and by today I would have 1) nothing to pay monthly and 2) all of it by now off my credit report.  Instead, even before the anime business...I was stuck in this hell.  Also, only since January have my fiancee and I finally left our parent's house to live in an apartment.  The financial and family stress has been the main reason why, though we've been dating since 2002 and engaged since 2007...we have yet to get married.  Actually, our apartment is owned by a family member so we are still (due to money) not truly on our own yet...at 28 years old.  My anime figures are back in storage at my parent's house...so my work schedule is: work by 9am, out of work at 7pm, anime figure business at old home until 10pm...drive back home...rinse and repeat.

What does this have to do with last month?  Well, add all of these events and handicaps together with more insult to injury.  In addition to a number of anime figure buyers who jumped ship due to the good old American / Japan anime licnenceing shipment delays, both my main suppliers shorted me figures people paid me for in advance.  So, I go and do the right thing and order the lost figures from other retailers who..sadly overcharge for rare figures.  The loss caused me to be late with recent figure payments to my suppliers (making it iffy if I'll again get shorted figures) which then forced me to auction off lots of anime figures.  eBay auctions sound good on the outside but they tend to be a terrible experience   Not only do auctions winners tend to bail out since they think it's a game...the winners who do pay tend to ask for white glove service on $100 figures they somehow won for $15.  Money, time and sanity lost in a hobby I have the utmost love for..all outside my control and during a bad months to begin with.  So, I got worried that the anime business will go the way of my old Amway business and basically went into a mental break down.

I lost my mind for about a day or two.  No, I'm in no way suicidal...hell, doing so would only cause more issues....but I was worried about my sanity.  A person can only handle so much and holy crap did it take alot of hits for me to crack.  Any less of a person would have been long gone, talking to themselves in backwards Latin in a padded room.

So, what's going on?  What's the plan?  Is the anime business really having to go away?

Nope, the anime business is still here and those of you waiting on figures, I'll get them to you once released or 3rd party if need be.  What I did, as some of you might have seen, is halt the addition of new figure pre-orders since, understandably, I was worried if my suppliers would honor my reserves being I ran late for the first time and with them shorting me even when I wasn't late.

Thankfully, the anime store is running and you can send me your pre-orders on what I list.

I plan on not only improving the store's selection, but the look and feel of the whole site (and anime.fm) in general.

Tenshi-Oni (though also delayed by iOS's terrible conversion and all of these events) is back in production and more in the next few days I'm certain on that.

Same with this blog;  I need to get back to making content for here since 1) I love it 2) it can be a little bit of a money maker for me...an as you all can see...i'll need all the help I can get.

For years I've held off on Flash Animations,  AMVs, participating on Newgrounds.com and making any videos on Youtube....that is now planned to change.

What about the voice acting? Well, money is tight and thus I couldn't complete the very expensive courses to get my demo reel ready.  Yet, I'm not giving up on that.  As of last week I got an audition to chase after and with my apartment being very quiet and my editing knowledge..I'll make my own early demo reel, use the money from Skype recording gigs to pay for a true demo reel.  I want to be an anime voice actor god dammit! >_<

I plan on revamping the site's look and feel to match current web design structures (ie: jQuery, HTML5 and CSS3) A tidbit of this can be seen in the main store site with the revolving banner (which needs updating -_-)  Two reasons I'm doing this 1) my sites and blog need an overhaul to the next version...so I can make more content on here (like the old anime sanctuaries, etc) 2) To help create a resume for me.

Why make Chuck's Anime Shrine act like a "resume"?  Well, I've gone and updated my real resume so that  I can hopefully move on from the job I have now.  Yes, my ultimate goal is still to be my own boss.  I won't throw that dream away though the anime figure sales sadly look like they won't be all I need to break free.  I've been too complacent in a job that pays rather little ($15/hour).  The job is mentally stressful for a number of reasons...let alone the low pay I get for all the computer knowledge I have.  Sadly, I'm the only computer literate person in the place and any of you IT people understand the hell I made for myself by not jumping ship early on to better, more understanding computer jobs.  My knowledge  particularly in my recent escapades in Objective-C for the Tenshi-Oni game shows that I'm horribly underemployed and could work from home (instead of driving 70 miles round trip to my current employment).

Instead of making hardly $20K a year...I should be making $70K+ and though my goal isn't to work a job my whole life...the extra boost in pay that I can get can help out with all that holds me back as it is...since the main issues I have are financial burdens.  It could bring more money (and less stress) into the anime business,  allow me to pay my team working on Tenshi-Oni (and other game projects), and maybe, maybe free me from the old ghost debt so I can marry the love of my life finally.

So, what will change? Well, in terms of the anime biz, sadly, it looks like the Amazon and eBay branches will take a back seat for a good time.  With all of the back stock practically sold..all that's left are the pre-orders people have reserved.  If I get any cancellations, I'll post them to these sections.  for now, I'll reserve only what people want until thins calm down for a bit.  But hey, that means I might be able to blog about the figures more and other stuff for the site ^_^  My eBay branch might still sell Swarovski figures thanks to the x-mas season around the corner..so it's not out...just shifting gears until the dust settles.

I'm always going to fight for my dreams and I will fight what life throws at me...or die trying.  As Cave Johnson says...



--- ## Anime Art Rage - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-08-24-anime-art-rage/ - Date: 2012-08-24 - Tags: anime, art, funny, meme, ruined fresco - AI-assisted: no These are the worst kinds of people. Yes, anime can be an art. The people who bash anime saying it's art are the same kind of "art experts" responsible for ruining this fresco .

These are the worst kinds of people.  Yes, anime can be an art.  The  people who bash anime saying it's art are the same kind of  "art experts" responsible for ruining this fresco. --- ## Another Happy Miku Nendoroid Customer - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-08-14-another-happy-miku-nendoroid-customer/ - Date: 2012-08-14 - Tags: anime, anime figures, chucksanimeshrine, customers, Miku Hatsune, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Many of you know that bootlegged anime figures are still a major problem for us collectors. Every so often Good Smile Company will add to their list of figures that have been tu...

Many of you know that bootlegged anime figures are still a major problem for us collectors.  Every so often Good Smile Company will add to their list of figures that have been turned into crap-quality doppelgangers.  Remember, this is just with GSC, not including the other brands that get bootlegged plus these are just the ones that have been caught.  At the top of the bootlegged list would be the Miku Nendoroid figure.  It's one of the only anime figures to ever get multiple re-releases.  It's arguably the top seller from GSC line up over these past years..but that means finding a real one might be a challenge.  Every day I see competitors to my eBay branch posting obvious fakes..and some not as obvious (as the real stock photo is used but once arrived, people relize quick it's a fake.)  So, in short..even when legit sellers like me post up real Miku Nendoroids...we sometimes get put under the microscope or people simple don't buy them since they fear a lesser known anime store like mine is selling the fakes (I still have about 3 left at the time of this post ^^;;).

Anyways, about a week ago I got an email from a customer who was waiting for the post office to send a Miku figure their way...they were going a bit slow in our opinion but ten again... First Class Mail International is equivalent to SAL..but still worrisome with the delay.

Thankfully the customer got it and was not only pleased but made these images showcasing Miku's arrival to the rest of their collection. (and with my chicken-scratch "Fragile" writing ^^;;)  Enjoy:

















--- ## CAS on Community Connect NJ - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-08-13-cas-on-community-connect-nj/ - Date: 2012-08-13 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, PR, updates - AI-assisted: no A few weeks back I was humbled by this post on Community Connect NJ . ^_^ Mainly about the store part of my site... just wanted to send a thank you to Robert Catalano over at CC...

A few weeks back I was humbled by this post on Community Connect NJ. ^_^  Mainly about the store part of my site... just wanted to send a thank you to Robert Catalano over at CCNJ for wanting to make a post about this site. --- ## Tenshi-Oni: Finally Unfolding into Reality - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-07-16-tenshi-oni-finally-unfolding-into/ - Date: 2012-07-16 - Tags: anime iphone game, iPad, iphone, programming, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no I know, this game has been taking up my tweets, FB posts, G+ posts, etc. Hey, you can't blame me, I've been playing video games since the age of 1.5 and the chance to make my ow...

I know, this game has been taking up my tweets, FB posts, G+ posts, etc.  Hey, you can't blame me,  I've been playing video games since the age of 1.5 and the chance to make my own video game is one of the top items in my Bucket List; especially a game based off the characters from my own website that might one day make the need for a day job... obsolete.  Also add the fact that I've been wanting to create this game since 2003 but life has steered me away from my dreams and thus you have my current obsession to make this a real game.

As for blog posts about the game...well, I've been very quiet about it for about 3 months.  Reasons stemming from life's various distractions (office work, my own business's work, crazy large family, etc), the need to revamp this site (thanks mainly to the need to get with the HTML5, jQuiery & CSS3 times & Apple's retire Mobile Me service killing off my galleries -_-)... to the unseen internal overhaul of the game's engine's code and the insanely long debugging that comes from rewiring the thing.

It's been over a year now since I've announced the production of the Tenshi-Oni game and now there's truly some substance behind it.  Yes, it's been a rather slow process but the release of this game is coming and I'll make sure it is so.  So, without further delay... here's where the game is now since last time and what is slated:

Pricing, Versions and (tentative) Release Date:






The first version of the game will be available for the iPhone 4/4s with the ability to work on the older devices (3G/3Gs) hopefully off the bat but I might need to make a patch to help people who still have them to play it.  Of course I  will have it on the iPad...just need to make sure the graphic scaling on the GUI items and effects match the larger screen and newer Retina Display iPad.

Android Users...don't fret.  I plan on porting it to Android...just need to get over a bit of a learning curve and find the right way to port it with as little hassle as possible.  If the game is at least somewhat successful, my time can be focused more on the game (and maybe hiring other fellow programmers to help) thus leading to the game on Android and other platforms like HTML5, Flash and XBox 360 market sooner than later.

There will be a FREE version.  The free version and the paid version for the first release probably won't be all that different.  The free version will have iAd ads on it but only in a few spots in the game...nothing too crazy.  Any time I add new moves, graphical updates, etc to the main part of the game...so will be in the Free version (until the possible need for a well drawn out, and worthwhile DLC)

As stated...there will be a PAID/FULL version.  The benefits of the paid version probably won't be seen until subsequent updates but here's what it'll have that the FREE version won't:


The release date is set already in iTunes for the early half of August....realistically I want it out then but it might be pushed back slightly...granted, i really want it out already..been talking about this thing for so damn long ^^;;


New Pause GUI 


As you can see from the top image and this one just below.  I've created a more aesthetic and functional Pause screen.  Like how Angry Birds has their scrolling news feed on their pause screen, I will too.  It can be toggled on/off but I'll put news, merchandise links, and probably some fan art posts too ^_^
You can also see a new combo timer I added up top here.




Level Select Screen:

Though needing some polishing...the game has a fully functional Level Select screen.  I've even made it very dynamic for me the designer with the ability for it to create this screen reading from a .plist file.  In other words...I can create tons of levels off the bat and they automatically show in the level select screen.  

The game will have two main sections: Story and Survival




Final Attack Graphics:
Thanks to the game artist, Kenneos..I got some cool backdrop art that shows up at the start of Fumi's Final Attacks

Enemies:

Gone are the default space enemies from the game's initial engine and now some original enemies are being added.  I'll probably put the space enemies in a special stage but now there'll be some enemies that don't look too out of place.  Not only did I modularized the enemies...I've made their AI expandable. For now I simply re-skinned the asteroids and ship images but very soon the enemies will be more dynamic and hopefully varied.


Combos and Fonts:

Some enemies can be brought into a combo when using the sword/swipe attack.  There's now a timer up top (seen in an image above) so you can get the point multipliers if timed right.  

As you can see too, the game's font has been updated...thanks mainly to Glyph Designer.  Still not the final look though but getting there.


Game in motion and Beta testers:

I know I stated in my Tweets that I would try to have a Beta ready for a select few and an updated video giving a sneak peek...but due to tons of bug fixes with the combo system...I didn't have the chance ^^;; Sorry about that.  It will be soon though...not just for the beta..but for the entire thing I hope.

--- ## New Sailor Moon Anime for 2013 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-07-06-new-sailor-moon-anime-for-2013/ - Date: 2012-07-06 - Tags: anime, anime news, Sailor Moon, updates - AI-assisted: no Rumor had it that the creator of Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi was going to announce something big today in Japan. Most were thinking that the anime will get a redub, maybe a new ...

Rumor had it that the creator of Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi was going to announce something big today in Japan. Most were thinking that the anime will get a redub, maybe a new manga adaptation, etc. Well, Sailor Moon fans got an even better surprise... there's a brand new Sailor Moon anime in the works!

Yep, Sailor Moon is being reborn into a brand new anime ^o^ Earlier today (Japan time) it was announced by Takeuchi and Sailor Moon manga publisher, Kodansha that for the summer of 2013 fans old and new will be able to see Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts in glorious new 21st animation.  It's not known if the original Japanese voice actors of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask will reprise their roles.  same could be said about the English dub which I'm certain will happen in the future...but based on the way anime slowly gets through the licencing process..don't expect that until Summer/Fall of 2014.


--- ## Samurai Katanako Anime Figure... Looking Awfully Familiar... - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-06-28-samurai-katanako-anime-figure-looking/ - Date: 2012-06-28 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Tenshi-Oni, videogames - AI-assisted: no Just posted the new 7th Dragon 2020: Samurai (Katanako) 1/7 Scale Figure by Max Factory for pre-order on the store. It's a beautiful figure. Thing is, when I first saw it and si...

Just posted the new 7th Dragon 2020: Samurai (Katanako) 1/7 Scale Figure by Max Factory for pre-order on the store. It's a beautiful figure. Thing is, when I first saw it and since wasn't familiar with Samurai Katanako...I damn near fell out my chair. Anyone who's been to my site can see she looks an awful lot like my mascot and the main character of my game Tenshi-Oni...Fumi. Maybe a bit more slender than Fumi and her hair is a black/purple while Fumi's is a dark blue/blue yet, if one day my game not only gets completed but is a hit...i'd be honored if Max Factory and Good Smile Company would make a figure from her. Of course Fumi has three forms..this one looking like her human/normal form and then there's her angel and demon forms. As for Samurai Katanako, she's a character from the Sega RPG, 7th Dragon 2020.


For a comparison of Fumi...here's an image Kenneos made of Fumi that's now in the game for when Fumi does her Final Attack.


The only worry I have is that once I finally get Tenshi-Oni out and the public sees my characters..that I suddenly get tagged as some unoriginal hack akin to how Zyanga goes at things.  I'm already worried anime fans might think the game copies a bunch from the widely popular Touhou Project (having an official Touhou music artist do some of the music doesn't help quell people's suspicions ^^;;) and now some might think I made Fumi from Samurai Katanako ^^;;  Thing is... the idea for Tenshi-Oni (aka Project Fumi) has been out since 2003/2004..so Fumi's been around much longer.  (Sure wish I got her off and the game off the ground sooner but it's happening nonetheless ^_^)

As for news on the game, since I've been a bit quiet in the blog about it, here's a brief on where it stands:


as for the similarities to Fumi...






--- ## Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Considering the Development of a Real Gundam - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-06-27-japans-liberal-democratic-party/ - Date: 2012-06-27 - Tags: 1/1 Scale Gundam, gundam, world news - AI-assisted: no Over the years we've been talking about how Japan could one day make a giant mech/Gundam. We've seen Bandai make that 1/1 Gundam statue with lights effects but this bit of news ...


Over the years we've been talking about how Japan could one day make a giant mech/Gundam.  We've seen Bandai make that 1/1 Gundam statue with lights effects but this bit of news can make any anime fan like me grin with excitement...

Apparently, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is "seriously considering the development of Gundam."  Yes, you heard that right, a real functioning Gundam.  As stated in a post from a few years back...the cost of creating a real, functioning Gundam was estimated to be at around $730 million dollars.

The media here (like MSN) are laughing at the idea...yes, a big robot might not be the best idea in a bad economy but then again,  looking into different technology in robotics would be a good thing for innovations for the future..and yes, space flight can be tied into that in my opinion.

Time to get some g-force training but at 28..I think I'm 1 years too old to be a test pilot.


Kotaku link for more info --- ## Final Fantasy VII On Steam, With Cloud Saves - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-06-21-final-fantasy-vii-on-steam-with-cloud/ - Date: 2012-06-21 - Tags: final fantasy VII, video games, videogames - AI-assisted: no Like it or not, Final Fantasy VII is the most loved game of the entire Final Fantasy series and though many of us (including me) would love to see a true remake to the game, thi...


Like it or not, Final Fantasy VII is the most loved game of the entire Final Fantasy series and though many of us (including me) would love to see a true remake to the game, this is still a nice little upgrade.  FFVII also holds a special place for me as it was this game and Tifa Lockhart that initialed my interest in Japanese culture and thus started my anime fandom, this site and me meeting my fiancee.

Based on the European Steam product page (seen in the screenshot below), this new PC version of Final Fantasy VII will take advantage of today's paradigms in online (and overall) gaming like DLC, achievements and (pun intended) Cloud saves. As an old school gamer, I sometimes share the distaste in the way DLC,  achievements, Facebook shares, etc are abused in today's games but I find it comforting that a whole new generation of gamers (and anime fans) will get to see why we hold this game so dear.  


There'll be 36 achievements and the DLC is something called a "character booster".  In short, you can pay real money for extra Exp, Phoenix Downs and other items/stats.  This kind of irks me but I guess Square-Enix will do what they can to bank off from gamers who just don't want to face the game at face value and default difficulty.  FFVII can at times be very hard, but like most FF games, the key is to just grind out tons of battles and build up your characters.  I don't hate DLC though, as I plan on doing so in my game, Tenshi-Oni. I have to get with the times and people will look for achievements, cloud saves, Facebook/social media shares and DLC which Tenshi-Oni will have, too...just I won't be charging for DLC in the paid version until I create value-adding expansions/features.  Is paying real money for extra Phoenix Downs worth it in FFVII?..I guess that's up to you gamers.

The downside to this is that this isn't a true remake to the game, just a New Game+ of sorts.  Yet, as many of us have seen with games like Skyrim and MineCraft, an avid fan-base can create amazing mods that really do add to the game.  This is the possibly for FFVII on Steam (and that is why I'm so excited that I sent out this blog post after way too long of a hiatus..another one due to work -_-).  I'd imagine the first mods will be something about bringing Aeris back to life and making Tifa sexy, in addition to graphical code.  Mods could also add chapters to the story if the modders are keen enough on the code. We've already seen mods in Skyrim that take the player to whole new maps so us crazy FFVII fans could probably take this game into a different direction.  


The game will be pretty cheap in price too at around $15 or so, so when it comes out...get it.



 --- ## Tenshi-Oni Facebook Page - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-05-30-tenshi-oni-facebook-page/ - Date: 2012-05-30 - Tags: facebook, fb, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no Just wanted everyone to know that there's now a Facebook page for the Tenshi-Oni game ^_^ Here's the link: www.facebook.com/TenshiOnigame Follow, comment and participate if you'...

Just wanted everyone to know that there's now a Facebook page for the Tenshi-Oni game ^_^

Here's the link: www.facebook.com/TenshiOnigame

Follow, comment and participate if you'd like ^^

There's also been a Chuck's Anime Shrine Page up there since 2009...but it wasn't until recently that Facebook really made their Pages more user friendly.  Expect that to be updated over time as well.


...more on the game soon --- ## Astrophotography with the Canon 60Da - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-05-21-astrophotography-with-canon-60da/ - Date: 2012-05-21 - Tags: astronomy, gadgets, photography, photos - AI-assisted: no Some of you may know that I've recently got back into my old childhood passion for astronomy. No time like the present and actually...there's been much news pertaining to space ...

Some of you may know that I've recently got back into my old childhood passion for astronomy.  No time like the present and actually...there's been much news pertaining to space this whole year like the plans for asteroid mining, the solar CMEs aimed directly at us, the retirement of the shuttle, Vesta being discovered as a proto-planet instead of an asteroid, the recent solar eclipse on the west cost of the US and Japan, and the upcoming transit of Venus.

Either way you slice it, Astronomy has come back in a big way and as a child of the late 80's/early 90's...it's had a long time coming.  It was since my childhood that space and astronomy has taken a back seat in the public eye.  Some people might look at the NASA budget and think, "wow, that's a lot of money."  Well, it's not, and especially not for for something that should take far more presidence in this world if we are to honestly call ourselves a modern species.  Just to put things in perspective...NASA's entire budget is around $16 billion... that's nothing when the US military's budget is ~$650 Billion.  The cost for the A/C units found in every army tent in Afghanistan is actually more than ALL of NASA's budget.  A sick realization of our "leaders'" so-called priorities.

Anyways..I'll step off my soap box for a moment to show you all what I wanted to make this post about...Astrophotography.

Over the weekend I got the luxury of borrowing the new Canon 60Da astrophotography DSLR.  Here's an image of just the camera body:


The camera is an upgrade from the 20Da and is basically the 60D but with increased infrared & hydrogen sensors.  It's 18MP and for the most part..it's actually still good for regular, non-astro photography.  The issue you'd get if you shoot terrestrial objects is that you might get a red hue. I saw it the most when taking photographs of my family...it gives the look of a slight sunburn....kind of like this image of my nephew:

 The extra red isn't that noticeable actually.


This was the first time I actually got to use an SLR despite my working as the co-webmaster at a pro-camera store for the past 6 years.  It was fun though working with the long exposure shots.  I got the hang of the Bulb setting toward the end of my night of photography at the Custer Observatory (which I'm a member of now ^_^)

The images I'm showing here were done with a Canon 18-135mm lens, a tripod and a cable release....very important if you are to take long exposure shots of anything as you don't want the camera to shake from pressing the shutter button.  I hope in a future post or update to this one, I can get some shots with this rigged to a telescope.  Eventually I got the hang of tings but you can see I was getting my bearings straight trying to focus the background more (and reduce noise in spite of the high ISO needed for such shots ~1600+)

For those wondering the settings...this is a guide but once you get a hang of the area in the night sky you are shooting...you should try out other settings and maybe vary the exposure time using the Bulb setting:

In Manual (M) setting
Some of the images are edited using photoshop to bring out the details (you'll tell from the duplicates)






















As a bonus... and to put anime in here some how... here's a photo I did with my iPhone and my telescope...with a much needed edit ^^





--- ## TOONAMI Returns 5/26/12 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-05-16-toonami-returns-52612/ - Date: 2012-05-16 - Tags: adult swim, anime, anime news, cartoon network, toonami, tv - AI-assisted: no As somebody who became an anime fan thanks to a friend of mine (who works for Cartoon Network now) and because of Toonami back in 1996/1997..this is obviously heart warming news...


As somebody who became an anime fan thanks to a friend of mine (who works for Cartoon Network now) and because of Toonami back in 1996/1997..this is obviously heart warming news.  Apparently, the whole April Fools joke of playing Toonami on Saturday 4/1 and the twitter trends did in fact bring enough popularity for those over at William's Street and Cartoon Network to take notice.

So, as announced today, on May 26th Toonami will officially be brought back from the grave.  This isn't the first time the mainly anime savvy late night CN viewers brought back a show from the past cancellation.  We all remember the rebirth of Family Guy thanks to Adult Swim viewers.  Reason I stated "anime savvy" viewers is because at that time, Adult Swim was really just a newer version of Toonami's midnight run. It was us anime fans who brought Fam Guy back as well.  Problem was, the popularity (and ratings) of Family Guy and it's revival brought in an entirely new and usually anime hating community.

Adult Swim was riding strong on Inuyasha, DBZ and other shows at that time as anime in general was seeing a huge growth in the American market.  Sadly, at around 2005-2006, the vast majority of the newer and more abundant viewership (and even some crew members at William Street) added to the growing anime hatred.  Add that to the fact that anime piracy became rampant (thanks in part to anime studios being prejudice and still weary of non-japanese viewers/consumers)..the trend faded.  Within this time, Adult Swim opted for cheaper, homemade and at times rather tacky/crappy original programming to pad around their main money maker, Family Guy...which then began just being newish repeats from FOX's reclaiming of everything Family Guy.

By 2008, Toonami got cancelled and since then, anime got shoved into just Saturday nights where on a daily bases, the mouth-breathing basement dwellers who hate anime at Williams Street posted bumps that would poke fun at anime fans.... obviously not something one should do to the very viewership that was the reason for that block of programming to be there in the first place.

Well, as they say, "Money talks and the rest walk."  Twitter trends and more importantly virally rampant viewership means money to Cartoon Network.  I ask you all, fellow anime fans to do what you can to make the revival of Toonami be as great as a return as Family Guy and Futurama was to TV.  I know we have torrents, crunchyroll, hulu and netflix to get our anime fix now...but if we don't do something to bring back anime in at least a bit of positive limelight...then the anime deserter CEO from Tokyo Pop would be correct when he ditched the US a while back believing anime was dead in the US. It's not and Toonami can make people who weren't otaku (like me in 1996) become part of this awesome fandom.  Make it so that anyone who talks bad about anime at adult swim eats their words when their bosses at CN headquarters would lose a valuable asset if canceled again.


Check out http://www.adultswim.com/shows/toonami/index.html and tweet #ToonamisBackBitches --- ## Princess-Battles Video Game - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-05-15-princess-battles-video-game/ - Date: 2012-05-15 - Tags: anime voice acting, Princess-Battles, updates, video games, videogames - AI-assisted: no Wow, almost a month since my last post ^^;; Pardon the hiatus... was busy with the anime figure business and knee deep in some Tenshi-Oni coding. In addition the many hats I see...


Wow, almost a month since my last post ^^;;  Pardon the hiatus... was busy with the anime figure business and knee deep in some Tenshi-Oni coding.  In addition the many hats I seem to wear, I'm also now a member of the Custer Observatory as an amateur astronomer and of course...as I'll bring up here, my attempt at anime voice acting hasn't ended.

Thanks to a tip from one of my classmates from the Bang! Zoom! anime/game voice acting classes, I got to audition for an anime card game that'll be released this year... Princess Battles by Nekomura Games.

I made sure to try out for all 4 male roles ^^.  Was great to get some use out of my mic and my newly acquired pop filter.

Here's a video of the game in action...



I'd post up some of my audition files for the game but for at least at the moment (as to not cause any legal issue) I'll hold off on that.

--- ## Norton Moe Shrine Maidens, Protect Your Data - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-04-20-norton-moe-shrine-maidens-protect-your/ - Date: 2012-04-20 - Tags: anime, anime shrine, computers, gadgets, japan, shrines - AI-assisted: no With my website's name, I'd think it's be a crime for me not to showcase this... Norton, the guys behind the various internet and computer virus products (that us computer progr...

With my website's name, I'd think it's be a crime for me not to showcase this...

Norton, the guys behind the various internet and computer virus products (that us computer programmers sometimes see as "bloatware" at times) came up with a commercial for their new omamory software featuring, Moe Shrine Maidens that protect your data.  These are indeed the idols from dempagumi.Inc in case some of you might recognize them.

Here's the commercial below... I might need to hire them to protect the anime figure section of the anime shrine, lol



Thanks to alafista.com for posting this. --- ## A Decade of Chuck's Anime Shrine - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-04-16-decade-of-chucks-anime-shrine/ - Date: 2012-04-16 - Tags: anniversary, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Just wanted to post up something I really should have posted last month when the site technically hit the 10 year mark ^^;; Yesterday was actually mine and Danielle's 10th anniv...


Just wanted to post up something I really should have posted last month when the site technically hit the 10 year mark ^^;; Yesterday was actually mine and Danielle's 10th anniversary as well so I guess it was fitting to post this.

The past 10 years have been what you'd expect for 10 years of time...lots of change, different levels of awesomeness and also level boring drudgery.  The site was something I thought up back in the summer of 2001 before my senior year in high school. 2001-2002 for many reasons being a New Yorker was a tumultuous time in our history.  Despite all of the crap that was going on, I made this site and also met the love of my life a month later in April of 2002.  The following year in 2003 we cosplayed at I-Con as Tidus and Yuna (seen in the kind slapped together montage above) and we were the "cute couple" of the cosplay contest...and we also reenacted the FFX make out scene in from of Inyuasha's English voice actor Richard Cox and the entire Viz Media crew ^^;;  We've been engaged since about the time I added the store to the site in 2007;we'd be married already if the costs of weddings on Long Island weren't so high and they are indeed over priced...on a criminal level might I say -_-

As for the site, it started as a simple fan site in 2002, dedicated to my love of both Dragon Ball Z and Final Fantasy VII; this sort of explains the fact the site has always had a black, orange and yellow color scheme.  Thanks to Toonami and my friend Tiago who now works for Cartoon Network, I became a true anime fan and continued to put more anime series into the site.  This time, if some of you remember were the days of the various anime fan sites/shrines... sadly all but a few; this site, temple-o-trunks, deviant art, and Gaia Online..are still left.

The early success of the site stemmed from both us being one of the first AMV hubs...years before youtube was a glimmer in their founder's eyes.  2003 had so much traffic from the AMV sections and from sites like angelfire and xanga (the pre MySpace and pre facebook) that the site was down on a number of occasions.   From 2003 and up until the end of last year...our AMVs, Love Bites and Big In Japan were a part of the Newgrounds.com collections; receiving almost 1 million views before the asshat anime-hater parts of the site took them down.  Newgrounds was also the place where you can find my first shot at Flash animation, the Sephiroth Vs Mogs short....which I still really need to get back and finish ^^;;  The AMV "Love Bites" was actually loved so much by the original music artists, QED that they contacted me directly looking for me to work with them in editing their future music videos...

sadly, it seems QED split and thus I never got that gig, but the short lived success back in 2003 made Danielle and I think up of mascots to the site and a video game I could maybe code in Flash's actionScript.  Thus, that's where Project Fumi, now known as Tenshi-Oni, got it's start.

Then....came 2004.  I was still working at that horrible job at Friendly's icecream while in college for Computer Science mainly studying to be a video game programmer.  Oddly, back then game programmers in CS was looked down upon; idiot professors who never worked outside the class room thought game programmers and web designers were "stary-eyed and pointless"...simple put, they wanted us to work mundane data entry jobs at cubical-slave hells like Computer Associates (CA) or Sun Microsystems.   CA is/was headquartered here on Long Island with most of the schools like Suffolk Community College and Stony Brook University doing what they could to butter up the execs there by aimlessly prepping us for jobs that one year later.... got sent to Mumbai, India.   70% of the jobs got outsourced and looking back at it, any CS major at that time knew how fruitless the degree was unless.... you became a game programmer.

As for me in 2004, I was in a position where I hated the hell I worked at at Friendly's Ice Cream.  For anyone looking to work there..don't, let them finally go bankrupt this year and just sell icecream in grocery shelves.  I worked 10-13 hours straight with no break and with the worst customers people can imagine....hungry, fat, stupid customers from Selden, NY.  The work environment was so bad that I got kidney stones at age 22 from the dehydration of not being able to eat or drink.  I weighed a measly 115 pounds at 5' 7".

At this same time, my site continued to grow and it was then I was deciding to move on and do something different from the status-quo...and since I saw the "No Track" signs that other in the CS majors didn't..I was checking my options.  I at first thought to start a store here on the site (yep way back in 2004)...but before I could further that path and continue building this site & further my Flash animation & game skills...I got a call from a friend of the family looking for help with their business.  I thought I was a job interview but it ended up being an Amway business opportunity.  I wasn't upset since I am the business type...I simply loath having a boss and my overall goal to this very day is to be my own sculptor of my life.  Having a boss and place to "clock in" to is NOT the life for me.

I had a good start in that business but unfortunately I was looking for freedom from the 9-5 rut more than those who I brought along and their shortfall lead to me financially getting hurt really bad and about 4 years of my life dedicated to that freedom...gone.  From 2004-2008, I was an active person in that business but I traded working on this site, seeing my fiancee more and lots of money to make it come true.  It's nothing at fault with Amway and I still like/use the business.... hell put in amway.com/chuck and yep..that's me and yep I will still take your order if you want anything...but gone are the days of me going to meetings and actively trying to get people to try the business.  Sadly, many here in New York are the "sheep" type and want a boss to tell them where to be...not many want the freedom of being their own business owner :-/

I still wanted that freedom and in 2007...I came back to actively working on this site with the site's blog being started in mid 2006 (thanks to inspiration from Dannychoo.com).  Job-wise: I quit Friendly's in August of 2005, worked a bit at Office Max printing during the x-mas season of 2005-2006 and then worked for a bit at an eBay consignment company called Money Tree Auctions until they and that entire business model tanked (thanks to customers sending in crap yep looking for gold).  Shortly after I used my associates in CS to work to be one of the webmasters to Berger-Bros.com.  To this day I still am working for Berger-bros (but hopefully my anime business will change that soon though...in 2008-2009 I quit for a month before unfortunately going back -_-)

It was back in 2007 that I used what I learned from the eBay consignment job to start selling on eBay by myself.  It was tough though to find what will sell for a profit though...I started selling bulk items I bough on overstock.com and eventually just called up a Swarovski wholesaler whom I know from the old job.  Thus, I began selling on eBay starting with Swarovski crystals..which I still do a little today ^_^

I wanted to work doing what I loved and thus I thought that maybe I could start selling anime products.  Not too long after finding the non-bootleg distribution lines thanks to AAAanime.com, I added the store to my now revived website.  That year I even somehow lucked out and bought anime.fm...which to this day I need to upgrade to a better site (more on that in a bit though)

Since 2007 the store has been doing great...over half a million dollars in sales has gone through since I began just on eBay.  Today I anime figures directly on the site, on amazon and on eBay ^_^

Of course since 2007, some things have changed, back in 2011, the whole blog got practically deleted by google removing their FriendConnect service to focus on Google+ -_-  I've since added Disqus but I think I've lost a bit of my community due to that loss -_-  seems that in these 10 years..my site has outlived a number of the sites and services I've long linked to :-/

Forward a bit from the store's beginnings in 2007 to 2009.  That year I got luxury of attending a meeting at the CEO dinning room at Business Week (pre-Bloomberg takeover).  My political views and long rants against people like Paulson got me to be one of their top commentors ^^;; It helped with the credibility of this site as now I have a full link back to business week.

Later that year, thanks to my contest winners for my store's Banner Contest..I got the ball rolling on the game and mascots I conceived back in 2003... Fumi and the other mascots for the video game later named... Tenshi-Oni.

Just before I get into Tenshi-Oni...I can't forget what happened in 2010 with regards to anime and me...I'm speaking of course about me getting involved with anime voice acting thanks to Bang Zoom! Studios.  Since then I've taken a number of classes...gotten some booth time and hopefully soon I might actually be a character in a popular English dub ^_^  In the mean time though, thanks to Kenneos and the other fan artists...the game Tenshi-Oni has come to life and is now as I speak an actual game on my iPhone.  Kenneos, my fiancee Danielle, my voice acting friend from the Bang Zoom classes, Madi and I will be providing voice work for the game and as you guys have seen...it's coming into focus and though the game was suppose to originally come out last month (delayed mainly due to a move to a new place)..it's happening this year in 2012.

As of a few days ago, I got the rights to use amazing music for the game's boss battles (and soon to be made trailer) by the Japanese Gothic Trance artist, Setsuna.  The music is in addition to original music made by my fiancee and maybe some written by me.  Also, the in-game sprite of Demon Fumi is now complete.  With the songs now in the game...expect anime.fm to get geared up for this as I plan on using it to promote Setsuna's work, my own music and of course, any game/anime related music.  Also, on a side note...I recently joined the Custer Observatory since my love for space and astrophysics (in part thanks to Gurren Lagann) is something I enjoy and I might soon add more to the site.  For example... here's a picture of the Moon I took with my old childhood telescope.... and of course the anime edit that must be done with the Moon.

In closing to this long rant...the future looks bright for Chuck's Anime Shrine...some bumps will be on the way (like the whole gallery needing to be revamped thanks to Apple removing their Gallery function -_-) but I hope that there will be another 10 years of this site with more for the fans, more video games after Tenshi-Oni is complete, more Flash animation shorts and of course... more pages dedicated to the anime we love.


Thank you everyone who's been fans to this site since the beginning and all of those throughout these crazy 10 years ^_^

-Chuck



--- ## Demon Fumi Sprite - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-04-11-demon-fumi-sprite/ - Date: 2012-04-11 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no Here's the first look at the Demon Fumi in-game sprite by Kenneos. I'm still going to bug her for some action animations and maybe even Super Mode animations ^^;; but now all th...


Here's the first look at the Demon Fumi in-game sprite by Kenneos.  I'm still going to bug her for some action animations and maybe even Super Mode animations ^^;; but now all three of the forms are ready to be placed in game.

I'll update you all once she's in the code of the game and of course there's the really cool MetamorphosiS music we got the rights to... so this game is looking better and better by the day ^_^

Next up...level and enemy designs... --- ## The Music of Tenshi-Oni - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-04-09-music-of-tenshi-oni/ - Date: 2012-04-09 - Tags: anime news, j-trance, music, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates - AI-assisted: no Big news regarding our video game, Tenshi-Oni. We have official gotten the rights directly from the artist in Japan to use some of his music in the game! ^_^ Three songs will be...

Big news regarding our video game, Tenshi-Oni.  We have official gotten the rights directly from the artist in Japan to use some of his music in the game! ^_^  Three songs will be in the game with maybe a secret 4th song.

The artist name is Setsuna; also goes by the name: Kokuyasou (Black Funeral Night). above you can see the art to his album containing these song, MetamolphosiS ^_^  Below you can see the art to one of his latest albums, Vermillion - D allice Syndrome.  Setsuna's website can be found here: http://kokuyasou.verse.jp/



While I was creating some J-trance play-lists for my own person listening and as a (hopefully) soon-to-be revealed section of Anime.fm...I stumbled across these stunning songs.  My fiancee Danielle has already made a few songs for the game too, with one being heard in the first demo video to the game.  Both me and her will be making some original music for the game but these songs with the gracous blessing of Setsuna will absolutely add some emotion to the game's final stages and boss battles.  

This is so exciting to announce ^_^ (be sure to check out and buy Setsuna's music).  So without further delay... here they are...


黒夜葬 - 虚華咲夜姫～コノハナノサクヤヒメ (Konohana Sakuya Hime ~ Roh Sakuya Hime Hana imaginary)


This will be Fumi's Theme

第ⅦALICE (First Ⅶ ALICE)



This will be Angel Fumi's theme

幻想喰礼 (Specimen - Girl)

This will be Demon Fumi's theme

This was definitely a wonderful 10th anniversary present for the website ^_^  Thanks so much Setsuna...we hope to make the game express the emotions of these songs.


--- ## Tales of Xillia: Milla Maxwell Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-03-30-tales-of-xillia-milla-maxwell-figure/ - Date: 2012-03-30 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #figurefriday, anime figures, figures, videogames - AI-assisted: no This figure was so amazing looking...I had to restart my figure blogging because of it. If you are a fan of the Tales series of games like me, you know who this is and Alter did...


This figure was so amazing looking...I had to restart my figure blogging because of it.  

If you are a fan of the Tales series of games like me, you know who this is and Alter did an amazing job in this prototype figure of Milla.  The game itself will hopefully come stateside in due time with Namco Bandai purchasing the US license.

As for the figure, she'll stand about 210mm tall (8-9 inches tall) and is of course designed by Alter..who you know will make the final product look like the prototype seen here.

Check out more images of this amazing figure below oh and happy #figurefriday (and #fanservicefriday)

If you want to pre-order her, here's her respected product page ^_^









--- ## Anime Blog is Back - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-03-27-anime-blog-is-back/ - Date: 2012-03-27 - Tags: anime blog, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no My Tenshi-Oni programming and the busy life of still having a 35+ hour desk job along with the steady anime figure business and add in the fact that I moved to a new place...one...

My Tenshi-Oni programming and the busy life of still having a 35+ hour desk job along with the steady anime figure business and add in the fact that I moved to a new place...one could see why the blog and the other parts of the site have once again collected a slight bit of dust.

As of this month, ChucksAnimeShrine.com is 10 years old! ^_^  Thought the main parts of the fan-site haven't grown nearly as much as I'd like it to have in this decade.  It's great to know that I'm one of the first anime fan sites and also one of the last anime fan sites left from 10 years ago.  I've seen 3rd party features die off a number of times; particularly those of the Google variety.  Here's a list of features my site has outlived....hell just in the past 4-5 years:


Lots to do but...as you guys can see; the commenting is back.  Thanks to Disqus, you can comment, rate, retweet, etc on the blog posts.  Once I finish installing it to the Members Blog...it will make that section of the site actually worth blogging on.  Hopefully, Disqus will be here to stay for a long time...I'm tired of dealing with what essentially is "internet rust."
--- ## Do You Really Need a Voice-Over Resume? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-03-27-do-you-really-need-voice-over-resume/ - Date: 2012-03-27 - Tags: anime voice acting, guest blog post, How to, voice acting, voices.com - AI-assisted: no Do You Really Need a Voice-Over Resume? You've decided to pursue a career as a voice-over artist. Congratulations! Whoa, not so fast, there. Where's your resume? Don't think you...

Do You Really Need a Voice-Over Resume?

You've decided to pursue a career as a voice-over artist. Congratulations! Whoa, not so fast, there. Where's your resume? Don't think you need one? Guess again. Your voice demo may be what gets your foot in the door, and yes, it's necessary to land voice-over work. But a resume will give you a leg up over other applicants who don't bother with it. It can also give your potential employer a lot of important information that can't be included in your demo. So do you really need a voice-over resume? Read on and then you be the judge. A fantastic voice is a gift. If you can alter your pitch and tone, inhabit different characters, and even convey emotions just with your voice, you're in a unique position to build a career as a voice-over artist. The thing to remember, though, is that voice-over artistry is still work, and when someone hires you to provide a voice for a product, whether it's a radio commercial or a video game, they're hiring you to do a job. Employers, including those in the voice talent field, want to know they're hiring professional people with workplace experience. That's where your resume comes in.
Even if you're just starting out as a voice actor, and your resume is full of work you did while sitting in front of a computer, it's valuable knowledge for your potential employer. A resume that shows a lot of bouncing from one job to another might mean that person is a little flaky, and maybe they just won't show up at the studio one day when they're scheduled to record that commercial.
By the same token, a resume that shows a steady work history, with positions of increasing responsibility, can be an indication of someone who is reliable, trustworthy, and who has a good work ethic. And who doesn't want to work with someone with those qualities, regardless of the industry?
As you start getting more voice work, you'll need to trim your resume so it doesn't end up being too long. Your previous work history descriptions will become shorter to make room for your voice work experience. Keep the highlights, like job titles, main responsibilities, and length of employment, and be ready to provide more detailed answers if you're asked about previous jobs.
When adding voice work to your resume, list the types of work you've done such as television commercials, automated telephony systems, and employee training videos. Indicate whether you've had any formal voice training, and list any production services you may offer, such as ISDN, MP3, and sound effects. And don't forget to include extras like languages spoken, a singing or acting background, and any script-writing experience.


(image: me doing mock anime voice dubbing with Bang Zoom Studios at their Adventures in Voice Acting Class)


(Special thanks to Sarah Stockton from voices.com for this informative post.  Anyone looking to be an voice actor in anime, video games, commercials, and more... be sure to utilize voices.com.  It could be your spring board to a voice acting career.  I know there's been a gap in my voice acting progress post but stay tuned...more posts are to come and who knows... you might soon hear me in the next anime or videogame. )


--- ## TenshiOni: Combos and More - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-03-21-tenshioni-combos-and-more/ - Date: 2012-03-21 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates - AI-assisted: no Though nothing much seems to be different on the outside...there's a bunch of underlying code in my Tenshi-Oni game that has been added since last time I made an update. There's...


Though nothing much seems to be different on the outside...there's a bunch of underlying code in my Tenshi-Oni game that has been added since last time I made an update. There's now unique deaths for enemies based on what attack you finish them with (and with the ability for me to customize each individual enemy's reactions to moves.) Of course, I really need to change these enemies now from the old space game engine I bought to start this off.


I've also added a combo system (very slightly seen in this screenshot) Finally I'm currently making the final part of the player's moves before I move on to voice acting, level design, enemy design and story development. That final aspect of the game play I'm currently dubbing "Final Attacks"; similar to Final Fantasy Limit Breaks. The framework for the Final Attacks has been coded..just keeping them a little secret for now as I make them work, bug free. 


Soon Kenneos will have the first Demon Fumi sprite ready (plus some others ^^) as well so this might be a good week for the game. Sorry it didn't come out this month as I wanted. Those waiting patiently really sorry for the delay...I want to make the first version of the game a hit so that I can wiggle free from this damn day job and then make the game 10x better with future updates and more platform options (like Android, Chrome, Flash, Xbox versions). Would be a great way for me to make more games in the future as well.
--- ## FriendConnect, Anime Gallery & Other Site issues PSA - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-03-07-friendconnect-anime-gallery-other-site/ - Date: 2012-03-07 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Just a little PSA about some things with the site so people don't wrongly think I've left the site ^^;; Trust me, it's the complete opposite... 1) Google deleted their FriendCon...

Just a little PSA about some things with the site so people don't wrongly think I've left the site ^^;;  Trust me, it's the complete opposite...

1) Google deleted their FriendConnect service and now this leaves me with no comment system -_-  Really sorry about that...this site turns 10 years old this month and so many times have I used 3rd party tools, just to see my site outlive them... as with the next issue...

2) As of June, Apple will be removing their MobileMe service, replacing it with the iCloud service only....problem is, as those of you who use it know...they are removing the iDisk and Gallery services -_-  The iDisk is where I save backups of TenshiOni as I'm coding it and even a backup of my websites  With MegaUpload taken down by governmental tyrants...me and others will be using DropBox instead.
The Anime Gallery I created as well as the Idols, Cons and anime figures images all run on an iframe to that service...so in the coming months..I have to replace it....probably need to get back to that whole Anime Sanctuaries thing ^^;;

3)  The contest that expired a few months ago is technically still going....pardon the lack of update with that and in general, the move to our new place and trying to sneak in time at night to work on the TenshiOni game is to blame ^^;;  If anyone does wish to send in sprites that will go into the game...be my guest.  Verbiage on there and also verbiage on the store site as well will be updated in due time.

...being it's the 10th Anniversary of the site..I guess it's time for some updates ^^ --- ## TenshiOni: Defense Shield - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-03-07-tenshioni-defense-shield/ - Date: 2012-03-07 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no Finished adding the newest move to the TenshiOni game... the defense shield. Playing the demo of the game I noticed this urge to block attacks and so now you can. Up-swiping on ...

Finished adding the newest move to the TenshiOni game... the defense shield.  Playing the demo of the game I noticed this urge to block attacks and so now you can.  Up-swiping on iPhone/iPad quickly creates a shield that for now just blocks and repels enemy fire.  I might make it lower the attack enemies give if they collide into you...but I mainly have that determined by which form you are in comparison to the enemy, ie: if you are in human form, an angel or demon type enemy attack will hurt more.  I might change the coloring of the effect and maybe even have some reflected attacks hurt the enemy. (particularly in boss battles)

Here's what's next in line:

Once the combo system is done and the basics of the Super-Mode finishing moves are set... my voice actors for the girls will get their much delayed lines ^^;;  Sorry about the wait Danielle, Kenneos and Madi.



--- ## More Tenshi-Oni Updates: Anti-Aliasing and Enemy Reactions - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-02-27-more-tenshi-oni-updates-anti-aliasing/ - Date: 2012-02-27 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, programming, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshoni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no Been slaving away all weekend fixing some nasty bugs brought on by updates to the software I use to program the game -_- Yet, the work has payed off as most of the bugs are done...

Been slaving away all weekend fixing some nasty bugs brought on by updates to the software I use to program the game -_-  Yet, the work has payed off as most of the bugs are done and I have a few new tidbits to share about the game that I'm thankfully getting the much needed time to work on.

First off, what can't be seen so much just yet but I've yet again reworked the space game engine that I bought to get the game rolling.  This time, I created more to the initial GameObject class allowing for reactions to each type of attack Fumi duels out.  Before this, I already reverse engineered the thing to understand Soul Types (Angel, Human and Demon), but I can't have every enemy react the same way to every attack.  You programers probably know of the wonderful Object Oriented Design topics of Inheritance and Polymorphism.  What I was able to do was make a default reaction to Fumi's three main attacks..this would have been done sooner if the Physic Engine I use didn't suddenly parse data in a different order than my one file originally did (if you read my tweets you'll see what I mean).

For more info that artists and graphic designers will get..I also cleaned up Fumi's in-game sprites.  One of the major tasks in the art aspects of game design is making sure to do some anti-aliasing (jagged edge fixing) when needed.  Kenneos did an amazing job making my job with that relativley easy and I did my editing touches to give Fumi a smoother look.  I also did some contour embossing to make her pop out.  The demo background I'm using so far (that will be changed to Kenneo's submission and others) is dark already thus works great for this purpose.

Check out the image above to see what I mean and here's hoping I get more time this week to create the different enemy types programming-wise (ones that can be thrown, cut in half, blown away and/or put into combo moves...just to name a few).  Doubtful the game will be released for the 10th Anniversary next month but it should be out this year in honor of this site's decade and hopefully the final nail on the coffin for my day job so I can be working full time with the site, anime.fm, the anime store here, games, anime voice acting and my anime hobbies...instead of rotting like many others are in some office working for somebody else.... Row Row Fight the Powah! --- ## Anime is Art - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-02-16-anime-is-art/ - Date: 2012-02-16 - Tags: anime, art, fan art - AI-assisted: no Been seeing lots of supposed "art experts" trying to look down on any budding artist who's using anime-styled pictures as their spring board into art. Sad thing is, some of this...

Been seeing lots of supposed "art experts" trying to look down on any budding artist who's using anime-styled pictures as their spring board into art.  Sad thing is, some of this hate has come from not only artists who have some bastardized hate to anything anime-like, but even art teachers in supposed art schools here in the US are telling art hopefuls NOT to put anime-like images in their portfolios.  First off, I run a business that's catered to anime...that's all I look for for when I need help with design.  The whole, "nobody will hire you" verbal diarrhea spewing from self-proclaimed art institutions...is a load of bullshit.  I'm proving that with artists like Kenneos and Eefi (and others).  Though I haven't fully and officially hired them (yet).  I've paid them in anime figures for their help and my goal is to pay them in royalties (and cash) from my projects / games that involve their art.

The only thing these anime-art hating rejects have right is that yes, you should diversify your portfolio.  Don't let anime-style be the only thing you can do...but to say somebody who say...drew this Guilty Crown piece you see above isn't an artist, well...here's a nice little rage comic I made for you.  Enjoy.


--- ## Anime Valentine's Day 2012 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-02-14-anime-valentines-day-2012/ - Date: 2012-02-14 - Tags: valentines day - AI-assisted: no Just wanted to wish everybody a very happy Valentine's Day. Hope in the future I could post some pics of Fumi and the Tenshi-Oni characters in the way you see Mio fan-drawn here...

Just wanted to wish everybody a very happy Valentine's Day.  Hope in the future I could post some pics of Fumi and the Tenshi-Oni characters in the way you see Mio fan-drawn here ^^

Best wishes on this day and don't fret if you are alone (trust me, was there for the first 18 years of my life ^^;;).

If you are with somebody, take time out from your busy schedule to enjoy the day with them and be appreciative.  I know as I approach 30, I see people in love with work instead of others and life itself; don't be that.

If you have somebody you admire, don't be a creep. Stay confident in yourself (but don't be an ass with said confidence) and don't let rejection destroy you. The comatose/pathetic styled love seen in movies like Twilight..isn't the way to live.  It's great to love somebody with all of your being but don't let the rejection make you an empty husk; just improve yourself and the right person will be there.  It's best to be the best you so that you find somebody in the similar position whom can lift you up if you start to fall; not somebody who will drag you down or visa-versa.

If you have nobody, again, don't fret and see read above as it can pertain to you.  Also, don't be desperate or on "the hunt."  Coming from a straight guy's point of view... I got nowhere when I was single and was constantly looking.  The moment my now fiancee found me, it seems that I became more attractive through confidence.  In other words, if you are single and don't want to be that way; act like you have somebody already...girls (and guys, too) seem to gravitate to those with confidence.  The moment I started dating my fiancee back 10 years ago when I was 18...all of a sudden girls seemed to notice me.  They didn't a crap about me the previous 18 years of my life -_- but my god did that change the moment I stopped worrying about being single.

Anyways, pardon my rant.  Off to have a fun day as I purposely take off on Tuesdays to either catch up on anime biz work, do extra video game programming or simply take a day off when the rest of the world is busy running around with their hair on fire in the work place. (at least, that's how people are here on Long Island -_-.  Seriously people...relax a god damn moment, will you?)  Trust me, it's very calming and zen-like to go to a restaurant at 1pm on a Tuesday. --- ## Angel Fumi In-Game - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-02-11-angel-fumi-in-game/ - Date: 2012-02-11 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, iPad, iphone, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no I wasted no time in getting Angel Fumi in the game ^_^ Again... note the game is still a work in progress so the resume/ quit buttons are actually just for more of a debugging f...

I wasted no time in getting Angel Fumi in the game ^_^  Again... note the game is still a work in progress so the resume/ quit buttons are actually just for more of a debugging function; I plan on having a nice pause screen similar to other mobile games.  More stages, enemies and Demon Fumi soon ^^ --- ## Angel Fumi - First In-Game Animation - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-02-10-angel-fumi-first-in-game-animation/ - Date: 2012-02-10 - Tags: anime, fumi kobayashi, iphone, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshioni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no The first animation of Fumi in her Angel form has been completed by Kenneos ^_^ She looks great and now I can start the transformation animation in the game (currently I just ha...

The first animation of Fumi in her Angel form has been completed by Kenneos ^_^  She looks great and now I can start the transformation animation in the game (currently I just have a different colored "aura" around her when she transforms.)

Thanks again Kenneos and I hope you'll enjoy being her voice, too ^^ --- ## Angel Fumi Preview & Tenshi-Oni Voice Over - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-02-09-angel-fumi-preview-tenshi-oni-voice/ - Date: 2012-02-09 - Tags: anime, Tenshi-Oni, tenshoni, updates, voice acting - AI-assisted: no Kenneos is hard at work with many commission images and in her spare time, she's been gracefully helping us out with graphics for the Tenshi-Oni game (and Eefi's been helping to...

Kenneos is hard at work with many commission images and in her spare time, she's been gracefully helping us out with graphics for the Tenshi-Oni game (and Eefi's been helping too ^^)

She is currently working on the in-game graphics for Angel Fumi...and she's probably going to be more attached to this version of the game's protagonist....that's because I'm going to let her be the voice of her as well ^^

Check out her Tumblr page here.

The game is finally being programmed again and I'm currently working on Enemy AI and death reactions/animations...but I'm almost up to the point where I have to start adding some enemies, stages and also the voice work.  Mainly reaction sounds and quick lines to start but already my fiancee Danielle has put her voice in as the "Start" opening sequence (and she made the music).  My friend Madi who was with me at the Anime voice acting classes with Bang Zoom Studios will be Demon Fumi.  I'll of course put my still rather green experience in the anime voice booth to work and be the voice of any enemies, the Chuck Doll and Thomas if I can get him in the game.

Here's the current (but tentative) voice-over cast for the game:


Sadly, doesn't look like the game will be done by March at this rate but I'd rather do it right than make it a rushed mess when it first appears on the iPhone app market.  After about a month / month and a half hiatus, it's back on track ^^



--- ## Anime Pic of the Day: 2/9/12 Jiburiru/BiriBiri Crossover - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-02-09-anime-pic-of-day-2912-jiburirubiribiri/ - Date: 2012-02-09 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day - AI-assisted: no Been some time since the last Anime Pic of the Day (and any blog post in general -_-). The 10th anniversary of the site is quickly approaching and so I want to do something spec...

Been some time since the last Anime Pic of the Day (and any blog post in general -_-).  The 10th anniversary of the site is quickly approaching and so I want to do something special for the site amiss all of the crazy personal life on-goings that keep me from my love and craft -_-.

This pic is of BiriBiri from Railgun cosplaying as Jiburiru ^^


(hope to post more posts, updates, anime news and Tenshi-Oni news very soon) --- ## FanService Friday 1/20/12: Nisemonogatari Nadeko - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2012-01-20-fanservice-friday-12012-nisemonogatari/ - Date: 2012-01-20 - Tags: #FF, anime pic of the day, Bakemonogatari, fan service, Nisemonogatari - AI-assisted: no Sorry for the long delay..so here's ..moved into a new apartment and I've been helping in efforts to fight back those terrible bills that could destroy the internet: SOPA, PIPA ...

 


Sorry for the long delay..so here's ..moved into a new apartment and I've been helping in efforts to fight back those terrible bills that could destroy the internet: SOPA, PIPA and maybe a new player, PCIP.  As an anime retailer, I can safely say that piracy is an issue and does hurt sales but nothing like the MPAA, RIAA and others like to make you think is being lost in their content.  More o this issue and hopefully some Tenshi-Oni updates soon as well.


So..for now, enjoy this beautiful photo of Nadeko from the Bakemonogatari sequel, Nisemonogatari.

oh and the Tenshi-Oni Sprite Contest has been extended to a future date (it's not 12/31 anymore..will fix that)..so if you have sprites you want to maybe show up in the game...send away.


--- ## Merry Anime Christmas From Kenneos - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-12-23-merry-anime-christmas-from-kenneos/ - Date: 2011-12-23 - Tags: christmas 2011, updates - AI-assisted: no Kenneos , the artist who's doing much of the art for the Tenshi-Oni game , recently finished this great anime Christmas picture. Again, pardon the lack of updates and blog posts...


Kenneos, the artist who's doing much of the art for the Tenshi-Oni game, recently finished this great anime Christmas picture.

Again, pardon the lack of updates and blog posts...there's of course been lots of anime and gaming news that I've been not mentioning but been busy with the anime figure business and work in general ^^;;

No matter what holiday you celebrate or religion you have (or don't have) hope you have some time this weekend to sit back, relax and spend time thinking about something more important in life than work. --- ## New Fumi Animation - Sword Attack - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-12-17-new-fumi-animation-sword-attack/ - Date: 2011-12-17 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, updates - AI-assisted: no Not too new but it's been way too long since I've updated the blog (programming the game, did an other anime voice acting class with Edge Studios, x-mas rush with the anime figu...
 
Not too new but it's been way too long since I've updated the blog (programming the game, did an other anime voice acting class with Edge Studios, x-mas rush with the anime figure business been keeping me busy ^^;;)

Thought I'd quickly let you all see the first true movement of Fumi in the game.  Kenneos has been great help with the art for the game thus far and I can't wait to see what Angel and Demon Fumi in-game graphic will look like.

Also, for those who still want to make some game sprites that will be in the game as either a bonus "skin" or at least displayed one way or another...there's still that contest going on...but it's ending soon and since Kenneos was the only one thus far to make any sprites...she'll by default win the prizes ^^;; --- ## Tenshi-Oni: Fumi iPhone 4/4S Case - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-12-17-tenshi-oni-fumi-iphone-44s-case/ - Date: 2011-12-17 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, iphone, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni - AI-assisted: no Got the new iPhone 4S to both test/debug the Tenshi-Oni game on the newest device and to replace the need for my old 3G beyond debugging the game of course. Artwork thanks to Ee...


Got the new iPhone 4S to both test/debug the Tenshi-Oni game on the newest device and to replace the need for my old 3G beyond debugging the game of course.

Artwork thanks to Eefi

The case can be found here.
--- ## Anime Mech Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-12-04-anime-mech-figures/ - Date: 2011-12-04 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, mechs, updates - AI-assisted: no One section I've been lacking in my anime store for a long while has been mechs. I have a Gundam section but granted the pickings have been rather slim ^^;; Well, I've changed t...


One section I've been lacking in my anime store for a long while has been mechs.  I have a Gundam section but granted the pickings have been rather slim ^^;;  Well, I've changed that and now there's an official Mech Section in the anime store. 

...Granted, there's still not much to choose from but as sales increase I plan on increasing the number of awesome mechs (both per-assembled like the ones there now and model kits) to order. --- ## Twitter Fail Whale Madoka Ver. - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-12-03-twitter-fail-whale-madoka-ver/ - Date: 2011-12-03 - Tags: Madoka Magica, twitter - AI-assisted: no The site this past week has been a bit sluggish ^^;; Maybe I should post this up when it's slow, lol. Forgot the artist who made this but I will credit them if I can ^^

The site this past week has been a bit sluggish ^^;; Maybe I should post this up when it's slow, lol.  Forgot the artist who made this but I will credit them if I can ^^ --- ## Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune Fan Art - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-12-02-sailor-uranus-and-sailor-neptune-fan/ - Date: 2011-12-02 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, fan art, Sailor Moon - AI-assisted: no I simply love this fan art pic of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Thus, here's today's Fan Service Friday post :p


I simply love this fan art pic of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Thus, here's today's Fan Service Friday post :p --- ## Nendoroid Sonic the Hedgehog - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-12-01-nendoroid-sonic-hedgehog/ - Date: 2011-12-01 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Nendoroid, sonic the hedgehog, video games, videogames - AI-assisted: no Good Smile Company announced last night that pre-orders have begun for the Nendoroid Sonic the Hedgehog figure . I like many gamers can't beliv that Sonic is now 20 years old. I...


Good Smile Company announced last night that pre-orders have begun for the Nendoroid Sonic the Hedgehog figure.  I like many gamers can't beliv that Sonic is now 20 years old.  I remember being young 8 ear old playing both Mario games on the SNES and Sonic games on the Genesis back when Mario and Sonic were mortal enemies.

Anyways, back to the figure... he's set to release in April in Japan (thus probably won't reach US shores until around May).  He retails for 3500 yen (about $50 USD)...hopefully the dollar can gain on the yen some more and make these Nendos more like their original $35-$40 pricing but hoping for that is like wishing Sega will get back into the console selling business :-/




Here's his pre-order page for anyone interested in nabbing their own ^_^


and here's some more pics of the figure...




--- ## Tenshi-Oni Update: Super Attacks - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-11-28-tenshi-oni-update-super-attacks/ - Date: 2011-11-28 - Tags: project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, tenshoni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no New screenshots from the Tenshi-Oni game in production ^_^. Added two new attacks. 1) Doing a charged sword attack in Super Mode shoots that quick star burst across the screen.....

New screenshots from the Tenshi-Oni game in production ^_^.  Added two new attacks. 1) Doing a charged sword attack in Super Mode shoots that quick star burst across the screen...will probably change it to feathers in Angel form and skulls in Demon form.
2)  Doing a charged attack in Super mode freezes you in place as you do a constant charge beam that decimates enemies ^^

(Don't mind the Resume and Quit buttons ^^;; The pause screen will be made to look much better than that)

Funny thing is...these aren't the true super attacks I plan on adding.  I plan on adding an individual "Final Super Move" for each form that depletes the special bar.

There's definitely more to come...
--- ## Tenshi-Oni Designs by Eefi - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-11-27-tenshi-oni-designs-by-eefi/ - Date: 2011-11-27 - Tags: anime store, art, fan art, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni - AI-assisted: no Pardon the lack of anime news and blog posts as of late ^^;; Been busy with the anime figure business due to the holidays, still stuck at that darn p/t job (-_-), and as you all...

Pardon the lack of anime news and blog posts as of late ^^;;  Been busy with the anime figure business due to the holidays, still stuck at that darn p/t job (-_-), and as you all know (if you follow my Twitter feed), I've been working late at night coding the Tenshi-Oni game that's based on our mascots.

I want to take this time to announce that now the fan artist, Eefi has her own section in our CafePress section of the store.  This image of Angel Fumi above is one of the couple great fan pics submitted and now you can have them on jewlery, iPhone cases and clothes.

Check it out and do note that most profits of such products go right back to the fan artist who created it.


....
Got any fan art of Fumi and the others you want to submit?  You too could have a section of your work too ^_^ --- ## Full Metal Daemon Muramasa: Muramasa Sansei Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-11-18-full-metal-daemon-muramasa-muramasa/ - Date: 2011-11-18 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no As sort of a duel FanService Friday post and an anime figure post, here's the lovely new figure announced by Good Smile Company: Full Metal Daemon Muramasa: Muramasa Sansei . Sh...

As sort of a duel FanService Friday post and an anime figure post, here's the lovely new figure announced by Good Smile Company: Full Metal Daemon Muramasa: Muramasa Sansei. 

She's scheduled to come out around March in Japan...so probably April here in the states.  She's 1/7th scale and yes...as you see,her maid skirt is castoffable ^^;;

Here's her product link in the store if you wish to pre-order her and here's some more pictures ^^:





--- ## Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Tomoe Mami 1/8 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-11-10-puella-magi-madoka-magica-tomoe-mami-18/ - Date: 2011-11-10 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Good Smile Company, Madoka Magica - AI-assisted: no As some of you know, just last night, Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders have begun for the Tomoe Mami 1/8 Scale Figure. She looks stunning of course. Mami retails for ...

As some of you know, just last night, Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders have begun for the Tomoe Mami 1/8 Scale Figure.  She looks stunning of course.  Mami retails for 7800 yen (roughly $107-$115 USD, damn weak dollar -_-) and should be out around April or May 2012. 

Here's her pre-order page in the store section and below are the rest of her stock photos ^_^





--- ## TenshiOni: First Video Preview - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-11-10-tenshioni-first-video-preview/ - Date: 2011-11-10 - Tags: anime iphone game, chucksanimeshrine, mascots, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, updates, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no Here's the first (rough) video preview of the Fumi game ( TenshiOni ) in production ^_^ It was a bit tough to video for now (will improve the video quality, etc. in the next pre...

Here's the first (rough) video preview of the Fumi game (TenshiOni) in production ^_^  It was a bit tough to video for now (will improve the video quality, etc. in the next previews), but you can see a quick glimpse of the gameplay.



I'm also a big reddit.com fan...so I'm making a reddit community page for the game here: (www.reddit.com/r/tenshioni)

On there people can post fan art of Fumi and the mascots, game enemy/level/move suggestions, and eventually bug reports.  As of this post, there's really nothing there but that'll change in the coming days and weeks ^_^

Though very rough video, I hope you all like it thus far.

(Here's the video descripton I posted on youtube that give a bit more detail on what's going on)

The game's engine is that of the Space Game starter Kit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmI1OGtId2c
It still has the backgrounds and enemies of the Space Game Kit but you can see a bit has changed.

The main character of the game, Fumi has the ability to transform into an Angel, Demon or back her normal state. Each form has advantages/disadvantages based on the enemies she is facing. You can see that some of the blast/hi animations change based on the strength of the hit.

Sprites are still pending but some of the dynamics of her transformations have been added; a two-finger tap changes her form, Red aura representing Demon, White-- Angel, None--Normal. Her movement is controlled by the accelerometer (but was a bit tough to film at the moment ^^;;) A left to right swipe is a sword attack and if you hold down an attack, she charges up and can release a charged blast that differs in color based on her form (akin to say, the Megaman xBuster).

Not seen is a "Super Mode" that will last for a short period of time that boosts the player's power.

That "boost" powerup seen is left over from the initial Space game setup ^^;;

This is being tested and was recorded on my old 3G iPhone so there's a slight bit of lag due to mainly the 3G's processor slow handling of particle effect arrays. It runs very smooth on the 3Gs and above.

(Music credit goes to my fiancee Danielle ^_^)
(art credit goes to Kenneos (http://kenneos.deviantart.com/))


--- ## Moe Monday 11/7/11 Toradora! Taiga - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-11-07-moe-monday-11711-toradora-taiga/ - Date: 2011-11-07 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime, taiga, toradora - AI-assisted: no It's been too long since my last Moe Monday.... here's a very nice, (but a bit sad ^^;;) image of Toradora's Taiga Don't worry, as we know, Taiga is freaking hilarious at times.


It's been too long since my last Moe Monday.... here's a very nice, (but a bit sad ^^;;) image of Toradora's Taiga


Don't worry, as we know, Taiga is freaking hilarious at times.
--- ## Gurren Lagann Riobot 04 Figure by SEN-TI-NEL - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-10-31-gurren-lagann-riobot-04-figure-by-sen/ - Date: 2011-10-31 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Gurren Lagann - AI-assisted: no Got word this morning about this figure and of course anything Gurren Lagann catches my attention. The anime figure company SEN-TI-NEL is planning on releasing this studding act...
Got word this morning about this figure and of course anything Gurren Lagann catches my attention.  The anime figure company SEN-TI-NEL is planning on releasing this studding action figure of Gurren Lagann.  Granted, for the size, it's a bit steep in price at about 9000-9100 yen (~$130) for a figure that appears to be no bigger than Revoltech's own version.  Yet, as some of you may know...many anime store have jacked up the price of that Revoltech figure to almost this price anyway -_-

This one is also set to probably hit higher prices after release due to it's Japan exclusivity (that I am bypassing) and limited production. 

Here's the pre-order page in my store for it.  

Due note that there's a very high chace it'll sell out, so act soon.  Stores have until 11/6/11 to request more than their initial orders so the timeframe is definitely short ^^;;

For now, here's a bunch of images for my fellow TTGL and mech fans to see:
















--- ## Fanservice Friday 10/28/11 Halloween HOTD - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-10-28-fanservice-friday-102811-halloween-hotd/ - Date: 2011-10-28 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, halloween, HOTD - AI-assisted: no Happy (early) Halloween! To celebrate another Fanservice Friday, here's a High School Of the Dead fanservice pic. If you haven't seen this series, it's definitely worth a watch ...

Happy (early) Halloween!  To celebrate another Fanservice Friday, here's a High School Of the Dead fanservice pic.  If you haven't seen this series, it's definitely worth a watch and for those like me who've seen it since it first came out in Japan, there will be a second season. --- ## Fanservice Friday 10/21/11 Yoko - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-10-21-fanservice-friday-102111-yoko/ - Date: 2011-10-21 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, Gurren Lagann, yoko - AI-assisted: no Time to break out of the blog hiatus with a #FanserviceFriday post. Here's a stunning fan art of Yoko from Gurren Lagann. If I can find the artist behind this, I'll gladly link ...

Time to break out of the blog hiatus with a #FanserviceFriday post.  Here's a stunning fan art of Yoko from Gurren Lagann.  If I can find the artist behind this, I'll gladly link to their site. --- ## Tenshi-Oni Update: Fumi's First Game Sprite - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-10-21-tenshi-oni-update-fumis-first-game/ - Date: 2011-10-21 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, updates, video games - AI-assisted: no Kenneos does it again and sends us the first look at a Fumi game sprite animation. For those of you doing the contest , don't fret... I plan on having your entries involved in t...

Kenneos does it again and sends us the first look at a Fumi game sprite animation.  For those of you doing the contest, don't fret... I plan on having your entries involved in the game one way or another, be it unlockable skins, or part of an in-game art gallery.  Again, her sprite can be this style or pixel art since some artists prefer one or the other.

As you can see, Fumi is in her normal human form.  The game will have her "flying" through another dimension, hidden in the shrine (powered by her aura akin to say DBZ).

Simply love her look...actually resembles that of a Nendoroid.  More to come and hopefully some actual game screens soon too from the Tenshi-Oni game in progress. --- ## New Contest: Fumi Game Sprite - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-10-13-new-contest-fumi-game-sprite/ - Date: 2011-10-13 - Tags: contest, contests, Nendoroid, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, updates - AI-assisted: no As some of you know, a few months back I also tagged a second contest to the Kawaii Blog banner contest. This one was for a chance to win the Mischievous Kiss K-Drama DVD set, I...

As some of you know, a few months back I also tagged a second contest to the Kawaii Blog banner contest.  This one was for a chance to win the Mischievous Kiss K-Drama DVD set, I'm also adding a free Crunchy Roll 2 day all-access membership pass as well as the beautiful Nendoroid: Sora no Otoshimono Forte: Ikaros Figure.  Originally, it was for ANY fan art or even game sprite of our mascots.  Now, I'm making it a bit more specific...

Currently I'm working on the long overdue video game that is based on our mascots, named Tenshi-Oni™  Since 2003 it was called "Project Fumi" and is finally being developed by me for the iPhone and iPad (before the iPhone was created I started in Flash actionScript). Thanks to a game "engine"/starter kit I purchased (see video), one can see that I'm utilizing the feel of a space 2D shooter.  Of course that will be replaced by Fumi and her ability to transform into her forms...with a bunch more features than what you see in the video.





For this contest, I'm asking for simply one game sprite animation of Fumi in her normal/schoolgirl outfit.  You can send and work on her other forms if you'd like but for now...just to start (since doing the full game would involve much more work that I do plan on contracting an artist to help...to be paid via $ and/or anime figures)  The sprite can be pixel art or, even better, like the sprites in Guilty Gear.  From the video of the game template I'm working off of, you can see it'll be a profile/side view.  The video shows the ability to fire an attack, I have so far added a charge attack (with awesome particle effects).  This can be the direction of the sprite frame animation.


Just to recap...


The prizes:

Deadline: 12/31/11 

Email me for your entry or any questions you might have ^^

--- ## Sweet Kawaii Contest Winners - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-10-12-sweet-kawaii-contest-winners/ - Date: 2011-10-12 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, contest, contests, updates - AI-assisted: no First off, thank you to all who participated in the contest ^_^ I had a tough time picking just one winner this time. Eefi's banners (shown below) were great and so was the firs...

First off, thank you to all who participated in the contest ^_^  I had a tough time picking just one winner this time.  Eefi's banners (shown below) were great and so was the first entry by Nina Kho (shown above).  The two other entries (the bottom two) were by Cheryl Leong and by Audrey P.  Both of those were very cute and added them to the Kawaii Blog. (They don't seem to be of our mascots, but fit the theme of the kawaii blog ^^)  Both Nina and Kennoes got one free Madoka Nendoroid and Figma Madoka. (the Nendoroid just arrived and the figma should be here soon for me to ship to you two ^^;;)

The second contest that I had going on still (the one for the K-Drama, Mischievous Kiss), is now being extended and will have a few more surprise prizes.  The only stipulation is that instead of submitting just any image of our mascots...it'll be game sprites of Fumi. ...more in the next post on that.

Again, thanks so much for the really cool banners ^^









--- ## Contests Update - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-10-02-contests-update/ - Date: 2011-10-02 - Tags: contest, contests, fumi kobayashi, project fumi, promos, Tenshi-Oni - AI-assisted: no Ok, as some of you may know, there are 2 contests going on. One for the chance to win both the Madoka Nendoroid and Figma and the other to win a copy of the Mischievous Kiss K-d...

 Ok, as some of you may know, there are 2 contests going on.  One for the chance to win both the Madoka Nendoroid and Figma and the other to win a copy of the Mischievous Kiss K-drama series.

The deadline was September 30th for both contests and I did get some lat minute entries.  For the contest to win the Madoka Figures...I've come down to 2 finalists of the batch that submitted a banner for the Sweet Kawaii blog section of the site.  I'm still undecided on who gets the prizes and I might do a vote with the help of my 2300+ twitter followers.

As for the second contest..I'm going to extend it until the end of this month...Oct. 31st.  I'm also going to change a bit of the rules for it.  Initially I said submit any picture regarding the mascots on the site.  I'm going to fine tune that (since everyone actually submitted for the first contest ^^;;) and ask for game sprites of Fumi for the Tenshi-Oni game I'm producing.  Nothing big, it can be one sprite, or an entire animation and just Fumi in her school girl/ normal form.  The game is being made right now for the iPhone and iPad and it's using this as it's game engine, so pixel art can be used but even hand drawn sprites akin to say Guilty Gear can be used.  Site artist, Kenneos is adding her skill into this and the game but even if she ends up as the game's main artist...I would love to make bonus "skins" of Fumi and her forms all designed by different artists.  In addition to the Mischivous Kiss DVD box set, I might add another prize in there too, but at the very least, it'll be the the DVD set. ^_^

Now, all who entered in the Sweet Kawaii banner contest...in the next day, you'll see your work on the section (grand prize winner or not).  Pardon the delay in updatng the site ^^;;

tl;dr version:


(oh, and as for the figures, the Madoka Nendoroid is on the way to me as we speak..the Figma one iis still not in yet from Japan ^^;;) --- ## The World God Only Knows: Nendoroid Haqua - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-09-29-world-god-only-knows-nendoroid-haqua/ - Date: 2011-09-29 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no As of last night Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders for Nendoroid Haqua . She looks so cute ^_^. She's from "The World God Only Knows" which is another on my must-watch...

As of last night Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders for Nendoroid Haqua.  She looks so cute ^_^.  She's from "The World God Only Knows" which is another on my must-watch list. (time permitting ^^;;)

Of course, I wasted no time in putting her up for pre-order in the store She's set to come out in Japan around January or February  (thus an extra month for her to reach stateside ^^;;) 

Email requests for here, for those who wish not to use the cart.

Here's some more pics of her:







--- ## Fanservice Friday 9/23/11 Steins;Gate Girls - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-09-23-fanservice-friday-92311-steinsgate/ - Date: 2011-09-23 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, anime girl, steins;gate - AI-assisted: no Yeah, another busy week has one by for us here (hence the lack of blog posts ^^;;;)..but I can't let the week end without a post and without a Fanservice Friday post nonetheless...


Yeah, another busy week has one by for us here (hence the lack of blog posts ^^;;;)..but I can't let the week end without a post and without a Fanservice Friday post nonetheless. 

I know, another Steins;Gate post, too.  It won't end there..I still plan on making a full science post about the series and with the recent really big news from CERN about neutrinos possibly going faster than light speed (thus discovering a possible error for the first time in Einstein's Theory of Relativity)...thought Steins;Gate is very relevant.

...also...it's Feris-nyan and Kurisu at the beach. The Fall may be here today but we can hope for a not-so-bad winter to come here in the northern hemisphere. --- ## Steins;Gate Finale Thoughts (No Spoilers) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-09-14-steinsgate-finale-thoughts-no-spoilers/ - Date: 2011-09-14 - Tags: anime, steins;gate, video - AI-assisted: no Like many yesterday on Crunchyroll, I watched the simulcast to the final episode of Steins;Gate. A movie is in production now so us SG fans are of course excited. If you haven't...

Like many yesterday on Crunchyroll, I watched the simulcast to the final episode of Steins;Gate.  A movie is in production now so us SG fans are of course excited.  If you haven't started watching this...go now on Crunchyroll and watch it.  You won't be disappointed.  Like an anime Butterfly Effect based on real (rumored) events, real companies and...if like me you are fascinated by string/M-theory, somewhat accurate depictions of how time really works.  Example, the so-called "world lines" is something discussed in Theoretical Physics.  Also, the characters in Steins;Gate grow on you.  Kurisu and Mayuri are now up there in my favorite list of ani-girls; Mayuri's 'tuturuu!' bit is so damn cute >-<.  Okabe comes off as a goofball but as the series progresses, and the stuff he goes through, he becomes probably one of the best male anime characters since Simon an Kamina.  I'll more than likely be writing a full semi-scientific post (like I did with Gurren Lagann) about this anime.  As a scientist, alot of this stuff is relevant and the whole John Titor reference is even more fascinating when you do a quick search and find that this person does/did exist. Obviously his/her online posts and claims are questionable.

This is by far not a review of Steins;Gate, more of an afterthought from watching the finale.  In my next post about this series..there will be spoilers as I describe the real/semi real science /stories behind it.

Here's the awesome opening below.

Just think...there are versions or you existing as we speak in different world lines.

--- ## Swarovski Hello Kitty - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-09-09-swarovski-hello-kitty/ - Date: 2011-09-09 - Tags: anime store, hello kitty, swarovski - AI-assisted: no (9/18/11 Update: First batch of them came and went before I could even list them ^^;;, but as of this post, more are on the way ...reserve some now before it's too late.) Some o...


(9/18/11 Update:  First batch of them came and went before I could even list them ^^;;, but as of this post, more are on the way...reserve some now before it's too late.)

Some of you may know that before I added the store section to the website, my first entry into online sales was actually Swarovski Crystals.  I actually still sell/collect Swarovski Crystal but, I rarely spoke of it here on this blog due to the fact that it's usually not anime related.  Being my site is a "shrine" these figures do somewhat fit but now there's been a connection to these seemingly separate businesses.... Swarovski just recently announced a whole new line of crystals that feature a character anime and non-anime fans are familiar with (but we of course know she's from Japan), Hello Kitty.

Here's the Hello Kitty section on the Swarovski site.  There's necklaces, bracelets and figurines of her ^_^  Granted, they are rather pricy, with one of them as much as $8000 (which looks like they sold out  O_O)  What I can do is maybe special order these items for anyone interested.  There are MAP (Minimum Advertising Price) policies with Swarovski Crystals but if I can, I'll help ease the pain and make them 20-25% off sticker price.

In the next week or so, I'll post some in the store for you all to sift through.  Anything current on the Swarovski site I should be able to get in usually 2-4 weeks.  If possible I'll have a regular stock of these but if anyone is up for any of these for the holiday season coming..email here and we'll help you out.

You can't deny the cuteness of Hello Kitty ^^



--- ## Panty and Stocking 1/7th Scale Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-30-panty-and-stocking-17th-scale-figures/ - Date: 2011-08-30 - Tags: anime, anime figures, anime store, figures, panty, stocking - AI-assisted: no I wasn't sure these were going to be available outside of Japan but I'm happy to say that I'll be stocking the really cool and sexy Panty and Stocking 1/7th sale figures by Unio...
I wasn't sure these were going to be available outside of Japan but I'm happy to say that I'll be stocking the really cool and sexy Panty and Stocking 1/7th sale figures by Union Creative.  Supposedly they'll be released around January/February 2012 here in the us.  A little NSFW but for a company I've not familiar with, the production models looks very nice.  The price is a bit steep (mainly due to again the strong yen -_-) but I'm certain I'll at least have Panty in my own collection (she looks an awful lot like Angel Fumi here ^^)

Their pre-order pages are here (Stocking) and here (Panty).

Here's some more images of them:

















--- ## FanserviceFriday 8/26/11 Windy - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-26-fanservicefriday-82611-windy/ - Date: 2011-08-26 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, Hurricane Irene, news - AI-assisted: no #FanserviceFriday is back this week. Here's an image where the wind caused the fan service moment. Yes, I know, I'm terrible. I'm right in the center of Long Island and so we ar...

#FanserviceFriday is back this week.  Here's an image where the wind caused the fan service moment. 

Yes, I know, I'm terrible.  I'm right in the center of Long Island and so we are suppose to get the full force of Hurricane Irene, the first hurricane to hit here since 1985's Gloria back when I was merely 1 1/2 y/o.  The storm is something to be serious about, but not panicky about.  Take a deep breath, joke and relax about the storm.  I'm holding the fort with the anime figure inventory.  The girls shall be safe -_- 

There's a good chance power will be out here Sunday and beyond...so shipments might not start again until Tuesday or Wednesday ^^;;; --- ## Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls: Naoe Kanetsugu 1/8 PVC figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-25-hyakka-ryouran-samurai-girls-naoe/ - Date: 2011-08-25 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Another amazing Samurai Girls figure by Alter and perfect timing too since the Samurai Girls series just got on sale for Bluray and DVD ^_^ (this is another anime I need to catc...


Another amazing Samurai Girls figure by Alter and perfect timing too since the Samurai Girls series just got on sale for Bluray and DVD ^_^ (this is another anime I need to catch up on ^^;;).  Naoe Kanetsugu was known for some time to be in production by Alter and fans will finally be able to get one around January in Japan (and Feb or so here in the US...if you don't pay the high importing fees).  She's a bit pricey for a 1/8th scale figure, mainly due to the yen continuing to gain on the dollar (last transfer I did was 74 yen per $1 >_<)..but she also sports the huge battle beetle (that big hammer). 

I have her up for pre-order in the store and you want, you can email the store too, to get on the waiting list.

For now, here's some pics of her while we wait.




--- ## More Anime DVDs and Blu-Ray - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-24-more-anime-dvds-and-blu-ray/ - Date: 2011-08-24 - Tags: anime, anime store, blu-ray, dvds, updates - AI-assisted: no As you guys know, in my anime store , I tend to stock lots of anime figures, but not so much Anime DVDs or Blu-ray disks. Granted, it's a tough market and many of us (including ...
 
As you guys know, in my anime store, I tend to stock lots of anime figures, but not so much Anime DVDs or Blu-ray disks.  Granted, it's a tough market and many of us (including myself) love the use of Netflix, Crunchyroll and other streaming options.  There comes times though that an anime impacts you where you do indeed want a copy of it for yourself since, either it's legit or non-legit streaming/rental DVDs, they won't be on there indefinitely.  So, what I'm doing is increasing the number of DVDs and Blu-Ray I have to offer ^_^  I already did so with the Korean dramas so it's only fair to let you guys nab more DVDs and Blu-ray from us here too.

Check out the newest batch here on the site.  The latest pre-orders include, K-On-Vol 3, Bleach Movie 3, Volume 1 of the new Thunder Cats anime and the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya movie.  I also plan on stocking/taking orders for the S.A.V.E. dvd bundles; those are some really good deals on entire series. --- ## Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: Arséne Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-23-tantei-opera-milky-holmes-arsene-figure/ - Date: 2011-08-23 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Good Smile Company - AI-assisted: no Here's another anime I need to start watching. The past few figure releases of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes have been of course the cute Nendoroid figures. For the first scaled fig...

Here's another anime I need to start watching. The past few figure releases of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes have been of course the cute Nendoroid figures.  For the first scaled figure of the series is the sexy Arséne.  Very lovley figure.  Once I get the cleareance to stock her, she'll be  She's up for pre-order in the store.  In the mean time, check out other production model photos of her.  Good Smile Company is set to release her in Jan/Feb of 2012..which would probably mean Feb/March for the US if there is one.

--- ## Introducing Tenshi-Oni 天使鬼 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-20-introducing-tenshi-oni/ - Date: 2011-08-20 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, contests, fumi kobayashi, manga, project fumi, Tenshi-Oni, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no Finally, after all these years "Project Fumi", the backstory to the Chuck's Anime Shrine mascots has a name! That name is, Tenshi-Oni. Back in 2003...well... I think you heard t...



Finally, after all these years "Project Fumi", the backstory to the Chuck's Anime Shrine mascots has a name!  That name is, Tenshi-Oni.  Back in 2003...well... I think you heard the story, but in short Fumi is able to transform into both an Angel and Demon form.  It took so long but as we speak, I'm in the middle of creating an iPhone game revolving around Fumi and the other mascots, Lily and Yumi as well.  Also, Danielle and I are planning an official manga about them.  In the game, I'll keep things simple but the manga will have more in-depth story with Fumi's angel and demon forms actually being the souls of two different girls who have a backstory to the shrine and the mysterious plush doll that gives Fumi her powers.

To show how serious I am this time about the project, I've gone ahead and bought the website tenshioni.com, from there (and here of course ^^;;) you can see all the latest news about the game/manga/etc.

Also, as you see, thanks to Kenneos, I have an amazing banner for the story and now official name (which is being trademarked too as we speak).  Not only that, she helped me revamp my old cafepress shop

Ok, now here's where this news is good for you....

Though I am copyrighting, trademarking and all that legal mumbo-jumbo for this project... I've always been a fan of what makes anime fandom work.  As you might know all of the contests as of late have been related to Tenshi-Oni.  (Actually there's one right now for Madoka figures)  I'm not one to jump somebody for fan-fiction, fan art, etc like some other anime/game creators might.


...actually, I want you guys to make money from it.  How? Well, if any of you want, I can make a section in the cafepress shop that features any fan art you do for Fumi and the other mascots.  Not only will I display, blog, tweet,etc about your work...with your permission, I'll put them on products in the cafepress shop and you will make 50% off any profits on any sales of those said items.  Granted, the cafepress site has some catchup work to do in traffic compared to the anime figure section of my store but I though this would be a way to pay back anime fans who enjoy drawing our mascots ^_^  More info in a future post hopefully on this but if you are interested, email me and I can go over the details and answer any questions.

Another contest:


To kickoff this announcement of Tenshi-Oni, thought I'd add another contest to the current one.

As some of you know, my store also sells Korean Dramas...well thank's to the good people over at YA Entertainment, they wanted to give a lucky fan of this site, a FREE DVD set of the anime-based drama Mischievous Kiss.

To win this DVD, it's real simple...just make ANY fan art of Fumi, her forms and maybe even the other mascots added too...just make sure it's Fumi and her forms at the very least.  The winner will get their own copy of Mischievous Kiss ^_^  No size restrictions, etc..just make an image of Fumi and her forms and the title, Tenshi-Oni in your image, sprite(s), or banner.

Deadline: October 31 2011  Email me your submission(s) here


(note: I know "Oni" sometimes means "ogre" more than "demon" but they are usually interchangeable)


This long post in short (tl;dr ver):

--- ## My Anime/Video Game Voice Acting (Part 1) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-12-my-animevideo-game-voice-acting-part-1/ - Date: 2011-08-12 - Tags: anime, chuck gaffney, news, updates, voice acting - AI-assisted: no As some of you might know, back on Tuesday I went back to NYC and over to Edge Studios to finally start the process of getting my anime and video game voice demo done. Because o...

As some of you might know, back on Tuesday I went back to NYC and over to Edge Studios to finally start the process of getting my anime and video game voice demo done.  Because of my anime figure business, Tuesdays are now free days and thus after getting some figure shipments out in the morning, Danielle and I could then spend the day in the city for a bit before my appointment.  The train ride was the usual long 2 hour trip with the MTA being as pricy as ever...but i the city it was nice to revisit the big Toys-R-Us, Forever 21 (obviously Daniele's favorite), the M&M World store and a walk around Times Square...before it started to rain of course -_-

Anyways, after getting dried off from the rain storm, I got to meet with my voice coach who will be prepping my various character voices to a professional level and then finally create the demo.  My coach was a great guy, we got into talking about the business behind voice acting and with my knowledge of that and business thanks to the anime figures...it was an easy conversation.  My coach's name is Jay Snyder and prior to coming to my evaluation, I didn't bother to look up his prior work...it didn't matter since the goal is to learn more about how to make my voice a tool for the business.  Though, anime fans will be very pleased to know (if you don't already) his work is well known and like Vic M...he has his own fan club and avid followers.

It was great getting back in that sound booth again, definitely lost most of the butterflies I had during the Bang! Zoom! classes but that self-awareness from the utter silence...still hits me.  My greatest challenge to hurtle is that I am not from an acting background.  I used to be in select chorus back in school, hell one of my classmates was a semi finalist on American Idol...so voice control and breathing is not an issue...but I never bothered to be in drama classes and what not so I still come off as a bit timid in the acting.  People who know me personally know that since becoming a business owner back in 2004 with Amway and in 2007 with the figure business...I've come out of my shell, spoke in front of crowds and have no problem ranting on the internet or in person.  In my next meeting with Mr. Gre Snyder, I'll have a number of voices prepped to further build the acting and skill-set.  One very important thing we spoke about was that voice acting is a skill...trust me, doing the work in the booth is very humbling even to those who "think" they can dub. 

I aim to go back in the next month or two with my characters ready to sharpen and since the class, my 70 mile drive to my dead-end-I-really-can-do-all-the-work-from-home day-job is nothing but me testing my different voices.  People in other cars must think I'm crazy ^^;;

On the way home from the class I figured I look up what my voice coach has done...turns out, he's the voice behind Yuki Muto from Yu-Gi-Oh....I'll let this rage comic explain my day a bit better:


One other cool tidbit about the first class was that I was able to save some of my session which just involved me going over one or two lines we made up (or found) over and over again in slightly varying voices.  Since this is just me speaking in the booth and nothing tied to a licensed show or game...I'll share it for you all here. (and in the podcast section too)

Here's my voice sampling.  

I had to put it on anime.fm since it looks like putting that rag comic above on reddit...kind of overloaded my web host's servers ^^;;

This is by far NOT my voice demo.  It's nowhere near the final product, it's...but for those curious, that's me, in the voice acting booth.

More when I do my next class. --- ## MoeMonday 8/8/11 Tengen Toppa Madoka Magica - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-08-moemonday-8811-tengen-toppa-madoka/ - Date: 2011-08-08 - Tags: #MoeMonday, chucksanimeshrine, Madoka Magica, updates - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday post is back ^^ and with a hilarious crossover fan pic of Madoka doing the Giga Drill attack from Gurren Lagann. There's lots of good stuff going on this week and I t...

#MoeMonday post is back ^^ and with a hilarious crossover fan pic of Madoka doing the Giga Drill attack from Gurren Lagann.

There's lots of good stuff going on this week and I thought this pic would best explain the "let's do this!" theme of the week.  In case some of you haven't heard:

In the anime industry...
In Chuck's Anime Shrine news...
Row, Row Fight the Power!
...(and no contract yet please)

(more TTGL /Madoka crossover goodness found here)

(update...check out the Madoka scaled figure that might be up in the store as early s tomorrow ^^ ) --- ## FMA: Brotherhood Outtakes and Voice Acting - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-08-02-fma-brotherhood-outtakes-and-voice/ - Date: 2011-08-02 - Tags: fullmetal alchemist brotherhood, voice acting - AI-assisted: no As some of you know, the 5th and final disk of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood just came out. In it are some hilarious outtakes. The ADR process in voice acting is a more segme...


As some of you know, the 5th and final disk of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood just came out.  In it are some hilarious outtakes.  The ADR process in voice acting is a more segmented way of doing animation..and can lead to such hilarity in the outtakes.  Unlike pre-lay that is used in American animation that has a table read and later a group read in the studio, ADR is one actor at a time so, sometimes you'll be hearing either the english dub of your co-actors and/or the Japanese dub while doing your lines...thus why when you see this video...it'll seem like everyone else is keeping on tune with their acting.

Anyways, pardon the ADR explanation...check out this outtake clip from the disk.


Do note that it's got very NSFW language and definitely some spoilers too.

Next week I'm finally going to NYC to get my voice acting demo done ^_^...so I hope to join the ranks with the other anime voice actors soon and yes, come up with some of these bloopers for you, the fans.


--- ## Nendoroid Petite Puella Magi Madoka Magica Figures (Update) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-07-20-nendoroid-petite-puella-magi-madoka/ - Date: 2011-07-20 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, figures, Madoka Magica, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no ( Update: They are up for pre-order ^_^ Here's the product page. They are selling out quick ^^;;) As some of you have seen on the Good Smile Company site, they have announced th...


(Update: They are up for pre-order ^_^  Here's the product page.  They are selling out quick ^^;;)

As some of you have seen on the Good Smile Company site, they have announced that there will be a Nendoroid Petite Puella Magi Madoka Magica set.  Here's the newest image of them above.  Excitement for them is definitely on a high.  The pre-order reservations won't start until 7/22 (Japan time).  Pricing isn't known yet but if it's the typical Petite pricing, expect them to be between 500-800+ yen a piece or about 4000+ yen (~$55-$65USD+)

Once known, we'll have them up for pre-order in the store ^_^.  Good Smile Company has been doing this rather mean thing as of late with Puella Magi Madoka Magica and not letting overseas stores get the clearance to stock some of them (licensing BS is mainly to blame -_-)

What you can do in the mean time is email us (orders@chucksanimeshrine.com) and ask to be added to our waiting list for these (there's already a few on the list as of this post ^^;;). In the event we find out that they can't get the clearance to sell them, which should be known by the 23rd the latest, you'll know asap to order from a japan-local store instead (or even GSC directly if they do that for these).
--- ## Kawaii Blog Contest Entry - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-07-19-kawaii-blog-contest-entry/ - Date: 2011-07-19 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, contest, contests, project fumi - AI-assisted: no As some of you may know...there's currently a contest to win both the Madoka Nendoroid and Figma figures. The contest is rather simple; just create a banner for Danielle's secti...

As some of you may know...there's currently a contest to win both the Madoka Nendoroid and Figma figures.  The contest is rather simple; just create a banner for Danielle's section of the site, the new Kawaii Blog depicting any number of our site mascots.   As of a few weeks ago,  we got our first entry ^_^ (really sorry for the delay in posting this ^^;;).   Above is this wonder banner by Nina K.  You can check out her Deviant art page here.  Thanks Nina for the great banner showing Fumi, Lily and Yumi ^^ --- ## The Return of MoeMonday: Madoka - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-07-11-return-of-moemonday-madoka/ - Date: 2011-07-11 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime girl, anime pic of the day - AI-assisted: no Been way too long (again) since my last #MoeMonday post. To kick of hopefully more weekly moe pics, here's one of Madoka. A bit bright but very nice piece by Namie-kun

Been way too long (again) since my last #MoeMonday post.  To kick of hopefully more weekly moe pics, here's one of Madoka.  A bit bright but very nice piece by Namie-kun --- ## Nyan Cat Flyby - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-07-09-nyan-cat-flyby/ - Date: 2011-07-09 - Tags: microblog, nyan-cat - AI-assisted: no Just a Nyan Cat sighting...nothing else to see here. Sky picture credit
Just a Nyan Cat sighting...nothing else to see here.

Sky picture credit --- ## Space is the Place - The Last Shuttle Mission - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-07-08-space-is-place-last-shuttle-mission/ - Date: 2011-07-08 - Tags: world news - AI-assisted: no Just a few hours ago, we witnessed the last shuttle launch. Atlantis lifted off, heading to the International Space Station. I'm certain many of us anime fans are also big fans ...

 Just a few hours ago, we witnessed the last shuttle launch.  Atlantis lifted off, heading to the International Space Station.  I'm certain many of us anime fans are also big fans of space exploration  and certainly this final mission must feel bitter sweet.  NASA says it won't be until 2016 before there's really a true replacement to the shuttle and with congress cutting their budget by $1.6 billion & canceling the James Webb telescope, one could be worried about what the future holds for space exploration.  


To be positive though, here's a few current and upcoming missions for NASA and our explorations in space.

There's also a number of probes and sensors mapping the Cosmic Wave Background and peering into the center of our galaxy.  Lets not forget the International Space Station has a fully functioning lab in space that will only be for the betterment of humanity.  These are some great feats but at the same time thee is so much more that we should be doing concerning manned space flight.  Ideas like a colony on the Moon, launch pads on the moon, a manned trip to Mars, a space elevator and heck..I'll say it, Gundams (well, mechs in general) are all something that are possible if the masses here would get their focus out of pathetic events like some random court case or fighting over who's fairy-tale book is less insane.


 We must not forget that space is the future.  My parents were hardly teenagers when we landed on the Moon and I don't want to be in my 60's and 70's in the 2050's with nothing tell me grandchildren that would bring awe and inspiration.  Time to drop these religious wars, fighting over some imaginary guy in the sky (and our imaginations) and focus on the true reality that's there; a reality that's far more wondrous than some 2000 year old book written by an opium-high nut-job in a cave could ever come up with. 


Here's the classic Toonami short on space.  Let's never give up on our future.



image above, from this post

--- ## Banning Violent Video Games To Minors... Against The First Amendment - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-06-27-banning-violent-video-games-to-minors/ - Date: 2011-06-27 - Tags: videogames, world news - AI-assisted: no Great news for gamers for game makers here in the US. The Supreme court actually went the path of common sense and voted 7-2 against the banning of violent video games . Listen,...
 
Great news for gamers for game makers here in the US.  The Supreme court actually went the path of common sense and voted 7-2 against the banning of violent video games.

Listen,  I, like many, can't stand when I'm playing Gears of War and I hear an 8 year old on the other end...but the jurisdiction of what games should be played need to be in the hands of parents.  Most new parents today are children of the 80's and 90's and we should be well aware what video games are, the fact that their benefits outweigh the negatives and they should know what games might just be too much for their kids right now.

If you are a parent of young children right now and you are completely oblivious about video games...well, you are probably oblivious about many other things in this world as well and need a quick lesson in responsibility.  Like another important, yet commonsensical ruling, this is good news indeed.

 Now Cole..teach some of these non-participating parents how it's done...like you did to Sarah Palin. --- ## Project Fumi Update - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-06-27-project-fumi-update/ - Date: 2011-06-27 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, mascots, project fumi, updates - AI-assisted: no For those who've been following this site since it's beginnings in 2002..you know very well the on and off status of the video game currently dubbed " Project Fumi ". If I don't...


For those who've been following this site since it's beginnings in 2002..you know very well the on and off status of the video game currently dubbed "Project Fumi".  If I don't get my head in the game here and ignore the crap life likes to throw at me, this will be as much of a drawn out project as Duke Nukem Forever was ^^;; Yet, good news is that as you all have seen in the past year, our mascots have finally came to life thanks to the talented artists who drew the banners you see above for free anime figures.  Currently, there's a contest going on right now to pretty up Danielle's Kawaii Blog for a chance to win the Madoka Nendoroid and Figma.  In that contest I mentioned more about the game and for anyone to volunteer in sending over some spites that can be used in the game.  Looks like Kenneos was the first to volunteer and I thought I'd show them all to you in case any of you need some reference for them...and hell I love showing off the mascots Danielle and I came up with years ago ^^

As for the game's progress;  I have successfully created an iPhone app using both Cocos2D and a simple game engine template.  I've already began my own bug fixes and feature additions.  My goal is to now fine tune the gameplay, allow the game to be easily upgradable (I'm planning on implementing Augmented Reality in a future release of the game) and then allow the correct game sprites to be imported easily in the product.  The story-line I want Danielle to have full control of (she'd kill me if didn't get to, lol).  The goal though is first the game play then the touchups on he look and feel, then the storyline.

Anyways, check out these awesome sprites. Pardon the text all over them ^^;;...was tweeting them out one by one as they were sent.


--- ## Korean Dramas At Chuck's Anime Shrine - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-06-23-korean-dramas-at-chucks-anime-shrine/ - Date: 2011-06-23 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, dvds, k-drama, korean drama, updates - AI-assisted: no Not too long ago, we here at Chuck's Anime Shrine started working directly with YA Entertainment to sell Korean Drama DVDs. ^_^ Many of us anime fans are also big fans of Korean...


Not too long ago, we here at Chuck's Anime Shrine started working directly with YA Entertainment to sell Korean Drama DVDs. ^_^

Many of us anime fans are also big fans of Korean live action drama series and if you haven't got into them yet, you really should.  Some series, like Mischievous Kiss, are based directly off of manga and anime.


K-Dramas can be funny, sad, thoughtful, serious and sometimes...all of that all at once in the span of a few episodes ^^;;.  K-Dramas can also be hard to find (at least here in the states).  You won't be able to walk into a Walmart, Target or Best Buy and find a too much of or Korean dramas on the shelves.  They are available online to some capacity but eventually the (legit) places you can go to watch them, will stop streaming them...so in those cases, buying them on DVD might be the best choice if there's a series you simply adore.


With this partnership, we can add little perks to the DVDs, like free posters or even free sample episodes of other series with every purchase.  I hope to make this addition to the anime store section of the site a great one for you, the fans ^_^ and of course thank you YA Entertainment for this opportunity.

Currently we have a handful of series available.  Click here to view the entire section of available DVDs.  As of this posting, we have Tree of Heaven,  Jumong, Air City and just in... Prosecutor Princess and  My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.

 If there's any series that are in the YA Entertainment catalog that I don't have and you want...feel free to ask and I'll try to get them for you ^_^ --- ## Nendoroid: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Akemi Homura - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-06-23-nendoroid-puella-magi-madoka-magica/ - Date: 2011-06-23 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Madoka Magica - AI-assisted: no The second Nendoroid of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series is up for pre-order , Nendoroid Akemi Homura ^_^ Like Madoka , Homura isn't expected to last too long on the online ...


The second Nendoroid of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series is up for pre-order, Nendoroid Akemi Homura ^_^

Like Madoka, Homura isn't expected to last too long on the online stores ^^;;  She's expected to be released in November/December if there's no delays in production.  Below are some more images of her.

Speaking of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  One of our artists, Kenneos and a few others are have created a Madoka Doujinshi.  Check out the details here. and here http://t.co/sfpjBVe or http://t.co/52Xyc3t



--- ## Anime Airing Summer 2011 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-06-13-anime-airing-summer-2011/ - Date: 2011-06-13 - Tags: anime, summer 2011 - AI-assisted: no In case some of you did not see the list..here's the entire Summer 2011 listing for anime in Japan. Some anime to note would be the Sora No Otoshimono movie, a Full Metal Alchem...

In case some of you did not see the list..here's the entire Summer 2011 listing for anime in Japan.  Some anime to note would be the Sora No Otoshimono movie, a Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood movie, Blood-c by Clamp (image above), more Baka To Test and Idolm@ster and even a series based off the Wesley Snipes, Blade movies. 

The FMA movie doesn't seem to take place after the events of the anime but appears to be something just before the first episode or around that time.  Give the US a year or two and we'll see these stateside...but for some..as expected, don't hold your breath and it'll be understandable if you import or even have to pirate...though you shouldn't. (well in some cases, that might be the only choice you'll have to see some of these >_<)

--- ## Nintendo Wii U and Quick E3 2011 Info - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-06-07-nintendo-wii-u-and-quick-e3-2011-info/ - Date: 2011-06-07 - Tags: E3, video games, wii, wii u - AI-assisted: no Just thought I'd share a little about this newly announced console. After seeing the controller of the Wii U, hardcore gamers were raging about it, thinking it's the entire cons...


Just thought I'd share a little about this newly announced console.  After seeing the controller of the Wii U, hardcore gamers were raging about it, thinking it's the entire console and that Nintendo was doing the recent trend in games...make games only for mobile users and casual gamers.  Looks like they are going to cater us hardcore gamers as well...but remember, any business will go where the money is and sadly there are far more casual gamers out there.

Here's some info and images about it....thanks to this post on Reddit.


Launches: 2012
Size: Approximately 1.8 inches tall, 6.8 inches wide and 10.5 inches long.
New Controller: The new controller incorporates a 6.2-inch, 16:9 touch screen and traditional button controls, including two analog Circle Pads. This combination removes the traditional barriers between games, players and the TV by creating a second window into the video game world. The rechargeable controller includes a Power button, Home button, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons. It includes a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, rumble feature, camera, a microphone, stereo speakers, a sensor strip and a stylus.
Other Controls: Up to four Wii Remote™ (or Wii Remote Plus) controllers can be connected at once. The new console supports all Wii™ controllers and input devices, including the Nunchuk™ controller, Classic Controller™, Classic Controller Pro™ and Wii Balance Board™.
Media: A single self-loading media bay will play 12-centimeter proprietary high-density optical discs for the new console, as well as 12-centimeter Wii optical discs.
Video Output: Supports 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i. Compatible cables include HDMI, component, S-video and composite.
Audio Output: Uses AV Multi Out connector. Six-channel PCM linear output through HDMI.
Storage: The console will have internal flash memory, as well as the option to expand its memory using either an SD memory card or an external USB hard disk drive.
CPU: IBM Power®-based multi-core microprocessor.

Other: Four USB 2.0 connector slots are included. The new console is backward compatible with Wii games and Wii accessories. (Taken from the Nintendo E3 2011 Press Release)
Games announced: Smash Brothers, Battlefield 3, Batman: Arkham City, Assassin's Creed, Ghost Recon Online, Darksiders II, Dirt, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Metro: Last Light, Tekken, Ninja Gaiden 3, FIFA 12, Madden 12, Driver, Lego City Stories
Other facts: (GTTV interview with Reggie)



Some of you know I'm the kind of an "if it's a video game, I'll take it."  I've been playing video games since I was 1 1/2 in 1985.  Been playing since the Atari 2600 days, still have all my consoles & games and I can't wait to add this to the collection.

Lots of E3 info is going on (and Apple's WWDC was yesterday and god knows I want to blog the hell out of everything)  Here's a few of what's been big in the gaming/tech world during these past few important days:





 I'd do a bit more in the details but I'm actually in the middle of making my own video game ^_^...(and nursing yet another migraine -_-)

This also comes to mind when I think Wii-U...



--- ## New CAS Mascot Contest: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Ver. - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-06-05-new-cas-mascot-contest-puella-magi/ - Date: 2011-06-05 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, contest, contests, Madoka Magica - AI-assisted: no Been way too long since my last blog post. Here's a good way to get back into the game. After one year since my last contest, thought I'd spring you all another chance at some f...


Been way too long since my last blog post.  Here's a good way to get back into the game.

After one year since my last contest,  thought I'd spring you all another chance at some free figures for those talented anime artists out there.  Last year (and still) Black Rock Shooter figures were the must have, but just recently, Max Factory/Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders are being taken for the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Madoka Figma and Nendoroid figures.  These figures don't come out until the end of the year and already stores are running out of pre-order reserves.

(As of this post..I still have some reserves left in my store ^^)

What you can Win:

One person will win the first place prize, both a Nendoroid and a Figma Madoka figure.

Depending on how many entries I receive. Your artwork, deviant art account or personal art site/blog will be linked from here ^^. (basically like here on our artists page)

How to Win:

The last contest was to create the banner and finally bring our mascots we've had on the site since 2003.. to life.  Last year's winner, Kenneos did an amazing job in particularly drawing the now fan favorite shrine maiden, Yumi.

This contest will be similar.  A few months ago, Yumi, Fumi and Lily's creator (my fiancee Danielle) created a Kawaii version of the blog, aimed to an anime girl's point of view.  As you all can see from the blog section, we are lacking a custom banner showing our mascots.

The goal of this contest is to make a kawaii banner for that section, featuring our mascots ^_^  Like the past banners made, the size of the banner should be 982px (W) x 249px (L). The file format can be a .jpg or .png

Email me your entry and even if you don't win the grand prize....I'll do my best to promote as many artists as possible.  Chuck's Anime Shrine is a legit business entity so I don't mind being a reference for your portfolio or art resume. (take THAT art colleges that look down on anime and animation)

One more thing... this request is completely optional.  I've been (for years) looking to create a video game (in Flash, iPhone iOS and possibly Android) surrounding a story behind our mascots, with Fumi as the main character.  Making art for video games can be a daunting task and payment of two figures is probably not sufficient...but I wanted to get some ideas on the table.  You can draw to your heart's content (and I'll gladly promote the work), character designs, enemy ideas and power ups.  The game format I've always for all these years wanted it to be, is a 2D side scrolling anime shooter (the recent Flying Hampster anime iPhone app is a great example).  The core of the game's design will be the powers of Fumi and the advantages each form would have.  Fumi has a normal/default school girl form, an Angel Form and a Demon form (You can see from the mascots page what I mean)  Lily is to be a support character in-game and Yumi will be both the game selection avatar and possibly a playable/bonus character as well.  One other tidbit, is that I want each of Fumi's forms to have a super/powered up version.  Again, this is just an option and meant for a future contest or co-op work, but I'm curious on what you all might come up with ^_^  I'd get into more details of my plans for this but I need to keep some intellectual property to myself or risk losing it ^^;;;

Use the mascots page as reference in the general submission and if you want to do the optional videogame art as well.


Contest Deadline:

Submissions will be due September 30th 2011. By then (unless they are delayed) the Madoka figures will be released....the way the anime figure industry works though...us anime stores here in the US might not receive our stock for a month or two later ^^;;;

Good luck and it's good to be back in the blogging routine again. --- ## Gumako Support Ver. Nendoroid No.200 & Cheerful Japan - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-05-16-gumako-support-ver-nendoroid-no200/ - Date: 2011-05-16 - Tags: anime figures, anime news, figures, Good Smile Company, japan, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Was going to post this a few days back but blogger was down ^^;; In case you didn't hear, Good Smile Company announced their 200th Nendoroid figure to be their own mascots, Guma...

Was going to post this a few days back but blogger was down ^^;;

In case you didn't hear,  Good Smile Company announced their 200th Nendoroid figure to be their own mascots, Gumako and Seijin.  Even more important, it's also going to be Support figure similar to Support ver. Miku. For every figure sold, 1000 yen (~$13) goes to relief efforts for the Sendai Tsunami & Earthquakes. Good Smile did so well with Support Miku.  They sold a whopping 74,394 units, that's 74,394,000 yen (~$907,500) that went to charity!



The success has brought together Good Smile Company and other figure makers to create Cheerful Japan.  Basically there will be figures that will be just like Support Miku and Support Gumako.  This is a great program and I'll be participating any way I can as a fan and store owner ^_^

For those wanting to get their hands on Gumako, she's only available right now for Japan-local customers, the rest of the world will have access to buy her on May 25th.  The nendoroid (as well as a huge Seijin plush) can be bought at Good Smile's Online site.  Don't be fooled by anime figure stores that say they can get you them, they are only available directly from GSC and any other store saying they can get them..are probably selling fakes.

--- ## Nendoroid: Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Madoka Kaname - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-05-10-nendoroid-puella-magi-madoka-magica/ - Date: 2011-05-10 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Madoka Magica, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Great news ^_^ I'll definitely be stocking the Nendoroid Madoka Kaname from the insanely popular series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. This Nendoroid in particular has been selling...


Great news ^_^  I'll definitely be stocking the Nendoroid Madoka Kaname from the insanely popular series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  This Nendoroid in particular has been selling out like mad in Japan.  Some of you might have heard of the run on her but I made sure from two of my suppliers that my reserves will be coming in... and there'll definitely be some for customers in the store.  Grab your reserve quick...it might not be long until even what I reserve is all sold out. For those buying from the Japan stores and live in the US...my final price probably beats them out since of course there's the high price of EMS shipping that gets added to their pricing.  They'll most likely be two separate shipments, one early batch from my supplier in japan and the second batch from AAAanime.com in late October. (yeah, us US anime stores sometimes get last licks on these -_-)

Here's her page

Email me here to reserve her if you wish to not use the cart.

...and here's some more pics of her ^^



--- ## Week in Review, Minecraft and Other Info - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-05-06-week-in-review-minecraft-and-other-info/ - Date: 2011-05-06 - Tags: anime figures, anime news, updates, world news - AI-assisted: no First off, my apologies for the delay in blog posts ^^;; A few things can contribute to why I didn't post in over a week. One of those reasons being that the anime store is busy...

First off, my apologies for the delay in blog posts ^^;;  A few things can contribute to why I didn't post in over a week.  One of those reasons being that the anime store is busy again and add that with the fact I still work a 30 hour a week day job that's 35 miles from home...it becomes a real time killer -_-  Another little bit of news is that as of next month , Danielle and I will be in our own place (finally...Long Island is pointlessly expensive)...so preparations are starting for that. No change to the business address (yet) that will still be there.  Eventually I see us living in a nice big and far less expensive home in Pennsylvania since well... Long Island is really like a Louis Vuitton bag; ridiculously expensive and when you see it..you question WHY?

Speaking of time killers.....with Japan celebrating Golden Week until about today... there hasn't been too much in new anime figure news...except of course for the big announcement of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Nendoroid Madoka Kaname figure. I'd have her up at the store for you all to reserve but there's a high chance us non-japan anime retailers will get jipped out of what reserve -_- (again, mainly due to idiotic licensing practices).  You could email me though and ask to be on a waiting list...but though I ordered these by the case (12 each case),  I might suddenly be told, "oh well, you get nothing".

 (I better get my case(s) of this one -_-)

So, to kill a bit of time and to have some sort of a video game on my new Macbook...I decided to buy Minecraft.  Due be warned, that game is highly addicting.  My user name is princetrunks and currently my skin is that of Kamina from Gurren Lagann...but I'll either change it to Simon the Digger from GL or create a DBZ Trunks one (can't seem to find it :-/).  Hopefully you guys will see me hanging around some of the multiplayer servers instead of making my little fort in one player.

Also, I hesitated from posting any news since well, everyone here is busy cheering the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Being I was a senior in high school during 9/11 and I'm here in New York...the whole situation was very close to home.  I posted my whole 9/11 story here for those who wish to check it out but in short, though I didn't lose any loved ones that day...I remember walking my school hallway and seeing people drop to the floor in utter sadness since they lost their mom, dad, cousin or friend who were just at their normal day of work in the city.  In short...I'm glad that bastard is gone and I wish I can take on any one of those in Al Qaeda and break them with my own hands (and slice them with my sword).  I would be fine for the military physically and mentally...except he little thing of where I don't want anything to do with the words "yes sir" and having a "superior officer."  If my blog, store and attitude hasn't stated otherwise...I'm not too keen in having someone boss me around.

Here's some quick anime news events I failed to mention in the past week or so ^^;;
--- ## Sailor Moon and Code Name Sailor V Manga Pre-orders are Up! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-04-22-sailor-moon-and-code-name-sailor-v/ - Date: 2011-04-22 - Tags: anime store, manga, Sailor Moon, Sailor V - AI-assisted: no Sailor Moon fans, you will love to hear the news that pre-orders for the re-release of the Sailor Moon manga in English and for the first time, Code Name Sailor V...are up ^_^ C...
Sailor Moon fans, you will love to hear the news that pre-orders for the re-release of the Sailor Moon manga in English and for the first time, Code Name Sailor V...are up ^_^

Click this link to view the pre-orders in my store.  The first volume of both mangas will be out some time in September, the second volumes are set to release in November.  Kodansha Comics are the people you can thank for doing what should have been done years ago.  So no more bidding on ebay for $300 copies of Mixx Sailor Moon manga.

Speaking of pricing;  I have these up for $10.99 but shipping is FREE for anyone in the US.  International customers can get them for just a $10 shipping charge  For US customers, this ends up about the same price as Amazon sells them for (unless you have Amazon Prime ^^;;) so hopefully this helps out all of the fans out there ^^


If you want to get on the waiting list for this manga and don't want to go through the store, you can email me here to get on a waiting list.  No payment necessary until they arrive ^^

Sailor Moon is officially back an who knows...maybe the anime series will get a much needed re-dub and English release of the never "officially" released  final season. --- ## Tokyopop Closing US Manga Operations; Letter to Fans - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-04-18-tokyopop-closing-us-operations-letter/ - Date: 2011-04-18 - Tags: anime news, manga, tokyopop - AI-assisted: no Well, you guys heard of this a few days ago, but for those who didn't hear the news , Tokyopop is closing it's US operations next month. I did go into a bit of a rant on Twitter...

Well, you guys heard of this a few days ago, but for those who didn't hear the news, Tokyopop is closing it's US operations next month.  I did go into a bit of a rant on Twitter at first blaming the scanlation sites...but I want to elaborate on that.  Yes, scanlation sites are part of the issue to why manga is not (entirety) selling in America like it did, but here's a list of other reasons which are probably more of the reason to the loss of Tokyopop:

  1. Terrible company planning.  Issue #1 to why any company falls.  Once a company grows to a large entity, there becomes this tradition to hire MBA financial and business planners to "help" the business.  Though these people are great number crunchers and spent many years studying (in theory) on how to run a business; they don't and they hardly ever, ever have the core or the business's success on their minds.  Manga got popular in America once the fans got access to manga in stores like Walden Books and Borders, from there on fans could actually buy what they couldn't for years.  Not seeing the worldwide appeal of anime/manga, the changing times with the internet and e-books is the main reason for the fall of Tokyopop (and Borders books as well).  Lose the core of why you are in business, let a bunch of faceless, tasteless number crunchers call the shots, and watch it all dwindle...take it from a fellow business owner.
  2. The #2 reason is the outdated and at times ludicrous licensing industry.  Heck the whole licensing process in entertainment is a mafia/yakuza/blood-sucking-lawyer pyramid scheme business.  Companies like Tokyopop have to shell out big cash to have the rights to distribute a certain title or related title.  Though the licensing process was originally there to protect the creators' intellectual property from being hacked, bootlegged, etc...it instead became a bureaucratic sh*%storm.  Licensees mainly use licenses as cash cows..not for the content they hold but for the ability to sue anyone who even remotely violates their licensing terms.  The anime fans are never in the minds of those who take hold of the licenses (with a few exceptions like Square-Enix).  This lack of incite is financial suicide in today's world-wide viral internet market.  Holding on to these old-hat business scams schemes helps to only promote piracy as anime fans world wide will try to view titles the moment they come out in Japan.  For example,  K-On! comes out next Tuesday "officially" in America but the darn anime has been out for almost three years.  Anime fans don't want to wait 3-4 months, let alone 2-3 years for a popular series to come out.  They want it now an if they can't buy it now..the only other venue..is piracy!
  3. Piracy. Piracy is a problem, it is overdone by some fans, scanlation sites, fan dubbing, fan subbing, etc but, if you read what I wrote in the previous point...some of it is unavoidable.  The world is very much connected by the internet; if any demographic "runs" the way the internet moves, it's anime fans (ie: see memes and any leading social web site).  There will always be piracy, and it can't be helped, but the licensing restrictions placed on some anime have it where people can't even buy what they want to buy.  Trust me, anime fans buy their anime but if the only venue to get their beloved titles is piracy, that route shall be used.
  4. E-books.  Like it or not, ebooks are here to stay.  I love physically holding manga in my hands and there are still many anime fans who do, yet, to not embrace e-books, is a mistake.  A mistake that has lead to the fall of Borders Books.
  5. Borders Books going out of business.   This undoubtedly does put a dent in the manga business;  but let me remind you all of a 2009 New York Comic Con Graphic Novel sales chart that blew my mind.  Of all of the graphic novels sold in the US, the majority sold were not Marvel & DC comics...the 45% majority of graphic novels sold were indeed Japanese manga; shojuo being the majority of the manga sales.  Sales have actually stayed about the same since then, since 2009 was right after the worldwide recession...so all of the numbers were down during that time.  Not only are most of the graphic novels sold in the US, being manga...they are sold mainly to girls 13-17 years old!  When I stated that all I saw at the NY Comic-con were fan-boy 20-30 somethings, holding their mom's hands looking for "that one" comic, while most of NY Anime Fest were a bunch of 13-20 year olds, self-sufficient, by themselves yet really sociable (ok, maybe a bit too sociable at times)...I wasn't kidding.  Anime fans tend to spend more money than "main-stream" comic fans since the anime demographic are more self-sufficient people. (or use all of their allowance on manga/figures. Yet, many work extra hours at their jobs to pay for their anime hobby.  I know this first hand as a fan and store owner). 
The point I'm getting with this is that there are anime fans buying manga and merchandise but some in the industry fail to see this.  Some of you though might be questioning why I don't stock much manga in my store if that's the case. Well, that can be answered by the issue of stiff competition and terrible price points of manga. The average $10-$12 might cost me $5-$6....yet stores like Walmart, Amazon directly and other sellers might sell them for $3.  I'm all for getting fans a good price on items; but with the big companies getting manga at $1 or less when I pay $5..that's hardly a way to run a business; thus this explains why I for now still focus on the figures.  To fix this, the manga industry should take on MAP (Minimum Advertising Pricing) policies and allow refunds (a process called Price Protection in the industry) when that MAP price goes down to suit the fans and the depreciation most manga and graphic novels (and DVDs) go through.  This would help smaller companies like mine make up for the void left from Boarders.

I know that if I can get my anime business up to par, I'll start buying some shares in these bigger companies and get my word out.  Anime fans are always here to stay and it probably will take anime fans to keep the industry going, even if someone like me has to force feed it to them on the corporate level.  I have some clout now but $ is the ultimate way to gain clout with any industry and hopefully some of us can get it through the thick MBA skulls of the so-called "business-managers" that there is a viable fan-base here in the US; always has been and always will be.

What will happen to titles owned by Toykopop after this, one could only guess.  Some will most likely be bought out by other companies like Yen Press and Viz, others....well,  I won't blame you for pirating then.

Anyways, here's Stu's excuse letter to the fans after the decision:
Dear TOKYOPOP Community:
Way back in 1997, we set out to bring a little-known form of Japanese entertainment to American shores. I originally named our little company “Mixx”, meaning a mix of entertainment, mix of media, and mix of cultures.   My dream was to build a bridge between Japan and America, through the incredible stories I discovered as a student in Tokyo.
Starting with just four titles -- Parasyte, Ice Blade, Magic Knight Rayearth, and, of course, Sailor Moon -- we launched MixxZine, aspiring to introduce comics to girls. These four series laid down the cornerstone for what would eventually become TOKYOPOP and the Manga Revolution.
Over the years, I’ve explored many variations of manga culture – “OEL” manga, “Cine-Manga”, children’s books we called “Manga Chapters”, the Gothic-Lolita Bible, Korean manwha (which we still called “manga” at the time), video game soundtracks, live-action films and documentaries, anime, and various merchandise. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t – but the most enjoyable part of this journey has been the opportunity to work with some of the most talented and creative people I’ve ever met.
Many of you also allowed me the indulgence to not only produce works but also to take a swing at creating some of my own. I’ve learned that it’s much easier to criticize others than it is to create from scratch – but in doing so, I’ve also in the process learned how to better communicate with creators.
Fourteen years later, I’m laying down my guns. Together, our community has fought the good fight, and, as a result, the Manga Revolution has been won –manga has become a ubiquitous part of global pop culture. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished – and the incredible group of passionate fans we’ve served along the way (my fellow revolutionaries!).
For many years Japan has been my second home, and I have devoted much of my career to bringing my love for Japan to the world – and hopefully in my own way, I can give back to the culture that has given me so much joy.
In closing, I simply want to thank all of you – our incredibly talented creators from all over the world, our patient and supportive business partners and customers, our amazingly dedicated TOKYOPOP team – full-timers, part-timers, freelancers and interns, and of course the greatest fans in the entire world. Together, we’ve succeeded in bringing manga to North America and beyond.
Arigatougozaimasu!!
Stu Levy
Founder, TOKYOPOP
--- ## Square-Enix Manga - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-04-14-square-enix-manga/ - Date: 2011-04-14 - Tags: manga, square-enix - AI-assisted: no In case some of you didn't know... Square-Enix is not only a big name with Final Fantasy and other great video game franchises (plus lets not forget their anime figure line), bu...
In case some of you didn't know... Square-Enix is not only a big name with Final Fantasy and other great video game franchises (plus lets not forget their anime figure line), but they also distribute manga ^^
Just to help spread the word about Square-Enix to the Nth degree here: check out their manga section.  They are giving out some freebies like wall paper, free manga reads, etc.  If I eventually expand the Manga section of my store..I'll surely add some Square-Enix manga to the batch. --- ## Anime Figures For Japan Relief - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-04-07-anime-figures-for-japan-relief/ - Date: 2011-04-07 - Tags: anime figures, earthquake, figures, world news - AI-assisted: no Very soon, Nendoroid Miku Hatsune Support Ver. should be available for purchase for non-Japanese citizens. As a reminder, this figure is a very special one by Good Smile Company...

Very soon, Nendoroid Miku Hatsune Support Ver. should be available for purchase for non-Japanese citizens. As a reminder, this figure is a very special one by Good Smile Company  for every figure purchased, 1000 yen goes to Japan Earthquake/Tsunami relief.  As I speak yet another quake has hit japan... a 7.4 magnitude earthquake :-(.

I plan on buying one for myself as well.  When this figure arrives in July or so, I'd ask anybody who purchased her to submit photos/ blog about your support for Japan in my member's blog.

If my busy schedule can permit it... I'll try to create some auctions on my ebay branch that will have proceeds go toward the Japan Red Cross.

In general, if you want to support Japan; buy anime figures, visit a local sushi bar for lunch/dinner, buy Japanese video games.  The world-wide otaku culture can be of help to the people of Japan. --- ## Spring 2011 Anime Lineup - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-04-07-spring-2011-anime-lineup/ - Date: 2011-04-07 - Tags: anime, spring 2011 - AI-assisted: no The list of this season's new anime is up ^^ There's lots of awesome shows in the line up. Hopefully the shady licensing industry doesn't keep most of these strictly on Japanese...

The list of this season's new anime is up ^^  There's lots of awesome shows in the line up.  Hopefully the shady licensing industry doesn't keep most of these strictly on Japanese shores...but hey, when anime fans want to watch anime, they want to watch their anime.

Some of the series on my to-watch list would be:
Thanks to Danny Choo for the initial post on this.
Below is the large graphic showing all of the new/continued series/ OVAs and featured films (click to enlarge):

--- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine Store, Now on Google Shopping - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-29-chucks-anime-shrine-store-now-on-google/ - Date: 2011-03-29 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Sorry to throw another store blog post out but this one I had to share. As of today, I finally got the anime store listings onto the Google Shopping links. For a long while Goog...

Sorry to throw another store blog post out but this one I had to share.  As of today,  I finally got the anime store listings onto the Google Shopping links.  For a long while Google Base wasn't taking my product feeds and after some help from their development team...look like all is good.  While I got this ready today, my webhost decided to move the site onto a new server... so there was for a brief time yet another cart error in the site ^^;;;  It's fixed and all is ok ^_^

Look like I have the others beat when it comes to the BGS pre-order ^^...granted I might not always have the lowest pricing, but I'll always do what I can for the anime community.
--- ## Anime Store Checkout Error FIXED - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-27-anime-store-checkout-error-fixed/ - Date: 2011-03-27 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, figures - AI-assisted: no Fixed the checkout error in the anime store ^^;; Sadly, with the fix, I had to scrap the Google Checkout button...again due to it giving me problems -_-. Paypal, CC, Amazon Chec...


Fixed the checkout error in the anime store ^^;;  Sadly, with the fix, I had to scrap the Google Checkout button...again due to it giving me problems -_-.

 Paypal, CC, Amazon Checkout, (edit: now Google Checkout works) and Money order/pre-order reserve are working ok now.

For those who want to use Google Checkout...I'll hopefully get the Google Base feature up and running and from there Google Checkout can be used.  Sorry about the slight delay in service ^^;;; --- ## Anime Store Checkout Error ^^;; - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-26-anime-store-checkout-error/ - Date: 2011-03-26 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, figures, updates - AI-assisted: no Seems like late last night either my webhost's server or the internal OsCommerse system that runs my anime store ran into an odd error out of thin air ^^;; (was working fine pri...

Seems like late last night either my webhost's server or the internal OsCommerse system that runs my anime store ran into an odd error out of thin air ^^;; (was working fine prior -_-).  For now the checkout system is acting up -_-, nothing regarding personal info and that jazz, just OsCommerse going all Herp Derp on me just because it wanted to.

Been spending all day today debugging the error and I'll have to call it a night before I go crazy @_@ I already see new people signing up in the store daily so if you have any in-stock figures in mind you'd want to purchase, email me and I can set up a Paypal Invoice.  If there are any pre-orders you want to nab, also email me and I'll add you to the pre-order list.

Hopefully this error goes away by the end of the weekend.  For those first viewing my store...this isn't a normal occurrence and I apologize for any inconvenience ^^;;

You can also shop my Amazon or my ebay branch until this is fixed ^^;; --- ## Japan Aid, Hatsune Miku Support Edition Nendoroid, Tokyo Pop Letter - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-25-japan-aid-hatsune-miku-support-edition/ - Date: 2011-03-25 - Tags: anime figures, figures, japan, Nendoroid, world news - AI-assisted: no It's already been two weeks since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that has greatly affected the lives of everybody in Japan. The 9.0 earthquake that in a matter of moment...


It's already been two weeks since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that has greatly affected the lives of everybody in Japan.  The 9.0 earthquake that in a matter of moments shifted the entire Earth on it's axis by a few inches and brought Japan 8 miles closer to the US might be small news now to the news stations here that "advertise" the news instead of broadcasting it...but we anime fans across the world have the people of Japan on our minds daily.  A number of fund raising events are happening just here on Long Island where I live and across the internet we see fans, voice actors and industry giants playing their role in aiding Japan.



Today Good Smile Company announced the creation of a new Miku Hatsune figure, the Hatsune Miku Support Edition Nendoroid.  1000 yen (about $13) from every purchase of this figure will go towards relief efforts to the Japan Red Cross.  What's great is that international customers will be open to purchase this.

On April 8th, be sure to check the link posted before on how to order her from Good Smile directly.  She's scheduled to release in July.  If I am able to get these figures at wholesale to stock in my store, I will donate ALL of the profits from that figure to relief efforts; but of course, this one will probably be best purchased direct from GSC...which I will do as well.

Actually, when these Nendoroids come in, I'll create a blog post where you can submit images of your Hatsune Miku Support Edition Nendoroid to show you supported Japan ^_^

Also, as for the TokyoPop letters to the students of Tagasago.  Around Monday I'll be mailing my letter to them.  I got some great fan art of our mascots from two of the site artists Eefi and Kenneos.  Eei made the picture of Fumi and Lily (pictured above) and Kenneos made this one below of an older Yumi with the theme of Spring will come again."  I'll be mailing prints of these to the students of Tagasago so thanks again Eeefi and Kenneos.  If you have any special images of our mascots you want to send them, I'll take images in until monday when I ship the letter out.

Here's to the full recovery of Japan and we will never forget those lost in this natural tragedy.

--- ## Sailor Moon Returning to the US in September - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-21-sailor-moon-returning-to-us-in/ - Date: 2011-03-21 - Tags: anime, manga, Sailor Moon, Sailor V - AI-assisted: no Sailor Moon fans will rejoice from this bit of news from Kodansha USA Publishing and MTV . For the first time time ever, the Sailor Moon prequel, Sailor V (being re-named as COD...

Sailor Moon fans will rejoice from this bit of news from Kodansha USA Publishing and MTV. For the first time time ever, the Sailor Moon prequel, Sailor V (being re-named as CODENAME: Sailor V) will be available on these shores and the long out-dated print of the Sailor Moon manga will be back in stores in September.  Kodansha USA Publishing got the rights to distribute this anime legend and with Sailor Moon and DBZ being major anime here in america again...it feels like the late 90's again ^^.

With this news, one could speculate that the Sailor Moon anime could be redubbed and the final season (Sailor Stars) can finally be made available (officially) to the US.  If pre-orders become available, I'll add to the store.

(If a redub is done, I'll gladly audition for Tuxedo Mask ^^) --- ## Stu Levy, Founder of TokyoPop's Request From Anime Fans - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-21-stu-levy-founder-of-tokyopops-request/ - Date: 2011-03-21 - Tags: japan, tokyopop, updates, world news - AI-assisted: no Got this bit of news from voice actor Vic Mignogna's Risembool Rangers site. The founder of TokyoPop , Stu Levy is asking for anime fans across America and across the world to h...
Got this bit of news from voice actor Vic Mignogna's Risembool Rangers site.  The founder of  TokyoPop, Stu Levy is asking for anime fans across America and across the world to help the moral of those suffering from the disaster in Japan to send letters about ourselves, our fan art and why we love and care about everybody in Japan.  Many people in Japan still don't realize how much we look up to them and how much anime and Japanese culture has inspired us.  One of the greatest complements we can give them is to show our fandom and how they are always in our hearts.

Here's his message:
March 18, 2011 - Stu Levy

Completely destroyed cars as far as the eye can see, on the way to Sendai.

Hi everyone!

As you all know, Japan is going through a very challenging time. The 9.0 earthquake last week and the resulting tsunami caused significant damage to coastal towns throughout Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. The quake rattled and rocked us in Tokyo as well, resulting in food and gas shortages, electricity blackouts and transportation problems.

But the people north of Tokyo (in Miyagi and Iwate) have been living a nightmare. Over 400,000 victims have had their homes destroyed - and are now living in emergency shelters. Many have lost friends and family, as well as most of their worldly possessions.

This week I visited one of those shelters to deliver food, fuel and other provisions. The shelter is a junior high school in a harbor area of Sendai, Miyagi. The school (and neighborhood) is called Rikuzen-Takasago, shortened to TAKASAGO. There are over 1000 victims living in this shelter.

For the first few days after the earthquake, they had so little food that they had literally only one potato chip per person for the entire day. Two nights ago we prepared their first hot bowl of rice for them from the provisions we delivered. They still do not have electricity or heat, and when I was up there it was freezing cold and snowing. 30-80 people are scrunched into each classroom, sleeping on the floor with one or two blankets each. The victims are of all ages - and everyone is urgently cleaning the tsunami mud from the school so that disease doesn't spread.

Even in those circumstances, the victims are working hard as a team. They are cleaning together, cooking together, carrying the provisions, helping each other out - it's truly inspiring to see them fighting so hard to survive and overcome this tragedy.

What really stood out to me the most was the energy and spirit of the Takasago students. When we were building an outdoor cooking facility, they all labored on various tasks we assigned them - sweeping, washing, carrying gas tanks, laying down temporary flooring, and more. We worked as a team and I could tell how excited they were to be involved - they took a lot of pride in their hard work.

On the way home, I was listening to Japanese radio while taking turns driving the truck. The radio's DJ was reading letters from people throughout Japan who are cheering on the victims. It is very moving to hear these letters, but I realized that none of the victims can actually hear these messages because the shelters don't have electricity - so no radio.

That's when it dawned on me what WE can do together as the TOKYOPOP community. I remembered the students' excitement when they practiced some of their English phrases for me and when I taught them some of our American handshake styles (we have so many, after all). They laughed and jumped around trying to high-five each other in the "American" styles.

So, I thought, what if I gather letters from our community and deliver those letters to them? They can't read much English but so many of you can draw beautifully as well as write poems, simple letters, and even some decorative Japanese phrases. Maybe you can include a photo of yourself and friends (cosplay!) - or something about you. Anything to let the Takasago students know that you are cheering them on - and to put a smile on their face.

Of course, the food, fuel and blankets are top priority but so many people are now pitching in that I anticipate that problem will be resolved in the next week. The real issue is how long the victims will have to live in these shelters - it could be months. So many of these shelters are schools and the schools need to start teaching. The students will have bright futures if they can make it through this trauma, not only physically but also emotionally. That's why your letters and drawings will mean so much. It will help heal the deep scars this disaster has caused, and ease the pain of the trauma.

So, here is my plea to you:

PLEASE SEND YOUR WORDS, ART, MANGA AND PICTURES!

Students of Takasago
c/o Stu Levy
Tokyo Towers, Mid-Tower 4918
6-3-2 Kachidoki, Chuo-ku
Tokyo, Japan 104-0054

We can't do this digitally because there's no electricity, so we have to go old school: paper! Also, I want to bring up a huge box on my next provisions trip, so please send them directly to my office in Tokyo. I know the postage is a bit more expensive, but it will save precious time to not go through our LA office.

Of course donations to the various non-profit funds are critical but this is something that will cost you almost no money (just postage) - and it is something very special. My hope is that I can learn more about the Takasago students and introduce them to you guys next - through photos and letters from them back. For now, here's a photo I took in the shelter's kitchen. It's a group of some of the students you can see the joy and love in their faces. Your letters will guarantee many more smiles over the hard months ahead.

Thank you everyone!!!!!!

If anyone wants to make fan art of my mascots to cheer up those effected by the disaster; feel free to email them to me and I'll add them to my letter(s) I'll be sending out. 

(I'll wait a bit for people to send me some fan art, for me to add to my mailing.  I expect to send out my letters some time next week, sooner if I get nobody emailing me that they will send something.) --- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine on Otaku In Review - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-20-chucks-anime-shrine-on-otaku-in-review/ - Date: 2011-03-20 - Tags: chuck gaffney, chucksanimeshrine, japan, podcast - AI-assisted: no Back on Thursday I had the honor of guest starring on The Otaku Review podcast with Scott Spaziani and one of my biggest anime figure customers, Michael Camacho. Check out the p...


Back on Thursday I had the honor of guest starring on The Otaku Review podcast with Scott Spaziani and one of my biggest anime figure customers, Michael Camacho. Check out the podcast episode here.

We got to talk about upcoming anime episodes, I gave a bit of insight on running the anime figure business and of course, we talked about the current crisis in Japan after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami & nuclear plant issues.  Check out and donate to the Unofficial One Piece Podcast’s 24 hour marathon to benefit Japan or any other way you can help Japan.

One way you can help Japan that might not have been mentioned and I think anime fans could be absolutely fine with is.. to buy more anime and anime figures.  The next priority after food, water and money Japan needs, a to bring business and the work day back to normal.  There is an intense sense of uncertainty amongst the people and most just want normalcy to return.  For maybe the next few months...completely stop any anime pirating/torrenting you might be doing, pre-order anime figures and merchandise.  Give Japanese companies that boost they need in money and moral.  I'm not saying buy from me, I don't care if you buy from me or the many other great anime retailers out there but don't add insult to injury by pirating upcoming anime.  I completely understand the whole licensing BS that goes on with some titles but the best way to help Japan is to give them the funds to fill their grocery shelves and to fill you shelves with anime DVDs, manga and anime figures.


Thanks again Scott and Michael for inviting me.  Check them out on twitter via @ScottSpaziani, @GNitro, @Otakuinreview

Check out OtakuInReview and Michael's site, TheOtakuGamer.

Soon you'll see this in the podcast/voice acting page as well.

--- ## Anime/Game Voice Acting Advanced Class with Bang! Zoom! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-18-animegame-voice-acting-advanced-class/ - Date: 2011-03-18 - Tags: anime, anime voice acting, chuck gaffney, updates, voice acting - AI-assisted: no Was going to post this sooner but it's abviously not be a normal week with all that is happening in Japan. To throw some positive note into the blog today, last Sunday I spent t...

Was going to post this sooner but it's abviously not be a normal week with all that is happening in Japan.  To throw some positive note into the blog today, last Sunday I spent the day in NYC taking the new Advance Anime and Game voice acting class with anime voice legend Tony Oliver and Bang! Zoom! studios.

Like the two courses I took last year, the class was held over at Edge Studios, the same studio famous for a number of voice overs including much of what you see on say the History Channel.

It was great to get back in the booth and to erase any cob webs that might have kicked in since last year.  This class was particularly helpful since we got to do a mock voice audition at full speed.  We alot went full sped in doing a few mock video game voice overs.  Since we already knew the basics, it was mainly a class of fine tuning, removing any remaing butterflies in our stomach and to fully prep for a real audtion.

Great thanks of course to Tony for yet another great teaching job and Paul, the engineer for the recording.

What's left for me is to fine-tune a few stock voices I have , make a demo and get out there for some auditions.

In the coming year here's hoping you'll hear me in some real anime and video game dubs.

If by any chance you run any original animations, games, web commercials, etc you'd like me to audition for, email me at ctgaffney@gmail.com or here at orders@chucksanimeshrine.com.

Since I'm trying to get involved with the actual anime industry, fan dubs aren't really something I'll join in (ok if Team Four Star asked me to join I might)... since fan dubs are frowned upon by the industry for the obvious reasons. I'd like to say I don't work for free either but that's something we can negotiate based on the project ^_^

For those who were in the class.  I might eventually do a commercial for my anime store and I'll probably ask for some voice samples... could be something to add to our voice resume and since my  anime store is a legit business, it could maybe open some doors.  Facebook and/or message me when you can.

(images: above: me in the sounds booth. below: group shot of most of us.   Thanks Madi and Dennis for the photos.)

--- ## 8.9 Magnitude Japan Earthquake, Tsunami Devastation and How To Help - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-11-89-magnitde-japan-earthquake-tsunami/ - Date: 2011-03-11 - Tags: earthquake, japan, tsunami 2011, world news - AI-assisted: no 3:00am EST: Was adding Google Checkout to my anime store last night...I suddenly browse over to Reddit.com before calling it a night and that's when I saw the terrible news I'm ...

3:00am EST: Was adding Google Checkout to my anime store last night...I suddenly browse over to Reddit.com before calling it a night and that's when I saw the terrible news I'm certain you all know of by now; an unheard of, 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the north east coast of Japan.  I've blogged about large earthquakes and tsunamis that happened off the coast of Japan, but in pure Japanese fashion, they usually took what the rest of the world would panic about and shroug it off.


Sadly, this earthquake and the resulting tsunami, are not one of those simple annoying events for Japan.  This one as you can see from all of the news broadcasts, images and videos...is something that hasn't been seen in a long, long time anywhere in the world.  My heart dropped the moment I saw the devastation.  Yes, like many of you I look to Japan as a place of inspiration, awe and honor simply from being an anime fan but obviously the human factor outweighs all of that.

For me and for some of you, we have friends and family there. My fiancee's grandmother is from Japan and has a brother who's a doctor in Tokyo.  One of his daughters, my fiancee's cousin, is Fumi of whom I loosely bade the site's main mascot on.  Fumi, her father and her family are all safe from what I am hearing but Japan has been through better days and as I speak, Fumi's father is probably sleeping in his office right now due to the lack of train service, dealing with the numerous aftershocks such a strong earthquake can give.  My fiancee's grandmother is also friends with the former head of Kodak as well as the owner of the energy company that runs that oil refinery in Odaiba that we all saw explode over the Tokyo skyline.  After hearing about the 200-300 bodies supposedly washed ashore, I began to cry.  I hope all in the next few days everything gets back to normal in Japan and my heart goes out to all who have lost someone they love in Japan.  As George Takei is stating: #TodayWeAreAllJapanese

Ways to Help / Check on Loved Ones: 

Being in NY, its a far ways away from Japan and I know many of you want to help.  


via CNN:
"U.S. citizens in Japan are urged to contact family and friends as soon as possible. If web access is available they should use twitter, Facebook or email JapanEmergencyUSC@state.gov. U.S. citizens in Japan are also encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/ or go to the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulates. Updated information about travel and security in Japan is available at 1-888-407-4747 or 1-202-501-4444."

Another way to check on loved ones is to use this link: 

http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en

If anyone has other contacts, info, ways to help, feel free to leave it in the comments.  Let's use the internet for what it's best at...keeping people in touch. --- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine Turns 9 Years Old Today - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-10-chucks-anime-shrine-turns-9-years-old/ - Date: 2011-03-10 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Today is the 9th anniversary of this site's beginning ^_^ This day back in 2002 I purchased the rights to chucksanimeshrine.com and slapped the first version of the site I built...

Today is the 9th anniversary of this site's beginning ^_^  This day back in 2002 I purchased the rights to chucksanimeshrine.com and slapped the first version of the site I built during my senior year in High School onto my first web host's server.  I'm always so grateful for you all, the fans of this site and here's to another 9+ years.  I hope to make this site more worth the visit.  With the Fumi game finally in production and with the possibility of me being an anime voice actor this year...I might have some interesting things to come for the 10th year of Chuck's Anime Shrine.  My fiancee Danielle left a cute birthday wish for the site over at the new Kawaii Blog of the site ^^

(today also marks the 4th anniversary of the anime store and the 3rd year anniversary of my acquisition of anime.fm.  Also, today I partnered with YA Entertainment to offer Korean Drama DVDs ^^..more on that in a few days or so. )

(image above, a special image of Yumi by Kenneos) --- ## Figma 100: Miku Append Ver. Figure Pre-orders Begin - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-08-figma-100-miku-append-ver-figure-pre/ - Date: 2011-03-08 - Tags: anime figures, figma, figures, Miku Hatsune - AI-assisted: no The wait is over for those who saw this figure previewed at the latest Wonfest convention... as of today in Japan, the Miku Append ver figma has officially begun pre-orders ^_^ ...

The wait is over for those who saw this figure previewed at the latest Wonfest convention... as of today in Japan, the Miku Append ver figma has officially begun pre-orders ^_^ (of course I added the figure to the store)  What's so special about this figure is that outside of it being an amazing Miku figure sculpted by Masaki Asai...it's the 100th figma!

She is scheduled to be released in Japan sometime in August...but with the deadline delays GSC and Max Factory have been known for the past year (plus us retailers in the US getting figures a month+ late -_-)  I put her release date at late September.

Check out her pics below:









--- ## Mascot and Fan Artist Pages Are (Finally) Up - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-03-02-mascot-and-fan-artist-pages-are-finally/ - Date: 2011-03-02 - Tags: fan art, fumi kobayashi, lily, mascots, project fumi, updates, yumi - AI-assisted: no It took me until now to get the time at night to do the work needed (^^;;) but I finally created the mascot page and the fan artist page for contestants of last July's banner/lo...

It took me until now to get the time at night to do the work needed (^^;;) but I finally created the mascot page and the fan artist page for contestants of last July's banner/logo contest.  For those whom I have their work up, if there's any links you want me to put up in order to help promote your work, let me know.  For those who maybe want to be on these pages...you can submit your fan art of our mascots to me using the email above and I'll more than likely add you ^^.  There's no new contest yet but in the next few weeks...there probably will be.

Definitely been a long time since we first created our mascots in 2003...but better late than never ^^;

(amazing Yumi and Chuck Doll picture by Tommy E.) --- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine Upgrades and More - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-26-chucks-anime-shrine-upgrades-and-more/ - Date: 2011-02-26 - Tags: anime business, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no I've been busy at work, coding like I've never coded before ^^;; Lots of cool updates, features and future projects to talk about today. Blog Adjustments First off, you will see...

I've been busy at work, coding like I've never coded before ^^;;  Lots of cool updates, features and future projects to talk about today.

Blog Adjustments

First off, you will see some changes to the blog.  I finally updated the rotating photos from what I had months ago.  I also added some colored text to the main links, a popular posts widget, a faster loading anime store products feed (sadly having to drop the image thumbnails for now ^^;) and an "(M)" link up top to represent the Member's Blog so hopefully there's even more exposure for anyone willing to participate in the anime blogging.



Introducing the Kawaii Section (ran by my fiancee, Danielle ^_^)


Though this site is called Chuck's Anime Shrine, it's for years had a second person behind the scenes, my fiancee Danielle.  That pink link you see up top directs you to the new section on the site; kawaii.chucksanimeshrine.com.  Her Sweet Kawaii blog is meant to be the more cute, feminine version of this blog.  I tend to show anime girls and stuff us guys (or girls) might like but Danielle will for example have Fan Service Friday posts that show off the anime guys that make the fan girls nose bleed ^^;;  She also talks about cute and funny anime series that we've been watching on sites like crunchyroll or in general.  As that section grows, you will see more kawaii-based selections and even a store of Danielle's custom kawaii-styled items.




Anime Store Upgrades and Business Cards




Ah, back are the nights of coding and the inevitable debugging that happens since I've learned that there truly is no cut and paste, turn-key feature in computing.  It usually involves you drinking some coffee (or energy drinks) and kissing your nights of sleep away.


First off, some of you have noticed that I've set up a true 128 bit security to the site.  Since I originally used the external Paypal module for paypal and direct credit card payments, all was safe anyways for everyone shopping in the anime store since Paypal ran the security of data.  Sometimes an extra level of security is needed so I simply had to add the security.  One kickback though is that you guys do have to make sure your browser's cookies are running;  I know us anime fans are keen on being as anonymous as possible but don't worry, the cookies won't be omnomnom-ed by me.  Speaking about being anonymous,   I've removed the need to include your phone number when you sign up for an account in the store.  We know more than others how email and social networks are a more convenient, less intrusive way of communication and if I don't show my phone number (unless asked for in correspondence with orders), why should you.  


I've also added Amazon Checkout to the store, so now if you don't like Paypal or just shop on Amazon more...you are covered ^_^  If you want to pay via a direct credit card...you still need to use Paypal's module though ^^;;  chances are in time I might add an Authorize.net setup for those not wanting to even deal with Paypal in any way.


I'm currently in the process of getting Google Checkout working for the site too ^^.  Some of you might have seen it live the past few days but there's some sort of error with shipping charges I'm feverishly trying to debug ^^;;


One little bonus about Amazon Checkout (and Google Checkout once I fix it) is that you don't even have to make an account on my site to pay for the order ^_^ 


From the top image you will see one other bit of anime store news; I have business cards now! (address edited out in the photo)  Yeah, I should have had them a while ago but hey, better late than never ^^;;


Updates in the works...


Of course there's more on the way.  First off, that Banner Artist section I promised back in July is my next task up on the chopping block.  Again, my apologies for the delays guys ^^;;


There's also the Anime Sanctuaries that I started months ago, more AMVs and flash animations (yes after all these years), a section for the mascots Fumi, Yumi and Lily (and a mobile game?) and with me possibly becoming an anime and videogame voice actor... a section showcasing my voice demos and hopefully a list of the characters I'll be the voice of.


For those wondering about the kanji in the business card.. the left one says "Anime Shrine" the kanji on the right says, "Fumi Yumi Lily" (well "Riri"...there's no "Li" symbol ^^) --- ## Legend of Zelda Turns 25 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-20-legend-of-zelda-turns-25/ - Date: 2011-02-20 - Tags: Legend of Zelda, videogames - AI-assisted: no Today marks the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. At 27 I'm old enough to remember this debut. Though I was only 2 at the time of it's release, I enjoyed this very tough ...

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda.  At 27 I'm old enough to remember this debut.  Though I was only 2 at the time of it's release, I enjoyed this very tough and in-depth video game for the time.  The legend of a franchise it has become since then continues to rope in gamers young and old.  Like others, at first I thought Zelda was the name of Link but obviously that was corrected quickly.  Great memories in my life can be pinged to playing the SNES's A Link To The Past and the N64's Ocarina of Time.  I've not forgotten the games that have come out since but admittingly, I've only played them a few hours apiece  (for now).

Congrats again Miyomoto-san for another milestone in yet another genre creating game.  As an aspiring game programmer, anime fan and life-long gamer, I salute you and another 25 years of epic gaming. --- ## FanServiceFriday: 2/18/11 Senjougahara Hitagi - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-18-fanservicefriday-21811/ - Date: 2011-02-18 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, Bakemonogatarii, Senjougahara Hitagi - AI-assisted: no Couldn't leave the weekend without a Fan Service Friday post. This absolutely stunning picture of Bakemonogatari's Senjougahara Hitagi was done by G Scream . The picture up top ...

Couldn't leave the weekend without a Fan Service Friday post.  This absolutely stunning picture of Bakemonogatari's Senjougahara Hitagi was done by G Scream.  The picture up top is cropped and optimized for the internets but here's the full image.

--- ## Live Action Akira Movie: Harry Potter's Steve Kloves Joins the Crew - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-18-live-action-akira-movie-harry-potters/ - Date: 2011-02-18 - Tags: anime news, live action akira - AI-assisted: no A few years ago Leonardo DiCaprio, who's apparently an avid anime fan, pitched the idea to make a live action Akira movie with his studio, Appian Way. Heck since the 90's a live...
 
A few years ago Leonardo DiCaprio, who's apparently an avid anime fan, pitched the idea to make a live action Akira movie with his studio, Appian Way.  Heck since the 90's a live action Akira has been passed around to us all with all the typical Hollywood toss-around.  Unlike the Cowboy Bebop Movie which is still in the dark (unless somebody can tell me more info other than "Keanu is Spike"), this movie is gaining some ground in production. 

As announced on Variety,  Harry Potter's (well 7 of the 8 movies) script writer, Steve Kloves has joined the Akira Movie team.  Hopefully, like Harry Potter, he takes the spirit of the original media and makes it something of awe on the big screen.  Capturing the spirit of anime in both art and movies, has been a struggle for the West; this has much hope though.

Word has it that Morgan Freeman will be Colonel Shikishima and James Franco will be Shotaro Kaneda.  Also supposedly today Brad Pitt rejected a role for the movie.  So, in other words, this is being taken seriously by all involved and not simply thrown under a rug.  If done right, this might actually seem like a decent, big budget anime-to-hollywood production. 

After the terrible let down the Dragon Ball movie was...we'll have to wait and see. (speaking of which, there is maybe hope and retribution with that.) --- ## Valentine's Day 2011 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-14-valentines-day-2011/ - Date: 2011-02-14 - Tags: valentines day - AI-assisted: no Just wanting to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day ^_^ I know some of you might not have a Valentine but cheer up. Maybe there's an anime girl or guy you have a crush on; don...

Just wanting to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day ^_^  I know some of you might not have a Valentine but cheer up.  Maybe there's an anime girl or guy you have a crush on; don't lose that feeling and keep the anime hobby going because one day, you may not be "forever alone" (unless you want to be).

Danielle and I were going to continue our Valentine's Day tradition of having all you can eat sushi at Sushi Park here on Long Island....but to our horrible surprise....the place is gone :-(  Yet another terrible realization of how pathetic Long Island has become. Don't let popular babel fool you; this area is like Detroit but in 100% complete denial that there is a problem with high cost of living, falling businesses and public workers stealing the life out of the youth who are just trying to get by.  High property taxes and fat cow typical bratty American customers are probably what brought the place down (Yelp commentors for the place are going to feel my wrath!! -_-)

Anyways, don't need to make this a negative post, but Sushi Park was where I proposed to Danielle so it's a heartbreak on this a day to give thanks to having a relationship.  Still, there are more important things in life but a better place to life for Danielle and my future family is a reality that will have to be dealt with..and what looks to be a fantasy for this Wrong Island we live on. 

If you are alone on this day; don't sweat it, at least feel comfort that there are others out there just like you and thus you are not alone.  For those of us in a relationship, don't let the little things get in the way of what is most important and remember a good relationship is meant to out live many aspects of our lives we might have thought were going to stay (like our favorite sushi restaurant -_-).  So always be humble and thankful and never think you've already lived your best days. --- ## It's Official, Pirated Anime MAKES the Industry Money! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-12-its-official-pirating-anime-makes/ - Date: 2011-02-12 - Tags: anime business, anime news, piracy - AI-assisted: no Anime pirating and fan dubbing isn't as evil as the execs/producers of studios say it is. What us fans have known for years has finally been studied and proven true by Japan’s R...

Anime pirating and fan dubbing isn't as evil as the execs/producers of studios say it is.

What us fans have known for years has finally been studied and proven true by Japan’s Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).  They stated from their studies that not only does pirating and torrents prove harmless to the anime businesses...they actually HELP the industry.

Here's the info from the myce.com post ,  the paper on the study found here.

"The study examined 105 anime episodes that were posted on YouTube and Winny, a Japanese peer-to-peer file-sharing program. In the case of those posted on YouTube, researchers found that the illegal copy had no negative impact on either the subsequent DVD rentals or sales of the program. Winny, however, did negatively impact the program’s DVD rentals, but did not, in fact, cause a decline in sales of the DVD.
“Youtube’s effect of boosting DVD sales can be seen after the TV’s broadcasting of the series has concluded, which suggests that not just a few people learned about the program via a Youtube viewing. In other words YouTube can be interpreted as a promotion tool for DVD sales,” the researchers state in the abstract of their paper."

I'll also put my 2 cents in here as both an anime store owner...viral marketing boosts ANY sales.  If you do not understand the power of free viral marketing..your company will die in this day and age.  Holding on to localization, embargos, licensing clusterf%^s or any other old hat business models; expect sales to fall and don't blame piracy for your shortcomings.

To this day I get people telling me that the AMVs I made way back in 2003 are what got them into anime.  I was going to set an entire blog post for this bit of news but I'll let this out here;  my total sales for 2010 in my legit anime business was about $150,000;  the highest sales year I've ever had!  I still feel you should pirate as little as possible if not at all, but if a series or figures are stupidly "kept in Japan only until the licensees determine when gaijin can see it", obviously there's really no other way for you to buy what you are looking for.

Listen, anime studios and figure makers, I'm talking to you as the front line to your profits and sales;  yes the economy has been rough, yes there has been some changes to media that has made whole studios go out of business but instead of pointing fingers at the hands that feed you (Like with the completely heinous act of forcing Funimation to sue torrentors for One Piece and Fractal); look in the mirror and realize why YOU are why your sales might be down.  As the UK’s Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property Policy stated in their own similar study with music and video content, your numbers are “insufficient in order to make a case for copyright.”

Anime studios and figure makers, again I'm talking to you.  You do realize that the US dollar has lost to the yen right?  2+ years ago it was 120 yen to $1...now it's 80 yen to the dollar.  As somebody who has to wire over 500,000 yen at a time..I feel it and the fact that Japan's government won't weaken the yen is why you probably don't see that extra yen to you.  Also, you need to realize that anime fans exist world wide.  The more you do shit like this (GSC not letting non-japanese anime stores and customers nab the amazing new Wonfest 2011 figures) or the more you prevent any anime series to be dubbed/sold world wide, the more you will see fan dubbing and pirating.  Is our money not good enough for you?  I have a number of customers who are begging me for those items but I have no way to get them...you won't let us buy them.  How else are my customers able to get the anime they want to see?  They are willing to pay for it but you won't open the doors to them.

Here's some other cost cutting measures:
How about your execs?  I'm certain some of them make more money than they should.  How about the whole licensing situation?  The thousands upon thousands of dollars (100,000s of yen) that's basically used to "insure" copyrights and gets shared by a number of companies in what by diagram can be viewed as a genuine clusterf^*#?

You all relize that in this day and age the content creators can run everything from start to finish and own all their rights and command their own items now, right?  (Look at Cenceroll, iPhone apps like Angry Birds as an example)  Again, don't go crying about sales drops (and exaggerating the numbers) and blaming pirates.  I do implore anime fans to make sure they buy their anime one way or another...but they are buying it and that's not being stated.  Instead, the "woe is me" card is being passe around.  If a series is good enough, people will buy it. They might pirate it and then buy it...but the end result is what you all are looking for and what I look for as well as a retailer, blogger, webmaster and fan.

 If a person claims they are hungry when everything around them is a buffet, they deserve to starve.  Some anime and all movie, music studios claim they are "hungry" but around them is a buffet so get eating on your own..or starve..and you'd have nobody to blame for your fall but yourself.

 Here's the video from yesterday's G4 Attack of the Show video on this news.



Sorry Sara Underwood, though the general US public is cheap, and derpy and yes would probably just pirate;  American anime fans are not your typical American and they will buy their anime.  Keep pretending to be a gamer, geek and anime fan like the rest of the G4 crew...one day people might believe you. --- ## A Return to the Adventures in Voice Acting Workshops - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-12-return-to-adventures-in-voice-acting/ - Date: 2011-02-12 - Tags: anime voice acting, chuck gaffney, updates - AI-assisted: no Remember last year when I attended the two Adventures in Voice Acting workshops by Bang! Zoom! Studios? Well, though I've yet to make a demo and then do auditions (^^;;) Bang! Z...
 

Remember last year when I attended the two Adventures in Voice Acting workshops by Bang! Zoom! Studios?  Well, though I've yet to make a demo and then do auditions (^^;;) Bang! Zoom! thankfully is doing a third Advanced Class in New York on March 13 for those of us who did the other classes.  I'll be going there so if anyone from the prior classes is reading this...sign up.  Immediately saw the email and signed up ...probably shocked Bang! Zoom! when they saw my payment as soon as their email went out ^^;;

This one I'll be doing mainly game demos and maybe some anime ADR again too.  From this I'll probably have a demo to use for auditions...so who knows, in a year or sooner, I'll be doing the voices for anime that's currently being run in Japan.

(It'll be over at Edge Studios again, can't wait) --- ## MoeMonday 2/4/11 Winter Angel - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-07-moemonday-2411-winter-angel-07/ - Date: 2011-02-07 - Tags: #MoeMonday, winter - AI-assisted: no More winter, more snow and ice. At least I brought back MoeMonday...here's a snow anime angel to remind you that it's still winter here on this part of the planet.

More winter, more snow and ice.  At least I brought back MoeMonday...here's a snow anime angel to remind you that it's still winter here on this part of the planet. --- ## Final Fantasy XIII-2 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-06-final-fantasy-xiii-2/ - Date: 2011-02-06 - Tags: final fantasy, final fantasy XIII, final fantasy XIII-2, videogames - AI-assisted: no How in the hell this fell through my radar is beyond me. Anyways, for those who didn't see this, Square-Enix previewed a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII and Lightning looks badass....


How in the hell this fell through my radar is beyond me.  Anyways, for those who didn't see this, Square-Enix previewed a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII and Lightning looks badass.  (Can't wait until the figures come out for this one ^_^)



Check out the video below:

 

(yes, I'm a typical otaku...Super Bowl is on and I'm doing anything but watching the game...but then again, I'm a Jets fan so you know why else I'm not watching it. -_-) --- ## FanService Friday 2/4/11 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-02-04-fanservice-friday-2411/ - Date: 2011-02-04 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, winter - AI-assisted: no With most of the nation covered in ice and snow...thought this would be a site for sore eyes..that I finally got back to blogging, of course.

With most of the nation covered in ice and snow...thought this would be a site for sore eyes..that I finally got back to blogging, of course. --- ## New ThunderCats! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-01-26-new-thundercats/ - Date: 2011-01-26 - Tags: anime, ThunderCats, updates - AI-assisted: no Trending on twitter and across the blogosphere is news of a reboot of the classic 80's cartoon/hybrid anime, ThunderCats. Bleedingcool.com reviled this first image from the seri...
 Trending on twitter and across the blogosphere is news of a reboot of the classic 80's cartoon/hybrid anime, ThunderCats. Bleedingcool.com reviled this first image from the series.  As some of you know, ThunderCats was indeed an anime as the animation was done in Japan but similar to say the more recent Boondocks..it's production and script where of western origin.  This newer version is being drawn by Studio 4°C, the same people responsible for SPRIGGAN, and some of The Animatrix.  Cartoon Network supposedly is going to air this year and yes, Larry Kenney is again voicing the role of Lion-O. 

(Yes, Cartoon Network is going to be airing a new anime...not airing home-made thift-store quality animation or even worse..live action hipster "game shows")

No image of Snarf found yet but don't rule him out yet...I mean come on, what's an anime without a comic relief mascot... snarf, snarf. --- ## Despite Delays, There is Progress - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-01-25-despite-delays-there-is-progress/ - Date: 2011-01-25 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no I'm convinced...life is out to beat the living pulp out of me..more so seemingly than the average person. Be it luck, fate, or something else, it seems like the more I try to mo...

I'm convinced...life is out to beat the living pulp out of me..more so seemingly than the average person.  Be it luck, fate, or something else, it seems like the more I try to move my anime site and business forward, the more everything other than this anime site gets in my way.  Add a terrible flu bug to the mix of tasks, headaches and todos delaying my posts and dreams.

No matter, as said in Gurren Lagann, "Row, Row Fight the Powah"

I just need to keep trucking, keep moving and keep sending out anime store orders while (still -_-) working a damn day job and ever wanting to do more for this site.  Yes, there is yet another gap in blog posts, yes, there are parts of this site needed to be added and updated...but I've already completed my training in learning Objective-C and now I'm in the stage of making iPhone games with the goal of making the project-Fumi game after all this time.

As for the voice acting gig..instead of waiting so long to get a studio t do my demos...I'll make my own for now.  It's better to have demos, do my own original voice work (and maybe have a cameo in a TFS flick :3 ) than just keep trying to save the $2k needed to get a studio to do the demos....that can be for polishing it.

Instead of waiting for the right moment...it's time to just get the tasks done.  Years seem have gone by while waiting for the right moment to do many of the things I've set out to do on this site.  I've accomplished much but I've grown tired of making inflated promises....so watch in the next few days for some interesting new things....yeah I've said this a few times but this time..I mean it -_- --- ## Snow and Work Piled up High - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2011-01-13-snow-and-work-piled-up-high/ - Date: 2011-01-13 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, snow, updates - AI-assisted: no Wow, sorry for (yet again) another big gap in blog posts. This should change (I hope) as my work load seems to be less. Here in Selden, Long Island, as some of you might have se...

Wow, sorry for (yet again) another big gap in blog posts.  This should change (I hope)  as my work load seems to be less.  Here in Selden, Long Island, as some of you might have seen in the news, we got a whopping 20 inches of snow to add on to the snow left over from x-mas.  On top of the snow piling on...my darn day job and as well as the anime figure business sales have been keeping me way too busy.  I'm using this bit of calm right now to let you all know I'm ok, plans that I stated in the last post are going through (slower than I want but surely enough -_-) and I also wanted to make one announcement.  In the coming weeks (in addition to the sections, updates, contests, etc that I've been long promising ^^^;;)  my finacee Danielle is going to have her own section on the site ^_^  She's part Japanese and yes, she's your typical kawaii girl so expect this site to add a little cuteness to the Gar I tend to show here.  Stay tuned...and speaking of snow.. with the snow we got here..I could so make a snow Gundam with all of this.  Snow drifts in my area are almost 5 feet tall, 20+ feet at the supermarket parking lots 0_0  Nothing would scare the Walmart shoppers here like a giant snow Gundam greeting them in......a man could dream...a man could dream. --- ## 2010 Almost Gone, 2011 Could Be Big For CAS - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-12-30-2010-almost-gone-2011-could-be-big-for/ - Date: 2010-12-30 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Ok, yet another long gap in blog posts ^^;; Really sorry about that. Chances are I'll be back to almost daily posts soon. Again, I know I say that a lot -_- Anyways, another yea...


Ok, yet another long gap in blog posts ^^;; Really sorry about that.  Chances are I'll be back to almost daily posts soon.  Again, I know I say that a lot -_-

Anyways, another year has gone by so fast.  2010 was interesting, annoying at some times and definitely eventful in world news, anime news and heck, here at home.  For x-mas we got ourselves a much needed upgrade in our computer systems... a Macbook Pro.  I still have my nice dual screen PC set up in my anime-themed office, but this little tool was needed for a number of tasks that sadly my PC can't do.  In particular, I needed the Mac to be an iPhone programmer.  As of yesterday, I became one officially (after all the red tape, certificates, downloads, etc -_-) and I'm already testing and debugging practice programs on our iPhones.  Android phones are not out of the question either.  I have already been set up for android programming as well.  Why does this even matter?  Well, the next contest will have something to do with one of my apps in mind...so all those who made the Fumi, Yumi, Lily banners, be sure to stay tuned on that in 2011.

2011 will be the 9th year Chuck's Anime Shrine has been running and the 4th year for the anime store aspect of the site ^_^.  I've seen some people have been coming directly to my store here on the site in addition to my branches on eBay, Amazon and Bonanza.com.  Though I've been too busy to participate in the Danny Choo network.. I see some of you are coming here from figure.fm from testaments of my loyal customers.  caught me by complete surprise and I'm absolutely humbled by the positive words I've been getting.  I hope to continue that with the store part of the site into 2011 but to also reawaken older, non-store parts of this site in the coming new year.  Let's also not forget the whole voice acting work I'm also into as well.  In 2011 you might hear yours truley in a video game, anime or commerical (yeah...my life is full of side projects ^^;;).  Commercials bring in good $ for voice actors but I so would love to be a part of a video game or anime too.

Alright, enough about me and this site, how about you guys in the anime community?  How was 2010 for you?  Got any hopes, wishes, predictions for the coming year?  Let me know in the comments below...and if I don't post anything tomorrow... Happy New Year ^_^. --- ## Anime X-Mas Rush - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-12-15-anime-x-mas-rush/ - Date: 2010-12-15 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates, x-mas - AI-assisted: no Wow, pardon the lack of blog posts everybody. Been having a hectic couple of weeks. The anime figure business has been taking most of my time and add that with a terrible, terri...

 Wow, pardon the lack of blog posts everybody.  Been having a hectic couple of weeks.  The anime figure business has been taking most of my time and add that with a terrible, terrible migraine that nearly hospitalized me...and you have the recent lack of updates ^^;;


No matter what you celebrate (or don't celebrate) hope you all are having a great end of the year.  I want to use this post to do one of 3 three things, 1) Let you know the blog/site isn't dead ^^; 2) Wish you happy holidays ^^ and 3) update you on what is eventually to come...although I probably have stated these in the past as "pending"

First update to note, for all you figure collectors you might see that I have added a number of new anime figure pre-orders, including the loooooong awaited figma Mirai from Danny Choo. Speaking of Danny Choo, I hear that people from his site figure.fm are coming hear ^_^ Hope my store and site can be of use to you and yes..I sell the legit anime figures...though Danny has yet to add me to his list; all of those stores had to pay Danny to be there..I'm not at that position yet.  This, even-though Danny did want to nab my domain, anime.fm.

Next update to note, I promised back in July after the banner contest I did, I'll make a page for the artists...I still will do that for you guys and I really apologies for the delay. On a similar note, I wish to do another contest...probably after x-mas time.  This contest will most likely tie into the mascots Fumi, Yumi and Lily again.  Reason being, Danielle and I will finally be getting a Mac for the holidays which will allow me to create iPhone apps as well as:
Wow, I rambled a bunch here ^^;; Anyways I won't be a stranger too long, I promise. --- ## I Get It, It's because the Yellow Ranger is... :-( - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-12-05-i-get-it-its-because-yellow-ranger-is/ - Date: 2010-12-05 - Tags: microblog, power rangers, WTF - AI-assisted: no Bandai... how could you? >_<

Bandai... how could you? >_< --- ## #FanServiceFriday 12/4/10 Super Sonico Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-12-03-fanservicefriday-12410-super-sonico/ - Date: 2010-12-03 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, anime figures, figures, super sonico - AI-assisted: no (Update: 11/13/2015) The puritan beardgoon SJWs at Google are at it again, censoring even 5+ year old anime figure posts because anime boobies hurt their fefes. Well, like a few...

(Update: 11/13/2015)
The puritan beardgoon SJWs at Google are at it again, censoring even 5+ year old anime figure posts because anime boobies hurt their fefes.  

Well, like a few other posts, this has been moved to our now growing "censored blog" here:

http://censoredanimeshrine.blogspot.com/2015/11/fanservicefriday-12410-super-sonico.html

Th original header image will stay here unless pampered SF cucks want Sonico here in a burka like they want all women (real or fake) to be. --- ## Anime Figure Black Friday Promotion - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-11-26-anime-figure-black-friday-promotion/ - Date: 2010-11-26 - Tags: anime figures, black friday, chucksanimeshrine, promos - AI-assisted: no Ok, we are probably all tired of hearing about the Black Friday deals. Many of you by now probably are sleeping from a 2:00am until 2:00pm dear-god-why-do-I-work-at-this-job shi...
 
Ok, we are probably all tired of hearing about the Black Friday deals.  Many of you by now probably are sleeping from a 2:00am until 2:00pm dear-god-why-do-I-work-at-this-job shift...or soon some of you might be going in late to clean up the unholy mess left by the Black Friday zombies.

You come home, browse for anime figures online, in hopes to maybe find a similar deal that you were catering to the unruly, ungrateful Black Friday customers, only to find that a certain anime store won't cater to an American shopping holiday like today.  I mean,"when do gaijin ever order anime figures?" am I right? (/sarcasm)

Well, after seeing this, I'm putting my foot down as both a long time anime fan and anime store owner.

Today and until the end of Cyber Monday...I'll give you all some sort of break for all your hard work.

Here's what I'll do:

What you need to do to get this discount?
This is a special deal for everyone who reads this blog or follows me on twitter (or on facebook)..and a thank you of course ^_^.

Hope this gets rid of those Why-Did-I-Have-To-Work-Black-Friday blues.

(ps: I will get back to regular blogs soon...not just anime figure and store stuff ^^;;...and that profile page for the artists who did the banners ^^;;..so sorry I haven't done that yet guys) --- ## BRS Animation Version Defect - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-11-23-brs-animation-version-defect/ - Date: 2010-11-23 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, updates - AI-assisted: no This isn't exactly old news, been a bit swamped with crazy anime figure orders but I'm breaking from the endless boxing to let you all know of what I will be doing in regards to...

This isn't exactly old news, been a bit swamped with crazy anime figure orders but I'm breaking from the endless boxing to let you all know of what I will be doing in regards to this issue.

For those that didn't know, Good Smile Company did a mistake in the production of the Black Rock Shooter Animation Version Figure.  They forgot to tell the factory to paint the small white star on her jacket :-/

Now to combat this issue, Good Smile told buyers they will do 1 of 2 things:

  1. Provide a small white star sticker for you to place on her.
  2. They would take the figure back to be painted.
Well, the bad news for us anime fans overseas (and anime stores too -_-)  Good Smile has refused to do option 2 for overseas buyers. So all of the BRS figures I'm getting will come with the sticker.  As a collector myself, I don't really find a big deal about adding the sticker on mine..but understandably..it could be a big deal for some people.  I'd wish GSC would have just done what they tend to do with their figures... delay them for another month or so.



The figure has already been released in Japan, but it looks to be about another couple of weeks before I get them. I'll make sure to keep anyone who pre-ordered her in touch with the details.

Here's the video GSC provided for putting the sticker on:

--- ## #MoeMonday 11/15/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-11-15-moemonday-111510/ - Date: 2010-11-15 - Tags: #MoeMonday, kanon, moe - AI-assisted: no Here's a (been a long while) #MoeMonday image post. It's the girls from Kanon ^^ (again, really really sorry for being busy -_-... craziness (in a good way) with the anime figur...


Here's a (been a long while) #MoeMonday image post.  It's the girls from Kanon ^^



(again, really really sorry for being busy -_-... craziness (in a good way) with the anime figure business and good old life jumping in the way of me updating this site -____-) --- ## TFS DBZ Abridged 19 + Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Episode 50 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-11-03-tfs-dbz-abridged-19-yu-gi-oh-abridged/ - Date: 2010-11-03 - Tags: dbz abridged, videos, Yu-Gi-Oh - AI-assisted: no In case you haven't heard, two days ago Team Four Star uploaded their newest episode of their vastly popular Dragon Ball Z Abridged parody. These just keep getting better and be...

In case you haven't heard, two days ago Team Four Star uploaded their newest episode of their vastly popular Dragon Ball Z Abridged parody.  These just keep getting better and better. I hope FUNimation works with them and gets an agreement from Toei to put these on DVD/Blu-Ray/Download.  The are golden.
Same can be said about Little Kuribo's Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged...which also released a new episode.

Got the mid-week blues.. watch these and they'll make your day.

TFS DBZ Abridged Episode 19
 

Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Episode 50: - Joey Wheeler Ace Attorney

 

(yes..that is indeed a screen shot showing we were the first to view TFS DBZA 19 on youtube...well, my fiancee Danielle was the one ^^) --- ## Viz Media's Free Manga App for The iPad - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-11-02-viz-medias-free-manga-app-for-ipad/ - Date: 2010-11-02 - Tags: gadgets, iPad, manga, viz - AI-assisted: no With the iPad being a great way for us anime fans to read manga, it was a matter of time before the manga publishers were to get their own apps added (before the stupid scanlati...

With the iPad being a great way for us anime fans to read manga, it was a matter of time before the manga publishers were to get their own apps added (before the stupid scanlations where to jump the market.)

As of today, Viz Media has released their own iPad app for us to buy, download and read manga. Each manga will be $5 to purchase but for those who want to get something for nothing... Viz is giving out volume 1 of Death Note for free ^_^  The $5 mark also beats out Yen Press' per manga price on their app, so expect some pricing wars between the two companies to maybe pan out.

More info from Publishers Weekly

Download the app here

(thanks to old twitter buddy @animealmanac for breaking the news) --- ## Summer Wars To Be Submitted For An Oscar Nomination - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-11-01-summer-wars-to-be-submitted-for-oscar/ - Date: 2010-11-01 - Tags: anime news - AI-assisted: no Here's some very cool news coming from Anime News Network and TheWrap , it appears that Funimation is going to submit Summer Wars to for an Oscar nomination. It looks to be too ...


Here's some very cool news coming from Anime News Network and TheWrap, it appears that Funimation is going to submit Summer Wars to for an Oscar nomination.  It looks to be too close to tell if it'll actual get the cut into the final list, but here's hoping for director Mamoru Hosoda, the animation team and voice actors involved with this anime. As much as I love the Hayao Miyazaki movies and how they have gotten the acclaim in the past; to see a more otaku-brand anime reach the mainstream would be a great benefit to the industry and will give the artistic credit back where it needs to be...to the real masters of animation...Japan. It'll have some really tough competition though with Toy Story 3 How to Train Your Dragon and Megamind already in the list of possible nominees. Though these are great movies in their own rights (particularly Toy Story 3), they are heavily, heavily marketed and stuff down the throats of the general public -_-

Summer Wars is a force to be reckoned with for those nay-sayers out there.  It beat out Evangelion 2.0 in DVD/Blu-ray sales.

(Edit: reading back it appeared I said that Miyazaki' work wasn't truley Japanese ^^;; Not what I meant.  I meant that it would be good to see anime back in the Oscar spotlight and that it's even cooler that a more hardcore anime be in that list.  Miyazaki's work is beyond amazing, it's just he does gear them now for a world wide market)

--- ## #FanserviceFriday: Halloween 2010 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-10-29-fanservicefriday-halloween-2010/ - Date: 2010-10-29 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, halloween - AI-assisted: no This year Halloween is on a Sunday, making this weekend, the Weekend of Cosplay! Surely some of you will be attending parties tonight, tomorrow and on Halloween itself. Be safe,...

This year Halloween is on a Sunday, making this weekend, the Weekend of Cosplay!  Surely some of you will be attending parties tonight, tomorrow and on Halloween itself.  Be safe, have fun....oh and here's a #FanserviceFriday photo ^///^;  (been getting some requests for this since my brief time not blogging) --- ## Hobby Search Hacked! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-10-29-hobby-search-hacked/ - Date: 2010-10-29 - Tags: anime business, anime news, updates - AI-assisted: no Shopped over at Hobby Search ever? Well, be sure to check your credit cards, asap!! Apparently at the beginning of the month...hackers from Korea got into the site and stole cus...
 
Shopped over at Hobby Search ever? Well, be sure to check your credit cards, asap!!  Apparently at the beginning of the month...hackers from Korea got into the site and stole customer CC information! 0_0

These dangers are always there on the internet and with a site as big as HS, you can imagine that daily there are criminal scum trying to break into the site.  As a fellow anime store owner...my condolences to the Hobby Search web team for having such a bad PR issue hit them at such a pivotal time of the year.

 
I doubt they were looking for an epic Saber figure.

For those maybe wondering about my store...well.. this is the very reason why I only use Paypal for the transactions on my store! I don't at all feel comfortable having a customer's credit card info ready for th picking on my site's database.  It's best to let the experts like paypal take care of it..plus paypal lets people just use their card directly on my site..even if you don't have the service.

Much more info on Nekomagic about this but here's the statement from Hobby Search
To Hobby Search customers:  We are writing to let you know of a hacker or hackers that penetrated our computer system and accessed customer data including credit card information.  At the time of writing, we do not know of any of this information being available publicly.  It is important to us that you, the customer, do not experience any monetary damages because of this incident, and have provided the information of all the cards that may have been involved in this incident to each of the credit card companies so that they may monitor the activity on these cards.  If you have any concerns about the security of your card, please contact the card company  (via the number on the back of your credit card).  Also, although we have switched to a more secure credit card transaction system that only stores the last four digits of your card on our databases on July 7, 2010, we have disabled credit card payments indefinitely.  The credit cards involved in this incident are those used in orders prior to July 7, 2010 (a maximum of 23,526 cards)  - Credit card numbers, expiration dates, cardholder names  We do not store personal verification passwords or security codes on our databases, so these have not been accessed.  Again, we have switched to a more secure credit transaction system on July 7 that only stored the last four digits of those cards (3,794 cards) and cannot be abused by a third party.  We are deeply sorry for any inconvenience or concern that this incident may have caused.

Make sure to contact Hobby Search and your bank if anything occurs on your cards. --- ## More of Tifa in Dissidia 012 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-10-28-more-of-tifa-in-dissidia-012/ - Date: 2010-10-28 - Tags: dissidia 012, final fantasy, tifa - AI-assisted: no Everyone knows my favorite anime/game girl of all time is Final fantasy 7's Tifa and with the rather recent news of her being playable in the up coming Final Fantasy Dissidia se...

Everyone knows my favorite anime/game girl of all time is Final fantasy 7's Tifa and with the rather recent news of her being playable in the up coming Final Fantasy Dissidia sequel, I had to compile this bit of pics, video and scans I gathered from the internet of her. Tifa fans..if you haven't already seen this stuff...enjoy.  (she looks so awesome ^//^) (screens source) (scan source)





 ^///^

--- ## BRS: Dead Master Animation Ver Figure. & Figma Black Gold Saw - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-10-27-brs-dead-master-animation-ver-figure/ - Date: 2010-10-27 - Tags: anime figures, Black Gold Saw, black rock shooter, Dead Master, figures - AI-assisted: no New Black Rock Shooter Figures!! ^_^ You all probably know this as of a few days ago, but up for pre-order is the stunning Black Rock Shooter: Dead Master Animation Ver. Figure ...

 New Black Rock Shooter Figures!! ^_^


You all probably know this as of a few days ago, but up for pre-order is the stunning Black Rock Shooter:  Dead Master Animation Ver. Figure and the Figma Black Gold Saw figure.  They are set to come out around March or so of next year...of course with Good Smile being a month late on all the figures as of late..best be prepared to wait just a bit longer than they say you will ^^;;

Anyways, I have them up in the store to pre-order ^_^ No payment needed of course, you can follow through with the Mail-order option or email me that you want to reserve one.  Hurry though...they go quick ^^;;


Pre-Order (+ view more pics of) Dead Master Animation Ver. here



Pre-Order Black Gold Saw here
--- ## My (Very Late) 2010 NYAF/NYCC Recap - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-10-26-my-very-late-2010-nyafnycc-recap/ - Date: 2010-10-26 - Tags: anime fest 2010, NYAF2010, NYCC10 - AI-assisted: no Over two weeks ago was the very publicized, 2010 New York Comic Con and New York Anime Fest joint con. One thing you noticed for certain once you were there...was that you had n...

Over two weeks ago was the very publicized, 2010 New York Comic Con and New York Anime Fest joint con.  One thing you noticed for certain once you were there...was that you had no room to move.  This con was only rivaled by that of SDCC.  It was still a fun event, even if the anime stuff was kind of stuck in the corner of the whole thing...and the ever apparent truth about the differences in anime fans to US comic geeks was so easily seen here.  Indeed, the US comic fans were composed of 30+ year old "neckbeards" who on top of having no social skills and were holding their parent's hands to find "that one" useless, not-as-high-in-collectible-price-as-in-the-80's American comic, they also seemed to have no sense of party and fun at the place -_-  Us anime fans on the other hand, though maybe really young and rambunctious, seemed to have the most fun there, not matter how few things were aimed at us (or unobtainable from the huge crowd.

Anyways, if you saw a guy dressed as Gurren Lagann's Simon with a (more Kamina-like) blue wig..that was me (bottom pic, guy on right is yours truly).  Didn't get as many good shots this year as the insane crowd was not the place to stop and take photos.  The best aspect of the con had to be the video game booths.  Loads of game premiers.  Some anime premieres and announcements too...but sadly..I couldn't even get into those panels, again, due to the crowd -_-;;

Here's some pics from the con that I should have shown week ago ^^;;
(More on the NYAF/NYCC section of the Anime Gallery)
 so wanted to play and bring back good old 1997-98 memories

 Tifa in Dissidia 02 ^//^

 MJ Game being demoed


  yeah..that's me on the left ^^;;

  
sorry for the tilted pics...I edited them..but to no avail ^^;;;





Danielle, at the Sega booth
--- ## New Anime Site Updates Soon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-10-18-new-anime-site-updates-soon/ - Date: 2010-10-18 - Tags: anime fest 2010, updates - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone. Funny my last post was about anime business scheduling and I unfortunately didn't go by my scedule thanks to yet more craziness in my anime figure business and of ...

 Hey everyone.  Funny my last post was about anime business scheduling and I unfortunately didn't go by my scedule thanks to yet more craziness in my anime figure business and of course last weeks very busy New York Anime Fest and Comic Con joint convention.  If you were there, you might have seen a guy cosplaying as Gurren Lagann's Simon with a blue wig...that was me ^^;;  Anyways, my apologies for the lack of updates and the old rotating images above ^^^^.  It's been a very tough number of weeks with my anime figure business keeping me so busy and my darn day job filling in any possible free time I can get to better this site -_-

Before I run off and ready about 40 anime figures for shipping tomorrow...just letting you all know that I am going to do what I planned to do for this site, anime.fm and heck even my non-anime site (charlesgaffney.com)


Before I do a (late) recap of the 2010 New York Anime Fest and Comic-Con.  Here's an image I shot from the con of what has been big news since the recent Tokyo Game Show... Tifa Lockhart being a playable character in the Final Fantasy Dissidia sequel and you all know how I'm a big fan of Tifa ^///^ My photo here is definitely a better shot of her than what's currently on the interwebs...so enjoy.

--- ## Anime Business Scheduling - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-09-30-anime-business-scheduling/ - Date: 2010-09-30 - Tags: anime, anime business, updates - AI-assisted: no Ah scheduling. To have a schedule or not to have a schedule... that is the question. If you have no obligations you can for at least a bit of time, run life without one and let ...

Ah scheduling.  To have a schedule or not to have a schedule... that is the question.  If you have no obligations you can for at least a bit of time, run life without one and let life schedule itself around you.  Time appears to run by faster this way and if you really do have stuff that you have to do (which accounts for 99% of us), it can become stressful when the day around you (or people around you) decide what your day will be.

Like many, I've had a struggle with time management.  Once high school and college faded away and the work/real life moved itself in, I went from a solid schedule to life basically beating me upside the head with distractions, honest deferrals and good old procrastination that hits when the dust settles at the end of a busy, busy week.  Add years of job changes, job hours changes, family obligations, the occasional cold/flu and the want to spend time with the significant other in the middle of all the chaos... life, goals and dreams seem to sit in the corner of my mind like the Atari 2600 that sits in my closet; waiting to be brought back on display with it's successors.

For those of you who've been here on my site since the beginning in 2002, I've for years stated I want to do this and that, add this and that but sometimes they have gotten lost in the ever moving sea of time -_-  Recently you all could see that my blog posts have dropped; the reason I have been able to have a steady blog in the first place is because the day job I've had over these past 3-4 years is a cozy (yet a bit annoying) office job.  It's still a job though; which if you all know my mantra...is selling one's dignity and true freedom for a paycheck.

Three years ago, after a glorious yet tremendous failure in building an Amway business, I brought this site back to life, added the blog, bought anime.fm and added the anime figure store in hopes of gaining that financial freedom that I so aimed for in Amway...but this time with my real passion in life...anime.  The anime store is definitely looking to be a success (minus the lack of capital the darn banks won't give me to retire from the job world -_-)  In 2007 my anime store had a modest first selling year of $40,000 gross sales; 2008, in the middle of the chaos happening everywhere else in the economy, that total rose to a little over $100,000.  For 2009, I changed my selling strategy, which originally was buying and selling stuff on auction on ebay to letting regular, steady sales come in from ebay, amazon and my own site of course. The total sales dropped to $70,000 but less auctions means less chance of losing money since ebay auctions are well, not good if you want to make a living off of these items (unless it's a super rare figure and also as long as the bootleggers didn't flood the market with their cheap, fake crap -_-).

This year and particularly the past 3 months, my goodness... the anime business is busy on all fronts.  Ebay was where I started (mainly from my Swarovski and non-anime stuff) so up until recently, it was my main sale location with steady buy-it-now sales on almost a daily basis.  Today, ebay, amazon and of course right here on CAS has daily sales and pre-orders that have all evened out in quantity.  The work load has turned my anime business from a hobby into a second job with profits surpassing my job for 4 months straight.  August was the busiest by far with profits enough to pay almost 3 months of what the day job would bring.  This year will probably top $120,000 in sales if it hasn't already.  Sadly, it's not as easy as saying, "ok I'll quit my job today now " since basic self-sufficient living on Long Island...even in a hole in the wall is still criminally high....plus with $40K worth of anime stock on hand...that's alot to keep paying AMEX every month.  So still, no real leap of faith yet.

For about 6 months or so I've removed Mondays from my job to focus on the anime business.  While all sounds fine and dandy, being in a stage where it's all me doing the work, still having to work a job and not yet up to that point when I can afford to have a warehouse do the shipping for me....is a stressful position to be in ^^;;;  The amount of emails, invoices, questions, etc I wake up to in the morning is a mountain that has to be scaled....daily.
To ease that stress (though God knows I love the anime figures), it all goes back to time management and setting up that schedule.  When you are in school and work a job, that schedule is pretty much laid out for you but working a cozy office job (far away from home -_- 4 days a week) and working for yourself in your own business takes an extra bit of discipline and strategy.  The anime business is by far the more demanding aspect of my life now; while the job is just changing prices on a website owned by somebody who doesn't exactly understand the web, but needs to of course somehow know I'm busy even without a clear goal, running around with his head on fire and working at the seat of his pants.  If I had the employee base my boss has, I'd not micromanage at all and I'd pay my employees with more respect and with more pay...but then that's just me.

Anyways, I've made that schedule and as you guys can see, I'm back to blogging.  The mountain of emails are still waiting and piling up for me on my gmail account but gone are the days I sit in front of the gmail and answer them all day, they are answered but not as they come in but in certain moments in the day to prevent myself from going nuts @_@  It's something you have to do once things get busy..so if any of you have emailed me and you don't hear from me until the morning or near noon, or near 5pm..don't take offense..the internet is an instant place but emails can and should be answered at a pace that doesn't have to be that very second ^^;;;..Don't worry, the world will not end if I don't answer your email sent at 3:30am; most people, even us otaku are in bed by then.  Sundays are now my "day of rest" where I try to drop the computer, smell the roses and watch the anime I've been missing to remember why I work so hard in what I do.

Despite this sounding kind of grim, my anime business becoming as busy as a second job is just a step in the right direction.  There are small businesses just begging for steady sales and I'm hopeful that the next phases in my business will happen, particularly when I don't have to ship the figures myself any more and have a local warehouse take care of the logistics. From then I just create an automated inventory system for all the sites, sync it with the warehouse and once the time is right..quit the job and simply answer emails and questions from everybody.  Once that gets too much even without the job...then the hiring process will start and then maybe I'll be interviewing one of you for a job position ^_^  Talented anime fans will of course be my first choice once I eventually get to hiring... so, stay tuned on that.

Now, it's time for me to wipe some of the dust off this blog...I think you all have seen the now ended contest post and the Clalaclan figure images scrolling a little too long ^^;;;  No worries, it's in my schedule and should be done this weekend if not tomorrow. --- ## TFS DBZ Abridged Episode 18 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-09-29-tfs-dbz-abridged-episode-18/ - Date: 2010-09-29 - Tags: dbz, dbz abridged, teamfourstar, videos - AI-assisted: no Team Four Star's latest episode of Dragon Ball Z Abridged has to be one of the best episodes to date. It was uploaded last night and as usual, it's got instantly a huge amount o...

Team Four Star's latest episode of Dragon Ball Z Abridged has to be one of the best episodes to date.  It was uploaded last night and as usual, it's got instantly a huge amount of hits (~60,000 at the time of writing this post).  for the first time we see Trunks too and his quick line is just hilarious.  I won't give it away if you haven't seen it yet.  Check it out below.


(sorry for the lack of posts ^^;; the anime figure business continues to keep me crazy busy + working the day job 4 days a week+ I was hit with a nasty cold ~_~  I think I finally have a hold on my schedule and I'll get you guys some new posts, content and needed updates asap) --- ## #FanserviceFriday 9/17/10 Isshoni Sleeping - Hinako - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-09-17-fanservicefriday-91710-isshoni-sleeping/ - Date: 2010-09-17 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no Today's post is both a #FanServiceFriday and anime figure post and with good reason. Yesterday Embrace and Good Smile announced for pre-order this very cute figure of Hinako fro...

 Today's post is both a #FanServiceFriday and anime figure post and with good reason.  Yesterday Embrace and Good Smile announced for pre-order this very cute figure of Hinako from the "Sleeping with Hinako" DVD  No it's not a hentai, it's mainly a fanservice video showing her..well sleeping in a bed.  This is the sequel to "Training with Hinako"  Fans of Hinako will be very pleased to know that the DVD will come with the figure.  Japan release is said to be in December...US release might not be until Feb though -_-  Either way a great figure and a worthy fanservice Friday post.



Check out more images and pre-order her if you'd like on her store page

--- ## #FanServiceFriday 9/10/10 HOTD - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-09-10-fanservicefriday-91010-hotd/ - Date: 2010-09-10 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, HOTD - AI-assisted: no Another week has gone by with me being quiet on the blog and for site updates ^^;; Just to give you a treat (and show I'm still here), here's a little High School Of The Dead im...
Another week has gone by with me being quiet on the blog and for site updates ^^;;  Just to give you a treat (and show I'm still here), here's a little High School Of The Dead image for you all to gander at.  This series is bloody, scary, ecchi and good.  Its one of the few series I'm keeping track of from episode to episode as it gets aired in Japan.  Sadly, due to America being a bit slow and the whole licensing process basically being nothing but a large mafia scheme...expect this to not hit our shores for a least another year -_- 

Halloween isn't too far away so if you want to get that whole zombie apocalypse scare (but in anime form), keep your eye out for this one.


and to see why I'm taking so darn long to update he site.....
..yeah, that's a fraction of what I need to ship out this weekend ^^;; Business has been doing good..just busy as heck ^^;;  Anime sanctuary pages, banner artist page and other stuff in due time. --- ## Black Rock Shooter: Nendoroid Dead Master - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-08-31-black-rock-shooter-nendoroid-dead/ - Date: 2010-08-31 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, figures, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Business has been insanely busy ^^;;; but I couldn't let another day go by with out talking about this recently announced figure. Up for pre-order is the very cute, very insidio...
 
Business has been insanely busy ^^;;; but I couldn't let another day go by with out talking about this recently announced figure.

Up for pre-order is the very cute, very insidious Dead Master figure.   A great complement to the BRS Nendoroid (that better be on the way soon -_-)  Check out her info on the link I provided and here's some images of her if you don't want to check her out at Good Smile Company.


--- ## Nendoroid Miku Hatsune: Absolute HMO Edition - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-08-31-nendoroid-miku-hatsune-absolute-hmo/ - Date: 2010-08-31 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Miku Hatsune, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no So you probably searched the internet...browsing, begging for a Nendoroid Miku Hatsune but all that's left are fakes from Hong Kong on ebay or $100 price gauged ones on Amazon.....

So you probably searched the internet...browsing, begging for a Nendoroid Miku Hatsune but all that's left are fakes from Hong Kong on ebay or  $100 price gauged ones on Amazon...well look no more ^_^

As of today, (well last night NY time ^^;; ) Good Smile company released for pre-order, the Nendoroid Miku Hatsune: Absolute HMO Edition.  Naturally I have her for you all to order here.  In my opinion, she looks even cooler than the original one that some desperate despot might be over pricing.  She's a bit more pricier than other Nendoroids though due to her extra accessories (and the US dollar being only worth 83 yen now -_-).  She's scheduled for either a late December or a mid January 2011 release and from her popularity already.  Best to pre-order her now before I run out of them and all that's left are scheming sellers who will shoot her price up to $200 -_-...or worse, sell a fake.

Check out some more images of her below.  She's going to be a keeper for my personal collection too ^^



--- ## The Science Behind Gurren Lagann - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-08-24-science-behind-gurren-lagann/ - Date: 2010-08-24 - Tags: Gurren Lagann, science - AI-assisted: no First off, yes, I've been rather obsessed with Gurren Lagann. I have my many legit reasons to be though, so relax..it's a phase..but a good one -_-. Before I get into this post....

First off, yes, I've been rather obsessed with Gurren Lagann.  I have my many legit reasons to be though, so relax..it's a phase..but a good one -_-.

Before I get into this post...if you have not seen Gurren Lagann and you call yourself an anime fan, please do so, you won't be disappointed.  Also, please note that this post will have a good amount of spoilers. So it's a warning. If you are new to TTGL, watch the series and come back if you have to.


The "Science Behind Gurren Lagann" you say?  How in the heck could there be any legit science to a crazy mecha anime where the machines are as big as the moon and even a whole galaxy?!  Ok, not all of Gurren Lagann has true science to it (maybe wait 1000+ years and who knows).  However, especially once the story reaches the second arch about the Anti-Spiral, much of the confusing science that is mentioned to the crew of Team Dai Gurren (of which practically only Leeron and Lordgenome understand) is actually based in the most current and cutting edge science and physics we humans know of as I write this post.  So yes, some of the absolute craziness (and fun) of the last batch of episodes had some thread of truth in it.

Mind you all, I am a scientist at heart, granted my studies are that of Computer Science, but I did have to learn a bit of physics and my constant wonder of the cosmos helps me keep in tune with what is at the boundaries of human understanding. Some of this stuff my be over your head, but hopefully for fans of the series, this might be a nice easter egg of knowledge of some sort.

String Theory, M-Theory and Branes




Much of what is mentioned in the final episodes has to do with String and M-Theories , so if you know anything about those branches of physics...you know where I'm going with this.  String Theory in short states that ALL matter, energy and even the polar opposite to matter, antimatter are made of 1 dimensional "strings" of energy that vibrate and curl. Depending on the vibration of these "strings" we get the various sub atomic particles that make EVERYTHING.  M-Theory in short takes that into notion as well as all of the different versions of String Theory out there and melds them into understanding existence in more than the 3 dimensions we know of...11 dimensions to be exact.


what in the hell is he talking about?

Yep, you heard me right, from what the mathematics of physics can tell, the 3 dimensions we see and the time we travel in is just the tip of the iceberg.  M-Theory takes that discovery into notion and when you then expand those 1 dimensional "Strings" into higher dimensions....they look like sheets, or what scientists call membranes or "branes" for short.  In the episode when Simon and the others are in the Arc Gurren Lagann, Lord Genome mentions about the Anti-Spiral breaking through the "membranes" of higher dimensions and you see the picture of 2 yellowish sheets on the computer screen.  Everybody is giving the ? face while he's trying to explain it but it's basically M-Theory.  From that theory, scientists are finding out that our universe is on but a sheet of multidimensional paper.  Bulges in that sheet are the galaxies and particularly the super massive black holes in their center.  The origin of the Big Bang that created our universe is now mostly agreed by physicists to have started when two parallel universal branes touched.  My theory on that is that as a universe gets older, super massive black holes simply get larger and larger as galaxies combine..thus creating a huge black hole thousands of galaxies in mass, and enough of a bulge in multidimensional space to create a new universe.  In Gurren Lagann, this kind of universal destruction was mentioned... "The Spiral Nemesis"..the very reason why the Anti-Spiral caused The Spiral King to go nuts in the first place and keep humanity hidden underground.


more M-Theory info


Multi Dimensions and the Many Versions of You



Back-tracking a bit and to hopefully get your mind out the spin this might have given it (because there's more crazy real science from Gurren Lagann than you think).  Lets just focus on the dimensions we can see right now; length, width, height and our forward movement in time.  It is said that there are 10-11 dimensions...so what's next after the initial 4 we know?

The answer is the Probability Dimension.  You play the lottery at all?  Did you recently lose yet another $1 or so in hopes for multi million dollar security and fun?  Well, there exists a you that actually did win the lottery and is living rather richly now.  But don't fret, there exists a universe that you are far worse off so always be grateful for what you have. Before you throw "this is utter bull crap" statement at me, if you ever have done physics, you know that the math can get crazy.  Basic Newton physics that we learn even in high school usually deal with physics on a 2-dimensional + time scale.  Yes, you are told to imagine 3 dimensional situations (like a bolder on a pulley..or something to that degree) but you are calculating all the variables if it was happening on that flat sheet of paper you are writing on.  To do the same problem involving all three dimensions and time, you then have to get into higher math like integration and such.  Though you can't imagine it without making your head spin, you can keep increasing your dimensions by using integration and even Matrix math (us programmers know that stuff, the problems with the charts of 0's and 1's with A= "this huge mess") .  For a long time scientists have had a hard time melding the different energies of the universe (electromagnetic, weak force, strong force, gravity) together.  When calculated in 5 dimensions, everything (particularly gravity) starts to fit into place.  This wasn't found out just this decade though.  This was over 70 years ago during the time Albert Einstein formulated his Theory of Relativity.  Einstein and other scientists saw that there was extra dimensions from this point on.   Today we know that subatomic particles aren't in a fixed place and are both in one place and in many places at one time...all depending on probability.

Yoko through the multiverse (why not in this universe? T^T )


Anyways, so what this means is that every moment (actually every frame of planck-time ) a new reality is created in the 5th dimension.  In Gurren Lagann, this was very nicely drawn when the Anti-Spiral leader spoke of all the universes created every second, and the art showed swirling black lines branching off everywhere.  You then see the different versions of Yoko, Simon and Kamina in other realities.  Simon was lost in a universe where he was digging for loot with a greedy ( Lupin the III) version of Kamina.


Yes, as crazy as it sounds, there exist a world where you are a famous sports player, or a model, or many of the various things you thought you can be but maybe didn't do so here in this reality.  Freaky, right?  In episode 26, when Boota turns human and faces off against the Anti-Spiral leader, he mentions how Boota and Lordgenome "are in the space between the 10th and 11th dimensions"  This while the others are stuck wandering in the many versions of themselves in the 5th-6th-7th dimensions.  Thus, another mention of M and String Theory.


Many Yokos ^//^

There was also mention of a "planck constant " when Team Dai Gurren was in Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann... planck constant , planck time and planck length are indeed real scientific terms, one of which, plank time, I mentioned before is behind the travel in the 5th dimension.  Scientists believe at the plank length (1.6163×10−35) meters, the 5th dimension is curled up with reality.  Mind you that length is the smallest possible that makes sense and is waaaay smaller than even a proton.

The probability dimension is also toyed with when in Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann,  the Anti-Spiral's massive ships fire "probability altering missiles"  at the mech and though they were supposedly being blocked, they curled around the 5th dimension and stuck them.  It's in that scene when Darry says, "Probability manipulation? I thought that was God's domain"  Oddly there's a probability of you being on the moon right now.  Obviously absurd but still minute to the smallest of possibilities and thus exists in the 5th dimension. (I know..it makes your mind spin o.O)


These video explains the extra dimensions very well...in case you are still confused ^^;;


Intuition, The Connection Between Loved Ones and the Fighting Spirit (Spiral Power)




This part of science is still very new and still in the realms of belief and religion...but there are honest scientific studies on it (that are getting weird results) and there is also a slight connection to the crazy physics I've been talking about and of course, explored in Gurren Lagann.

In Gurren Lagann's second story arch, Kinon Bachika along with Simon, pilot Gurren Lagann to stop Rossiu from committing suicide. Kinon's love for Rossiu syncs with Gurren Lagann and thus they are able to teleport right to where Rossiu is underground where Simon then pulls a bad-ass Kamina-inspired punch to Rossiu's face to knock some sense back into him. This happens again in the latter episodes when the thought of Nia and Nia's ring is used to travel the extra dimensions to find her.


Well, obviously that's very much science fiction but the different feelings we get like intuition, the fear of trouble brewing for a loved one and even the death of a loved one affecting us the moment it happens far away is behind an honest scientific study, with "spooky" results happening.  If any of you have read the latest Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, you saw they were mentioning about Noetic Science. This is a real field of science that tries to study, prove and disprove aspects of intuition and it is fronted by the Institute of Noetic Science which is actually backed by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell. One experiment has a person closed off in a sound proof, radiation proof room.  The person sits there, video taped live while people are told to view that person in a completely isolated room.  The other people are then told to think both positive and negative thoughts about that person in the room.  Oddly enough, the subject's brainwaves were being ever so slightly manipulated by the group thinking about that person, in correct intervals to when a new person would be told to think up of the thoughts...all with the subject not knowing when or what was being tested.  Dan Brown's book also mentioned how on 9/11/2001 when the World Trade Towers where hit that probability/random number machines across the world were all of a sudden having a pattern to them.  Since many many people were in sync with a single event and thought, it began to manifest itself in reality.  Reason I quoted "spooky" earlier is that in physics, something like this is actually known...but with particles of energy. Einstein called it "Spooky Action at a Distance" or quantum entanglement as it's known today. Granted the experiments in quantum entanglement deal with photons that can be theoretically manipulated instantly across light years and not emotions...but such things do exist.


In Gurren Lagann, that was the spiral power that helped them fight, combine and also upgrade (in the latter episodes particularly the very awesome last episode).  It also was behind Kamina and Simon's power in the very early episodes.  Kamina called it "the fighting spirit" and it could very well be the force that binds us all...call it God, call it what ever but in the real world, some aspects of this is science fact.

Well there you have it.  Hope this made you think a bit and maybe even want to take a look back at Gurren Lagann.  In recent weeks, this part of science has been talked about on The Science Channel's "Through the Wormhole" w/ Morgan Freeman .  Check out that series to get more of an idea on the workings of the universe. A very good watch indeed.

You can discuss these topics below in the comments if you wish.  There has got to be some thoughts after reading about this stuff.

(Thanks to Wikipedia for of course the links to all the vast knowledge out there, youtube for the various clips...which I hope will stay there and thanks to Gainax, Konami, Aniplex and Bandai for the Gurren Lagann series (and movies).  All Gurren Lagann images are copyrighted Gainax, Aniplex, Konami and Bandai ) --- ## #MoeMonday 8/23/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-08-23-moemonday-82310/ - Date: 2010-08-23 - Tags: #MoeMonday - AI-assisted: no Here's this week's #MoeMonday (#MM). Of course, To Heart 2 is all moe cuteness ^^
Here's this week's #MoeMonday (#MM).  Of course, To Heart 2 is all moe cuteness ^^ --- ## Anime's US TV Comeback - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-08-17-animes-us-tv-comeback/ - Date: 2010-08-17 - Tags: anime, anime business, anime news - AI-assisted: no Finally something has happened to US TV that hasn't been happening in a while...more anime being broadcasting in prime time. Ever since the fall of Toonami, the global economic ...

Finally something has happened to US TV that hasn't been happening in a while...more anime being broadcasting in prime time.

Ever since the fall of Toonami, the global economic downturn and the fact that many anime still doesn't get sent here at all or in due time (due to greedy licensees; thus forcing the need for pirating), anime in America was on a downturn.  Cartoon Network for a long while ditched anime for cheap home grown public-access TV quality animation (and even live action) to just put some cheap padding around their covenant Famliy Guy re-runs.

But, times are changing back to what they used to be for us American anime fans (which is somewhat of a good thing).  In what appears to be a déjà vu of the very late 90's, anime is spread throughout TV lineups and has even returned to prime-time, after school hours and yes, even Saturday morning cartoons have now gotten the anime make over.  Yet, like the very late 90's, it appears that anime has reverted to that very time where it was "new" to the American mainstream...where it's either kiddy anime being shown (like on 4Kid's new Toonzai block) or more mature anime that has been dumb down to appease a wholesome look...when in fact they've been heavily censored and made to seem less violent (i.e. Dragon Ball Z Kai).  Reminds me of when we used to watch Gundam Wing and much was put into editing out the blood or when we used to laugh a the Ocean Dub of Dragon Ball Z when they used to state blasting them will throw them "into another dimension"...when really they are being burnt to a crisp.  Also like the late 90's, the only true dose of mature anime that we can see can be found on Sci Fi (SyFy) channel a few minute times in week.

With the recent success of Dragon Ball Z Kai on Nicktoons during, yes you hear me right CN execs, 8pm at night, other stations have taken anime back under their wings.  Cartoon Network is realizing the gem of series they have with the Boondocks, the mistakes they made by letting go of certain series (particularly the non-anime but anime fan loved Futurama)...and thus are slowly (and sometime reluctantly) admitting the letting goes of what started Adult Swim in the first place...needs to be put back.  As stated before there's that 4Kids block now on CW11, Toonzai.  In spite of it being a play of words on Toonami, and ran by the bane of the anime fan world..the more of this we see, the more anime will see a new audience and I'm certain a new resurgence in anime will be soon.  This time though, we have such nice ways of viewing anime like Hulu, Netflicks (just saw all of Gurren Lagann this way ^^) and of course Crunchy Roll.  People will still buy DVDs and Blu Ray disks but yes, as technology advances, that will continue to shrink...as it is for the entire entertainment industry.  Piracy, illegitimate full episode sites, fan subs and illegal downloads will always be there.   Anime studios have only the ass-backwards, expensive and mafia-styled licensing process to blame for such high numbers of these business eroding actions.  I'm an anime store owner and I would love to see DVD sales be better...but on top of getting with the times, even I realize that the reason why us anime fans download fansubs and the like...is mainly because they aren't made for the US until it's way too late or never at all...again, due to the BS licensing process and red tape it takes to get anime (and even figures -_-) to this part of the world.

Anyways, to conclude my long somewhat out-of-the-blue rant, I am happy to see anime making a comeback but there is still a ways to go until it's back to the Inuyasha days of the early to mid 2000's.  Here's hoping us fans who've been there all along are here to stay and here's to the newer generation of anime fans keeping it going better than ever before.

  Now let's hope we see more of this ^ on US TV
--- ## #MoeMonday 8/16/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-08-16-moemonday-81610/ - Date: 2010-08-16 - Tags: #MoeMonday, updates - AI-assisted: no Been some time since I've done a #MoeMonday post ^^;; The anime figure business has been kicking my butt but hopefully now you shall see some more posts from me. As a comeback p...

Been some time since I've done a #MoeMonday post ^^;;
The anime figure business has been kicking my butt but hopefully now you shall see some more posts from me.

As a comeback present to blogging, I'm re-enabling anonymous comments.  Blogger seems to have a better hold on spam comments...but blog troll comments sometimes can ruin a post so...I will moderate any comments sent in, but don't worry, I won't have a convoluted approval system (like Apple's app store).  Even if your opinion differs mine you won't get deleted....just don't post anything very offensive, racist, etc.

Expect a new branding of the site (thanks to the banner contest winner ^^) and finally some new anime sanctuary sections this week.  Don't forget to use the member's blog if you have some anime related posts you want to gain some exposure ^^ --- ## #FanServiceFriday 8/6/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-08-06-fanservicefriday-8610/ - Date: 2010-08-06 - Tags: Gurren Lagann, updates, yoko - AI-assisted: no Been busy as heck so to at least show that this blog is NOT dieing...here's this week's #FanServiceFriday (#FF) post. Speaking of Gurren Lagann, going to get back to watching it...


Been busy as heck so to at least show that this blog is NOT dieing...here's this week's #FanServiceFriday (#FF) post.

Speaking of Gurren Lagann, going to get back to watching it this weekend (as the whole series is now on Hulu). I only saw up to episode 6 or 7 ^^;;...which is like seeing the tip of the tip of the iceberg in terms of story. Also, I did the voice of older Simon in that voice dubbing workshop back in March...being directed to the real English voice of Simon, Tony Oliver nonetheless. It was one of the final scenes in the anime and when the others heard I only saw up to ep. 6... the 0_0 faces came out.

In other blog/site news, I'll have more Anime Sanctuary sections up, more anime.fm posts, and of course that section with the winner (and runners up) of the site banner contest. I'd have more done but my anime business has me so busy...it's been really tough to get this side of the side updated ^^;; It's very good news though since the daily profits the anime figure store is bringing in... well, let me put it this way... I'd have to work almost 20 hours at my job per day every day to get what I'm up to now. So as they say in Gurren Lagaan, "ROW ROW FIGHT DA POWER!!" --- ## CAS Anime Banner/Mascot Contest Winner(s) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-31-cas-anime-bannermascot-contest-winners/ - Date: 2010-07-31 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, contests, fumi kobayashi, lily, mascots, updates, yumi - AI-assisted: no Ok, it's always tough doing a contest, getting great entries and then having to pick from them, a distinct winner. This contest in particular got me to meet some great new anime...

Ok, it's always tough doing a contest, getting great entries and then having to pick from them, a distinct winner. This contest in particular got me to meet some great new anime fans with amazing talent and a love for this site I thought I lost back in 2004-2005 when my life was focused more on my Amway business and the semi-online fame from mine and Danielle's AMVs began to wane.


Before I note who the winner is, I want to say thank you to all who participated ^_^ The great news is that, although I can't give the Black Rock Shooter Figma and Nendoroid to all of you, EVERY one of can be of to aid to this site (ad maybe even Anime.fm) in the coming weeks and months...if you so choose.


The grand prize winner of this contest is the artist Kenneos. Her depictions of the mascots captured the artistic tone that Danielle and I were looking for in terms of decorating this site and for finalizing their looks since even I have drawn them back in the day and based on Danielle....I did them wrong ^^;;;


Congratulations Kenneos ^_^ As soon as Good Smile Company and Max Factory get those Black Rock Shooter Nendoroids and Figmas released....they'll be on your way.


As for the rest of you who entered...don't leave just yet; I have a message for each of you that will involve future involvement with the site and maybe even that game if I can get the free time I need to get it going.


Alexander R.

Your dojin manga for the girls is a great idea ^_^ I'm all for it and I'll try to set up some solid backstory to them to help you out ^^


Hong Z.

I indeed love your work too; I feel that you might be of help to me on Anime.fm ^^


Eefi

Both you and I are Computer Scientists and thus I would love to work together with you if I can finally get the chance to make the game based on Fumi..plus some anime.fm art ^^


Tommy E.

The CG work you do is absolutely stunning and I love that you were able to make "Chuck's Anime Shrine" in kanji ^^. I'll definitely be in touch with you about the art for the game based on Fumi..I feel you can help bring that to life..and with your permission I'd like to put that cute Yumi image you gave me on parts of the site.


Alexandra J.

I always love that you follow my site, post on the member's blog and always keep up to date with my tweets ^_^ If I'm not mistaken, you did win the last contest..but it was your submission that got the ball rolling and I thank you so much for that as always...you and the others might be able to help me redecorate the front page...though Kenneos' images will be on the banners and part of the store...I would love all of you to have your own panel on the front page. I'm talking about the links I have on the front to the blog, gallery and so forth ^^


I think that's everybody...if I left anyone out..my apologies ^^;;. Big thank you to all who entered and I ill have another contest up in due time ^^ --- ## Banner Contest Closed (and Other Anime News) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-25-banner-contest-closed-and-other-anime/ - Date: 2010-07-25 - Tags: black rock shooter, contest, project fumi, SDCC10, updates, wonfes - AI-assisted: no Letting everyone know that the banner/mascot contest for the Black Rock Shooter Figma and Nendoroid figures is now closed. As most of you know, the BRS project anime aired last ...
 
Letting everyone know that the banner/mascot contest for the Black Rock Shooter Figma and Nendoroid figures is now closed.  As most of you know, the BRS project anime aired last night in Japan and everyone is super excited about BRS.   I should also really be talking about San Diego Comic Con 2010..which is coming to a close as we speak as well as Wonfes 2010 ^^;;  Sorry for the last of updates with stuff like that.  For great Wonfest coverage..check out Dannychoo.com, Danny just posted some great figure posts and even a BRS stop motion clip from the makers of Nightmare Before Christmas 0_0  For SDCC2010 info, check G4's coverage.  (I promise I'll drop the day job and run this business full time to get more time to blog >-<)

As for the contest entries I simply loved them.  I have an idea who the winner is actually...but I won't say until the next few days; maybe tomorrow if I have the chance but sometime this week.  There's some stuff I need to set up with the site/storefronts so that the grand prize winner gets all I promised they'd get ^^;;.

The good news is since I only had a handful of artists participating, ALL of your works that I've received will be scrolling up top here and throughout the site ^_^ I  will also link all of your sites/deviant art accounts to both a mascot page I will make and even as a footer to the grand prize winner's bio page.  I might contact one or two of you for help with the next overdo project and that's the video game I plan on making with Fumi, Lily and Fumi's powers.  Participants in that will get either $$, figures or both. In other words...all of you have won the second place prize ^_^

The one bit of bad news I posted a few days back...that Good Smile Company (though looking all BRSy) failed to launch the Black Rock Shooter figures in time for the anime release and so the winner won't get the figures until their new release time-frame of August/September -_-

As some of you can see, your entries are scrolling right now.  Some of you sent a few items a piece (well my site does have 5 mascots if you include Fumi's 3 forms), but to be fair I put one from each person for now.  If you don't see yours, don't fret...it's a random number generator that shows the banner up top ^^;; so you should see yours with a couple refreshes. 

I really did like the old banner I put up there with the shrine too...I'll have it as part of the site in one way or another but in the background since none of the characters are mine...and that could lead to trademark issues as this site continues to grow ^^;; 

Thank you again all who entered.

(header image thanks to Tommy E.) --- ## Black Rock Shooter Resale! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-22-black-rock-shooter-resale/ - Date: 2010-07-22 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, figures - AI-assisted: no Great news for people who were still looking for the original rock Cannon Black Rock Shooter figure. As of last night, Good Smile Company announced that the original BRS figure ...
 

Great news for people who were still looking for the original rock Cannon Black Rock Shooter figure.  As of last night, Good Smile Company announced that the original BRS figure is up for resale ^_^

Pre-order her here before it's too late (or email me that you want one)

This must make anime stores that jacked the prices up feel stupid.  I saw this figure for almost $300 on Amazon...not cool.  With the US dollar falling deeper in the crapper vs. the yen, figures continue to be a big investment for us anime fans.  Like you guys, I get pissed when I see an anime store jack up the price of a popular item.  The regular retail price is more than enough -_-  If I was you guys, I wouldn't shop at a store that jacked this figure up to $200+.  I don't do that crap since I love these figures and I'm an actual anime fan (most store owners are just $ fans and don't know jack about the anime they sell). Ok pardon the rant, just would love to see the faces on the stores that got caught with the price hikes after GSC announced this.

The BRS figure won't be re-released until around December/ January so until then...let's oogle over these images (or go visit a friend who got one from the first batch..or was scammed by a price hike)





--- ## Black Rock Shooter: Dead Master Figma - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-21-black-rock-shooter-dead-master-figma/ - Date: 2010-07-21 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, figma, figures - AI-assisted: no Looks like the people over at Max Factory announced the Dead Master figma figure ^_^ Pre-orders for her have already begun . (Link to get on waiting list) I'm very excited about...
 
Looks like the people over at Max Factory announced the Dead Master figma figure ^_^ 

Pre-orders for her have already begun. (Link to get on waiting list)

I'm very excited about this figure since I'm starting to finally sit down and understand all that is Black Rock Shooter.  Love the animation, love the figures and this one will be part of my personal collection too ^^.

Now Max Factory is stating she'll be released in October.  With the huge amount of items suppose to come out that month and Max Factory/Good Smile's recent delayed figure track record...expect that to change.

Check out her photos below:





--- ## Delayed Black Rock Shooter Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-19-delayed-black-rock-shooter-figures/ - Date: 2010-07-19 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, contests, updates - AI-assisted: no Got some bad news for those of you waiting for the Black Rock Shooter Nendoroid and Figma figures :-( Based on credible sources from both nekomagic.com and the fact that I have ...
 
Got some bad news for those of you waiting for the Black Rock Shooter Nendoroid and Figma figures :-( Based on credible sources from both nekomagic.com and the fact that I have yet to get a notice from Good Smile Company and Max Factory...the Nendoroid and Figma Black Rock Shooters are pushed back until August -_-  They were suppose to be released to coincide with the July 24th release of the BRS anime airing in Japan (as well as my contest for them, =_=)  Seems like we have to wait a bit longer for these.  There are also some other figures of note on Nekomagic's list. --- ## #FanServiceFriday 7/16/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-16-fanservicefriday-71610/ - Date: 2010-07-16 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF - AI-assisted: no Bringing back #FanServiceFriday this week with this lovely picture with an obvious summer theme. been really hot here in NY. My sunburns from Monday are still healing (was at Sp...

Bringing back #FanServiceFriday this week with this lovely picture with an obvious summer theme. been really hot here in NY.  My sunburns from Monday are still healing (was at Splish Splash water park all day ^^;) --- ## Yui and Mio Alter Figure Re-Sale! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-15-yui-and-mio-alter-figure-re-sale/ - Date: 2010-07-15 - Tags: alter, anime figures, K-ON - AI-assisted: no Got some great news from Alter! Looks like they are remaking these amazing K-On! Mio and Yui figures that by now are being price hiked by crooks on ebay and other sites -_- If y...
 Got some great news from Alter! Looks like they are remaking these amazing K-On! Mio and Yui figures that by now are being price hiked by crooks on ebay and other sites -_- If you missed out on them and don't want to pay $120+ then you can pre-order them right here ^_^ 

I'm making sure a bunch are coming in but even so...act quick or you might miss out.  I kind of did too..I didn't keep one of each like I wanted too ^^;; so hopefully when they come to the US around January I'l rmember to keep one in my personal collection too.

Here's the link to preorder Yui


Here's the link to preorder Mio --- ## Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Movie, Coming Soon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-07-fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood-movie/ - Date: 2010-07-07 - Tags: anime news, fullmetal alchemist brotherhood - AI-assisted: no (Ok, let me dust off the blog real quick...ok, back in action.) Hope many of you had a great holiday weekend. Here in NY we are getting the summer we haven't had in over 3 years...
 
(Ok, let me dust off the blog real quick...ok, back in action.)

Hope many of you had a great holiday weekend.  Here in NY we are getting the summer we haven't had in over 3 years with temps reaching 100+ @_@.  This past weekend was a crazy one; my anime figure sales were through the roof (still in the process of boxing some stuff), Anime Expo was in full swing out on the west coast, with Danny Choo being one of the guests of honor, many anime series got licensed by American anime companies, including K-On! by...Bandai America? FUNimation once again on their buying spree, fueled by more DBZ and DB Kai money; it was Fourth of July weekend, "human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"*...you get the picture.

Another bit of news within the chaos was that the last episode of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (ep. 64 I believe) was added to the FUNimation channel/stream.  I refused to watch it since I've seen probably about 10 episodes spread way too far apart..thus not wanting risk spoilers. My fiancee, Danielle has of course seen every episode so some spoilers I failed to dodge.  One bit of info the last episode brought, as per this ANN post, was that an FMA: Brotherhood movie has been green lit, so that's great news for all of us FMA fans.  If you have read the manga, you probably have a good idea how it will go since it's going to match the recent end of the FMA manga by creator, Hiromu Arakafwa.

*(Speaking of Ghost Busters...expect a GB 3  movie trailer at SDCC in a few weeks...I bet $$ we will see it premiered there; it hasn't been announced but I'll call it.) --- ## #FanServiceFriday 7/2/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-07-02-fanservicefriday-7210/ - Date: 2010-07-02 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF, updates - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday is back this week (as well as my blogging). To commemorate the Fourth Of July weekend we are jumping into, here's a picture of Aoi Nishimata from Shuffle. Hope...

#FanServiceFriday is back this week (as well as my blogging).  To commemorate the Fourth Of July weekend we are jumping into, here's a picture of Aoi Nishimata from Shuffle.

Hopefully you here state side get to enjoy the holiday; don't work too much and enjoy the weather (if it's good) ^^

...
Just some quick announcements:

1)Pardon the long gap in posts ^^;; I've been trying to find a place to warehouse all of my anime items since Fulfillment By Amazon turned out to be a failure due to them not letting me ship world wide...plus all of the anime orders I do a day are keeping me from updating the blog.

I have found a place 10 minutes from my house and I might even be able to be a PR rep for them for their service...more on that in due time.

2) Finally got that error on the feeds taken care of. So now the product feeds here, the anime.fm blog and charlesgaffney.com are back in action.  This also means that the anime sanctuary project will be back on track as well.

3) The mascot/site banner contest will be coming to a close this month (the 25th) so if you want a shot at nabbing Nendoroid & Figma Black Rock Shooter, better send in your art soon. --- ## Current Anime Banner / Logo Contest Entries - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-23-current-anime-banner-logo-contest/ - Date: 2010-06-23 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, contest, mascots, project fumi - AI-assisted: no Some of you might know I'm doing a contest where the winner gets their artwork as part of this site, my store and social networks I'm hooked into (oh and of course the Black Roc...
Some of you might know I'm doing a contest where the winner gets their artwork as part of this site, my store and social networks I'm hooked into (oh and of course the Black Rock Shooter figma and Nendoroid as prizes too).

I'm using this post to officially set the cut off date of July 25th.  The winner will be announced within a week from then.

The goal of the contest is to draw our mascots that we have been talking about since 2003, Fumi (her angel, demon forms and her normal form), Lily and Yumi (new to the list as of 2008)

To help people get an idea of what they look like (other than the sketches we made) and to show off what we've gotten already, below are some images I have gotten from contestants.  I'm curious to see more Fumi but the images are great thus far ^_^.



Lily by eefi


Yumi by eefi

Fumi (Normal form) by Yuki S.

The whole gang by Yuki S.


Fumi (Angel form) by Kenneos


A sketch of Fumi (Angel and Demon forms) by Kenneos


Lily by Kenneos


Yumi by Kenneos

Yumi and Fumi by Alexandra J.




Yumi by Tommy E.
--- ## 100th Nendoroid: Disney's Mickey Mouse Up for Pre-order! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-22-100th-nendoroid-disneys-mickey-mouse-up/ - Date: 2010-06-22 - Tags: anime figures, Good Smile Company, Mickey Mouse, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no The 100th Nendoroid, Disney's Mickey is finally up for pre-order reservations after the long wait after seeing him unveiled at the last Wonfest. Some Nendoroids I've received fo...
 



The 100th Nendoroid, Disney's Mickey is finally up for pre-order reservations after the long wait after seeing him unveiled at the last Wonfest.  Some Nendoroids I've received for my store as of late have >100 numbers on them so many thought this figure was just given to the big Japan local anime stores in super limited quantity.  Good news is that, that isn't the case and I'll be stocking some of him so check him out in the store or email us to get on the waiting list ^_^

Congrats to Good Smile Company for not only reaching that milestone in their wonderful chibi anime figure line...but also getting to use such an iconic figure.

(but if possible...maybe talk to Square-Enix for both Nendoroid and 1/8th scale FFVII Tifa figures...a man can dream right ^^;;)

Anyways, check out more of Nendoroid Mickey:



--- ## Black Rock Shooter: Dead Master Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-22-black-rock-shooter-dead-master-figure/ - Date: 2010-06-22 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, Good Smile Company - AI-assisted: no Yesterday Good Smile Company unveiled that pre-orders have started for the much anticipated Dead Master figure. Fans of Black Rock Shooter know she's the enemy of the series/art...
 
 
Yesterday Good Smile Company unveiled that pre-orders have started for the much anticipated Dead Master figure.  Fans of Black Rock Shooter know she's the enemy of the series/artwork and like BRS, she's a great looking figure.  This is another series I need to keep tabs on (I think the anime got released or is about to ^^;; sux being busy I guess)


Pre-orders can be done here or email us to be on the waiting list. Don't hesitate, like the rock cannon BRS; she's bound to sell out fast and then crooked sellers will hike the price up to about $300 when supplies run low -_-

(also yesterday Good Smile Company came out with the Super Movable Saber, I'd blog about her too but I don't want to bombard you all with figure posts today ^^;;)

Here's some pics of Dead Master:



--- ## E3 2010 In a Nutshell - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-16-e3-2010-in-nutshell/ - Date: 2010-06-16 - Tags: E3, gadgets, Microsoft Kinect, Nintendo 3DS, Playstation Move, videogames - AI-assisted: no E3 2010 is still going on but the big 3 had their keynote speeches and some interesting stuff has been announced. Here's a quick run-down of what got announced. In no way is thi...

E3 2010 is still going on but the big 3 had their keynote speeches and some interesting stuff has been announced.  Here's a quick run-down of what got announced.  In no way is this all of the info on E3, chances are you've already seen most of this stuff but for those who follow this blog and are gamers (most of you probably are).  I hope this gives you some quick info on what everone's talking about.

Microsoft's Keynote


Microsoft Kinect:
The biggest announcement to come from Microsoft was the new Kinect peripheral.  For those who remember hearing about Project Natal, from last year...here it is.
I know, many of us hardcore gamers are not too happy about the entire E3 being themed around 3D and the "no controller" deal from all 3 major hardware makers..but Nintendo's Wii system made some serious $$ over the past few years and from even non-gamer sources (retirement homes, rehab, etc)  So, when something makes lots of money...it moves the industry in that direction.  The good thing about the Kinect and what sets it apart from the other new "you are the controller" controllers is that the sensors on this thing make it where you don't have to have a controller or remote on hand or any crazy colors to make it see you.  It will see you there and it seems to give almost 1/1 control based on your movements.  I like the new way to control games and the demo with the little girl Xbox did was very cute...but don't be surprised if like the Wii, it'll be geared more toward casual gamers and featured on the Today Show and other mainstream media by people who never ever were gamers -_- 


Xbox 360 Slim


Like Sony has been doing for the past few years, Microsoft decided to "slim down" their machine too.  It's more of an improvement to their current model than really it being slimmed down.  It's a bit smaller than the Arcade and Elite models, much quieter and like the PS3, can connect wirelessly without having to buy it separately.  The chips run with less heat too. The reason why that's important; well, expect seeing less of the Rings of Death.  Trust me, I'm on my 4th Arcade Xbox 360 now thanks to the infamous Rings of Death.  If you don't have an X-box 360, best to nab this one.


Other info from Microsoft is the ESPN exclusivity and sports broadcasts to the Xbox Live network and some improvements to the Netflix functions with search being added.

Nintendo Keynote
I'm a fan of all gaming, own all of the systems and thus I never jump to one company over another but if there was a "winner of E3" I'd put my money on Nintendo.  Here's a small list of what came from their keynote speech.

Nintendo 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS was expected to be announcd but until now, nobody knew what it was going to look like or how it would be done.  It's basically a DSi with the top screen being a bit bigger and of course...in 3D.  Nintendo touts about the fact that you don't have to wear any silly 3D glasses to see the effects.  The 3D effect is also adjustable were you can fix how much the items appear to pop out or you can shut off the function entirely.  There's also an analog control; similar and smoother than the PSP's analog nob.  The camera on the 3DS has 2 lenses and instantly anyone who knows about cameras and today's marketed technology knows that that means you can take 3D photos with it.  The system has a huge list of developers working on making games for this little guy.  Nintendo correctly expects this thing to be a big money maker and probably move hand-held gaming even further than before.

New Nintendo Games
 On top of stating that the 3DS will have loads of developers, games ready to go, the Wii will have a number of games that make us old-school gamers feel like it's the early 90's again.  There's going to be a new GoldenEye game that plays out like the classic Nintendo 64 game.  Then there's Donkey Kong Country Returns, which seems to play exactly like the faved game from back in 1993...but with modern graphics... epic.  Speaking of "epic" Nintendo threw that word about twice with the full unveiling of Epic Mickey and Kirby's Epic Yarn. Disney's Epic Mickey is basically a mix of Mickey Mouse, Fable and maybe a bit of Kingdom Hearts added to it, sans the better-than-Disney Sqaure-Enix characters.  Kirby's Epic Yarn is that classic 2D scrolling gameplay we've grown up to love but with a look and feel that all yarn. The Metroid: Other M game also makes me remember the x-mases of 1993-1995 with the storyline being around Super Metroid, but of course with the modern gameplay and graphics.

Can't forget Kid Icurus Uprising, Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Dragon Quest 9, Mario Sports Mix and the others Nintendo shot out during the speech. A load of great games coming out soon. 

Sony's Keynote Speech


The biggest bit of news to come from the Sony camp would be the continued testing of the new PlayStation Move and the very cool demo shown of Killzone 3...oh and the fact that games will soon be played in...you guessed it, 3D.

Playstation Move
If you've been keeping up with the gaming industry, the Playstation Move isn't so new but with a release date of mid September and a price tag of $99.99 (for the Sports Champion bundle)..it's ahead of the other 2 since some of the release dates of many of these cool gadgets and games won't be until after the holiday season.

Similar to the Wii system, the Move system has a remote/motion tracker and a navigation controller (similar to the Wii nunchuk)  Unlike the Wii, Sony is promoting the fact that it uses a camera and the motion sensors to give full 1/1 view.  Definitely laughed at Kevin Butler's explanation about how you punch with the Move and his other antics on stage.  Seeing the demo of Sorcery, you do see how the Move is a bit better than the Wii in the response of the motion.

New Sony Games / Features


Not as impressive as Nintendo's lineup but Sony definitely delivered with the extended demo of Killzone 3; probably the best graphics on anything to date.  Other games of note would be Little Big Planet 2, Heros On The Move, Grand Turismo 5 (in 3D), Final Fantasy XIV, and Twisted Metal...yep Twisted Metal is back ^^

I also can't forget mentioning that The Playstation Network will have a paid service named PlayStation Plus which mainly gives people first dibs on demos gaming nws, and other exclusives.

...
Well, that's E3 in a nutshell.  There's a bunch more to it that I know I probably left out ^^;;  Being that I'm an anime retailer now..(and video game dealer/programmer) I soon will be able to actually attend the event...but another day, another time.

Thanks to Engadget for some of the photos used.
--- ## #MoeMonday 6/14/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-14-moemonday-61410/ - Date: 2010-06-14 - Tags: #MoeMonday, desktop images - AI-assisted: no Another #MoeMonday (#MM) post for you all. This one is a good desktop background if you want it. I wish I knew of the artist so I can credit them for this stunning work of art ^^.
 Another #MoeMonday (#MM) post for you all.  This one is a good desktop background if you want it. I wish I knew of the artist so I can credit them for this stunning work of art ^^. --- ## #FanServiceFriday 6/11/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-11-fanservicefriday-61110/ - Date: 2010-06-11 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, strike witches, updates - AI-assisted: no Been a busy week ^^;; God knows there are anime/game related news I really should have covered like the Supernatural TV show being turned into an anime , the possible leak of th...


Been a busy week ^^;;  God knows there are anime/game related news I really should have covered like the Supernatural TV show being turned into an anime, the possible leak of the PS4, Mortal Kombat coming back in both a "test trailer" and in a newly announced game by..sigh Warner Bros., and the conglomeration of anime/manga/game creators to put an end to the manga scanning sites.

I could mark posts about those but I'll let the links speak for themselves and I'm still busy figuring out how to have somebody ship the HUGE amount of anime figures I sell on a weekly basis ^^;; (apparently Fulfillment By Amazon doesn't do international shipments...yeah..not good -_-...luckily only one figure, that I have extras of on hand, were sent to them to ship for me)

While I get the kinks out of the shipping tasks of my anime store, prep the contest entries for Black Rock Shooter and hopefully get anime.fm back on track...I'll just let you guys check out this wonderful #FanServiceFriday (#FF) pic ^///^ --- ## #FanServiceFriday 6/4/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-04-fanservicefriday-6410/ - Date: 2010-06-04 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, #FF - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday (#FF) this week is a bit in tune to what #MoeMonday was with beach weather being the theme...with a bit of humor to it too ^^; I never saw To Love Ru (yet) but...

#FanServiceFriday (#FF) this week is a bit in tune to what #MoeMonday was with beach weather being the theme...with a bit of humor to it too ^^; I never saw To Love Ru (yet) but I'm certain that's where these ladies are from. --- ## Anime Figure Shipments - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-03-anime-figure-shipments/ - Date: 2010-06-03 - Tags: anime business, anime figures, updates - AI-assisted: no Well, it has finally happened, the anime store part of this site has gotten so big, that the inventory is just bursting a the seams at my home location ^^;; So what do you do wh...


Well, it has finally happened, the anime store part of this site has gotten so big, that the inventory is just bursting a the seams at my home location ^^;;  So what do you do when your shipping room is full of anime figures, manga, Blu Rays and cosplay items with more on the way? No, I can't keep them all (though tempting)  The solution I've decided was to rent some warehouse space..but not just any space, Amazon.com warehouse space.

As of today I have started to integrate my items to Fulfillment By Amazon, aka (FBA) What FBA is, that I stock my store the way I always have, but then I send the items in bulk to a warehouse (seems to be one located in Kentucky) for the good people over at Amazon.com to shipout for me.  I'm not the first anime store owner to do this....old buddy Robert  has been doing this for a while ^^; Ok, well Robert isn't a buddy per se, I visited his site back in the day before he turned it into a store and from the looks of his color scheme...he's visited mine...his had more of an ANN look to it back in the day if I remember ^^;

as of now, only one product is being shipped this way.. the Reina Soho Witchblade figure...but in due time ALL items will be shipped this way AND I plan on automating the inventory + having my suppliers just send directly to the warehouse, thus helping me reach the goal of $250,000+ in anime sales next year or two and...better yet..allow me to not be tied down to one location to go visit Japan (and locals) while working!!

Check out the details about FB for my site here.

This was just yesterday's haul from one of my suppliers ^^;;
--- ## FUNi Acquires Heaven's Lost Property: Sora No Otoshimono - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-02-funi-acquires-heavens-lost-property/ - Date: 2010-06-02 - Tags: FUNimation, Heavens Lost Property, Sora No Otoshimono - AI-assisted: no I became an instant fan of this series when I watched about 9 episodes on Crunchy Roll a few months back. Sora No Otoshimono (Heaven's Lost Property for us English gaijin) is ve...

 I became an instant fan of this series when I watched about 9 episodes on Crunchy Roll a few months back.  Sora No Otoshimono (Heaven's Lost Property for us English gaijin) is very funny, sexy and drawn very well. I' was extremely excited to see Funimation acquired the rights to it and will eventually b showing it.  Granted the second season is soon to be released already in Japan and this isn't slated for US release till 2011..but hy it'll be worth the wait to see the remaining episodes I didn't see. 

I wonder what voice cast will be used for this one...FUNi can contact me at any time if they want me to audition for a role ^^ I do have training experience with Tony Oliver and I wouldn't mind flying to Dallas from NY....a man can dream.

Check out the official page on FUNimation for info and updates. --- ## Shining Wind: Xecty Swimsuit 1/7 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-06-02-shining-wind-xecty-swimsuit-17-scale/ - Date: 2010-06-02 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Shining Wind - AI-assisted: no Up for pre-order is the 4th Shining Wind girl in the Good Smile Company swimsuit line, Xecty. Like the others in the series, she's a beauty ^///^ Check out some pictures of her ...

Up for pre-order is the 4th Shining Wind girl in the Good Smile Company swimsuit line, Xecty.  Like the others in the series, she's a beauty ^///^  Check out some pictures of her below and of course, if you want to reserve yours, check out the product page or email us that you want to be on the waiting list.  With Xecty here...expect Elwyn to not be far behind.





--- ## #MoeMonday 5/31/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-31-moemonday-53110/ - Date: 2010-05-31 - Tags: #MoeMonday, moe - AI-assisted: no Almost into June. #MoeMonday (#MM) for this week is an angelic summer moe girl. The weather here in NY is getting to where beach weather is not too bad..though Long Island beach...

Almost into June.  #MoeMonday (#MM) for this week is an angelic summer moe girl.  The weather here in NY is getting to where beach weather is not too bad..though Long Island beaches for years have been as toxic and dirty looking as the currently oil-filled ones of Louisiana -_-..yeah don't give into the Hamptons hype..Long Island is as dull as it comes.  A trip to the Bahamas sounds very good by now. --- ## #FanServiceFriday 5/28/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-28-fanservicefriday-52810/ - Date: 2010-05-28 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday - AI-assisted: no #FF, #FanServiceFriday is back with a Moe maid image that is worth the one week gap. Got to love the artistic beauty of anime art. The art that was recently stolen in Paris is c...

#FF, #FanServiceFriday is back with a Moe maid image that is worth the one week gap.  Got to love the artistic beauty of anime art.  The art that was recently stolen in Paris is chicken scratch compared to this. --- ## FUNimation up for Sale?! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-28-funimation-up-for-sale/ - Date: 2010-05-28 - Tags: anime business, FUNimation - AI-assisted: no Don't fret people, there is a good reason why FUNimation might go up for sale. Unlike the relatively resent news that 4Kids is trying to get bought, sold, dismantled, due to mon...

Don't fret people, there is a good reason why FUNimation might go up for sale.  Unlike the relatively resent news that 4Kids is trying to get bought, sold, dismantled, due to money issues and their past sins against the anime world, Funimation might get put up on the auction block because it's gorwn well for parent company Navarre Corp. and they feel it's time to leave the nest for a brighter future.  As per ANN and mania.com, Navarre will use the help of the investment bank Houlihan Lokey to create the sale next quarter.  Navarre owns the Starz and Encore networks and feels FUNimation is too different than their other properties.

I actually own Navarre stock (for the partial ownership of Funimation no doubt) but due to this news.. I'll sell and follow wherever FUNi goes next.  Now if only I win the upcoming powerball lottery..I'd have a shot at adding them to my anime empire.

...in due time...in due time. --- ## Black Rock Shooter Animation Ver. Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-27-black-rock-shooter-animation-ver-figure/ - Date: 2010-05-27 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, figures - AI-assisted: no I've been bombarding you all with figures but this one is the main news of the day for lots of anime figure fans. The long awaited Black Rock Shooter: Animation Ver. Figure by G...

 I've been bombarding you all with figures but this one is the main news of the day for lots of anime figure fans.  The long awaited Black Rock Shooter: Animation Ver. Figure by Good Smile Company is finally up for pre-order.  She's a stunning 1/8th scale figure of  Black Rock Shooter carrying the Rock Cannon in an action pose.  From what I can tell of the case sizes Good Smile Company is allocated for us anime stores...it's going to be much like the very first BRS figure...a 1/8th scale figure with a huge display box.

This is one of those figures that ill surely run out of pre-order reserves across the net.  We took the liberty of making sure to ready a bunch for all of you but even so, her preorder reserves are bound to run out fast...and last I checked, the original figure is priced at whopping $300 0_0


Pre-order her here or give us an email pre-order request and we'll hold one for you once they arrive around October or November. 

I so need to set up some space for this one...

--- ## Figma Yuu Kawamura - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-27-figma-yuu-kawamura/ - Date: 2010-05-27 - Tags: anime figures, figma, figures - AI-assisted: no Last week lots of great anime figures got announced and to continue showcasing these figures; here's the very cute Figma Yuu Kawamura. The "cooking is so fun" meme seems to run ...
Sekirara: Yuu Kawamura Uniform Ver. Figma Action Figure 
Last week lots of great anime figures got announced and to continue showcasing these figures; here's the very cute Figma Yuu Kawamura.  The "cooking is so fun" meme seems to run through my head when I see her ^^;;  She'll come loaded with lots of cooking accessories that you can use to create many poses and scenes.

Max Factory is set to release her some time at the end of summer and probably into November for us here in the US (...-_-)

For pre-orders, you know where to go.  More pics below

.Sekirara: Yuu Kawamura Uniform Ver. Figma Action FigureSekirara: Yuu Kawamura Uniform Ver. Figma Action FigureSekirara: Yuu Kawamura Uniform Ver. Figma Action Figure --- ## Touhou Project: Sakuya Izayoi Figma Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-27-touhou-project-sakuya-izayoi-figma/ - Date: 2010-05-27 - Tags: anime figures, figma, figures, Touhou Project - AI-assisted: no You'd think I'd leave today without talking about the other figma figure that was announced last week? Granted I've been blogging lots lately about figures. I should add some re...

You'd think I'd leave today without talking about the other figma figure that was announced last week? Granted I've been blogging lots lately about figures. I should add some relevant anime news in here as well ^^;;;.

Anyways, some of you are familiar with Touhou Project and some of you probably are familiar with the rarity of the Touhou Project figures. Sakuya Izayoi, be it this new figma figure or the soon to be released Nendoroid figure are not your typical anime figures.  Anime figures are rare and limited edition to begin with, but these are only available at select stores in Japan.  Thanks to my connections though...I am able to nab a few for my store ^^.  The price range sadly can't be the regular rate for a Figma figure but like the other Touhou figures, people on ebay will price hike them to about $200 -_-  I won't do that, so check out her pre-order page and grab one before you are trying to buy a $200 one that might not even be legit :-/ 

(One really cool feature about the Sakuya Izayoi, she comes with emotiocon stickers that you could use with other figmas and make some really funny scenes ^^)

Touhou Project: Sakuya Izayoi Figma FigureTouhou Project: Sakuya Izayoi Figma FigureTouhou Project: Sakuya Izayoi Figma Figure --- ## Iron Man 2 Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-26-iron-man-2-figures/ - Date: 2010-05-26 - Tags: figures, Iron Man 2 - AI-assisted: no Last week Danielle and I joined the masses and saw the Iron Man 2 movie. Of course, we loved it. I'm not a huge American comic book fan (obviously I'm all for the Japanese manga...
Iron Man Movie 2: Mark VI Fine Art Statue
Last week Danielle and I joined the masses and saw the Iron Man 2 movie.  Of course, we loved it.  I'm not a huge American comic book fan (obviously I'm all for the Japanese manga side of things), but the whole Avengers hinting looks rather exciting.  I won't give out a spoiler for those who have yet to see the movie...but be sure to sit through ALL of the credits.

As with the Hollywood way of things, it's time to talk about the Iron Man 2 merchandise; the high end figures made by anime figure creators Kotobukiya and others to be exact.

I'll be stocking 4 figures from the movie and though I'm not the big US comic fan...I'm so tempted to keep them.

The first being the Mark VI Iron Man Fine Art figure by Kotobukiya.  This one will eat up your wallet at about $180 but this 1/6th scale piece lights up at the base and no doubt will be great for bragging rights.Iron Man Movie 2: Mark VI Fine Art StatueIron Man Movie 2: Mark VI Fine Art Statue


The next figure is by One 2 One; The Mark VI Super Deformed Statue.  He lights up and is about a 1/5th-1/6th scale.  He doesn't look posable but it's still a very neat piece.  Like all of the other figures I'm blogging about here, it's a bit pricey at about $150 but if you are a fan, you probably won't care too much ^^;;
Iron Man 2: Mark VI Super Deformed Statue
Iron Man 2: Mark VI Super Deformed Statue 

War Machine made his movie debut in Iron Man two and naturally Kotobukiya made a high end, 1/6th scale replica.  Like the Mark VI figure, this one lights up but will be a little easier on the wallet at around $135. There is a cosplayer out there that made a really good War Machine costume with a rotating gun and all.  Supposedly though, the guy is an ego maniac who doesn't share the costume making skills.
Iron Man Movie 2: War Machine Fine Art StatueIron Man Movie 2: War Machine Fine Art Statue 


What blog post by me would be complete without some hot or cute girl figure to show off?  Also up for pre-order is the Iron Man 2 - 1/6th scale Black Widow Limited Edition Figure by Hot Toys.  She's a posable, 1/6th scale figure that will run you a whopping $200.  A nice addition to a collection indeed ^^
  Iron Man 2 - 1/6th scale Black Widow Limited Edition CollectibleIron Man 2 - 1/6th scale Black Widow Limited Edition Collectible 

Check out more images and details in the store and expect these come the end of the summer/year.
--- ## Is The PVC in Anime Figures Toxic? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-26-is-pvc-in-anime-figures-toxic/ - Date: 2010-05-26 - Tags: anime figures, anime news - AI-assisted: no Polyvinyl chloridem, aka PVC, is a substance used in not just anime figures, but in many items from siding, fencing, computer cords and wires, as well as various car parts. Toda...

Polyvinyl chloridem, aka PVC, is a substance used in not just anime figures, but in many items from siding, fencing, computer cords and wires, as well as various car parts.  Today CNN put this scary and rather misleading article on PVC right slab on their from page.  There are truths and some exaggerations in any scares about PVC.  Let's clear the air about it.

A while back I posted an article about poisonous bootleg anime jewelery, complements of China and the anime bootleg capital of the world, Hong Kong.  Those items had very high levels of lead and other chemicals, but even with their high levels, the only way to get poisoned would be to keep the items in your mouth for a descent period of time...though some people do put necklaces and such in their mouth as a nervous tick and is indeed a health issue to worry about.  Either way, those items have thankfully been banned at the dismay of  the Hong Kong bootleggers.

But what about PVC figures?  Well, polyvinyl chloridem, when created or burned, creates toxic byproducts in the form of dioxins.  In other words, in order for that cute Nendoroid figure to suddenly turn into a little chibi bringer of cancer and death...you have to practically burn it and inhale the gas.

I'll be frank, I'm an anime store owner and this news could effect my business (as well as countless others)..but only if people take it the wrong way and get freaked out by it.  There is much fear out there over everything we use, eat and interact with.  Did you know that your water bottle seeps out a bit of oil toxins from the plastic it's made out of?..or that your iPhone probably is sending out microwaves that can be harmful if you hold it against your head 24/7?  PVC, like any building material needs to be treated as such, a building material.  Those who make it need to keep themselves safe from the toxic byproducts of it's creation and us consumers...should never take the material, burn it and inhale their fumes. 

Just have some common sense... don't suddenly think your computer mouse, the siding on your house, and your anime figures are out there to kill you. The fast food we all put in our mouths here in the US is far more toxic than some cute anime figure girl...1) because we are not suppose to eat PVC and 2) because our fast food has become far too abundant and socially acceptable to just intake with no remorse.  Now if a factory making PVC doesn't get rid of the toxic byproducts in a correct and safe manner and they let the toxins cause say an anime figure to be toxic at the touch (or smell) than those factories need to be shut down and those products recalled. --- ## Bleach Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-25-bleach-figures/ - Date: 2010-05-25 - Tags: anime figures, Bleach, figures - AI-assisted: no Square-Enix last week announced they are expanding their Kai figure line to the hit series, Bleach. The first set of figures look pretty descent. for those who aren't familiar w...

Square-Enix last week announced they are expanding their Kai figure line to the hit series, Bleach.  The first set of figures look pretty descent. for those who aren't familiar with the new "Kai" figures, they basically are upgraded versions of Square's already popular Play Arts line.  These figures will run you a bit more money than the Play Arts figures at around $45 but that's still a very good deal considering the price of most 1/8th scale anime figures nowadays (damn US dollar losing to he yen -_-)

The first Bleach Kai set includes Rukia (with Kon), Hitsugaya, and bankai form Ichigo.  I'm a fan of all three but Ichigo seems to be my fave of the three and will probably decorate my work desk come November when they arrive state side.

Of course, you can view them, pre-order them in the store ^^  Hopefully Square-Enix keeps up this line. The FFXIII Kai figures turned out great (particularly Lightning).

Here's some more pic of them...check out more on their product pages
Bleach: Rukia Kuchiki Play Arts Kai Action FigureBleach: Ichigo Kurosaki Bankai Form Play Arts Kai Action FigureBleach: Toshiro Hitsugaya Play Arts Kai Action Figure
--- ## Little Busters! Alter Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-24-little-busters-alter-figures/ - Date: 2010-05-24 - Tags: anime figures, figures, little busters - AI-assisted: no At the end of last week, these two lovely Little Busters! figures were announced for pre-order, Kudryavka Noumi (for re-sale actually) and Sasami Sasasegawa . Their release date...

At the end of last week, these two lovely Little Busters! figures were announced for pre-order, Kudryavka Noumi (for re-sale actually) and Sasami Sasasegawa.  Their release dates seem to vary from September to November.  I'd aim for the later since us anime retailers in the US still get the short end of the stick -_-  They retail for about $90...a bit much for 1/8th scale figures but with Alter behind these, you know the final product will practically be identical to the production images you see here.

Go ahead and pre-order them from the store section...while reserved quantities last.
Little Busters!: Kudryavka Noumi 1/8 Scale FigureLittle Busters!: Kudryavka Noumi 1/8 Scale FigureLittle Busters!: Kudryavka Noumi 1/8 Scale Figure
Little Busters!: Sasami Sasasegawa 1/8 Scale FigureLittle Busters!: Sasami Sasasegawa 1/8 Scale FigureLittle Busters!: Sasami Sasasegawa 1/8 Scale Figure
--- ## #MoeMonday 5/24/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-24-moemonday-52410/ - Date: 2010-05-24 - Tags: #MoeMonday - AI-assisted: no Another Monday and thus another #MM, #MoeMonday. Check out this very moe and chibi image of Little Busters! Kudryavka Noumi. Her figure by Alter just recently got announced for ...

Another Monday and thus another #MM, #MoeMonday.  Check out this very moe and chibi image of Little Busters! Kudryavka Noumi.  Her figure by Alter just recently got announced for re-release so expect to see more of her soon ^^ --- ## Everybody Draw Mohammed Day - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-20-everybody-draw-mohammed-day/ - Date: 2010-05-20 - Tags: religion, world news - AI-assisted: no In complete protest of religious idiocy, terrorism, crimes against women, stupidity, the banning of parts of a South Park episode and for the loved ones my friends lost on 9-11....
  

 In complete protest of religious idiocy, terrorism, crimes against women, stupidity, the banning of parts of a South Park episode and for the loved ones my friends lost on 9-11...I present my entry in Everybody Draws Mohammed Day!

Listen, I'm not against religion nor if you are indeed a good Muslim (despite popular opinion and the acts of a good chunk of the ones who go public...they DO exist),  you can believe in magical cupcakes for all I care.."to each his own" as the statements says. Hey, us anime fans would love to believe that magical transforming girls are real and I can't tell you how many times I wish I could shoot a Kamehameha or equivalent energy blast from my hands to protect loved ones and undo some wrongs in the world.



What I'm saying is that we anime fans follow some pretty interesting/odd stuff and would love to live in a world that some of it is true.  One might say that us anime fans are a religion of Japan, martial arts and well-done art fanatics...but their is a line between beliefs and forcing those beliefs on others.  We don't go around saying "you MUST believe in Goku or burn in hell!" akin to what Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam are long guilty of.  Laws aren't based around our obsession with anime.  We don't endorse laws saying "You MUST read manga on Friday nights or go to jail/get fined" Yet, last I checked....the Christian religious nuts on this part of the world still have a law in Tennessee that states it's illegal for a woman to buy a hat..without her husband's permission.  I cringe at the stupidity of seeing women having to wear burkas and any subjugation or embarrassment of women.  Places like Turkey, practically the rest of the Mideast and India still have this ridiculous "women are less than men" mentality with forced marriages where the men are the main factors of these life changing decisions. I won't go into the fact that since these arranged marriages usually involve "almost" relatives... it's creating a huge amount of genetic deformities (particularly in the more populated and conservative parts of India) ..for god's sakes... marry someone a bit different than you..it only makes for a healthier future generation!


Ok, I'm going a bit off track here but what I'm saying is that this is the modern age and for humanity to move forward, we have to stop letting religious stupidity hinder civil rights, expression and science.  If you are say, a Scientologist who believes in ancient aliens.. "to each his own"..just don't create a pyramid scam, mafia system that's out there to grow and gain followers forcefully (a sad truth to that religion).
 The main point I'm getting at is that religion should take a note from us anime fans.  Keep your stuff out of politics and out of laws.  Keep it to your group and do things for the public, for the sake of being good.  Don't be like the church that goes to a poor country, feeds the hungry...then shoves a bible in their faces to "save the heathens"  We anime fans have our conventions, our rabid fans, and our sense of differentiation and identity from the rest of the world.  It's ok to be part of a group that thinks alike, we humans are social beings and it's better for our health to be with like minded people, but radicals like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Pat Robertson, Hilter, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama Bin Ladin represent or have represented the worst of our humanity on each angle and should never be followed/ taken seriously.  One could argue from historical records that Mohammad was simply a rich guy with all the time in the world and while on an opium high, thought of the Qu'ran as the divine "second edition" of the Christian Bible..which in itself is just a rehash of every previous religion.  Heck, when ever in humanity's history have popular dogmas, trends, stories, shows, fads NOT been from some pre-existing item created from another.  If you adore the guy, great...just learn to take a joke.

To all of those who oppose basic freedom, expression..SCREW YOU!!  The new world order of the internet community won't take such crimes against humanity..anymore!

also...learn to take a harmless joke.. such as this post. --- ## Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu: Himeji Mizuki Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-19-baka-to-test-to-shoukanjuu-himeji/ - Date: 2010-05-19 - Tags: anime figures, Good Smile Company - AI-assisted: no Yesterday Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders for this very pretty figure of Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu's Himeji Mizuki. I've not seen the series but this figure has me ...

Yesterday Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders for this very pretty figure of Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu's Himeji Mizuki.  I've not seen the series but this figure has me interested.  Check out her main page on Good Smile and if you want to pre-order her... you know where to go ^^

--- ## #MoeMonday 5/17/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-17-moemonday-51710/ - Date: 2010-05-17 - Tags: #MoeMonday, videogames - AI-assisted: no #MM, #MoeMonday this week is a cute pic of Super Mario Bros. Princess Peach with some of the Super Smash Bros. characters like Kirby, Meta Knight and Pikachu ^^

#MM, #MoeMonday this week is a cute pic of Super Mario Bros. Princess Peach with some of the Super Smash Bros. characters like Kirby, Meta Knight and Pikachu ^^ --- ## #FanServiceFriday 5/14/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-14-fanservicefriday-51410/ - Date: 2010-05-14 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday - AI-assisted: no After a long time not posted...here's this week's #FansServiceFriday post. It's still rather cold here in NY (although it's May -_-) Hopefully the warm days where this is image ...

After a long time not posted...here's this week's #FansServiceFriday post.  It's still rather cold here in NY (although it's May -_-) Hopefully the warm days where this is image is more applicable..will be soon. --- ## Bakemonogatari: Senjyougahara Hitagi Figure [Good Smile Company Ver.] - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-13-bakemonogatari-senjyougahara-hitagi/ - Date: 2010-05-13 - Tags: anime figures, Good Smile Company - AI-assisted: no This figure has been anticipated for some time now and as of today (ok, yesterday in Japan ^^;) pre-order reserves have begun for this awesome Senjyougahara Hitagi figure. Good ...

This figure has been anticipated for some time now and as of today (ok, yesterday in Japan ^^;)  pre-order reserves have begun for this awesome Senjyougahara Hitagi figure.  Good Smile just keeps making these eye popping figures but you'll have to wait till around October or November before you can get your hand on this one.  It'll be an interesting piece to display and hopefully all the accessories will stay in place ^^;;  (better yet, would be cool if they are functional).  I keep hearing of Bakemonogatari and I must take the time out to see this series.

Check out some more images below and of course, here's the link to pre-order her or you can simply email us if you want one and I'll hold her for you ^^

--- ## Evangelion: World - Life-Size EVA-01 Construction Project - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-13-evangelion-world-life-size-eva-01/ - Date: 2010-05-13 - Tags: evangelion, japan, robots - AI-assisted: no You heard that right. There is going to be a life-sized EVA-01 and at the foot of Mt Fuji! (at the Fuji-Q HighLand amusement park). The project will recreate the scene in Evange...


You heard that right.  There is going to be a life-sized EVA-01 and at the foot of Mt Fuji! (at the Fuji-Q HighLand amusement park).  The project will recreate the scene in Evangelion were Shinji first sees the Unit 01 Eva.  It won't be a complete EVA, just a bust of it, but nonetheless, it will be impressive. At a cost of about $1.6 million to make, it will probably be an amazing sight to see once it's done in July.  As per the post by ANN here's more on it:
"The pavilion will also have a life-size cockpit of an Evangelion unit (from where visitors can pay to have their photos taken), a life-size figure of the character Kaworu Nagisa, a video corner, a museum, a studio gallery for taking photographs, and a shop. Fuji-Q HighLand's website will present the first interim report of the pavilion's 150-million-yen (about US$1.6 million) construction on May 26."
Yet another reason for me to abandon the corniness of Long Island and go visit Japan. --- ## #MoeMonday 5/10/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-10-moemonday-51010/ - Date: 2010-05-10 - Tags: #MoeMonday, moe - AI-assisted: no How can I forget #MoeMonday? Back after a long time of no posts, here's this week's moe image post, shot and simple. (Miyuki-chan wonders why I haven't post one in so long ^^;;)
 
How can I forget #MoeMonday?  Back after a long time of no posts, here's this week's moe image post, shot and simple. (Miyuki-chan wonders why I haven't post one in so long ^^;;) --- ## Yui Hirasawa Figma and Nendoroid Resale! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-07-yui-hirasawa-figma-and-nendoroid-resale/ - Date: 2010-05-07 - Tags: anime figures, figma, figures, K-ON, Nendoroid, Yui Hirasawa - AI-assisted: no Yui fans rejoice! Looks like Good Smile Company decided to make more K-On!: Yui Nendoroid figures and (as a first) allow us anime retailers here in the US to get a hold of the f...

Yui fans rejoice!  Looks like Good Smile Company decided to make more K-On!: Yui Nendoroid figures and (as a first) allow us anime retailers here in the US to get a hold of the figma figure as well ^_^.  Both will be re-released come September/October of this year, so get those pre-orders in before you miss out..and I'm sure you all want to give Yui a nice home.

To pre-order the Yui Nendoroid, check out this page

To pre-order the Yui Figma, check out this page

To let us know by email you want one or both of them for reserve; email us here.

Here's some more images of her ^^


--- ## Anime Sanctuaries - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-05-anime-sanctuaries/ - Date: 2010-05-05 - Tags: anime, anime sanctuaries, chucksanimeshrine - AI-assisted: no For those who've been with this site for the past 8 years or so since the start, you might have remembered that this site began with images and sections devoted to various anime...

For those who've been with this site for the past 8 years or so since the start, you might have remembered that this site began with images and sections devoted to various anime series.  The old sections like the Inuyasha section and the original series section has been on the site for years but for some time has been neglected ^^;; Well, it's time to bring this aspect of the site back to life and in a more web 2.0/3.0 format.  This aspect of the site will now be called Anime Sanctuaries and with the help of good old RSS, you actually can participate too.

The original goal of my site was well...to make a shrine to anime and it's time that I make it so.  Being that I've been an official anime retailer for a few years, I'm now part of the legit industry and it's my job to promote it, so the goal of each shrine or sanctuary page will be to simply introduce you all to the anime, related news via BOTH the member's blog and the main blog and their respected products as well.  This means you or we could write a story on say One Piece, and thus as long as the right tag is added to your blog post, your story will automatically show on the One Piece section (not live yet)  This keeps things relevant and with minimal html edits (a good plus for me ^^).  Full episodes of anime won't be shown as I wish to SUPPORT the anime biz, not hurt it, thus only trailers, opening and ending animations will be shown on the right hand side of the pages.  My other site, anime.fm does have links to full legal episodes right now via Hulu...so check them out there.

As of now, only one series is ready, Dragon Ball but expect more series, characters, video games, etc in upcoming blog posts.


... (just a little FAQ)
Why call them Anime Sanctuaries instead of "shrines"?
Well anime.com has done that for years now so I don't want to take their thing (though I think I've been here longer than them anyways -_-) --- ## Crunchy Roll Announces Quarterly Profits - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-03-crunchy-roll-announces-quarterly/ - Date: 2010-05-03 - Tags: anime business, crunchyroll - AI-assisted: no Looks like Bang! Zoom! better get back to dubbing or they'll miss the boat despite what their fearless leader declared last week . Don't get me wrong, I like Bang! Zoom! About 2...


Looks like Bang! Zoom! better get back to dubbing or they'll miss the boat despite what their fearless leader declared last week.  Don't get me wrong, I like Bang! Zoom!  About 2 months ago I was at their wonderful voice dubbing class run by anime voice legend, Tony Oliver and within a year's time, I'll be flying over to Burbank and dropping $1500 to them for a voice demo so I can maybe be part of the anime voice acting celebrity group.  But..don't go around stating that anime is "going to die" especially when you are a part of the business.

Anyways, on to the story...

As of an ANN report today, Crunchy Roll announced that they have been profiting 40% more for the past 5 months straight!  That's amazing for ANY business in this economy let alone a so-called "dieing" industry.  Crunchy Roll was clocked at 1.3 million unique visitors to their site.  To put this in perspective, that's 10 times more traffic than even FUNimation at their 150K visitors. ( I'm at around 5K btw ^^;;, sigh)

So is the anime business dieing?...this is a big NO.  Are fandubs and subs hurting the industry, yes but like anything in the entertainment industry, you don't get fans what they want, they'll get it any way possible and anime fans are the smartest group of people you'll find.  It's up to the dubbers and licensees to be smart in what titles they bring here to this part of the world.  My anime figure business alone has been doing between $70K and $100K a year in sales for the past 3 years with it expected to jump to about 1/4 of a million dollars in the next 2 years.  With this news about Crunchy Roll doing great, I'll probably better get talking to some contacts in Japan about what more I can do here on this site and of course on my other site that sure as hell needs to get of the back burner... Anime.fm.

Congrats to Crunchy Roll for showing that you CAN make money online with anime and here's to more anime that I'll hopefully be able to be dubbing for in due time. --- ## Kotobukiya Announces Otacool 3 Submissions - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-05-03-kotobukiya-announces-otacool-3/ - Date: 2010-05-03 - Tags: Kotobukiya, otacool, otaku - AI-assisted: no As a distributor in Kotobukiya products , it's probably good for me to announce what Dannychoo got first dibs in talking about and that's the supremely awesome Otacool books. Fo...

As a distributor in Kotobukiya products, it's probably good for me to announce what Dannychoo got first dibs in talking about and that's the supremely awesome Otacool books.  For those not up to speed on these, Otacool is a book showcasing the various sides of the anime fan life.  The first volume covered anime rooms, the second volume (which just got released) covered cosplayers.  The third volume will cover your work spaces.  Pictured above is part of my work space though not the greatest photo -_- (the other half of my workspace is my storage area with $1,000s in anime figures, cosplay, etc.)

Koto is also planning to give away some really cool prizes for some of the entries that they get, but one thing that's pretty cool about this book is that you will most likely see your submission in the final printing...just make sure your photos are good and you get in quick ^^;;

Check out the post by Danny Choo on what to do and the prizes involved.

I have about 3 copies of Otacool 2 left in the store, so if want your copy...better get them quick ^^; --- ## Japan To Send Humanoid Robot "Maido-kun" To The Moon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-29-japan-to-send-humanoid-robot-maido-kun/ - Date: 2010-04-29 - Tags: gundam, japan, moon, robots - AI-assisted: no Akihabara News recently announced that Japan will send a humanoid robot named "Maido-kun" to the moon in 2015. Maido-kun will be a $10.5 million two legged robot funded by the S...

Akihabara News recently announced that Japan will send a humanoid robot named "Maido-kun" to the moon in 2015.  Maido-kun will be a $10.5 million two legged robot funded by the Space Exploration Agency of Japan (JAXA).  Simply love that space is getting in the news again.  The age of Gundams is coming soon! ^^ --- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine Logo / Banner Contest - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-28-black-rock-shooter-chucks-anime-shrine/ - Date: 2010-04-28 - Tags: anime business, black rock shooter, chucksanimeshrine, contests, fumi kobayashi, project fumi - AI-assisted: no Want to get your hands on the Black Rock Shooter Nendoroid or the Figma figure ? How about both? Long overdue on this site is a fresh new contest. So to make up for the lack of ...

Want to get your hands on the Black Rock Shooter Nendoroid or the Figma figure?   How about both?  Long overdue on this site is a fresh new contest.  So to make up for the lack of contests in the past year I'll make the winner of this one have BOTH of those figures! (...and a bit more (read on))

Chuck's Anime Shrine has been around for some time and back in 2002 I created this site to be a shrine to anime with anime sections representing various series (more on those old sections in a future post).  Also for years I've been throwing around some mascots that my fiancee came up with in 2003 and with life's little challenges, these mascots have been kept on the back burner for WAAAAY too long. Time to change that once and for all!

Fumi is the name of my main mascot (Fumi Kobayashi to be exact) and she also has two other characters with her.  No I'm not copying Danny Choo's three mascots;  If I just simply focused more on them, you'd have seen them before even Danny's wonderful trio ^^;;  Fumi is still to eventually be a part of a game I want to make and she can transform into an Angel or Demon version of herself  ^^ (more on that below)

Since the figure business part of this site has been on the grow, I have to do what any legit business needs to do, create a logo.  It's not exactly good that I continue to use copyrighted characters in my banners ^^;; so it's time to bring my personal trio of mascots to the limelight and brand this site...so I need YOUR help.


The goal of the contest; create a logo for this site using our three mascots, Fumi, Lily and Yumi.

I know many of you are talented or budding artists and I want to give you all hand in both exposure and maybe even employment.  Since Chuck's Anime Shrine is a legit business, you can use any potential logo creation as an entry in your portfolio for employers (and I'll gladly reference you..heck down the road).  The winner of this contest might also get future logo/advertisement work with this site/business and if I get to the point hiring in the next year or two, that option can be on the table as well ^_^

What I'm looking for in a logo:

Prizes:

Grand Prize:  
Secondary Prize (up to 4 runners up)
*By entering a logo/banner to this contest, you agree to allow me and my company, Chuck's Anime Shrine, to use your initial logo for business cards, magazine ads or any other type of advertisement.  The landing/bio page about you will be to help credit you for the work (as well as the figures won in this contest with any future deals done)

Simple mascot bios and resources for the logo creation:

Fumi Kobayashi:



Lily:
Yumi:
Images we came up with in the past to help you out:

Here's some images that have been on the site for years of Fumi that I did and this blog post:



I don't have any images of Lily at the moment ^^;;  my fiancee Danielle did draw her but hopefully the description of her will help.

Here's what Yumi looks like in the eyes of Danielle as well as Fumi too:



Contest will go on until I get 5 solid entries.  If  I get a bunch in before July, then I'll have the cut off date be July 15th or when the Black Rock Shooter Figures arrive to my store.

Email your logos here

oh and the logo/banner size should be 982px × 249px, .png or .jpg (almost forgot to specify this ^^;;)

Good luck and have fun ^^ --- ## Sora no Otoshimono: 1/7th Scale Ikaros Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-28-sora-no-otoshimono-17th-scale-ikaros/ - Date: 2010-04-28 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Ikaros, Sora No Otoshimono - AI-assisted: no Gramoe is a new manufacturer and they sure are giving very good first impressions. I'm a big fan of Sora No Otoshimono and this figure of the Angeloid Ikaros will be in my perso...
 
Gramoe is a new manufacturer and they sure are giving very good first impressions.  I'm a big fan of Sora No Otoshimono and this figure of the Angeloid Ikaros will be in my personal collection for sure.  She does cost a pretty penny though at around 9300-9800 yen (~$110-$125), but she is a 1/7th scale figure that has detail comparable to Alter, AmiAmi, and Good Smile Company.  As long as the final production model looks just like this, I'll be a happy otaku.

Pre-order her here, or email us to be on the waiting list.


...more images ^^ (thanks to Nekomagic for the images that even us retailers can't get sometimes o_O)
--- ## Bang Zoom! CEO: "Anime is going to Die..." - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-27-bang-zoom-ceo-anime-is-going-to-die/ - Date: 2010-04-27 - Tags: anime, anime business - AI-assisted: no Not the words I'd like to hear from the CEO of the studio I just recently did a freaken anime dubbing class for !! There is [some] truth (and a bit of giving up) from Eric Sherm...

Not the words I'd like to hear from the CEO of the studio I just recently did a freaken anime dubbing class for!!  There is [some] truth (and a bit of giving up) from Eric Sherman's statement though.

So who's killing anime:  Fan Dubbers.  Ok, I'm a big fan of Team Four Star's DBZ Abridged but let face it, fan dubbing IS killing the industry; but as I've said in a previous post, this is a two way street.  We have to ask the question of why anime fan dubbing has gone rampant.  Other than us anime fans wanting to be a part of anime in every way; part of the blame goes to studios here in the US that see a very popular anime...but fail to get it here in due time.  The result, fandamonium and thus fan dubs galore and then no DVD/Blu-ray/download sales. Combine that with the way DVD and Blu-ay sales are being replaced by online and downloads...and thus you will see sales drop.

If I was Eric Sherman, I'd do what any CEO needs to do, and that's getting with the times.  Observe FUNimation; they now take in many fan dubbers and many fans into anime series (of course you still have to go through the voice acting grind).  As Tony Oliver o Bang Zoom! saw from the voice dubbing classes, there's a slew of great voice talent that when combined with the love of anime, it's a potent combination.  Though compared to commercial or video game dubbing, anime dubbing is low pay (at about $70/hour compared to $500 in 4 hours in other dubbing mediums)..but it sure as hell beats what's currently out there in the job market!

Hey, anime sales effect me too since I am a legit anime retailer, but from one CEO to another, Eric, please, don't give up on anime.  The fans are more crazy than ever, the popularity of both DBZ and Sailor Moon will bring back a new age of anime fandom, sales, etc, with or without the help of has-been networks like Cartoon Network.  Also...I was planning on flying to Burbank from here on Long Island, NY so I can drop you guys $1300 for a voice demo CD...so you have future business; don't give up.  There ARE places making money online from anime.  My store profits alone equal that of my (still needed for now) day job and let's not forget Crunchy Roll, they bank good $ from showing mainly free and 100% legit anime on their site.

Here are my suggestions for the anime business to make money:
  1. License/Dub popular anime. Why in the hell K-On! is still exclusive to Japan makes any marketing person do a facepalm.
  2. More simulcasts.  This is the 21st century and Japan isn't closed from communication.  Get in touch with studios in Japan and get cracking on the dubbing and get the anime series released in BOTH parts of the world.  any anime studios in Japan STILL think there are no such thing as fans of anime outside of Japan.  If that means doing anime dubbing in ::gasp:: the group format they do in Japan as oppose to the one-by-one format we do here, then do it.  The internet created the NOW generation.  Get the dubs out NOW for a series that comes out NOW...otherwise, who'd want buy an anime series in English if they already saw it in Japanese a year earlier.  I post figures the day of their pre-order release in Japan for my anime store because by tomorrow..it's old news..same for the actual anime series.
  3. Let the fans guide you.  Following marketing trends in the anime business is the same in other businesses but in anime, the fans stay longer so if an anime is hot, go with it and STAY with it through since the fans will and still are there.  Use sites like Danny Choo, this site once things really get rolling or anime figure trends.  If  I had the money you studios have to licence series, I'd make sure I'd have K-On!, Touhou Project and Black Rock Shooter, Sailor Moon (yep SM again) in the bag RIGHT NOW, not 3 years later...NOW.
As for you fan dubbers...well, in defense of Eric Sherman, yeah, calm it down.  Do what I did 8 years ago (and maybe again soon) and make more AMVs.  They aren't as bad in copyright infringement as fan dubbing is and it allows you all to be creative while at the same time promoting an anime for free that will catch on that you love.  I used to and STILL get people telling me that they found an anime from my AMVs.  90% of Fan Dubs are crude, dull and rather pointless on the grand scheme of things (obviously some are pretty good..but hey..it IS killing the industry). I've been in a real anime dubbing booth and sitting in front of your computer and putting a 4 minute piece together with your mom's $40 mic isn't going to get what you want done :-/.

One thing is certain though, anime won't EVER completely die.  Vegeta does have a word for you all though on what might before anime does...

--- ## Clalaclan Swimwear Figure Pre-orders Begin - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-27-clalaclan-swimwear-figure-pre-orders/ - Date: 2010-04-27 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Shining Wind - AI-assisted: no Here's an anime figure that I'm certain will sell out all too soon. She might be a little NSFW ^^;; but a testament to why the Japanese make better figures. Up for pre-order is ...

Here's an anime figure that I'm certain will sell out all too soon.  She might be a little NSFW ^^;; but a testament to why the Japanese make better figures.

Up for pre-order is the beautiful Clalaclan from the game Shining Wind.  She's part of the Max Factory 1/7th scale Swim Wear set that includes thus far, Seena and Kureha.  She retails at about 6800 yen (~$80-$90) and is set for an October release..so sadly by the time she comes out..you'll have fond memories of summer but hey, she'll be there to remind you ^^;



Pre-order her here or email us to get on the waiting list.

...more images here: 
 
 --- ## 4Kids Nabs Dragon Ball Z Kai - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-26-4kids-nabs-dragon-ball-z-kai/ - Date: 2010-04-26 - Tags: anime, dragon ball kai, dragon ball z - AI-assisted: no I love the fact that Dragon Ball Z is coming back to the air , but now 4Kids is in this, too?! You heard that right, on top of Dragon Ball Kai's airing in America to debut on Ni...


I love the fact that Dragon Ball Z is coming back to the air, but now 4Kids is in this, too?!  You heard that right, on top of Dragon Ball Kai's airing in America to debut on Nicktoons, it'll also be on TheCW4Kids Saturday morning block for this year and 2011.  As per marketwatch.com. FUNimation gave 4Kids the rights to air the series.  For us hardcore fans of the series, this means more laughable edits that will make you face-palm.  The silver lining in this is that anime IS going to get back into the mainstream, but of course at the cost of hacking up a good anime series to make it good for the kiddies to watch.  Cartoon Network must be maiming their marketing people now after hearing that even 4Kids wants a piece of the Dragon Ball Z/anime empire that they still firmly reject. --- ## Anime Blog SEO - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-20-anime-blog-seo/ - Date: 2010-04-20 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, SEO, updates - AI-assisted: no Thanks to Google blogger forcing the removal of the FTP blog, many sites, like mine that had great SEO, that had a following and took a few years to build, probably saw what I h...
 
Thanks to Google blogger forcing the removal of the FTP blog, many sites, like mine that had great SEO, that had a following and took a few years to build, probably saw what I have seen for the past few weeks...THE ENTIRE THING FALL TO %^&!! -_-

Just an idea on how bad the switch to blogger custom domain has been...take a look at what my traffic did at the end of March (and is slowly, slowly gaining back)


Yeah, not exactly SEO friendly to go from FTP to custom domain.  So, since not much of you are viewing the site, I can say anything I want, hahaha... j/k... I kinda already do.  For those who have been loyal, I'll post the newest contest this week and you'll be happy you still stayed here and didn't escape like the rest of the internet.  It's related to Black Rock Shooter so, I think you guys would want to stay tuned...and NOT run away.

I did improve the SEO of the anime store though....observe any item and the item's title is in the URL and the html title, plus I added multiple images per product (observe BRS figma) plus images on the product pages are no longer randomly tiny.... so take THAT Blogger! -_- --- ## The Return of Sailor Moon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-14-return-of-sailor-moon/ - Date: 2010-04-14 - Tags: anime, Sailor Moon - AI-assisted: no Sailor Moon fans will be so happy to hear this bit of news. As per a post by ICv2 , Toei animation is doing what it should have done a few years back and put the 200 episodes of...

Sailor Moon fans will be so happy to hear this bit of news. As per a post by ICv2, Toei animation is doing what it should have done a few years back and put the 200 episodes of Sailor Moon up on the auction block. More specifically, Toei will offer the episodes on the MIPTV market at the Cannes film festival soon. Basically this means that they are offering the show to any network and licensee who wants to possibly air it on their networks.

Hey Cartoon Network. Want to make a third BIG FAIL and ignore this offer? Your marketing morons missed out on Naruto Shippuden to Disney AND just recently Dragon Ball Z Kai to Nickelodeon. It's ok, you guys can continue to ignore anime... and also hate money...keep airing Tim and Eric's cheap live action show at night, I'm sure the 5 people who watch that will make your advertisers happy.

We'll see who takes Sailor Moon but if an American network takes the obviously smart choice...it'll include ALL the episodes. This includes the beginning episodes that the fools at Dic cut as well as the last season (Sailor Moon Stars) that NEVER showed here in America back when Sailor Moon got a second major airing in the US on Toonami's block, early last decade. The reason why the last season was never shown here in the US was because the last 3 Sailor Scouts was a boy band that transformed into girls during battle. At that time, boy bands like N'Sync and Backstreet Boys were the big fad and such a popular show probably would have pissed off some people. Of course, we find out about 10 years later, Sailor Moon's last season would have simply brought out the truths about the former boy bands.

Funny enough, my fiancee just ordered the entire Sailor Moon manga series that she didn't have AND ALL of the subbed, uncut episodes ^^;; I guess we should have waited just a bit.

Sailor Moon is anime 101 and if you haven't seen it or at least know of it, you are not officially an anime fan -_- Watch Sailor Moon un-cut and you will see that it's NOT some Japanese Barbie show, dispute what most may think. If Disney or Nick get it, there will be some parts edited out but hopefully not the ridiculous editing/ Americanization of names that Dic did so many years ago.


Time to celebrate... Sailor Moon is BACK ^_^
--- ## Dragon Ball Z Kai On Nickelodeon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-12-dragon-ball-z-kai-on-nickelodeon/ - Date: 2010-04-12 - Tags: anime, anime news, dbz, dragon ball kai - AI-assisted: no Nicktoons will be airing probably the best cartoon to date on their lineup (ok Ren & Stimpy and Invader Zim need some creds). In case you haven't heard, Dragon Ball Z Kai wi...


Nicktoons will be airing probably the best cartoon to date on their lineup (ok Ren & Stimpy and Invader Zim need some creds). In case you haven't heard, Dragon Ball Z Kai will be airing on Nickelodeon starting in May. The days of anime on Nick haven't really been around since the mid 80's back when I used to watch Grimm's Fairy Tales and The Mysterious City of Gold. I remember being about 4 years old and 6-8am on Nick was a very interesting stew of odd pre-Nicktoon American cartoons like Count Duckula mixed with badly edited-for-US-audience, old school anime like the two I mentioned.

Anyways, the part my little trip to the past that links to this new DBZ info is that the days of over-editing anime for the "kiddie" audience is back in full force. Ninjas will "sweat" and "faint" when stabbed with a knife on the Disney XD airing of Naruto Shippuden and expect to see the revival of the "blasted to another dimension" reference when somebody "dies" in DBZ Kai from a ki blast. Granted, it IS FUNimation doing the Dragon Ball Z Kai dub so, it's uncertain if they will follow in the old "kiddie" voice edits from the Ocean Dub days.

Though this is a WTF moment for us hardcore fans. It is a good marketing scheme for FUNimation, Toei Animation, the DBZ franchise, anime stores like mine and maybe for the revival of anime into mainstream again (without the help of CNN promoting Rapelay -_-). Of course, if you want to see the series un-cut and in their best forms..Buy the DVDs and Blu Rays. Things will get silly when the editing comes into play..believe me.

As for the people over at Cartoon Network...expect the execs to probably hang themselves in due time for missing out on now 2 HUGE franchises to other networks. A commenter on the Dragon Ball Z Kai Nicktoons commercial below said it perfectly that Cartoon Network has stupidly abandoned anime for "window-licking" cheap live action and Flash animation homegrown shows.

Yes, it was Adult Swim that brought Family Guy back to life x10 and the ratings of Family Guy for some time destroyed the ratings of even the best anime...but, lets be honest Cartoon Network, I'm speaking to you now; Anime fans are not like American animation fans. We stay loyal to a series all the time. American animation fans are very many but the ratings are fleeting since the American mainstream is rather flaky and not very focused. When ratings fall from a show even as cool and funny as Family Guy...it's a major fall. Major and minor anime series will have a constant viewership that will always be $ in the bag for you and your advertisers.

As both a business owner and a major anime fan, the move by Cartoon Network to abandon anime for cheap, home-made live action and mainly amateur animation (minus FG and Venture Bros.), will be your greatest downfall. I'd fire your marketing team right now for some people who actually know what they are doing. You guys missed out big...again.

--- ## Love Plus: Nendoroid Manaka Takane - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-08-love-plus-nendoroid-manaka-takane/ - Date: 2010-04-08 - Tags: anime figures, love plus, Nendoroid, videogames - AI-assisted: no Also announced today are the pre-order reservations for Nendoroid Manaka Takane of the popular dating sim game, Love Plus. Here's her link to in the store for you to claim your ...

 
Also announced today are the pre-order reservations for Nendoroid Manaka Takane of the popular dating sim game, Love Plus.


Here's her link to in the store for you to claim your reserve, before it's too late.

Here's an email request link for those who want to be on the waiting list via email ^_^

Manaka Takane will be the first of 3 girls from the game that will be put in Nendoroid form.  She's set to come out around August or possibly September/October for us here in the US who still sadly get these wonderful figures last :-(

Love Plus is the dating sim that made world wide headlines since a player apparently married one of the characters o_O

Here's some more images of her:






--- ## Nendoroid Strike Witches: Francesca Lucchini - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-08-nendoroid-strike-witches-francesca/ - Date: 2010-04-08 - Tags: anime figures, Nendoroid, strike witches - AI-assisted: no Just announced today are the pre-order reservations for the very cute Francesca Lucchini from Strike Witches. Here's her link to in the store for you to claim your reserve, befo...

 
Just announced today are the pre-order reservations for the very cute Francesca Lucchini from Strike Witches.


Here's her link to in the store for you to claim your reserve, before it's too late.

Here's an email request link for those who want to be on the waiting list via email ^_^

Lucchini is a bit more pricier than the other Nendoroids due to her very cool accessories, like her Strike Witches leg attachment (forgot what they called it in the series..I just saw episodes 1-6 too ^^;;) and also she can be set up to make it look like she's flying.  Very cool and should be around some time in the summer.

Here's more images of course:


--- ## Anime Figures and... Swarovski Crystals? Part 2 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-05-anime-figures-and-swarovski-crystals/ - Date: 2010-04-05 - Tags: anime figures, swarovski - AI-assisted: no Swarovski fans will rejoice and anime fans might give a o_O face but as I stated last month , I've brought back to life my Swarovski line of products. It started slow but it's a...

Swarovski fans will rejoice and anime fans might give a o_O face but as I stated last month, I've brought back to life my Swarovski line of products.  It started slow but it's about to get a BIG jump start as there are now brand new figures that have been released as of 3/29 and a little of all of them will be gracing my store ^_^

Never heard of Swarovski crystal figures?  Well, in short, they are figures, most rather small to some that get decent in size (and price ^^;), which are made almost entirely of genuine Austrian crystals.  These gems definitely fall in the "kawaii" type of figures. 

As with anything I promote in the store section of this site, they are 100% legit and brand new.  Since I run my business legitimately, these figures for now HAVE to be at the full retail price or I'd piss off the people over at Swarovski :-/  I will however offer FREE shipping to US buyers and discount shipping to international buyers so hopefully it balances the red tape there.

For those into all that is Swarovski, which some of you anime figure collectors are, here's the new lines that I should be getting in by the end of the month:

Here's an example of them, the Bunny Figure, Bella



Click here to view them all --- ## Sora no Otoshimono: Ikaros Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-05-sora-no-otoshimino-ikaros-figure/ - Date: 2010-04-05 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Ikaros, Sora No Otoshimono - AI-assisted: no A joyful Monday morning this was as I saw the announcement of this adorable Ikaros figure. As a big fan of the anime Sora No Otoshimono, this is a MUST have for me ^o^ Created b...

A joyful Monday morning this was as I saw the announcement of this adorable Ikaros figure.  As a big fan of the anime Sora No Otoshimono, this is a MUST have for me ^o^

Created by AmiAmi, this Nendoroid-like figure is set to arrive around August.

Naturally, I made sure to not take them all from you guys and I have her listed in the store ;-)

If you are scared to use the storefront...an email to get on the waiting list is ok too.

Just a few posts back I noted that the second season of Sora No Otoshimono was announced so expect to see more of Ikaros soon and that's a very good thing ^_^ (though it would be nice if Crunchy Roll would put season 1 back on -_-, I was up to episode 8 or so) --- ## Shining Wind: Kureha Swimwear 1/7th Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-04-02-shining-wind-kureha-swimwear-17th-scale/ - Date: 2010-04-02 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, anime figures, Shining Wind - AI-assisted: no Up for preorder reserves today is the very beautiful Kureha from the game Shining Wind. Fans of Kureha figures know that they are very fleeting and sell out very fast...with sca...

Up for preorder reserves today is the very beautiful Kureha from the game Shining Wind.  Fans of Kureha figures know that they are very fleeting and sell out very fast...with scamming eBayers quickly overpricing them to astronomical prices shortly after reserves run out -_-  
Don't believe me?  Go to ebay and look up the price of the old Kotobukiya Kureha and once you finish laughing at the stupid sellers that honestly want to charge $300+ for a $50 figure, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Don't let the ebay scalpers con you come late September/October when she arrives and then after.
I made sure to reserve a decent amount for the store and hopefully save my fellow anime fans some $$

Click here to view her store page to make your reserve 

or 

Email us to get on the waiting list ^_^


Now back to this wonderful figure on hand.  She's a beautifully designed 1/7th scale figure...and she's under $100 for once.  Yep, a 1/7th scale figure in these strong yen,pathetically weak dollar times that is under $100.  At 6800 yen or about $75-$80, she's a decent one to go into the collection.  I'm certain to add her to my personal collection as well ^o^


Observe her images below (and yes, this would be considered a #FanServiceFriday tweet...need to bring those back ^^;;)









 --- ## Hentai Goes Viral On CNN - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-31-hantai-goes-viral-on-cnn/ - Date: 2010-03-31 - Tags: anime, hentai, videogames, world news - AI-assisted: no Well, anime and the anime hub, Akihabara Japan is right now the top news on CNN's Newspulse but don't go celebrating thinking that the ignorant masses understand finally the dee...
 
Well, anime and the anime hub, Akihabara Japan is right now the top news on CNN's Newspulse but don't go celebrating thinking that the ignorant masses understand finally the deep story lines and far superior art of anime.  As expected, it's the taboo and controversial stuff that sells for CNN's viewers so the topic of hentai video games, particularly RapeLay that's getting the views.

(here's the video CNN posted...viewer discretion of course based on the topic)

First off, I'm not for RapeLay (anime video games where the goal is to...well, take a guess) To be honest, I had to go see professional help because I practically went vigilante on a number of unpunished rapists at my old high school back about 8 years back.  So the very topic hits a nerve with me.  What I'm upset about with this is that this news report is bound to put anime in a bad light.  RapeLay and hentai does not represent all that anime and Japanese video games have to offer and if the general US public that reads any major news is any bit the arrogant morons that I've had the unfortunate time serving at my local Friendly's icecream back in the day...expect an anime fan/otaku witch hunt.

The US public still sadly thinks that cartoons are suppose to be crudely drawn, funny , kiddie jokes and not the deep, deep character development, engulfed story lined themed, masterfully drawn works of art that we come to see from anime.  Mature topics come up in many anime and yes there are those that get very mature and controversial.  At the end of the day, it's pen on paper and free speech and we know Japan, with their extremely low crime rate isn't stupid enough to act upon these nasty topics.  As for the public I deal will on a daily basis..well, I'm surprised natural selection hasn't wiped them out yet.

I'm sorry, I can't be nice about this.  A middle aged couple in my town here in Selden made national news this week for randomly putting sea sand in Jell-O pudding boxes in local stores...just because. I highly doubt these kinds of masses will handle hentai anime video games very well.  It's morons like that, that will take this news report and blanket anime and anime fans as perverted rapists.

The news is fleeting every day but check CNN.com right now and observe how anime (in the wrong light) is the top topic at this very moment.  Be prepared to answer some tough questions from non-anime fans -_-

(Why I stated "Hantai", instead of "Hentai" in the title..is beyond me...pardon the typo ^^;;) --- ## 1/1 Scale Gundam to Have a Beam Sword - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-27-11-scale-gundam-to-have-beam-sword/ - Date: 2010-03-27 - Tags: 1/1 Scale Gundam, gundam - AI-assisted: no Was meaning to post this a few days back. The stunning 1/1 scale Gundam that stood in Odaiba for the 35th anniversary will of course being rebuild over at Bandai's Shizuoka fact...

Was meaning to post this a few days back. The stunning 1/1 scale Gundam that stood in Odaiba for the 35th anniversary will of course being rebuild over at Bandai's Shizuoka factory but will have an additional accessory...a freaken Beam Sword!!  Yep, as per news from kotaku.com, once the Gundam is rebuild, it'll have a Beam Sword to add to the cool things it can already do.  This is really making me want to leave New York to visit Japan.
1/1 Scale Gundam > Statue of Liberty (any day)

--- ## Nintendo DSi XL & 3DS - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-26-nintendo-dsi-xl-3ds/ - Date: 2010-03-26 - Tags: DSiXL, nintendo, videogames - AI-assisted: no In case some of you haven't heard the news, Nintendo has been doing some advancements in their hardware. Just released a few days back was the DSi XL... and like the commercial ...
In case some of you haven't heard the news, Nintendo has been doing some advancements in their hardware.  Just released a few days back was the DSi XL... and like the commercial shows, it's like the DSi powered up with a mushroom from Super Mario Bros.  It has bigger screens and is just plain, bigger.  Since I don't have a DSi (just the original DS), I might get this.

In related news, Nintendo also noted that they are planning on having a whole new, 3D handheld system dubbed as the "3DS" that doesn't involve 3D glasses like all those crazy movies have now (and did back in the 80's too...yeah 3D is NOT a new thing).  The 3D capabilities of this might be rather holographic from what the rumors state and slated for late next year (2011).  Here's hope Nintendo keeps bringing out the good stuff  ^_^ --- ## Black Rock Shooter Figures (Nendoroid & Figma) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-25-black-rock-shooter-figures-nendoroid/ - Date: 2010-03-25 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, figma, figures, Good Smile Company, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Announced today are the pre-order reservations for both the Nendoroid Black Rock Shooter and Figma Black Rock Shooter figures. They look amazing and you know they are going to b...

Announced today are the pre-order reservations for both the Nendoroid Black Rock Shooter and Figma Black Rock Shooter figures.  They look amazing and you know they are going to be sold out very quickly either prior to release or shortly after.  I have posted them in the store for you all to make your reservations ^_^.

Here's the link to the Figma BRS


Here's the link to the Nendoroid BRS

Of course you can also just email us your pre-order request for the Nendoroid or the Figma BRS and I'll be sure to reserve one for you (while supplies last of course ^^;;)

They are scheduled to release in July but that time-frame might change from the huge demand these have ^^;;

Here's a load of images of both of them.   (I'm bound to keep one of each for myself too ^_^)

--- ## Anime Voice Acting with Bang! Zoom! Studios - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-24-anime-voice-acting-with-bang-zoom/ - Date: 2010-03-24 - Tags: anime, anime voice acting, dubbing, voice acting - AI-assisted: no Came back from a wonderful weekend attending two classes of Bang! Zoom! Studio's Adventures in Voice Acting over at Edge Studios in NYC. Me and some very talented new friends of...

Came back from a wonderful weekend attending two classes of Bang! Zoom! Studio's Adventures in Voice Acting over at Edge Studios in NYC. Me and some very talented new friends of mine got to do professional practice anime dubs and hang out with a legend in the anime business, Tony Oliver.

There was much more than just dubbing anime with the legit system used in the industry. We got to learn the basics on how to create a character (acting 101), the process of anime voice dubbing, video game dubbing and pre-lay (non-anime animation) and the science behind it all. Yes, there is really a science and technique to it all, from the correct breathing, to the various placement of your voice, the acting, the "music" of your voice and making sure you don't hurt yourself by putting the voice all in your throat.

The human voice is a very advance and diverse instrument and these classes helped me find some of what I'm good at and what I need to improve on.  It's been about 8 years since my days in select chorus and voice clases so I definitely had a recap.  tony was a very, very good teacher.  He never made anyone feel bad when he told of the corrections they needed to do and everyone there got better at the end of the day.  Both days we had some fun and funny dubs that were mixed right in their with the legit music and original voice actors, particularly one with the hot dog scene from the Sakura Wars game.

It was a bit tiring too.  I took both classes so I had to take the 7:00am train from my home in eastern Long Island to make it to the 10:00am to 6:00pm class, then the train back home both Saturday and Sunday ^^;;  Just the early morning and the excitement made me more nervous than I usually am, plus we have Tony Oliver, the voice of Rick Hunter in Robotech, Lupin III, a ton of other voice as well as being the executive producer behind Mighty Morphin Power Rangers direct us in voice acting.  My days in Amway doing speeches in front of people, as well as my current anime business helped me drop much of those fears and lack of confidence in myself but i seems that crept up a bit this time ^^;; 

Despite the bit of nerves I was trying to fight, Tony did state that I have the right voice, particularly my higher younger voice I practically made up that day.  That was a surprise to me since I'm normally a lower, deeper sounding voice.  The rest of my fellow classmates were just stunning as well and it was so cool doing dubs for series like Gurren Lagann, Haurhi Suzumiya, Ghost Slayers Ayashi, Lucky Star, Sakura Wars, Rurouni Kenshi, Magna Carta 2, as well as a voice skit with a series Tony wrote called Family Rangers (which I had the lead male role in ^^;)

I found that I didn't do so well as Kyon from Haruhi, mainly because I tried to deepen my voice. I found my normal voice sounds similar to Crispin Freedman's version and I should have went with that.  I did very well though as Yukiatsu from Ghost Slayers Ayashi once I began to fine tune my acting and voice.  The next day I did the role of Simon from the end of Gurren Lagann (a big spoiler for me since I only saw up to ep.7 from the series) and it was cool to have Tony directing me on that one since HE was the one who did Simon's voice on that scene.

 (group photo thanks to Madi, check out her album on her FB page ^^)

So, am I on track to be an anime voice actor? Yes, I am.  The benefit of a studio doing a class like this was that some of our bits were downloaded into Bang! Zoom!'s talent pool and any one of us could be asked for an audition from there. Actually one of the previous classes ended up doing the legit dub to Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, so just from there, there's a chance you could hear any one of us in an upcoming anime.

But....it's not just that simple.  I do have to practice various voices to put on a demo and to do it right, the demo has to be from a studio.  From there I send the demo out to FUNimation and others and hope for an audition. If I pass an audition, which many professional voice actors only make it through about 15% of, then I'll have a role in an anime.  This is the reality of the business plus anime doesn't pay as good as say a TV commercial but hey...I'd gladly do a voice in say the dub of Sora No Otoshimo (when it eventually comes) at the current pay rates and it still pays more than the part time day job that keeps me from being a full time anime store owner -_-  I'll most likely be making a trip to Burbank CA to get that demo done though.

Already I might be doing voices an upcoming youtube original animation as well as some audio book work in the city to continue to get my foot in the door and up as a voice on a future anime and or video game.  So you all might actually be hearing more of me ^^

(I also can't stress enough how awesome everyone else was at the classes.)

(A pic of me and Tony with my crappy iPhone camera ^^;)

Be sure to check out Bang! Zoom! Studios main site.  Also, if you want to be in voice acting, particularly in video games, DO attend these classes; you find out exactly how it's done (the three BEEPS are still in my head ^^) and you will know from these classes if you really want to do it or not. 

(Top image thanks to fellow classmate Dennis ) --- ## K-On!: Figma Azusa Nakano - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-19-k-on-figma-azusa-nakano/ - Date: 2010-03-19 - Tags: anime figures, figma, Good Smile Company, K-ON - AI-assisted: no Just before I go spend the weekend in NYC to do some anime voice work with Bang! Zoom! Studios; wanted to leave you guys with the next K-On! figma that just got released and thi...
 
Just before I go spend the weekend in NYC to do some anime voice work with Bang! Zoom! Studios; wanted to leave you guys with the next K-On! figma that just got released and this time...I can actually get access to the first shipment.

Announced just yesterday at the Good Smile Company site is the cute K-On!: Figma Azusa Nakano figure.

I have it where you can reserve her here or you can simply email us to get on the waiting list ^_^

There are a few other great figures that I let slip through the radar a bit while I prep my weekend to the city, like Saber Alter and others that can be found on the "New Items" section of the main store page.  If I don't get to blogging about them, my apologies ^^ 

Below are some images of Azusa for you complements of Danny Choo's page on Good Smile.  Now off to hopefully become an anime voice actor (^^ b)

--- ## Sora no Otoshimono: Season 2 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-17-sora-no-otoshimono-season-2/ - Date: 2010-03-17 - Tags: anime, Soro no Otoshimono - AI-assisted: no Great news as per ANN about a relatively new series that I've gotten into the past few months and simply love; Soro No Otoshimono. Looks as if the announcement came from those w...
 
Great news as per ANN about a relatively new series that I've gotten into the past few months and simply love; Soro No Otoshimono.  Looks as if the announcement came from those wraparound jackets that go around the manga covers (image from ANN below). 

For those who haven't heard of Soro No Otoshimono, in short its about an Angeloid named Ikaros who came from a void that seems to be oddly hovering over the planet.  There's of course much more to it but it's definitely one of those anime series that get you in the moment you watch it.  It's somewhat ecchi but very, very funny and a bit random.  I've seen up to episode 9 so far, so I got to get back to if to be up to date ^^; but trust me, you'll love the pantsu antics of the first few episodes, particularly the "flying pantsus" at the end of episode 2.

This is a good day for us fans of angelic anime robot girls and good old 90's anime styled comedy (with current and very nice character designs).

(I was watching the season 1 episodes on Crunchyroll....but they are gone now!!! T^T) --- ## Cheaper Anime Figures Soon? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-12-cheaper-anime-figures-soon/ - Date: 2010-03-12 - Tags: anime business, anime figures, japan, money - AI-assisted: no Well, that's what a recent Business Week news report implies. For some of you who have been collecting anime figures for at least the last two years AND you live outside of Japa...

 Well, that's what a recent Business Week news report implies.  For some of you who have been collecting anime figures for at least the last two years AND you live outside of Japan, you probably noticed even the 1/8th scaled figures have risen in their price scale.  Back when I first added the anime store to this site, the going retail for most 1/8th scale figures was between $50-$75.  That has changed to around $65-$100+ for basically the same type of anime figures.

Why is that?  Well, for us here in the US we have this little bank you might have heard called the Federal Reserve.  They have the power to print more money if the country (or big companies) owe too much.  They have practically unrestricted power and have yet to and probably won't ever be audited (though they so definitely should).  Before I start sounding like congressman Ron Paul, the point I'm getting at is that the anime figure (or anything from Japan's) price increase came from the Yen being stronger than the US dollar since the Recession caused the Federal Reserve to suddenly make lots more "fake" bills to pay for our unresponsive gaijin selves. The result: a weaker US dollar and stronger yen and now the anime figures cost more for the store you buy from and you as well.

How strong has the yen got? Well, back only 2 years ago every 1 US dollar equaled about 120 Japanese Yen.  That same dollar only gets you 88-89 yen.  Yeah, not exactly a good return on your investment -_-  Imagine ordering 300,000 yen worth of stuff and watch every day your order go from $2500 to $3300.

Thankfully, it seems that the Bank of Japan, based on that Business Week report, will finally infuse some yen into the country to make the Yen weaker, as weak as 100yen/1$ (we can hope).  Not being able to sell cars (ok minus the sell-propelled ones), anime figures, electronics or other items to people outside Japan not only makes us anime fans sad, but could ruin Japan since the country really relies on exports to keep them afloat.

So, looking beyond the business gibberish that I blurted out here, this can be some great news and hopefully in the coming months, we might see figures prices come down.  I hope so and I'll be checking my currency app carefully to make sure it happens -_- --- ## How is an Anime Figure Made? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-12-how-is-anime-figure-made/ - Date: 2010-03-12 - Tags: anime figures, How to - AI-assisted: no A great video (from about 2 years ago) linked from http://omgwebsite.com/2010/03/how-a-figure-is-made/ answers that question that might be going through your mind. Let's face it...

 A great video (from about 2 years ago) linked from http://omgwebsite.com/2010/03/how-a-figure-is-made/ answers that question that might be going through your mind.  Let's face it, Japanese anime figures usually have a meticulous art and sculpture to them that is most definitely is NOT akin to those cheap, corny American action figures you find littered throughout Walmart.  The production of say a Black Rock Shooter or a To Heart figure by Good Smile Company, Alter, Kotobukiya, Taki, etc are done in a number of steps.  I won't take away from the video and sometimes the production is different but it's in these generalized steps.

  1. An image/character gets chosen to be the figure by the manufacturer (and the respected licenses, trade restrictions/etc usually get taken care of from here too)
  2. The sculptor then goes through the process of making that image into a number of molds that make up the final, complete figure (during this process the paint job is also discussed, obviously used from the main artist image as best as possible. Sometimes the final paint colors aren't set yet; thus why you will see those gray figures at trade shows)
  3. After the figure pose/color is known, the sculptor and/or art team goes to work to make the "base model" (This "base model"  is usually one that you see imaged when you pre-order your figure)
  4. This "base-model", "core-model" or what have you is then sent to a factory in China to be made into X number of figures to then be sold to us. (yes, even the real ones are made in China)
Many times only one production is done and thus if you don't order your figures in time...you are out of luck.  Sometimes, a company will do a reproduction (like Max Factory did with the K-On! figmas) which means that they simply told that factory to do another batch of figures.  This happens only if the figures sell very, very well.

 This whole going from the 'base-model" to a factory in China is sometimes why the final production model might look slightly different.   The factory is watched over by quality reps of the company and usually all goes well.  Bootlegs occur when a factory in China gets a mold and trys to cheaply produce a bunch of say, Nendoroid figures.  sometimes the very factory that made the real deal figures have been rumored to do this but without the qualty control and thus you then get shady sellers in Hong Kong pushing those cheap fakes; fakes that could very well be so bad, they are poisonous too o_O.

Check out the video below:



Anyways, be back with more posts and I'll try to add some non-figure news in there.  My site isn't all about anime figures..but I sure have been making it seem like it ^^;; --- ## Final Fantasy XIII US Release is Today! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-09-final-fantasy-xiii-us-release-is-today/ - Date: 2010-03-09 - Tags: final fantasy, final fantasy XIII, videogames. FFXIII - AI-assisted: no It's sure been a long wait but Final Fantasy XIII is out today for us late comers here in the US. Like many I'm excited to get it and I'm going to ignore some of the so-called b...

It's sure been a long wait but Final Fantasy XIII is out today for us late comers here in the US.  Like many I'm excited to get it and I'm going to ignore some of the so-called bad reviews I've been hearing about it.  Glad I run my anime business full time on Tuesdays because I can nab this before all the people come home from school or work ^^.

I own both the PS3 and Xbox 360 thus I'm opting to keep my PS/FF loyalty that I've had since FFVII, so you'll see me on PSN if you have it.  My user name on PSN is princetrunks415, id below:




For those who want to see or play verses me on the Xbox LIVE, you can still do that too...

My user name on LIVE is: chuckgaff415 ..though you'll mainly see me on that playing Gears of War II or Call of Duty Modern Warefare II.

Either way, happy playing and enjoy every bit of FFXIII, if you haven't already. --- ## New Blog Format and Location - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-06-new-blog-format-and-location/ - Date: 2010-03-06 - Tags: blogger, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Ok, some of you are probably going "What the hell?!" (or maybe "cool, nice new setup") Well, Google decided to start phasing out FTP based blogs on blogger. This has caused head...

Ok, some of you are probably going "What the hell?!" (or maybe "cool, nice new setup")

Well, Google decided to start phasing out FTP based blogs on blogger. This has caused headaches to many of us bloggers who've been doing this for a few years and before their new code formats.

Anyways, the blog is now located at blog.chucksanimeshrine.com AND I used this time to completely redo and upgrade the blog's look and feel.

New features:

There's still some bugs and kinks in the system that I have to iron out and I still need to do this to the Member's blog but hope you all like this. --- ## Shining Wind: Seena Swimsuit ver. 1/7th Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-04-shining-wind-seena-swimsuit-ver-17th/ - Date: 2010-03-04 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Seena, Shining Wind - AI-assisted: no Spring and summer are almost here but it seems Seena has already made a head start. This beautiful new pre-order figure by Good Smile Company and Max Factory features Shining Wi...

Spring and summer are almost here but it seems Seena has already made a head start.  This beautiful new pre-order figure by Good Smile Company and Max Factory features Shining Wind's Seena in a cute and elegant orange/brown swimsuit. Her pareo around her hips can be removed, too.  For a 1/7th scale figure, she's priced pretty well at around $80; granted not as good as before the dollar became so worthless to the Yen (-_-;) but that beats out even some of the 1/8th scale figures coming out. 
She should be around for the Summer time around July or August.


You can pre-order here 
or simply email us your reservation here

check out some more images of her ^^
--- ## Anime Figures and... Swarovski Crystals? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-03-anime-figures-and-swarovski-crystals/ - Date: 2010-03-03 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, swarovski - AI-assisted: no Did you guys know I'm also a Swarovski Crystal retailer ? Actually, back at the end of 2006, before I thought about selling anime figures and tagging that function to this site,...


Did you guys know I'm also a Swarovski Crystal retailer? Actually, back at the end of 2006, before I thought about selling anime figures and tagging that function to this site, I joined forces with a local wedding products wholesaler who worked with the old eBay consignment place I was employed with back then. It was from this foundation that I actually started my figure selling business, originally calling it "Chuck's E-Store" This was the final chapter in my 2004-2007 hiatus from this site, of which started with me being an Amway dealer (more very interesting news on that connection in a future post). For those who've been with my site since the beginning remember the days of AMV creations and my brief fame on Newgrounds.com way back in 2003.  This got halted by me being in college, working for Friendly's Icecream and trying to break free from the job world via Quixtar/Amway ^^;;

With the anime figure business doing well, things are going full circle and I'm planning on bringing ALL aspects of life's little journeys into view. Yes, in due time you will probably see me doing Flash animations again, AMVs, video games and bringing back the long overdue anime sections to the site.

In the meantime, I added a Swarovski Crystal section to the store for all to see. It's only two figures to start off; definitely far less than what I use to stock but the site's been gaining some popularity and I've had customers who love Both anime and Swarovski figures. More are bound to be added in due time. They aren't too different since like anime figures...they are rare to come by and if you don't order them in their small window of availability...expect to be spending a large amount of $ from dealers on eBay and other sites trying to rip people off -_- On a negative note, Swarovski has a tight MAP policy (Minimum Advertising Price) for the legit sellers like me. In other words, if I sell figures at a final price lower than that, I lose the ability to sell them -_-; so I have to practically keep them at their full retail price. I won't however inflate their prices if the figures become super, super rare and I make sure they have free shipping for all US customers :-)

Also, hey, my site is called Chuck's Anime Shrine and a shrine can have some crystals in it, too. --- ## Anime Blu-Rays and DVDs - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-03-01-anime-blu-rays-and-dvds/ - Date: 2010-03-01 - Tags: anime, anime store, blu-ray, dvds - AI-assisted: no Been expanding the store aspect of this site as you guys might have been able to tell from the recent posts. For a few years now, the store has mainly been catering to anime fig...
 Been expanding the store aspect of this site as you guys might have been able to tell from the recent posts. For a few years now, the store has mainly been catering to anime figures, since well, they sell and help put food on the table. The one thing that has been lacking (besides Gunpla ^^;;) would be the sales of the actual anime that we all so love and dear; the anime DVDs and Blu-ray disks...



Let's face it, the internet age has been killing DVD sales and by the time even a store like mine gets them, the prices get so low and the competition gets so fierce that ANY store that isn't Best-Buy or Walmart that's trying to honestly sell them...will run themselves into the ground within a week. The common tactic of these and other stores online is to sell DVDs for even way less than what it costs them to stock it. In other words, they choose to lose money on the items...mainly so they can scam and overprice people on other stuff in their stores -_- Trust me, I have gotten burned that way by many online & brick and mortor dealers; plus let's not forget the dealers online that say they got the DVD and end up giving you a bootleg with some crappy printed cover -_-

Blu-ray sales on the other-hand, seem to be doing ok, but again, the day for 100% digital downloads is closing in. (oh and let's not forget about the good old anime pirating crap that goes on). Despite that grim future for DVD and eventually Blu-rays, I still decided to expand the store to start to include some great anime Blu-ray disks and yes, even some DVDs.
Will my pricing beat that of the big chains like Amazon, Best-Buy and Walmart? Probably not. Again their tactic is to lose money on these things so that you come back for stuff they overprice. I still sweeten the deal by lowering the price from the retail price AND offer free shipping on them if you live in the US. For those who buy/pre-order I will promise you your copy, even if that means I go and buy it at full retail. But hey, if you end up not getting them, that's just more anime for MY collection.

Three blu-ray disks that I'd like to let you all know about are the ones that just got announced for pre-order;



Dragon Ball Kai Season 1, Part 1
Dragon Ball Kai: Season 1 Part 1 (Blu-Ray)



Full Metal Alchemist; Brotherhood Part 1
Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part 1 (Blu-Ray)


and last but definitely not least,



Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Complete Series
Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Complete Series (Blu-Ray)


As for other new DVDs & Blu-rays, these I actually right now:



Halo: Legends (2-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)
Halo: Legends (2-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)



Kurokami: The Animation Vol. 1 (Blu-Ray) 
Kurokami: The Animation Vol. 1 (Blu-Ray)

Eureka Seven: -good night, sleep tight, young lovers- (Blu-Ray) 
Eureka Seven: -good night, sleep tight, young lovers- (Blu-Ray)

 --- ## K-On! Figma Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-27-k-on-figma-figures/ - Date: 2010-02-27 - Tags: anime figures, figma, K-ON - AI-assisted: no Yes, here's yet another K-On! figure post by me. (deal with it -_-) For those of you that have been tracking my little rants , a recent pet-peeve of mine has been the fact that ...

Yes, here's yet another K-On! figure post by me. (deal with it -_-)  For those of you that have been tracking my little rants, a recent pet-peeve of mine has been the fact that licensees in Japan have become a bit scared of making money and try to keep some anime and figures in Japan only for themselves.  Well, looks as if some of the complaining (and the good old power of $) has paid off and with the second release of 2 K-On! figures, comes the rights for us here in the states to actually buy a legit K-On! figma locally. 

Yes, that's correct, you won't have to pay $20-$30+ in shipping from a store in Japan if you want a Mio figma figure of a Ritsu figma figure (if you live in the US...and international customers are still welcome ^^).  I have gotten the rights through my business and my trusty (legit) suppliers to acquire these cuties for the store.


Click here to go to the Mio figma pre-order page


Click here to go to the Ritsu Figma figure pre-order page

Rather shoot us an email to get yourself onto a waiting list?  You can do so here.

Once the number of figures coming to my store get filled, that's it since I want to make sure ALL who order or get on the list get one when they come out in June or July...so don't wait too long. --- ## FUNimation Aquires Trigun - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-26-funimation-aquires-trigun/ - Date: 2010-02-26 - Tags: anime, FUNimation, Trigun - AI-assisted: no Ah, 90's anime. You gotta love it and to call yourself a true anime fan you have to go back and watch some of the classics here and there. Been watching the entire series of Out...

Ah, 90's anime. You gotta love it and to call yourself a true anime fan you have to go back and watch some of the classics here and there. Been watching the entire series of Outlaw Star as of late and Trigun is also what we fans would call neo-cowboy(ish) late 90's anime genius. Just before anime went on that 7-9 year streak of cut-and-paste, school-uniform color-by-numbers school centric series, it was the days of cowboy shootouts on an Earth-2 planet...by a plant. (ok, Outlaw Star takes place on Earth and other spots...but you get what I'm saying)

All kidding aside, FUNimation, on top of everything else they've been buying with DBZ Zeni, announced today in their newsletter that they bought the rights to Yasuhiro Nightow & Satoshi Nishimura's Trigun from FlyingDog, Inc. Like Outlaw Star, the English dubbing was spot-on so doubtful of a re-dub but expect to see the DVD and Blu-ray copies to be around in the stores (and maybe mine ^^) come this fall.

(oh and for those who aren't true anime fans that either just watch Naruto (no worries I like the series, too) or nothing older than 2005...well, expect to see more new Trigun as their is to be a new full length animated movie this spring, in 2010) --- ## Mio Akiyama (Moe Moe Kyun) Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-26-mio-akiyama-moe-moe-kyun-figure/ - Date: 2010-02-26 - Tags: anime figures, K-ON, mio akiyama, moe, moe moe kyun - AI-assisted: no You thought I'd leave for the weekend without mentioning this oh so Moe figure? For those who might have not heard the news from a few days ago, FREEing and Good Smile Company j...

You thought I'd leave for the weekend without mentioning this oh so Moe figure? For those who might have not heard the news from a few days ago, FREEing and Good Smile Company joined together to come up with the "Moe Moe Kyun" version of K-On!'s Mio Akiyama.

Of course, she's up in the store for pre-order for those who just have to have a moe figure for themselves.

Thanks for spilling the beans on this one, Danny Choo.

Here's the a fan-made clip from youtube from that seen. I know, us anime fans can be weird (and oh so funny) at times...but let us enjoy some moe cuteness.


...oh and more pictures of her too:
--- ## Fate/Stay Night: Rider Figma Action Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-24-fatestay-night-rider-figma-action/ - Date: 2010-02-24 - Tags: anime figures, fate/stay, figma, rider - AI-assisted: no Here's a figure I know you all have been waiting for. That's right, you are looking at the highly anticipated Fate/Stay Night: Figma Rider Figure. She's definitely a beauty and ...


Here's a figure I know you all have been waiting for.  That's right, you are looking at the highly anticipated Fate/Stay Night: Figma Rider Figure.  She's definitely a beauty and I'm more than likely going to keep one for myself for my work desk.  This figure is full of win; more images below.

Naturally I'm stocking her in my store for pre-order.  The thing is though, Max Factory is limiting the number of these that are coming to the states -_-  Yes, just like the K-On! Nendoroid + Figmas, anime sites and stores like me are allowed to only keep a limited number (or in the case of the K-On! Figmas...none at all -_-).  In this case, only the first 12 who reserve her will be guaranteed* one.  So check her out in the store and if you'd rather get on the waiting list via email...you can do that too with this link.

*I would love to say "100% guaranteed" but Max/Factory and GSC have been a bit slow to catch up from the demand so sometimes delays may happen and you never want to leave everything to chance.  It's about a 99% chance and if any issues..I'll make it known.

(now on to the pictures)...


 --- ## Anime Voice Acting - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-23-anime-voice-acting/ - Date: 2010-02-23 - Tags: anime, anime voice acting, chuck gaffney, voice acting - AI-assisted: no Great news! Well, not so new if you follow me on twitter . I've been keeping tabs on the voice studio famous for anime voice acting, Bang! Zoom! I oddly only first heard of them...


Great news!  Well, not so new if you follow me on twitter.  I've been keeping tabs on the voice studio famous for anime voice acting, Bang! Zoom!  I oddly only first heard of them when I went to NY Anime Fest back in 2008 and not surprisingly, the panel for them was so packed that not even I, an anime store/site owner, was able to get in -_-.  They are situated in Burbank California and have been featured on the Tonight Show (Conan's superior but now canceled version)..since well, they are right across the street from them.  Last year's NYAF was with the same results..no entry into their coveted voice acting panel.

Thankfully Bang! Zoom! started a voice acting class fronted by famous anime voice actor as well as the head of writing and producing for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Tony Oliver.  Being that I'm in NY on the boring yet overrated Long Island east coast, and their classes are usually at their main studio in Burbank, CA...well, you get the picture; mainly a no go since it's a $300 class, the trip there would be about 2x that much and with the anime store doing well, I'd have little time to spare away from home...

So what's the "great news" I spoke of?  Well, Bang! Zoom! will be coming to New York City soon and I am one of the 12 that's confirmed to be there for their Beginner Class!  That's right, yours truly will be put into one of those sound booths (like Conan and Andy Richter did here) and I'll be doing some practice dubbing with Tony Oliver, the Bang! Zoom! crew and 11 other classmates. We'll be learning the basics for being in voice acting.


 
(Seiyu tend to be singers before anime voice acting, in Japan)


Some people have indeed gone from this class to being in a recent anime!  That's the best case scenario for me but the experience plus learning if I can or might not have what it takes... is all worth it.  Many voice actors here in the states are usually trained in acting before even trying out for this business.  I'm much more like the Japanese Seiyu who are more verse in singing than acting.

For those who might not know, back in 2001 and 2002 in my Junior and Senior year, I was part of New Field High School's Select chorus which was only about 13 people.  One of my fellow class mates was American Idol semifinalist and current The Challenge game show host, Jared Cotter.


So in other words, I have a bit of singing and voice lesson experience (though being about 8 years ago now ^^;;). I don't however have drama class or acting experience but I don't let that put me down..nor it should for you if anime voice acting is something you want to maybe do one day since one of the most famous anime voice actors & the voice behind 7-11 commercials here in the states, Steve Blum (...Spike from Cowboy Bebop), didn't have that experience.  Steve Blum just had what it took to be a voice actor from connections through his friends that were close to these studios. He didn't know till he gave it a shot.

More on what happens at the end of next month.  I'm looking to learn about the industry and learn if I'm even good enough for them.  Good or not, it'll be great to learn and mingle with the voices of the anime industry.

For those of you critical of anime dubbing.  I do share some of your fears and god knows there have been utter fails in it.  This video from 2006 from the DBZ voice crew on their Budokai 3 game, might humble you and make you realize that it's not as easy as it looks to dub anime and those who do it right, are truthfully skillful, like Chris Sabat and crew undoubtedly are.




(Speaking of DBZ voice actors, recently DBZ Kai English voice actors were announced.  Most of the actors are back with a few exceptions.  Bulma for example will be done by famous voice actress, Monica Rial now)


...
Sorry about the lack of posts.  This has to do with a number of things; (p/t job trying to be full time without my permission, anime store sales through the roof, and good old errands that seem to last all day -_-)  I see that the Member's Blog is back on track with a few new posts.  I plan on making a contest as soon as I can settle things down on the home front, so keep posting. --- ## X-Men PHOENIX / DARK PHOENIX MARVEL BISHOUJO Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-17-x-men-phoenix-dark-phoenix-marvel/ - Date: 2010-02-17 - Tags: anime figures, Bishoujo, Shunya Yamashita, x-men - AI-assisted: no Didn't want to overload you all with too many figure posts yesterday but if you keep tabs of my store's inventory, you might see that I snuck in a brand new Bishoujo figure rele...

Didn't want to overload you all with too many figure posts yesterday but if you keep tabs of my store's inventory, you might see that I snuck in a brand new Bishoujo figure release.  Yes, the great artist Shunya Yamashita is at it again with TWO new figures of an American comic book beauty, once again proving that the Japanese do it best. 

Announced yesterday was both the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix X-men Bishoujo figures. They are scheduled to come out some time in June or July and Jean Grey never looked so good.

Click here to the Pre-order page of the Phoenix figure

Click here to the Pre-order page of the Dark Phoenix Figure --- ## Hyakka Ryouran: Senhime 1/8 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-16-hyakka-ryouran-senhime-18-scale-figure/ - Date: 2010-02-16 - Tags: anime figures, Hyakka Ryouran, Senhime - AI-assisted: no Wanted to throw another figure your way today. I simply had to blog about this beauty of a figure. Fans of Hyakka Ryouran are familiar with Senhime and Alter announced this toda...

Wanted to throw another figure your way today.  I simply had to blog about this beauty of a figure.  Fans of Hyakka Ryouran are familiar with Senhime and Alter announced this today.  I'll be saving this beauty for myself too ^^.  She looks so much like my significant other.

She's about 8200 yen or about $100+ (darn $ being too weak -_-)

Pre-order her here --- ## Strike Witches Anime Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-16-strike-witches-figures/ - Date: 2010-02-16 - Tags: anime figures, Stirke Witches - AI-assisted: no Got news from Alter about some new pre-order reservations up today for the Strike Witches figures as well as the resale of the very popular Miyafuji Yoshika figure that recently...

Got news from Alter about some new pre-order reservations up today for the Strike Witches figures as well as the resale of the very popular Miyafuji Yoshika figure that recently got released.  I have one Yoshika from the first release and Alter did a great job.

  Naturally I added them to my store for you all to pre-order ^_^ Check out the details below:




Strike Witches: Miyafuji Yoshika 1/8th Scale figure
 Click here to Pre-order page


Strike Witches: Erica Hartmann 1/8th Scale figure
 Click here to Pre-order page


Strike Witches: Sanya V.Litvyak 1/8th Scale figure
 Click here to Pre-order page

Click here to email me for what you'd like if you feel more comfortable with emailing your pre-order reservations.



--- ## Localized Anime Licensing Killing the Industry? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-15-localized-anime-licensing-killing/ - Date: 2010-02-15 - Tags: anime, anime business, K-ON, licensing, Sailor Moon - AI-assisted: no You all know you love your anime and you do what you can to get it, right? Well, most of you know that if you are viewing shows like K-On! with English subtitles, that the fan-s...

You all know you love your anime and you do what you can to get it, right?  Well, most of you know that if you are viewing shows like K-On! with English subtitles, that the fan-subbing done with the series was illegal, correct?

Despite the huge popularity world wide for K-On! and some other shows in Japan, there has yet to news of them being licensed for (legal) viewing outside Japan and it almost seems like the licencees simply don't want you to watch them or own their products if you are a gaijin (foreigner).  Yes, FUNimation is doing their best to bring many new series here.  Even NIS, the guys popular for great anime games just got the rights for Toradora but even THEY can't get some well loved series here...and it ain't all about the money.

Being that most anime fans are computer literate, they easily get around the red tape but obviously, the large amount of pirating has also undermined the entire industry, killed entire anime companies and in fact probably prevented even better series from getting to the fans or ever created. Of course there are a large number of series that have been given the go and we can watch on Blu-ray, DVD or for free (legally) on sites like CrunchyRoll, YouTube and Hulu, but the industry seems to not understand how to profit (enough) from the new media paradigm.



The pirating is a problem with ALL electronic media in this internet age but to blame the internet trend and the pirating masses is only blaming half the problem.  The other half comes from the way anime shows and media content in general are passed around from the creators to the content creators/end-animators and to the licensees.  A map of it I believe was done by Anime News Network and I can't help but keep the word, clusterf$^% from leaving my brain.  The internet age now lets the people creating content to simply cut out the middleman and getting straight to the fans.  This has happened in the music industry, self-made fame on YouTube and recently in anime we have seen it with Cenceroll.  This straight-to-all-fans-worldwide marketing scheme is ticking off the old hats of the licensing world by both virally advertising videos to much more fans than the old way of throwing money at an advertiser would and (more importantly) creators are making far more money by ignoring localized licensing rules and just letting their creation go into the wild of the internet.  The internet is the great equalizer now; if something is good, it will grow via word of mouth. If it's not worthy, it won't get very far at all.  In other words, the success of say an anime, manga series, a music artist or any show in general is based on their talent  and the quality of the content and NOT whether a big name is behind them.

So, why the large rant, Chuck?  Well, as an anime fan, anime site webmaster and anime store owner, I see things both from the view of the fans and from the business point of view. The way shows like the Sailor Moon anniversary DVDs and K-On! figures + shows are being handled, is not very smart business at all.  The localization of certain titles is money lost for the content creators, unfair to the fans and only breeding more urge for fans to pirate meida and thus undermining the industry.

Notice I don't have ANY K-On! Figma figures for sale?  Well, that's because the licensing behind K-On! is so anti-foreign sales that they won't allow the legit stores to sell those figures...if you are an overseas seller.  Silly, right?  Actually, the licensees told Good Smile Company to not sell K-On! overseas.  I got word two weeks ago from the good people over at AAAanime.com that Good Smile Company was forced to limit the amount of K-On! items that go overseas and thus, if you pre-ordered items from a store not in Japan...chances are your K-On! Nendoroids aren't coming (or might simply be fake)  To people who bought from me, thankfully all is good, I have increasingly better relations with the wholesalers both in and outside of Japan.

I made a formal complaint to the licensees of K-On! about this through AAAanime.com and hopefully something good will come from it.  I know you guys want to see all Japan has to offer and I know you'd love to see shows like Sailor Moon and K-On! be on the TV, DVD, Blu-ray block in the states.  From a business standpoint, they might not want to allow a series to go to the states and probably fall short, thus losing sales and money but at the very least, K-On! and Sailor Moon (yep still to this day), as well as a few others are $ in the bank for all involved and for us fans...we just want to see them. The demand is there and with demand for content comes sales, business 101.

...
Discuss what you think the anime biz should do to both give us the series we want to see (outside Japan and legally) and to calm down the pirating crazies out there from destroying everything we love about anime.

 --- ## Anime Valentine's Day - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-14-anime-valentines-day/ - Date: 2010-02-14 - Tags: anime, valentines day - AI-assisted: no Today is that lovey-dovey day of Valentine's Day that you either love or hate. If you have a valentine, get him/her that gift you always wanted to give. An anime plush or some c...

Today is that lovey-dovey day of Valentine's Day that you either love or hate. If you have a valentine, get him/her that gift you always wanted to give. An anime plush or some chocolate Pocky is always a good gift for an otaku in love. If you don't have a Valentine, or can care less, he, just enjoy the day the best you can and relax for that special person will eventually come by...if you be the best person YOU can be.


...
Off to have some all-you-can eat sushi. Big ramble of a blog post tomorrow about anime licensing. --- ## Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Tonight on Adult Swim - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-13-fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood-tonight/ - Date: 2010-02-13 - Tags: adult swim, anime, fullmetal alchemist brotherhood - AI-assisted: no You all probably heard this already but for those who haven't, tonight at midnight (both on the east coast and on the west coast at midnight), Adult Swim will be starting their ...

You all probably heard this already but for those who haven't, tonight at midnight (both on the east coast and on the west coast at midnight), Adult Swim will be starting their run of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.  This is the first of 3 anime series to finally get the spot here on the US shores.  For the sake of the anime industry here in the states, I implore you to watch this tonight.

If the ratings are good enough for the execs at CN, we can hopefully see Adult Swim go back to what put them back on the map and hopefully have them dump those home-brewed 2 cent crap shows they been putting in anime's place.

So show that you are a true anime fan and you want anime big in America again and watch FMA: Brotherhood! (or Colonel Mustang might snap his fingers in your direction -_-) --- ## #FanServiceFriday: 2/12/10 - Tifa Lockhart - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-12-fanservicefriday-21210-tifa-lockhart/ - Date: 2010-02-12 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, tifa - AI-assisted: no Brought back #FanServiceFriday (#FF) from a long delay with my favorite of all anime/game characters, Tifa Lockhart. If you've been on the internet as long as I have, you'd know...


Brought back #FanServiceFriday (#FF) from a long delay with my favorite of all anime/game characters, Tifa Lockhart.  If you've been on the internet as long as I have, you'd know that this image is a colored version of a wonderful pencil sketch from probably as far back as 1998. ^//^ --- ## K-on! - Nakano Azusa Alter Ver. - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-11-k-on-nakano-azusa-alter-ver/ - Date: 2010-02-11 - Tags: alter, anime figures, K-ON, nakano azusa - AI-assisted: no Just when you thought there was too much cuteness with the Nakano Azusa Nendoroid figure, Alter goes and announces a wonderfully cute 1/8th scale model her too. Expected to come...

Just when you thought there was too much cuteness with the Nakano Azusa Nendoroid figure, Alter goes and announces a wonderfully cute 1/8th scale model her too.

Expected to come out some time in June or so, Nakano isn't as expensive as some of the other 1/8th scale figures but a price tag of $85-$90 still makes you wish the Yen was weak again and the US gets it's financial game back in gear (along with many other issues).

Still though, if you are like me, you will probably get one for yourself ^^ and yes, she's found in my store here for pre-order or you can reserve one by email with this link.

...
(btw, good to be back. Darn cold, the web work I do over at Berger-Bros.com, a crazy blizzard here in NY, as well as a boost in anime biz sales kept me from blogging. Obviously the latter I'm all for but the other stuff sure would be love if erased from my schedule for good. Anyways, more posts to come) --- ## Wonfes 2010: Nendoroid Mickey & Figma MJ?! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-06-wonfes-2010-nendoroid-mickey-figma-mj/ - Date: 2010-02-06 - Tags: anime figures, figma, Michael Jackson, Mickey Mouse, Nendoroid, wonfes - AI-assisted: no The event is going on right now and thanks to Danny Choo , we are getting live feeds and images straight from the event. For those who maybe don't know, Wonfes is the largest fi...

The event is going on right now and thanks to Danny Choo, we are getting live feeds and images straight from the event. For those who maybe don't know, Wonfes is the largest figure and custom figure kit convention in Japan. Most if not all of the major anime figure manufacturers are there showing off the newly announced pre-orders as well as some surprises.



If you've been keeping track of the numbers on your Good Smile Company Nendoroid, you'd know they are close to their 100th figure. That figure has been announced and it's actually a non-anime character...Mickey Mouse. You heard me right, the 100th Nendoroid is Disney's Mickey Mouse. I'm fan of him...don't get me wrong but I would have so wanted a Nendo Tifa Lockhart and expected one to come before a Mickey one. Oh well, "a man can dream...a man can dream"- Futurama

It gets weirder than that. Of course for every new Nendoroid figure announce, a new Figma isn't far away. Yesterday Good Smile announced the figma K-On! Yui...but sdly, like ALL the other K-On! figmas...some sort of ass-backwards licencing embargo prevents even ME from snagging them for my store -_-
Anyways..this newley announced figma figure will surely be available in the US. That's right, you saw that link correctly from Danny Choo, it's a Michael Jackson figma.



Probably more figures to come, more anime news and more on that K-On! licensing mess in a few...for now let this news populate your mind and try not to hurt yourself with any blunt objects.

-pictures are all from Danny Choo, please visit his site for more images and info (gt to give the credit where its needed ^^)
--- ## Nendoroid Nakano Azusa - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-02-03-nendoroid-nakano-azusa/ - Date: 2010-02-03 - Tags: anime figures, K-ON, Nendoroid, nendoroid Nakano Azusa - AI-assisted: no What a week. Been sick most of it (today included) and yesterday Danny Choo announced the new Nendoroid Nakano Azusa. Sadly, Good Smile Company decided to tell only HobbySearch ...

What a week. Been sick most of it (today included) and yesterday Danny Choo announced the new Nendoroid Nakano Azusa. Sadly, Good Smile Company decided to tell only HobbySearch and Amiami of this figure and they simply bought them all -_- and pre-orders were sold out...before even I could get dibs on them (another even madder face -_-).

Well, thankfully Good Smile Company just announced a second production release and I wasted no time in making sure MY STORE gets the rights to sell her too -_-.
...Yeah, there ARE other anime stores out there that are legit, guys.



Anyways, this is of course the Nendoroid figure of Nakano Azusa with her having the nekomimi ears as well. A very, very cute figure that even I will be keeping for me and my fiancee Danielle (she just melted from the cuteness when she saw it).

I reserved quite a few so you can go to her page in my store here. Be sure to chose "Cash/Money order" choice at the end so you don't have to pay via paypal until she arrives.

To get on an email list instead of using the store to later be billed when she arrives, instead of using the store...
Click here to email your pre-order reservation

Unless stated otherwise, unless something terrible happens, you are pretty much guaranteed to get one; but only if you act quickly. Once all the quantities that I ordered for the store are used up, the only chance you have of getting her is to hope for a cancellation from those before you.

This batch of Nakanos will be in some time in late June or so. For those lucky enough to pre-order from Amiami and HobbySearch, those will be in some time in May.

For those worried about bootlegs, be assure I DON'T EVER stock bootlegs...only the real deal. Still worried? Check the list of legit stores on Danny Choo's blog. My store won't be on that list till I pay for advertisement on his site, so it's why I'm not on that list yet -_-

After seeing the craziness behind anything K-ON!...why the hell the series isn't officially here in the states is beyond me.

Here's a great vid with clips of Azusa ^^



Here's some more pics of her:
 

 --- ## The iPad: Good or Bad for Manga? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-29-ipad-good-or-bad-for-manga/ - Date: 2010-01-29 - Tags: apple, gadgets, iPad, manga - AI-assisted: no Of course many have you have heard about the iPad (and god knows this is probably the 1 millionth post about it on the web.) I was busy posting about it on my other personal blo...

Of course many have you have heard about the iPad (and god knows this is probably the 1 millionth post about it on the web.) I was busy posting about it on my other personal blog as the information was coming in during the Apple conference. The first thing that comes to our minds when seeing it is; how great would reading manga be on it? Also, there are the Kindle, the Nook, and the Sony Readers out there that for the most part, haven't captured the hearts of manga fans and the lack of manga on them is proof.
Now, here's the more important question. Will this be good or bad for the manga industry? The good is that people who might not have been into manga, could start to realize what all the hype is about. On a bad note for the industry, it is bound to reduce the actual paper printing of manga plus it will give more fuel for all those illegal manga viewing sites...even more so than what we already see.

The anime and manga industry hopefully will be able to monitize from the iPad and the other readers as well and if they don't, though many fans will be happy to build the pirating free manga sites, less money in the pockets of the content creators means less anime for us to read and watch.

Comment what you think this means for manga. Would you be buying the iPad for manga (as well as the other features)? Maybe you are already or planning to use the Nook, Kindle, Sony Readers, etc...or are you just sticking to what most anime fans continue to do and buy stacks and stacks of manga? --- ## Tohou Project: Nenodroid Izayoi Sakuya & Figma Kirisame Marisa - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-29-tohou-project-nenodroid-izayoi-sakuya/ - Date: 2010-01-29 - Tags: anime figures, figures, tohuo project - AI-assisted: no Thanks to my good friends over at Mile-Stone.jp ,(who by the way are also manufacturers of some nice anime figures), my store got the rights to sell these two new Tohou project ...

Thanks to my good friends over at Mile-Stone.jp,(who by the way are also manufacturers of some nice anime figures), my store got the rights to sell these two new Tohou project figures that originally were only meant for stores in Japan.

Good Smile Company has announced these extra rare figures.
The first being the Tohou Project Nendoroid Izayoi Sakuya figure.



The second of course being the Figma Kirisame Marisa figure.




Both are super rare and will probably be on display at the upcoming Wonfest convention in Japan. Sadly, due to their rarity and exclusivity, their price is a bit higher than your typical Nendoroid and Figma at a $69.99 price tag. These though will in time go for $200+ on eBay and if you are in the US, their final price turns out the same anyways since store in Japan might be able to sell them at a cheaper price, but you'll pay for it in the shipping -_-

To reserve Nendoroid Izayoi Sakuya, just check the product page and order her or email me and I'll reserve yours.

To reserve Figma Kirisame Marisa, just check the product page and order or of course, email me to get your name on the list of those getting her.

Be sure to use the "Money Order/Cash" option if you wish to not pay now.  Once they arrive all who reserve them (confirmed and in time) will be guaranteed one.

Their release date is to be some time in April so expect them to arrive around that time or possibly sometime in May id Good Smile is running late on production.
 --- ## Team Four Star: DBZ Abridged Season 2 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-27-team-four-star-dbz-abridged-season-2/ - Date: 2010-01-27 - Tags: dbz, dbz abridged, teamfourstar, videos - AI-assisted: no It's been some time coming. The very funny work-for-free voice actors of Team Four Star had some hurtles to go through over the past number of months; stuff I'm actually familia...


It's been some time coming. The very funny work-for-free voice actors of Team Four Star had some hurtles to go through over the past number of months; stuff I'm actually familiar with. Their videos were doing insanely good and for good reason. The DBZ Abridged parody is a thing of genius. Even the American voice actors of DBZ loved their series and they got the go-ahead to continue their not-for-profit clips by FUNimation. Then came the miscommunication with content creator, Toei who unknowingly shot themselves in the foot by banning TFS's original Youtube page. Reason why it was a suicidal move on the part of Toei was well, the darn parody was getting a fan base that has been keeping DBZ alive and well long after the "geniuses" at Cartoon Network dropped the series.

Well, as of yesterday, Team Four Star posted up episode 11, the first of the long awaited Season 2. Below you'll find the clip and good god is it hilarious XD.



...
In reference to what I said above; I've had the same garbage happen to me on YouTube back in 2005 and 2006 when Youtube first surfaced. For those who've been with me since the beginning in 2002 know that back in 2003 I created some very popular AMVs that made it to the Collections of Newgrounds.com and even got the blessings from the group QED who's song I used in the "Love Bites" AMV. This site was having loads of bandwidth issues due to the downloads from the site pre-youtube for the AMVs. Once youtube came along in 2005, the videos did great with well over 100,000K views per vid. Then of course, due to images of Inuyasha during the series' peak, it seemed that Viz didn't understand the good the videos did for the series and the account got booted -_- It took me a year just for people to find me on my new account as well as try to tell people I was who I am. Most thought I was an imposter..of myself! Anyways, this little rant is to tell you guys at Team Four Star...that I went through the same crap. now that I run an anime store in conjunction to this site...you'll actually see Viz buy ad space here ^^ and of course I continue to sell their product and put $ in their pockets.
 --- ## Vocaloid: Kagamine Rin Nuclear Fusion "Meltdown" Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-27-vocaloid-kagamine-rin-nuclear-fusion/ - Date: 2010-01-27 - Tags: anime figures, figures, meltdown figure, rin kagamine, vocaloid - AI-assisted: no Just when you thought Good Smile Company went insane with the Miku Hatsune VN02 figure , they do it again with this very cool and very crazy Rin Kagamine figure. This figure wil...


Just when you thought Good Smile Company went insane with the Miku Hatsune VN02 figure, they do it again with this very cool and very crazy Rin Kagamine figure.  This figure will retail for 9800 yen (~$115-~$120) and will hit the Japanese market by August (so probably September here in the states -_-). Naturally she's up for pre-order in my store ^_^
Check out the images and (long) video below.  Info thanks of course to Danny Choo.





 
 
 



 --- ## Twilight Manga - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-26-twilight-manga/ - Date: 2010-01-26 - Tags: manga, Twilight - AI-assisted: no Ok, I'm either going to create some hatred or some happy fans...or both but as some of you might know, Yen Press is printing 350,000 copies of the Manga version of the hit book ...


Ok, I'm either going to create some hatred or some happy fans...or both but as some of you might know, Yen Press is printing 350,000 copies of the Manga version of the hit book and movie series of Twilight. As an anime store owner, I naturally placed the manga in my store for pre-order. My fiancee, Danielle is a big fan of the series, she has read all the books and is for both Team Jacob and Team Edward (did I just type that? 0_0). Listen, I'm not a huge fan of the series, I'm more of a Bram Stoker's Dracula or Vampire Knight person. Unavoidable for both fans and non-fans is that the series is big news on all fronts.

Yen Press will make 2 volumes of the manga both of which are set to be a massive 200+ pages; massive for a single manga volume of course. The expected release date of the first volume is around March 17th so fans of the series, I'll gladly help you get access to a copy (while supplies last of course ^^;;). Both fans of the series or non-fans, you can bring on the discussions in the comment fields but for the love of God, not crazy fighting -_- --- ## #MoeMonday 1/25/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-25-moemonday-12510/ - Date: 2010-01-25 - Tags: #MoeMonday, shugo chara, yukata - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday (#MM) continues on this busy Monday with some yukata moe from the girls of Shugo Chara.


#MoeMonday (#MM) continues on this busy Monday with some yukata moe from the girls of Shugo Chara. --- ## Nendoroid Petit: Fate/Stay Night Action Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-25-nendoroid-petit-fatestay-night-action/ - Date: 2010-01-25 - Tags: anime figures, fate/stay, figures, Good Smile Company, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Saber and Fate fans are going to be once again happy to hear of some more great news from Good Smile Company. On top of the amazing Excalibur Saber figure announcement, there is...


Saber and Fate fans are going to be once again happy to hear of some more great news from Good Smile Company.  On top of the amazing Excalibur Saber figure announcement, there is also this wonderful Petit Nendoroid set that was announced back before the weekend...


As the picture shows, there's a couple versions of the figures included in the set and supposedly a secret figure as well.  I'm so keeping a set myself ^^.

Of course, you can find them for pre-order in my store (or you can email your reservation).  There's 12 in the set and they go for $90 altogether so not bad at all.  Expected to come stateside in August; could always be sooner or later ^^;;

More images below:



 --- ## Crunchyroll's Anime Streaming iPhone App - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-22-crunchyrolls-anime-streaming-iphone-app/ - Date: 2010-01-22 - Tags: anime iphone game, crunchyroll, iphone - AI-assisted: no While watching some Kurokami I noticed that CrunchyRoll just came out with their own iPhone app. Yep, now you can stream anime on you iPhone guilt free. Of course, make sure you...


While watching some Kurokami I noticed that CrunchyRoll just came out with their own iPhone app. Yep, now you can stream anime on you iPhone guilt free. Of course, make sure you use Wifi since it's doubtful AT&T's "fast" 3G network can handle an ounce of anime goodness. It's a free app so go right ahead and add it to your collection. Supporting Crunchyroll supports the anime business, so do your part to keep those content providers in business -_-


--- ## Fate/Stay Night: Saber Triumphant Excalibur Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-20-fatestay-night-saber-triumphant/ - Date: 2010-01-20 - Tags: anime figures, fate/stay, figures, saber trumphant excalibur - AI-assisted: no Saber fans are going to love this newly announced figure. The Saber Triumphant Excalibur figure just got announced for pre-order and this stunning figure will be a 1/7th scale f...


Saber fans are going to love this newly announced figure.  The Saber Triumphant Excalibur figure just got announced for pre-order and this stunning figure will be a 1/7th scale figure and it also seems like you have the option of having Saber's sword's effects be there or not if you choose.

Reserves for this figure can be purchased right here in my store. Select Money Order/Cash at the end of the transaction or email us to reserve yours without having to pay right away via Paypal.

More info can be found on her official page.

..here's some more images of her










 --- ## #MoeMonday 1/18/10 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-18-moemonday-11810/ - Date: 2010-01-18 - Tags: #MoeMonday, moe - AI-assisted: no Once again, I'm continuing the #MoeMonday (#MM) trend. Some people still want it to go on so here's another Moe image for you all to see.



Once again, I'm continuing the #MoeMonday (#MM) trend.  Some people still want it to go on so here's another Moe image for you all to see. --- ## #FanServiceFriday: 1/15/10 Spice And Wolf - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-15-fanservicefriday-11510-spice-and-wolf/ - Date: 2010-01-15 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, horo, spice and wolf - AI-assisted: no You didn't think I'd forget #FanServiceFriday (#FF) now, did you? Been watching Spice and Wolf and I see why everyone likes the Wolf spirit Horo. The series and the art is very ...


You didn't think I'd forget #FanServiceFriday (#FF) now, did you?  Been watching Spice and Wolf and I see why everyone likes the Wolf spirit Horo.  The series and the art is very clean and artistic and a must watch for any anime fan....that's 13 and older ^^;; --- ## Otacool 2: Worldwide Cosplayers - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-15-otacool-2-worldwide-cosplayers/ - Date: 2010-01-15 - Tags: anime store, dannychoo, order otacool, otacool, otaku - AI-assisted: no Many of you are familiar with the Otacool project Kotobukiya and Dannychoo.com did with otaku rooms and I'm certain many of you heard about the second collage book fronted now b...


Many of you are familiar with the Otacool project Kotobukiya and Dannychoo.com did with otaku rooms and I'm certain many of you heard about the second collage book fronted now by mega cosplay site CURE.  If not, then you guys really should check out the official post over at Dannychoo.com.  Some of you might become rather popular in Japan with your cosplay outfits.  Even my fiancee, Danielle is joining in the fun ^^

Being that I'm an anime store owner, I'll be getting the rights to stock the Otacool 2 book ^_^

so here's the link to preorder it. --- ## Adult Swim Getting New Anime? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-13-adult-swim-getting-new-anime/ - Date: 2010-01-13 - Tags: adult swim, anime, cartoon network, news - AI-assisted: no Yep, the title is correct. No, hell hasn't frozen over (yet) but word has it that Cartoon Network's Adult Swim is getting 3 new anime series to air. I guess the constant pesteri...



Yep, the title is correct. No, hell hasn't frozen over (yet) but word has it that Cartoon Network's Adult Swim is getting 3 new anime series to air. I guess the constant pestering at Adult Swim by anime fans, the success of Bleach, the success of Syfy's Ani-monday as well as Chiller's own anime block are making the home-brewed-heros over at Williams Street pine for the shows that got them on the map in the first place back when their only claim to fame was Space Ghost.
Rumor has it that two of the 3 anime series will be Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Inuyasha: The Final Act but so far, nothing is certain yet. What is certain is that Blood+ and Death Note are to no longer be played on Adult Swim.

Actually, the person who got me into anime back in the late 90's works for AS, so I might get him to spill the beans...stay tuned. --- ## Inuyasha: Kagome Higurashi Figma - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-13-inuyasha-kagome-higurashi-figma/ - Date: 2010-01-13 - Tags: anime figures, figma, figures, inuyasha - AI-assisted: no Hey Inuyasha fans; got some more good news for you! Other than the series finally being concluded with the Final Act episodes, you can soon get your own Kagome figma figure ^_^....


Hey Inuyasha fans; got some more good news for you!  Other than the series finally being concluded with the Final Act episodes, you can soon get your own Kagome figma figure ^_^.  Yep, looks like Max factory has announced the production of a Kagome Figma figure.   It's set to be released some time in April or May of this year.  Pre-orders can be made here or you can email the store to reserve her.  Nothing yet on other characters in the series but I'll keep you all informed.

 --- ## Winners of the Nendoroid Kureha Contest - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-09-winners-of-nendoroid-kureha-contest/ - Date: 2010-01-09 - Tags: contest, contests, member blog, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Wanted to congratulate the winners of the Nendoroid Kureha contest. To no surprise, it seemed like of the 11 or so people that signed up for the members blog, only 2 people deci...



Wanted to congratulate the winners of the Nendoroid Kureha contest. To no surprise, it seemed like of the 11 or so people that signed up for the members blog, only 2 people decided to post anything on the site and they were @nekozawa and @Zero6699 was split on who to give this wonderful Kureha to but thankfully they live together and (hopefully) can share the winnings. Congrats to you guys for the win.

For those who signed up on the member's blog and didn't write anything, sorry, you snooze, you lose ^^;; but, don't fret you and as well as anybody else who joins in the blogging will surely be up for any future contests. so not only will posting you own blog posts here help get your blogs some traffic...you might get a free figure too ^_^ --- ## FLCL Anime Redo - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-07-flcl-anime-redo/ - Date: 2010-01-07 - Tags: anime, FLCL, Fooly Cooly, FUNimation - AI-assisted: no Update: Should have checked before blogging but FUNimation recently noted that they will NOT be re-dubbing the series. Thanks @janaiblog for the info. I guess read the post and ...


Update: Should have checked before blogging but FUNimation recently noted that they will NOT be re-dubbing the series. Thanks @janaiblog for the info. I guess read the post and wonder if a re-dub would ever be good for FLCL or any other series. Talk about blog FAIL ^^;;;


Some of you might have heard the news, but for those who didn't (from possible CES overload) FUNimation just announced a page and eventual DVD/Blu Ray sales for FLCL (Fooly Cooly).  They bought the rights from Gainax for the series and supposedly they are going to...re dub the series.

Now I'm a big fan of FUNimation, don't get me wrong. They used their DBZ money to buy out failing licenses from Gonzo, Gainax plus others to essentially keep anime in America amid the economic crap storm, lack of anime airing on Cartoon Network / Adult Swim and the obvious piracy of anime that's the fault of both eager fans and unimaginative licensees. A crap storm of which has eroded the industry.  In other words, they are keeping anime alive in America despite sort of becoming a monopoly. 
As my handle being "princetrunks" across the internet and having some stock in their parent company Naveer Corp, I of course will be in their favor.

Yet, if they are honestly going to re dub the series, I can't help but ask the question, "why?"  FUNimation's voice talent is top notch, I won't deny their experience and their ability to actually do great anime voice dubbing but as both an anime purest and a business owner, I can't see why they would re dub it.  Back when you could actually call Cartoon Network, "Cartoon Network" without laughing and making MTV comparisons, FLCL got great ratings and became one of those "hard-core, WTF?" anime series to make it on the US airwaves.  The original dubbing was top notch and some the fandom is still strong.  My only guess is that the reason why they might be re dubbing it is that the process of licenses is even more out of date and convoluted than I can even imagine and they might own the images but not the audio (-_-) Time for the content owners and the whole copyright / license system to get into the 21st century.  We are already in the second decade of the century and $ is being wasted on bureaucratic BS.

Anyways, while we are on the topic of the redubbing of anime...there is a certain series FUNimation should really focus on a re-do...I think Sailor Moon is loooong overdue for such a treatment.  Japan has already created remastered DVDs in 2009.  Time to take that voice talent to some really good use for both the fans and for the growth of anime.  Re-doing Sailor Moon is money in the bag for who ever takes it.









 --- ## #MoeMonday 1/4/10: Black Rock Shooter Moe - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-04-moemonday-1410-black-rock-shooter-moe/ - Date: 2010-01-04 - Tags: #MoeMonday, black rock shooter, moe - AI-assisted: no The first #MoeMonday (#MM) post of the New Year and decade. Recently announced was the new Black Blade version of the Black Rock Shooter Figure and how fitting it is to show a w...


The first #MoeMonday (#MM) post of the New Year and decade. Recently announced was the new Black Blade version of the Black Rock Shooter Figure and how fitting it is to show a wonderfully drawn BRS image by the very talented OceanChan. --- ## 2009 Anime In Review Podcast - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2010-01-03-2009-anime-in-review-podcast/ - Date: 2010-01-03 - Tags: anime, anime of 2009, podcast - AI-assisted: no That's right everybody, I was a guest in another cool podcast. This one on Otaku In Review with Scott Spaziani , Jon Ingoglia , and Tim Maughan. The subject of course reviewing ...




That's right everybody,  I was a guest in another cool podcast.  This one on Otaku In Review with Scott Spaziani,  Jon Ingoglia, and Tim Maughan. The subject of course reviewing the anime of 2009.  A bunch of new series came up this year and if you are a fan of Moe, it was definitely your year.

Sadly for me it was a busy year due to my anime figure business on the grow and my efforts to shield myself from the sh*%-storm known as the US Economy so oddly enough...my anime business (as well as a needed stay in the p/t job -_-) kept my anime viewing to a minimum  I have been watching the newer box sets of Yu Yu Hagasho and the recently released box sets of Romeo X Juliet..of which I mention in the podcast.  Sadly, though Romeo X Juliet's box sets got released here just in 2009...it wasn't exactly considered 2009 anime ^^;;  A great list to check out would be on Jon's http://janaiblog.wordpress.com/.  Series for this year included To Love Ru, Sora no Otoshimono,Valkyria Chronicles, K-On, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo (Sora Kake Girl) and Chi's New Address...just to name a few.


Check out the podcast here.  It will undoubtedly be added to my podcast page. 

Got a favorite anime from 2009? Discuss it in the comments below of course ^^ --- ## K-ON! Season 2 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-30-k-on-season-2/ - Date: 2009-12-30 - Tags: anime, K-ON, moe - AI-assisted: no Thanks yet again to ANN for breaking the news on K-ON! That's right, 2010 will have yet more Moe with this second season slated for a January 20th DVD/Blu Ray release (in Japan)...



Thanks yet again to ANN for breaking the news on K-ON!  That's right, 2010 will have yet more Moe with this second season slated for a January 20th DVD/Blu Ray release (in Japan). Still wondering when we can watch K-ON! (legally) here in the state.  Fans are waiting and to the licensees...that's money down the drain.  I'm all for legal downloads to continue to help the industry but if you don't give the worldwide (particularly US) fans what they want...expect the pirating to continue.  Can't say I didn't warn them.

Anyways, check out the K-ON! official site here --- ## Black Rock Shooter Black Blade Version - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-28-black-rock-shooter-black-blade-version/ - Date: 2009-12-28 - Tags: anime figures, black rock shooter, figures - AI-assisted: no I'll probably be the 100th+ blogger/store promoting this figure but here's the first glimpse of the Black Rock Shooter Black Blade Version figure by Good Smile Company. I was a ...


I'll probably be the 100th+ blogger/store promoting this figure but here's the first glimpse of the Black Rock Shooter Black Blade Version figure by Good Smile Company.  I was a little hesitant to post her since Good Smile STILL has yet to get the first Black Rock Shooter to us anime retailers in the states -_-

I posted this one for pre-order but as with many of the fast selling Good Smile Company figures, expect the release date to be at least month or more from what they say.  This one is also to be a 1/8th scale figure and probably will be tough to grab in a few months.






 
 --- ## #MoeMonday 12/28/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-28-moemonday-122809/ - Date: 2009-12-28 - Tags: #MoeMonday, moe - AI-assisted: no I'm anime blogging like a fiend today. The third (and probably final) post today is the much missed #MoeMonday (#MM) photo for the week. Enjoy and hope you all got what you want...


I'm anime blogging like a fiend today. The third (and probably final) post today is the much missed #MoeMonday (#MM) photo for the week. Enjoy and hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas. --- ## Nendoroid Sanae Kochiya - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-28-nendoroid-sanae-kochiya/ - Date: 2009-12-28 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Nendoroid, Nendoroid Sanae Kochiya - AI-assisted: no Here's another rare Nenodoroid I am lucky enough to eventually get my hands on, Nendoroid Sanae Kochiya from Touho Project. Thanks to figure manufacturer and wholesaler, Mile-st...


Here's another rare Nenodoroid I am lucky enough to eventually get my hands on, Nendoroid Sanae Kochiya from Touho Project.  Thanks to figure manufacturer and wholesaler, Mile-stone.jp, this Japan-Only exclusive Nendoroid will be stocked by me...

Some of you might have noticed the price is up there at $60.  Though the regular retail price is actually 3000 yen in Japan, even as a store owner, I wasn't able to get her at that price...but a good amount higher -_-  This is the kind of figure that will probably be on eBay and other sites for $200+ down the road.  That insane price you will never see me do so hopefully my price is still a bargain for such an exclusive figure.

Sanae Kochiya is the kind of anime figure where you usually ONLY see in selected shops in Japan so if you are in Japan, grab them at the better 3000 yen price before it's too late.

Check her out here for pre/order

Check out her official product page here







Nendoroid Reimu Hakurei seen here goes for a ridiculous price on eBay and other sites >-<
 --- ## #FanServiceFriday: 12/25/09 X-Mas Edition - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-25-fanservicefriday-122509-x-mas-edition/ - Date: 2009-12-25 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, Gurren Lagann, x-mas - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday (#FF) today will of course be a Chrismas version. This one of course a Gurren Lagann image. Have a merry x-mas anime fans ^_^

#FanServiceFriday (#FF) today will of course be a Chrismas version.  This one of course a Gurren Lagann image.  Have a merry x-mas anime fans ^_^ --- ## Marvel Psylocke Bishoujo Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-23-marvel-psylocke-bishoujo-figure/ - Date: 2009-12-23 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Just announced today are the reserves for this beautiful Marvel Psylocke Bishoujo figure. Once again Shunya Yamashita and Kotobukia give the Marvel girls the much better and hot...





Just announced today are the reserves for this beautiful Marvel Psylocke Bishoujo figure.  Once again Shunya Yamashita and Kotobukia give the Marvel girls the much better and hotter looking designthan what has been done here in the states.  This 1/8th scale figure won't be around tilll around April or May of 2010, so be patient. 

The price in yen as you see is 6510 which with the dollar hovering at 89 yen/$..brings it to about $70-$75 retail

I did manage to post her in the store for reserve or you can email us as well to put your name on the pre-order waiting list  ^_^ --- ## Return of the 1/1 Scale Gundam! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-23-return-of-11-scale-gundam/ - Date: 2009-12-23 - Tags: 1/1 Scale Gundam, gundam, otaku - AI-assisted: no This bit of news is a Christmas present for ALL gundam fans. Remember the 1/1 scale Gundam built in Odaiba a few months back to commemorate the Gundam 30 year anniversary (and t...


This bit of news is a Christmas present for ALL gundam fans. Remember the 1/1 scale Gundam built in Odaiba a few months back to commemorate the Gundam 30 year anniversary (and try to get Japan in for the Olympics)?
Well, it's coming back!
Yep, ANN is reporting that the Gundam will be rebuilt at Bandai's plastic factory in Shizuoka and will stand between July of 2010 and May 2011 (hey..why do they have to take it down? -_-)

The statue brought over a million visitors in it's brief time up so, as long as we treat the thing like the Japanese Statue of Liberty, expect it to be a staple on the landscape. --- ## #FanServiceFriday: 12/18/09 - Louise - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-18-fanservicefriday-121809-louise/ - Date: 2009-12-18 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, louise, The Familiar of Zero - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday (#FF) post this week is this rather sexy fan art of The Familiar of Zero's Louise.


#FanServiceFriday (#FF) post this week is this rather sexy fan art of The Familiar of Zero's Louise. --- ## Poison Bootleg Anime Products - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-18-poison-bootleg-anime-products/ - Date: 2009-12-18 - Tags: anime figures, recalls, updates - AI-assisted: no This is very important news to all who buy anime products! The evil bootleg anime product makers have gone too far this time... As some of you may know, bootleg anime products i...



This is very important news to all who buy anime products!  The evil bootleg anime product makers have gone too far this time... 

As some of you may know, bootleg anime products is a major problem in the industry.  Good Smile Company, Kotobukiya, Square-Enix figures are constantly being bootlegged by cheap Hong-Kong/Chinese factories.  Same goes for popular jewelry and accessory items from big hit series like Bleach, Naruto and Death Note.

As of late yesterday, my main wholesaler, AAAanime.com put out a notice they received from Viz about recently recalled products.  The products were not that of Viz or their licensees GE Animation and Great Eastern, but from the stupid bootleggers, Team Work Trading.

The issue?  Well, what's been a problem in many cheap Chinese factories? LEAD POISONING.

That's right, if you have bought these horrible copies from a bootleg seller on eBay, at a con, online, or anywhere else...GET RID OF THEM!

Please note that my company, Chuck's Anime Shrine does NOT and will NOT sell ANY bootleg items.  My company is a legit anime business and is registered with only the real suppliers in the industry (AAAanime.com, Diamond Comics, YesAnime.com and Mile-Stone.jp).

ALL Naruto, Bleach, Death Note accessories that I might sell in my main store, Amazon and eBay branches are the legit, non-toxic GE Animation/Great Eastern products.

Check out the whole message on AAAanime.com and the official recall on http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10049.html

If you see anyone on eBay selling this crap...report the listing and the seller right away.
 --- ## Iron Man 2 Trailer - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-17-iron-man-2-trailer/ - Date: 2009-12-17 - Tags: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, movies, otaku - AI-assisted: no Ok, not exactly anime related but hey, I'm certain most of you are eager to see Iron Man 2. The trailer has just been released and many fans are happy to see that it'll star Bla...

Ok, not exactly anime related but hey, I'm certain most of you are eager to see Iron Man 2.  The trailer has just been released and many fans are happy to see that it'll star Black Widow, being played by Scarlett Johansson.  The role of Whiplash is Mickey Rourke while the role of War Machine (pictured above) is now Don Cheadle (instead of Terrence Howard).



Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow


The now out-of-production Yamashita Black Widow anime figure


You might also notice that the Afro Samurai himself, Samuel L. Jackson is playing the role of Nick Fury.

See, I connected anime somehow ^^;.

To view the trailer, click the link above. --- ## #MoeMonday 12/14/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-14-moemonday-121409/ - Date: 2009-12-14 - Tags: #MoeMonday, Akiyama Mio, K-ON, moe - AI-assisted: no #MoeMonday (#MM) is back with this week's moe anime post. This image a wonderfully moe image of K-On!'s Mio. This one is a keeper.


#MoeMonday (#MM) is back with this week's moe anime post. This image a wonderfully moe image of K-On!'s Mio. This one is a keeper. --- ## Last Minute X-Mas Anime Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-12-last-minute-x-mas-anime-figures/ - Date: 2009-12-12 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, figures, x-mas - AI-assisted: no Christmas is almost here and before you know it, it'll be 2010, too. Some of you might know that the anime figure business doesn't always match up with the holiday season. A lar...



Christmas is almost here and before you know it, it'll be 2010, too. Some of you might know that the anime figure business doesn't always match up with the holiday season. A large amount of new figures don't seem to get released to the states until around January or early February. Why? I'm not sure, but luck would have it that I'm actually getting a LARGE shipment of both new and even long out-dated figures.  Some figures were scheduled for late January/February 2010...but are actually running early ^^...

They won't be in until around Thursday December 17th but with X-mas just two weeks away, I'd think it would be best to get the word out so they can be shipped asap to make it for x-mas day. Here's a list of them:
(* means the item is an out of production/ hard to find figure)



...phew; that's a huge list.  Some might not have the links posted; that's either because they sold out or I just didn't get to list them yet ^^;;  If you want anything, you can shop through the store or email me what you'd like.

Don't fret, ALL are the real deal.  No bootlegs on my watch -_-


Pardon the rather commercial post this time but I thought letting you guys know I'm getting THIS many figures in before Christmas would be something you'd all want to know about. --- ## #FanServiceFriday 12/11/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-11-fanservicefriday-121109/ - Date: 2009-12-11 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, Ikkitousen - AI-assisted: no Another week and another #FanServiceFriday (#FF) post. Been getting fans asking for images that were more NSFW. I have to keep a bit of restraint but ok; here's an Ikki Tousen i...



Another week and another #FanServiceFriday (#FF) post.  Been getting fans asking for images that were more NSFW.  I have to keep a bit of restraint but ok; here's an Ikki Tousen image that is NSFW but not too ecchi...well,sort of ^^;;;.

(edit 2/23/2016: fragile cucks at Google adsense wanted this changed a bit) --- ## Member's Anime Blog Update - Google Wave Invites - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-11-members-anime-blog-update-google-wave/ - Date: 2009-12-11 - Tags: member blog, otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no I see that finally after a long time, there is some movement in the Member's Blog . Thank you all who are starting to write there. Over time I will link up the member posts with...


I see that finally after a long time, there is some movement in the Member's Blog. Thank you all who are starting to write there. Over time I will link up the member posts with their relevant topic sites. For example, the anime figures page will have member's posts about figures as well to help gain more exposure and make it worth it to post here.

The contest for the Free Nendoroid Kureha Figure is still going due to the long time it took to get even just these few posts. Once enough people post (~10+), I'll do the very hard task of choosing the winner. I'll also sweeten the deal by giving out Google Wave invites to all those who post. Not sure if Google Wave is really that hard to get now but either way, I'll add that for all who post on the blog.

Also, the member's rules got updated a bit. You CAN link to ecchi/sexy anime sites but be sure to warn people of the links and you can write a post as big as you want and post a good amount of images too. I can use the "fullpost html span" trick to shorten the post on the main blog/archives screen or eventually have it automated; so blog to your heart's content ^_^
 --- ## Miku Hatsune VN02 Mix Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-10-miku-hatsune-vn02-mix-figure/ - Date: 2009-12-10 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Miku Hatsune - AI-assisted: no Opened my email to one of my suppliers in Japan this morning and this Miku figure woke me up. The Miku Hatsune VN02 Mix Figure by Good Smile Company (& Max Factory) is a sig...


Opened my email to one of my suppliers in Japan this morning and this Miku figure woke me up. The Miku Hatsune VN02 Mix Figure by Good Smile Company (& Max Factory) is a sight to behold. If some of you were keeping track of recent Wonfest news, this might not be new to you but for the rest of us who haven't seen this figure, she's a work of art. At first glance, she's not the Moe Miku we are use to but still, this is bound to be one of those very hard to find figures that GSC will probably quickly run out of from the demand (like Black Rock Shooter & Saber Lily).

Like Black Rock Shooter, she'll be shooting a hole in your pocket for a 1/8th scale figure at around 12,800 yen (or ~$160USD....damn you weak US economy -_-). Her expected release date is around late June of 2010 but expect her to be out later than that as with..ahem....Black Rock Shooter taking her sweet time to get here on US shores.

I have her in the store for pre-order but you can also email us to be put on a waiting list. As with many of the official Good Smile Figures, expect the date of release to be later. If we say you are getting it, unless something terrible happens...you will have a figure reserved for you.

Anyways, take a look at some more images of this awesome figure, provided by the Good Smile page created by none other than Danny Choo.












 --- ## Nendoroid: Fate Testarossa The Movie 1st Ver. Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-05-nendoroid-fate-testarossa-movie-1st-ver/ - Date: 2009-12-05 - Tags: anime figures, fate testarossa, figures, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Recently added the Nendoroid: Fate Testarossa The Movie 1st Ver. Figure to the store for pre-order and with in no time been getting requests to reserve her for when she comes ou...


Recently added the Nendoroid: Fate Testarossa The Movie 1st Ver. Figure to the store for pre-order and with in no time been getting requests to reserve her for when she comes out.  A cute figure indeed, this figure is based off of Fate Testaroassa in the up coming Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st anime that'll be in Japanese theaters.  Thought I'd blog about her not just because she's absolutely adorable, but this one might be another one of those Nendoroids that become unavailable and then some crook on eBay sells them for $80+ -_-.   So, I'm just getting the word out there before her release date of somewhere around May/June 2010

I only have 3 reservations available (as of the time of this blog post) but until December 15th (or until Good Smile runs out of reserves)  I could maybe increase that number.  As with all pre-orders on my site, you can either pay for the pre-order in the store or ask to be on the waiting list.  If I say you are on the list; I guarantee to get you one, so none of that "you may not get one" crap you see at other anime stores.

As of late however (like with the Mio nendoroid -_-)  Good Smile Company does seem to delay their official release dates so please, please, please don't quote me on the release date as being exact.  Good Smile comes out with the best anime figures but sady, us US anime store retailers are sometimes the last to second to last to get them in.  The ETA on my store is what "ETA" means, "Estimated Time of Arrival"  There are times Nendoroid figures like Fate, Mio, Saber, etc come out earlier or later than what Good Smile says they will but if I reserve one for you, they are guaranteed by my wholesalers (aaaanime.com, yesanime.com and mile-stone.jp) to come in.

Anyways, here's some more images of this oh so cute Nendoroid:


 --- ## #FanServiceFriday 12/4/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-12-04-fanservicefriday-12409/ - Date: 2009-12-04 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, Ikkitousen - AI-assisted: no Once again continuing the #FanServiceFriday, (#FF) trend this week with a very adequate Ikki Tousen image for those who feel sick. Apparently everyone around me is getting sick ...


Once again continuing the #FanServiceFriday, (#FF) trend this week with a very adequate Ikki Tousen image for those who feel sick.  Apparently everyone around me is getting sick but so far...so good.  Must be my healthy energy drinks (shameless plug) keeping me from the swine flu and other terrible fall/winter bugs.

Hopefully health care reform goes through; the Ikki Tousen girls will probably get their LPNs in nursing for the job ^^.  They surely will get those sick back on their feet in no time ^^;; --- ## Afufu.net 2009 Anime Awards - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-30-afufunet-2009-anime-awards/ - Date: 2009-11-30 - Tags: anime, anime awards, top anime - AI-assisted: no A fellow anime blogger over at afufu.net just recently told me about their annual Anime Awards. Done by the website themselves, the anime awards they do is called ANIMAF There e...



A fellow anime blogger over at afufu.net just recently told me about their annual Anime Awards. Done by the website themselves, the anime awards they do is called ANIMAF There even will be a top list of live action flicks mixed in to the bunch.

(Correction:
Afufu.net won't start the awards until March, 2010, after the Oscars and will only feature anime movies and live action movies (not series and OVAs)  My apologies for the quick read through the site ^^;;  Either way though, let me know of your favorite anime movies/series for the past ten years that deserve some sort of reward)

Since the year (and decade) is coming to an end, which anime series you feel should get the top choice of the year or even, the decade? Didn't get to see many that came out this year (only FMA: Brotherhood and been buying older box sets ^^;;) but I'd gladly nominate Romeo X Juliet as one of the best anime series of at least the past 5 years.

Feel free to make a list of your faves in the comments. --- ## #MoeMonday 11/30/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-30-moemonday-113009/ - Date: 2009-11-30 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime, moe - AI-assisted: no Can't forget about #MoeMonday (#MM) The trend continues today with another wonderfully Moe image; the very Moe Nagisa Furukawa from Clannad.


Can't forget about #MoeMonday (#MM) The trend continues today with another wonderfully Moe image; the very Moe Nagisa Furukawa from Clannad. --- ## #FanServiceFriday 11/27/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-27-fanservicefriday-112709/ - Date: 2009-11-27 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, otaku - AI-assisted: no Continuing again the #FanServiceFriday (#FF) trend with this lovely picture. Today is Black Friday and many of you were prbably up earlier than this early blog post. The anime g...


Continuing again the #FanServiceFriday (#FF) trend with this lovely picture.  Today is Black Friday and many of you were prbably up earlier than this early blog post.  The anime girl in this picture didn't want to get up for the Black Friday rush and is still all cosy in bed.  She will probably just shop online this holiday season. --- ## Gundam Christmas Tree - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-27-gundam-christmas-tree/ - Date: 2009-11-27 - Tags: christmas tree, gundam, otaku - AI-assisted: no Ok, that's not exactly how the tree looks (image pending), but in the spirit of the holidays, yes there will actually be a Gundam Christmas Tree. The news comes from Anime News ...


Ok, that's not exactly how the tree looks (image pending), but in the spirit of the holidays, yes there will actually be a Gundam Christmas Tree.

The news comes from Anime News Network today and here's a quick summery if you don't wish to view the post directly.

There is a 5 meter (~16 foot) tall tree full of Gundam figures that will be lit up on December 3rd in the heart of the anime world; yep you guessed it, in the otaku shopping district of Akihabara.

It's actually to commemorate the release of the new Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus PSP game and the actual flipping of the switch will be done by none other than Amuro Ray's voice actor, Tohru Furuya.

Being that I'm on Long Island, I have the privilege to go check out the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree in NYC but...this year, I'd gladly like to switch spots with someone in Japan of course.

(As for the image above...it's what you think it is, me doing a cheap and quick photoshop image ^^;;)

 --- ## Not the Typical Black Friday Post - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-25-not-typical-black-friday-post/ - Date: 2009-11-25 - Tags: anime, black friday, thanksgiving - AI-assisted: no Hey anime fans. Ok, you guys have probably had enough with the darn Black Friday promos going on. The economy created such a fear in the hearts of retailers that they are going ...

Hey anime fans. Ok, you guys have probably had enough with the darn Black Friday promos going on. The economy created such a fear in the hearts of retailers that they are going to great (and stupid) efforts this year to sap you of any money. One very crazy and very desperate maneuver comes from the monopoly-hungry Walmart where they plan on being open all 24 hours of Thanksgiving!

My thoughts and prayers go to the workers of that and any retail location being open on a day that you should be with family. For Walmart workers, it's bad enough they have to deal with their typical customers on a daily basis, let alone the insanity of missing Turkey Day because some overly-scared marketing department has a bad case of we-don't-know-anything-better-to-do.

My inbox has gotten way too many "door buster deals" posts and it's only the Wednesday before the big weekend! Put on the radio, the TV, hell, watch your favorite anime on Hulu and you are bound to run into these crazy ads.

The point of my rather tongue-in-cheek post today is to say that you should spend some quality time with family. They might not be there the next day and thus take the time out to smell the roses and enjoy the holiday season, even if you are religious or not. Go buy gifts for your family and fellow otaku but remember the internet is probably a better place to be than the insanity of the malls. If you are working hard this weekend, try to keep your sanity. If you are to take on the holiday rush...be sure to respect those who are probably missing out on family time with all the most dire respects..and even defend them from the creatures that might roam the malls and stores this holiday season. As you guys know, I'm a retailer too and I'm not in any rush like the others are so make sure to be cool and not to fret.

...oh and as for those who are wondering if I'm to create a Black Friday deal...yes, I am. Keeping it short and simple (as it should be). *Starting Friday, (or sooner) until the end of Cyber Monday, ALL US orders have FREE shipping in my main store (here on this site) For my friends overseas; orders that go for $25+ shipping have been dropped to a flat $15 rate.  Whether its for a pre-order item that doesn't come out for months or something I currently have..the deal goes.*  Again, short and simple.

Ok, so I made a Black Friday pitch...but like the post says...it ain't a typical one.

(Anime Autumn wallpaper from http://blog.ephemeraleternity.com) --- ## #MoeMonday 11/23/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-23-moemonday-112309/ - Date: 2009-11-23 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime, Yuki Nagato - AI-assisted: no Once again continuing the #MoeMonday (#MM) trend by posting up this wonderfully cute moe image. This is indeed an image of Haruhi Suzumiya's Yuki Nagato. More specifically it's ...


Once again continuing the #MoeMonday (#MM) trend by posting up this wonderfully cute moe image. This is indeed an image of Haruhi Suzumiya's Yuki Nagato. More specifically it's a Neko Yuki image. --- ## Mainichi Daily News App (Anime Newspaper from Japan) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-21-mainichi-daily-news-app-anime-newspaper/ - Date: 2009-11-21 - Tags: anime, iphone, Mantan - AI-assisted: no I was recently introduced to Mainichi Daily News. Of course I so need to get my knowledge of kanji up to speed but for those of you who can read Japanese kanji and want to read ...


I was recently introduced to Mainichi Daily News. Of course I so need to get my knowledge of kanji up to speed but for those of you who can read Japanese kanji and want to read from a Japanese newspaper about anime, manga, games and other goodies straight from the Land of The Raising Sun, then the "Mantanbroad" and "Mantan Collection" iPhone apps might be good additions to your collection. Some artists involved with these apps include:




The Mantanbroad is the actual newpaper while the Mantan Collection app is a gallery game and other features.  Search "Mantan" in the app store and you'll find them ^_^


 --- ## #FanServiceFriday 11/20/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-20-fanservicefriday-112009/ - Date: 2009-11-20 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday - AI-assisted: no Here's another #FanServiceFriday (#FF) pic for the week. The ever so pretty Blanc Neige in her famous pose. This image also became a figure as well.


Here's another #FanServiceFriday (#FF) pic for the week.  The ever so pretty Blanc Neige in her famous pose.  This image also became a figure as well.



--- ## Touhou Project Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-18-touhou-project-figures/ - Date: 2009-11-18 - Tags: anime figures, Good Smile Company, Touhou Project - AI-assisted: no Got a wonderful early Christmas present in my email a few days back. My store was given the rights to sell the official Good Smile Company/Max Factory Toho (Touhou) Project figu...


Got a wonderful early Christmas present in my email a few days back. My store was given the rights to sell the official Good Smile Company/Max Factory Toho (Touhou) Project figures! That's correct, I'll be stocking the very rare Figma Reimu Hakurei and Nendoroid Marisa Kirisame figures! Much like the recent Saber Lily Good Smile Company figure, these figures will be so hard to get that even in Japan there will be slim pickings. Just one glance over at eBay and you'll notice that their pre-orders are going for $80 and over. I'm not a thief like them so I'm keeping the price based on my costs ^^.

As a side note, those pre-sales and practically all anime figure pre-orders on eBay are actually against eBay rules since the figures must be able to be shipped out 30 days after purchase...so go ahead and report those guys if you want. Many of the pre-order figures on there are either fakes and/or won't come out for another 3-4 months -_- In other words, expect these to be highly bootlegged so choose your seller wisely. My wholesaler directly in Japan, mile-stone.jp were the ones who helped me out with this and of course once they come in (which should be either January or ~February of 2010) I will gladly show images of the boxes with the appropriate stickers that show their authenticity. --- ## #MoeMonday 11/16/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-16-moemonday-111609/ - Date: 2009-11-16 - Tags: #MoeMonday - AI-assisted: no Continuing the #MM, #MoeMonday trend this week with this very cute picture. Make sure you use the new comment system or be cursed with moe cutness.


Continuing the #MM, #MoeMonday trend this week with this very cute picture.  Make sure you use the new comment system or be cursed with moe cutness. --- ## New Comment System - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-15-new-comment-system/ - Date: 2009-11-15 - Tags: anime blog, updates - AI-assisted: no For a while I have been trying to create a comment system that would be useful, display avatars, allow YouTube clips to be posted in-comment as well as the ability to reply to c...


For a while I have been trying to create a comment system that would be useful, display avatars, allow YouTube clips to be posted in-comment as well as the ability to reply to comments. Thankfully that came a bit easy with the Google Friend Connect comment gadget. It allows all of that as well as the ability to sign in via Google, AIM, openID and until any spam rolls in, I'll continue to allow anonymous comments too. Sadly, the old google Blogger comment system that was on the site had to be commented out (haha, get it?) and any previous comments are no longer visible. The old comment system was a bit of a bore and thus not many comments were on there in the first place. I also did the same for anime.fm and charlesgaffney.com. The coding for this comment system, like most of the stuff with google is open-source and internet wide so expect more customizations but at least all comments will be kept here for good on the site....of course unless it's spam. --- ## Sushipedia - Sushi Lover's iPhone App - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-15-sushipedia-sushi-lovers-iphone-app/ - Date: 2009-11-15 - Tags: iphone, sushi - AI-assisted: no I'm a major sushi lover and I'd bet most of you are. This wonderful iPhone app is an encyclopedia of sushi. Sushi is very varied category of food and caters to those who either ...


I'm a major sushi lover and I'd bet most of you are.  This wonderful iPhone app is an encyclopedia of sushi.  Sushi is very varied category of food and caters to those who either are vegetarians/vegan (sweet potato roll, avocado roll, etc), those who are fish lovers of course, those who like something fried (shrimp tempura roll) and even those who want to cheat death by eating the deadly Fugu Fish x_x


Though I tend to poke fun at the disfunction that is Eastern Long Island, there have been a number of really good sushi places popping up in recent time and this app lets me have a nice detailed view, history and description of what each type of sushi is before I shell out the $ at these places.  There is even a place called Sushi Park about 10 miles away from my house that is an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet that will only run you about $15 a person ^^.  This app keeps me hungry for those wonderful maki rolls, which is better than being hungry for a fastfood burger ^^;;  The app is call Sushipedia and is free so check it out.

 --- ## #FanServiceFriday 11/13/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-13-fanservicefriday-111309/ - Date: 2009-11-13 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, anime, Gurren Lagann - AI-assisted: no Keeping the #FanServiceFriday (#FF) trend going this week with an ecchi Yoko image. Not the most provocative of Yoko but one that's at least somewhat safe for work ^^;


Keeping the #FanServiceFriday (#FF) trend going this week with an ecchi Yoko image.  Not the most provocative of Yoko but one that's at least somewhat safe for work ^^; --- ## Final Fantasy XIII Official US Release Date - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-13-final-fantasy-xiii-official-us-release/ - Date: 2009-11-13 - Tags: final fantasy, final fantasy XIII, videogames - AI-assisted: no Mark 3/9/10 in your calendars my fellow US Final Fantasy fans, just got a letter from Square-Enix as well as saw a fan post on dannychoo.com about the official release date of F...

Mark 3/9/10 in your calendars my fellow US Final Fantasy fans, just got a letter from Square-Enix as well as saw a fan post on dannychoo.com about the official release date of Final Fantasy XIII.  Been waiting for the game for so long of course and as with any FF game, it probably is worth the wait.  As most of you know, it'll be on the PS3 and the Xbox 360.  I'm still going with my plan to buy the PS3..gotta watch the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete BluRay of course ^^.

The FFXIII figures come out around the time too, so it was bit expexted that March would be the time we'd see it. --- ## Otaku Energy Drinks - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-12-otaku-energy-drinks/ - Date: 2009-11-12 - Tags: energy drinks, otaku - AI-assisted: no Ok, admit it, we all drink energy drinks. Some of us (me) drink them like coffee. I have sampled many of the multitude of drinks out there. Most of course are simply liquid suga...

Ok, admit it, we all drink energy drinks. Some of us (me) drink them like coffee. I have sampled many of the multitude of drinks out there. Most of course are simply liquid sugar with Taurine and caffeine. Many of us love these sugary drinks and some of them come in versions that us anime/video game fans love. As you see in the image there's the Domo drink and the Naruto drink and not pictured is the DBZ Super Saiyan drink I blogged about a while ago. For too long I didn't stock any one of them, but today that has changed. Eventually I will stock the array of drinks with our favorite characters slapped on it but since late 2004...I've actually been selling energy drinks with XS Energy Drink ^^;;, the drink some of you might have seen in the hands of the Orlando Magic during the last NBA Finals. Reason for the long wait was because it was one of those deals where I couldn't sell beyond person-to-person, but since I own my anime store here as a legal business entity, I have the rights to add them to the online store.

Just take a glance on over at the store and you will see a few of the many flavors they have (yes an energy drink that actually has more than citrus and sorta-still-citrus flavors)... like green tea and cherry cola. These aren't the sugar filled guys and they were the first healthy (but taste very good) energy drinks that started around 2001-2002.  They are mainly drop shipped to save people on the shipping plus orders of them netting $75 is actually free shipping. Doesn't mean I won't have them on hand too, to accommodate those wary of drop shipping.

Anyways, before I make this post seem too much like an ad ^^;;, just check the new energy drink section out yourself and you can always ask me questions on them; back a few years ago I was practically an expert on them. --- ## Shunya Yamashita's Ikki Tousen Ryomou Shimei Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-11-shunya-yamashitas-ikki-tousen-ryomou/ - Date: 2009-11-11 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Ikkitousen, Ryomou Shimei, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Just got word of this figure being put on reserves for pre-order. Like many, I'm a fan of the Shunya Yamashita figures. This one is most definitely one to add to the list, it ju...


Just got word of this figure being put on reserves for pre-order.  Like many, I'm a fan of the Shunya Yamashita figures.  This one is most definitely one to add to the list, it just might cost much more than the usual ones though ^^;;  At about 15,000 yen (~$170) it'll put a hole in the wallet, yet it looks to be worth it if you are looking for a larger Yamashita figure.   This version of Ryomou Shimei will be a 1/6th scale so expect it to take up some shelf space.  Not sure yet if I'll be stocking a bunch of her in the store but I'll see what I can do.  She won' be around till around March in Japan and thus around April in the states so there is some time to save up your money for her...as long as you don't spend it all this x-mas season. --- ## #MoeMonday 11/9/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-09-moemonday-11909/ - Date: 2009-11-09 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime, Miku Hatsune, moe - AI-assisted: no The #MM trend for us anime fans is #MoeMonday. To continue the trend of showing off moe images on Monday, here is this image of the week, a very moe image of Miku Hatsune. Her N...


The #MM trend for us anime fans is #MoeMonday. To continue the trend of showing off moe images on Monday, here is this image of the week, a very moe image of Miku Hatsune.  Her Nendoroid figure is actually coming out again and I'll more than likely nab a few for the store and I think I better keep one for myself this time ^^;; --- ## #FanServiceFriday 11/6/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-06-fanservicefriday-11609/ - Date: 2009-11-06 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, anime - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday is the twitter #FF trend for us anime fans. To continue the trend, here's this week's (Akikan) image. #FanServiceFriday is the twitter #FF trend for us anime fans. To continue the trend, here's this week's (Akikan) image. --- ## Romeo X Juliet - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-06-romeo-x-juliet/ - Date: 2009-11-06 - Tags: anime, Romeo x Juliet - AI-assisted: no A few days back I finally got to see the entire Romeo X Juliet series and all the hype was indeed true...and then some. I won't create a story-detailed review since god knows th... A few days back I finally got to see the entire Romeo X Juliet series and all the hype was indeed true...and then some. I won't create a story-detailed review since god knows there are a ton of them already since the series came out in 2007 and I don't want to give away anything either if you haven't seen this. This anime is something that becomes a wonderful experience for those who chose not to read up on anything beforehand. Romeo X Juliet, wonderfully animated by Gonzo and obviously taken from William Shakespeare's play is exactly what it states it is, an anime adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
I have of course read the original play and chances are many of you have since it's the bragging child of any artsy, fartsy European-enthusiast thespian teacher; which there are alot of in our public schools here.

At first glance, one might think it's very detached from the original story but make no haste in that assumption; before you watch this, think of it as the events that inspired Shakespeare to write the play and that will make this gem all the more sweeter. Shakespeare being a character in the story itself is a cleaver little twist in which makes my prior sentence true...plus he's a damn funny character with the others poking fun at his plays that have too much art and little substance (something I've told my English teachers ad nauseam).

All 24 episodes are stunning in story, art (duh, it's anime), and execution. Throughout it your emotions pour out to the characters and the hatred of royalty and elite society I most definitely felt but in both a truly artistic way and very anime-styled way, you see the very human force that undermines both classes of people in Neo Verona and toward the end, we see hidden forces that overshadow all that was going on in the first place. It won't be till the very end that you feel the whole emotional brunt of this stunning anime, so watch all the way till the end. The Lena Park version of "You Raise Me Up" will indefinably bring tears to even the most unwavered hearts and FUNimation with their voice talent did a stunning English dub that also can't go unrecognized.

Romeo X Juliet has made me an anime fan all over again and I'll go as far as saying that this will probably be remembered as the best anime series of the decade.

Check out the opening and ending below and be sure to support Gonzo and FUNimation by buying the box sets of this; trust me, you will not be disappointed. (I might be able to supply the box sets through my store for the x-mas season)

For more info on the music of Romeo X Juilet, check out my post on anime.fm.



Romeo X Juliet Opening


First Ending Sequence
 --- ## Anime Store Feed - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-04-anime-store-feed/ - Date: 2009-11-04 - Tags: anime figures, anime store, figures - AI-assisted: no As some of you may know, I own an anime store and its an anime store run with an OsCommerce back-end. OsCommerce is frankly a do-it-yourself kind of set up. One rather important... As some of you may know, I own an anime store and its an anime store run with an OsCommerce back-end. OsCommerce is frankly a do-it-yourself kind of set up. One rather important thing it originally didn't have was an rss feed for people to keep track of the newest figures, figure pre-orders and other anime products that get placed in the store. RSS feeds are obviously much better in automating the updates and making it easier for you guys to see if anything changes on a daily basis without having to go to the store's main page everyday (though I of course wouldn't mind that either ^_-). I took away the rather useless amazon product links that (sometimes) linked to my items on amazon.com to now have this feed. I also put it up on the new anime.fm page. OsCommerce does have a bunch of programmers that post up useful add-ons but as usual, I had to completely re-code the supposedly working add-ons to match my site -_- So lots of time was actually put into what should have been a quick deal.

Anyways, be sure to subscribe to it to keep up to date. You never know what figures, etc I might have up for pre-order or order ^_^
 --- ## Ar Tonelico 3 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-03-ar-tonelico-3/ - Date: 2009-11-03 - Tags: ar tonelico 3, videogames - AI-assisted: no Excited to find out yesterday about Ar Tonelico 3. In case you aren't familiar with the Ar Tonelico series, think of them as a mix between a dating sim and an RPG with similar d...

Excited to find out yesterday about Ar Tonelico 3. In case you aren't familiar with the Ar Tonelico series, think of them as a mix between a dating sim and an RPG with similar dynamics to Valkyrie Profile. At the same time the art work is amazing thus making it an anime fan's dream. Hardcore gamers might not have been too fond of the previous installments due to the large amounts of dialog (with very cute 2D girls), and old-school in-game graphics, but so far the series has delivered and the 3rd installment looks to be even better. This one is a leap ahead with cell shaded 3D graphics and looks to utilize more Action RPG commands. I'd expect it to eat up 70+ hours of my time like Ar Tonelico 2 has done (which I still need to finish). Like many good things coming from Japan soon, it won't hit stores in Japan till January and thus won't be in the states till spring or so. Right now...it's just a great piece of eye candy for us.



 --- ## Dragon Ball Headphones - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-02-dragon-ball-headphones/ - Date: 2009-11-02 - Tags: dragon ball, gadgets - AI-assisted: no Here's an interesting piece of electronics I saw over at mile-stone. jp . Looks like in January or February we can get our hands on some Dragon Ball head phones, yep add headpho... Here's an interesting piece of electronics I saw over at mile-stone.jp. Looks like in January or February we can get our hands on some Dragon Ball head phones, yep add headphones to the array of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z items that are out there. Based on the page, they will go for about 3440 yen or roughly $40-$45. Unless I really get started on some of that voice-over work, I probably will keep using my small ear-bud headphones. --- ## #MoeMonday 11/2/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-11-02-moemonday-11209/ - Date: 2009-11-02 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime, K-ON, moe - AI-assisted: no The #MM trend for us anime fans is #MoeMonday. To continue the trend of showing off moe images on Monday, here is this image of the week, the girls of K-on. They are making us h... The #MM trend for us anime fans is #MoeMonday. To continue the trend of showing off moe images on Monday, here is this image of the week, the girls of K-on. They are making us here in NY wish it would be summer again soon -_- --- ## #FanServiceFriday 10/30/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-30-fanservicefriday-103009-30/ - Date: 2009-10-30 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, anime - AI-assisted: no #FanServiceFriday is the twitter #FF trend for us anime fans. To continue the trend, here's this week's image. This one is moe too ^_^ (sorry for posting this a bit early before... #FanServiceFriday is the twitter #FF trend for us anime fans. To continue the trend, here's this week's image. This one is moe too ^_^

(sorry for posting this a bit early before ^^;;) --- ## Michelle Phan: Sailor Moon Cosplay Makeup - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-27-michelle-phan-sailor-moon-cosplay/ - Date: 2009-10-27 - Tags: cosplay, Michelle Phan, Sailor Moon, videos, youtube - AI-assisted: no Many of you probably know Michelle Phan. For those who don't, she's a famous youtuber who also is an avid gamer and a big anime fan. Her typical videos consist of makeup and ski...


Many of you probably know Michelle Phan. For those who don't, she's a famous youtuber who also is an avid gamer and a big anime fan. Her typical videos consist of makeup and skin care tips and in a video she posted about four days prior to this post, make-up and cosplay tips for those want to look like a very well done Sailor Moon.

Check out her video below...and be sure to subscribe ^_^



(A little bit of info, (and sorta shameless plug ^^;) Danielle and I actually do have a store through the makeup/skincare company, Artistry that you can ask us for help on as well as purchase of material for any of your cosplay needs. You can also support Michelle Phan and her sponsors, IQQU or just use what you are accustomed too ^^)

 --- ## K-ON! Akiyama Mio Original Costume Ver. [Movic] - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-26-k-on-akiyama-mio-original-costume-ver/ - Date: 2009-10-26 - Tags: Akiyama Mio, anime figures, Costume Version, figures, K-ON, Movic - AI-assisted: no Just saw this wonderful Mio figure posted for reserve from one of my store's wholesalers mile-stone.jp Looks like it will be coming out in Japan some time in January. For me in ...

Just saw this wonderful Mio figure posted for reserve from one of my store's wholesalers mile-stone.jp Looks like it will be coming out in Japan some time in January.
For me in the states...probably later -_- but we'll see.

I will post to the store the instant I can officially reserve her for US sales

She's a 1/8th scale figure and will retail for 7140 JPY (~$85)

Big thanks to eyeonasia for most of the pics.













 --- ## #MoeMonday - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-26-moemonday/ - Date: 2009-10-26 - Tags: #MoeMonday, anime, Tsukasa Hiiragi - AI-assisted: no Here's another Twitter trend for anime fans you guys to maybe start up. There is #MusicMonday but for us...I'd say we start #MoeMonday. Like #FanServiceFriday where we tweet and... Here's another Twitter trend for anime fans you guys to maybe start up. There is #MusicMonday but for us...I'd say we start #MoeMonday. Like #FanServiceFriday where we tweet and post fan service pictures on Fridays, Moe Monday is for those cute Moe images in anime we love so much ^_^ Here's an image of Lucky Star's Tsukasa Hiiragi to get things started. --- ## #FanServiceFriday - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-23-fanservicefriday/ - Date: 2009-10-23 - Tags: #FanServiceFriday, fan service, otaku, twitter - AI-assisted: no For those who use Twitter, a common Friday post the trend called Follow Friday or #ff to show off people on twitter we think are cool and deserve following. I thought up of an a...

For those who use Twitter, a common Friday post the trend called Follow Friday or #ff to show off people on twitter we think are cool and deserve following. I thought up of an anime equivalent called #FanServiceFriday. It's a way for us to post moments in anime when either a bad anime tries to redeem itself or a good anime adds that icing on the cake. Those nosebleed-worthy moments are part of the anime culture and I say we should get this trend started ^_^

(Note: I'll keep my fan service posts only on a PG-13 or less level as for PR reasons and to keep my twitter and other accounts safe from being banned ^^;;

Also, I wish I could take credit for this but about 6 days ago the first notion of #FanServiceFriday on twitter was by user @alainchristian. Also, the anime blog moggling.com every Friday has a Fan Service Friday post (like the picture above))

My twitter name is @princetrunks btw ^^

 --- ## Rogue Bishoujo Figure: Long Coat Version - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-16-rogue-bishoujo-figure-long-coat-version/ - Date: 2009-10-16 - Tags: anime figures, Bishoujo, figures, rogue - AI-assisted: no Kotobukiya is making something special for Rogue fans. Just when you thought the Shunya Yamashita Rogue was really cool, they go and make a limited edition one. This version, th...

Kotobukiya is making something special for Rogue fans. Just when you thought the Shunya Yamashita Rogue was really cool, they go and make a limited edition one. This version, the "Long Coat PX Exclusive" will be limited to just 1000 figures made. Personally, I'm just fine with the regular version but for fans that might miss out on this hot selling figure, this could be your chance. Don't expect a Pre-Christmas release though, since she's scheduled for an official US release in late January -_-

I will be stocking some for the store, so you can pre-order her here or just email me that you want to reserve one.

I hope to see more figures done with Koto and Yamashita soon.
 --- ## Anime Pic of the Day 10/13/09: Tifa Fan Art - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-13-anime-pic-of-day-101309-tifa-fan-art/ - Date: 2009-10-13 - Tags: anime pic of the day, fan art, final fantasy VII, tifa - AI-assisted: no Here's a classic Tifa Fan art from years ago. Not sure of the artist to this day sadly, would love to give him/her credit for this picture. This picture has a special meaning si...


Here's a classic Tifa Fan art from years ago. Not sure of the artist to this day sadly, would love to give him/her credit for this picture. This picture has a special meaning since it was this image and a picture of Trunks that were the first images to grace this site back in March of 2002. Tifa has always been my favorite anime/videogame girl and will continue to be but of course I have other favorites. --- ## Otaku USA - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-09-otaku-usa/ - Date: 2009-10-09 - Tags: anime industry, chucksanimeshrine, otaku, Otaku US - AI-assisted: no Today I came home to a great surprise. Got a free copy of the December 2009 issue of Otaku USA Magazine. Why did I get a free copy? Well, that's because you'll find us in the ma...


Today I came home to a great surprise. Got a free copy of the December 2009 issue of Otaku USA Magazine. Why did I get a free copy? Well, that's because you'll find us in the magazine ^_^.

Ok well, not exactly a story on us (yet), but on page 117 you will see a banner for this site and the store. Very exciting and this issue of Otaku USA has lots of good stuff, particularly about Clamp (duh) and all the series Clamp is responsible for like the recent Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and who can't forget Card Captor Sakura and Chobits? Just browsing through I saw a very cool article too on the beginnings of anime with stuff that would make Gigantor look new.

I know many of you miss NewType being in the states but Otaku USA is probably the biggest anime magazine in the country with over 300,000 subscribers and can be found at many news stations and even at Walmarts. Been trying to get an ad together for them for some time now and hopefully this won't be the last time our banner is in there as well as hopes of being in there in an article. I am responsible for a BusinessWeek article so it's only a matter of time ^_^






--- ## Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood English Cast - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-08-fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood-english/ - Date: 2009-10-08 - Tags: anime, fullmetal alchemist, fullmetal alchemist brotherhood, voice actors - AI-assisted: no Just got a message from FUNimation that they got the English voice dubbing cast together for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. As of two days ago I finally got the chance to sit...

Just got a message from FUNimation that they got the English voice dubbing cast together for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. As of two days ago I finally got the chance to sit down and watch the series on the FUNimation youtube channel and I have to say...the series looks awesome! Here's the list as per FUNi:

Edward Elric - Vic Mignogna
Alphonse Elric - Maxey Whitehead
Roy Mustang - Travis Willingham
Winry Rockbell - Caitlin Glass
Lust - Laura Bailey
Gluttony - Chris Cason
Maes Hughes - Sonny Strait
Scar - J Michael Tatum
Fuhrer King Bradley - Ed Blaylock
Riza Hawkeye - Colleen Clinkenbeard
Louis Armstrong - Christopher Sabat
Isaac McDougal - Bryan Massey
Envy - Wendy Powell
Jean Havoc / ADR Director - Mike McFarland

The names in red are the new voice actors and you cn see that Scar and Alphonse are new actors and the main role of Edward Elric is yet again being done by Vic Mignogna. Met Vic once and he's actually very friendly to the fans and cosplays at conventions...he's not short though like Edward ^^;

For those who somehow haven't heard of this new FMA series. It's a remake of the series that goes more to the manga than the original series did. --- ## Mirai Suenaga Anime - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-07-mirai-suenaga-anime/ - Date: 2009-10-07 - Tags: anime, dannychoo, Mirai - AI-assisted: no Dannychoo.com's Mascot Mirai Suenaga is getting an anime based on her and her sisters! Called "Mirai no Mirai", the anime looks like it will be beautifully done by the artist K ...


Dannychoo.com's Mascot Mirai Suenaga is getting an anime based on her and her sisters! Called "Mirai no Mirai", the anime looks like it will be beautifully done by the artist K L. No set time yet on it's release date but I'm adding it to my watch list for sure. Big congrats to Danny Choo yet again for having his site mascot not only have a figure coming out based on her...but an anime too ^o^ Damn Danny, me and other fans out there I'm sure would love the same for their sites and own characters. Once again, thanks for blazing the trail (and making all of us all the more jealous ^^;)

Check Danny's post about it here. --- ## Inuyasha: The Final Act is LIVE! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-03-inuyasha-final-act-is-live/ - Date: 2009-10-03 - Tags: anime, inuyasha, inuyasha final act, videos - AI-assisted: no Inuyasha the Final Act JUST got live on Hulu.com ! The first episode is called Naraku's Heart. Inuyasha is officially back guys! Watch it below or check it out on Hulu


Inuyasha the Final Act JUST got live on Hulu.com! The first episode is called Naraku's Heart. Inuyasha is officially back guys!

Watch it below or check it out on Hulu

--- ## Bleach Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-02-bleach-figures/ - Date: 2009-10-02 - Tags: anime figures, Bleach, figures, Neriel, Sarugaki Hiyori - AI-assisted: no Alpha Omega just announced for pre-order these very great looking Bleach figures. The Neriel one of course catches the eyes ^^;; It's of course Neriel in her (nose-bleed worthy)...

Alpha Omega just announced for pre-order these very great looking Bleach figures. The Neriel one of course catches the eyes ^^;; It's of course Neriel in her (nose-bleed worthy) transformed state. The second figure, looking just as true to the series is the Sarugaki Hiyori figure (shown below). They retail for about $70-$80USD and will be out in the land of the rising sun by some time in February. I haven't got word from my suppliers AAAanime.com and yesanime.com about the US release for my store but I'm more than likely going to reserve a few for any of you to get your hands on. Chances are though..it will take till around March or so before they get here to the states -_-


 --- ## Tifa Cosplay - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-02-tifa-cosplay/ - Date: 2009-10-02 - Tags: anime fest 09, cosplay, danielle, final fantasy VII, tifa - AI-assisted: no Here's a little surprise for you all, my loyal readers. Thanks to the Cosprints.com , may I present you all with professional photos of my fiancee, Danielle cosplaying as Advent...

Here's a little surprise for you all, my loyal readers. Thanks to the Cosprints.com, may I present you all with professional photos of my fiancee, Danielle cosplaying as Advent Children Tifa. Since she's part Japanese, she holds a decent look to Tifa in my opinion (and definitely Yuna too ^^) These were taken at the New York Anime Fest this past weekend. I might even change the cosplay image on the front page to her now ^_^





 (glad to have my site back after yesterday's shut down ^^;;)
Here's a video she put up too ^^
--- ## Cencoroll - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-01-cencoroll/ - Date: 2009-10-01 - Tags: anime, anime industry, Cencoroll - AI-assisted: no This past weekend the anime movie, Cencoroll was premiered at the NY Anime Festival. Though I was there, due to the insane crowding of the event in general, it was hopeless to e...


This past weekend the anime movie, Cencoroll was premiered at the NY Anime Festival. Though I was there, due to the insane crowding of the event in general, it was hopeless to even try to stand in there -_-. I didn't mind this too much though since seeing such chaos shows that there is still and will always be life in the anime industry.

The movie is the brain-child of Atsuya Uki who does the daunting task (yet what we all kinda want to do) of writing, designing, directing, and animating most of the anime. It's based off his manga, Amon Game and many like to compare it to a mix of Evangalion and FLCL. What makes this anime rather unique, (besides the whole controlling a flying beast from inside it) is that it's an independent film that is gaining wonderful popularity, accolades and very soon....great profit. Recently even CNN was showing how anime animators are all giving the "starving artist" image with low wages, long hours and seemingly pointless projects by their employers; employers with big names (and big pockets) like Toei and others. Cencoroll seems to show what we see when passion and heart go into an animation with money not trumping those ideals and the good old ideal I hold very dearly...not being owned by a boss.


What we have seen in recent years in the anime industry is equivalent to what we see with the video game industry with a word I've said for years before it was a norm... "shovel-ware". "Shovel-ware" in the video game industry is when a big company gets a hold of a popular license and without knowing the spirit of both the industry and the license, thinks that pumping a quick game that has that license will yield the most profits, since everyone will gather to that popular name. Wonder why in God's name there are Barbie games or why most games based on movies are generally terrible? (Wonder why Dragon Ball Evolution was just an insult to all who care for anime?) Anime got great popular internationally at the beginning of the century and some studios have fallen into that trap of pumping out "shovel-ware" (example: fillers)

To see something like Cencoroll, an independent project, come to the limelight and be aided by leaders in the industry like Aniplex, it's very refreshing and makes anyone looking to make their own anime have great hope. Many of us fans of anime are into it because we were inspired by the art and culture and in no other industry do you see the fans do their best to participate, mimic and hopefully surpass their role models.

Check out the trailer to Cencoroll below.






 --- ## Hyakka Ryoran: Hattori Hanzo Alter Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-10-01-hyakka-ryoran-hattori-hanzo-alter/ - Date: 2009-10-01 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Hattori Hanzo, Hyakka Ryoran - AI-assisted: no Update(10/17/09): Hattori Hanzo was announced for official US distribution. Got her up for pre-order here. Here's another figure I'm putting on my "Must Buy 0_0" list. From the ...

Update(10/17/09): Hattori Hanzo was announced for official US distribution.

Got her up for pre-order here.

Here's another figure I'm putting on my "Must Buy 0_0" list. From the series Hyakka Ryoran, aka "Samurai Girls" comes this recently announced figure of Hattori Hanzo. She won't be in till around March in Japan (April or later in the states -_-) but this figure is on my watch list for sure. If I can nab a few for my store, you'll see here up there. She retails for about 9240 yen or about $105 USD, is made by Alter and is a 1/8th scale, so roughly 220mm.


My God don't go anywhere near her if she spins...that'll be instant death
--- ## Inuyasha: The Final Act (updated) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-28-inuyasha-final-act/ - Date: 2009-09-28 - Tags: anime, inuyasha, inuyasha final act - AI-assisted: no (Update 10/3/09): The first episode airs very soon on Hulu.com! Check the trailer below. The instant it goes up, I'll get it here on the site ^_^ Great news for Inuyasha fans! S...


(Update 10/3/09): The first episode airs very soon on Hulu.com! Check the trailer below. The instant it goes up, I'll get it here on the site ^_^



Great news for Inuyasha fans! Soon there finally will be closure to the anime series! The 26 episode sequel series called Inuyasha: The Final Act will be airing in Japan starting October 3rd. The story continues where the last series ended and will complete the story remaining in 21 manga volumes. Viz of course will be buying the rights here in the US, not sure if Cartoon Network will drop the ball again and miss out on yet another big series, but at least we'll see it finally come to a conclusion. Hopefully I'll resurrect my old Inyasha section into the new format of my site by then ^^;; This is also great info for those who have been bugging me about the supposed OVA that was to happen. This I'm pretty sure is what it has evolved into.

More news can be read at Anime News Network

(still wondering why I'm getting the cold shoulder from @ANNZac there. I throw traffic their way; probably pissed since my site sometimes gets better SEO than they do -_-) --- ## MOFILM Fan Ad Competition (Contest Winners Shown) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-28-mofilm-fan-ad-competition/ - Date: 2009-09-28 - Tags: contest, MOFILM, videos - AI-assisted: no (update:) Here are the winners of this contest: First place winner: "stop ignoring your skin" by Jeff Gill Second place runner up: "Busy Life Healthy Skin" by Adam Montoya Third...



(update:)
Here are the winners of this contest:

First place winner: "stop ignoring your skin" by Jeff Gill

Second place runner up: "Busy Life Healthy Skin" by Adam Montoya

Third place runner up: "Vaseline" by Alexandria Jackson

Are you an aspiring movie maker? I know many of us anime fans are if AMVs are any hint of it. Well, got some cool news to share to you from my friends over at RocketXL and MOFILM.
Some of you might know about the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival that's in October. MOFILM and Vaseline want you to possibly win a trip to the Film Festival as well as get a hold of $10,000. Here's the details:

"Vaseline MEN has forged an exciting partnership with MOFILM, a pioneer in sourcing user-generated content, for the "Make an Ad" Competition which offers aspiring filmmakers the chance to submit a film by October 5 for the chance to win these amazing prizes:

- 1st Place prize is US $10,000 and a trip for two people to attend this year's London Film Festival, including airfare and lodging! - 2nd Prize: US $500 - 3rd Prize: US $500

Vaseline has created a creative brief around its Vaseline MEN Fast Absorbing Body & Face lotion that it is uniquely designed to fortify men's skin to make it stronger and more resilient, in just :15 seconds a day. Interested participants can download the creative brief, already available, at the MOFILM website http://www.mofilm.com/competitions/lff2009/terms to create a 90-second advertisement on the brief and upload it to the MOFILM website before the closing date of October 5.

The competition is open to anyone over the age of 16, with awards and prizes to be selected by a brand representatives and a distinguished group of independent judges.

You can also follow @MOFILMvaseline on Twitter for updates from Vaseline MEN and can tweet any questions about the brief or program directly to the brand."

Check this out guys. Who knows, your clip might be the one to win..just don't do the AMV route and put copyrighted material ^^;; --- ## New York Anime Fest 2009 (Updated) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-25-new-york-anime-fest-2009-live/ - Date: 2009-09-25 - Tags: anime fest 09, live blogging, otaku - AI-assisted: no Well, the 2009 NY Anime Fest has come to a close. Had a great time. Going to post up some cool stuff in the days to come, including a surprise for the front page of the site ^^ ...

Well, the 2009 NY Anime Fest has come to a close. Had a great time. Going to post up some cool stuff in the days to come, including a surprise for the front page of the site ^^ You can check the Flickr feed I used while there. Tried to make it as live as possible but the darn iPhone's battery power kept things at a minimum. As for best cosplay of the event (other than my fiancee being Tifa)...check out this sick, sick Bumble Bee costume.

See NYAF pictures at the official group here.







 --- ## Anime on the Tonight Show (updated) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-23-anime-on-tonight-show/ - Date: 2009-09-23 - Tags: anime, Conan O'Brien, Tonight Show - AI-assisted: no Did you guys see this yesterday? Conan O'Brien yesterday on the Tonight show was doing a skit on anime. The studio, Bang Zoom, is very popular with anime and actually will proba...

Did you guys see this yesterday? Conan O'Brien yesterday on the Tonight show was doing a skit on anime. The studio, Bang Zoom, is very popular with anime and actually will probably be at this weekend's NY Anime Fest. Like many, I'll be trying to get a chance to show my voice acting there. Check out the video below from Hulu here (skip to about 13 minutes in). Conan is introduced to anime figures and does some voice acting for Ghost in the Shell and gets a liking for anime skirts ^^;;

Below is the skit they did a few months back with Ghost in the Shell
(sorry for the initial mix up ^^;;)

--- ## SasameKisscomi: Anime iPhone Kissing Game - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-18-sasamekisscomi-anime-iphone-kissing/ - Date: 2009-09-18 - Tags: anime girl, anime iphone game, gadets, iphone, kissing game, Sasameki Koto Yuri, videogames - AI-assisted: no You heard me right, there is an anime kissing game that just came out in the iPhone app store (around Wednesday). From the upcoming Yuri series, Sasameki Koto Yuri, you get to p...

You heard me right, there is an anime kissing game that just came out in the iPhone app store (around Wednesday). From the upcoming Yuri series, Sasameki Koto Yuri, you get to practice your kissing skills and get trained on kissing by Ushio Kazama from the series. Mainly you get scored on how you kiss the image of Kazama. What's cool is that it's FREE, works on the iPhone + iPod Touch and is made for the English market too with English subtitles for the Japanese dialog...with directions in English as well. Just search "SasameKisscomi" in the app store and be at a wifi hotspot since this is a large file and won't download in the 3G network (like anything does anyway -_-). Oh and...be sure to sanitize that iPhone before and after using the app.

gotta love the funny misspellings and grammar errors ^^;
(like I often do on my initial blog post emails ^^;;;;)


Get practicing people, especially guys; I hear too many girls complaining about bad kissing guys.

If you are a yuri fan, check out the series once it comes out in October.
--- ## Reminder About Nendoroid Kureha Contest - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-17-reminder-about-nendoroid-kureha-contest/ - Date: 2009-09-17 - Tags: anime, anime figures, contests, figures, updates - AI-assisted: no It seems I have to remind people about this. I am giving away a FREE Nendoroid Kureha figure with this current contest . The purpose of the contest is to promote my new member's...



It seems I have to remind people about this. I am giving away a FREE Nendoroid Kureha figure with this current contest. The purpose of the contest is to promote my new member's blog and to help you all link up your anime sites better....and to give a lucky reader this adorable figure.

Some of you have emailed me and got the rights to start blogging but for some odd reason...haven't made a single post! o_O You have to be in it to win it and being a co-author on this site is a step in the right direction but WON'T make you eligible to possibly win this cute figure.

For those of you who never heard of this, a few months back I created a Member's Blog. Like some other anime sites, it allows you to blog right here about say the latest anime news, your figure collection, anime rumors, etc. The need for this portion of the site comes as my blog roll that links all my fellow anime sites has gotten too large and many of you want to link in to promote your site. My site isn't as big as say Gaia or Danny Choo's yet but up until now, I've been getting 5K unique views per day at an average alexa.com ranking of 150K which is perfect for helping people visit your site...and of course a number of emails for hooking up fellow anime bloggers.

As of yesterday I even completed a deal with Otaku USA Magazine to post ads of this site and my anime store. (more on that in a future post) With 300K subscribers to that magazine, I very much expect and aim for a larger boost in traffic as to make any guest blogging here worth the effort.

Here again is how you can be a part of this contest:

Anyways, here's what you need to do to hopefully get your hands on Kureha:
  • Email me so I can invite you to be a writer on the Member's Blog part of this site.
  • Accept the invitation from google's blogger.com
  • From blogger.com create a blog post showing say, your otaku room, your anime figure collection, why you are into anime or something relating to anime, japan or the like.
  • Just one decent blog post with at least one picture is fine and gets you entered in the contest. Remember to have your blogger profile have a link to your anime site/blog so you can gain good exposure. A link at the end of your blog post is fine....just no spamming and nothing non-related to anime, japan, etc -_- .
  • From then you can blog to your heart's desire about say a new anime figure that came out, etc. really good or interesting posts will be promoted to the main blog, but all you need is one post to get you in the contest..the rest is just extra credit and just helps expose you and your blog. (just no more than say 3 posts a day per user)
  • Of course, please follow the Member's Blog rules and don't post anything beyond PG-13, pornographic, illegal, etc. Violators will be banned -_-
  • One winner will be chosen from the list of guest bloggers on October 3rd 2009 or once around 10 or so guest bloggers post if after the given date. (obviously now the latter seems to be what will be done)



--- ## Anime Pic of the Day 9/10/09: Starbucks Logo - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-10-anime-pic-of-day-91009-starbucks-logo/ - Date: 2009-09-10 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day, logos, starbucks - AI-assisted: no Had to post this one up today too. Thanks to peterpayne.net (head of the famed JList store, see I complement even my 'competition') for showing us this amazing anime logo of Sta...


Had to post this one up today too. Thanks to peterpayne.net (head of the famed JList store, see I complement even my 'competition') for showing us this amazing anime logo of Starbucks. Now if they had that as the logo, you'd know they'd fix their little slump they are in (and of course cheaper coffee). I know who I'm going to for a new logo for my store ^^;; --- ## Naruto Shippuden & Disney XD - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-10-naruto-shippuden-disney-xd/ - Date: 2009-09-10 - Tags: anime, Disney, naruto, Naruto Shippuden - AI-assisted: no Big news today thanks to the Hollywood Reporter is that Disney completed a deal with Viz to air Naruto Shippuden in the US on Disney's XD block of programming. Cartoon Network p...


Big news today thanks to the Hollywood Reporter is that Disney completed a deal with Viz to air Naruto Shippuden in the US on Disney's XD block of programming. Cartoon Network probably did it's greatest blunder since it's canceling of Toonami and their few years of practically ignoring what got them on the map in the first place, anime.
Before I get Adult Swim fans mad at me, I'll gladly state that I like a few things from AS that are on today and I was part of the crowd that helped bring back Family Guy. Yet, as someone who's been watching CN since the days of Pokemon in 1996, the progression of Cartoon Network and the very creation of Adult Swim was due to anime...which has been forgotten and made fun of since about 2004-2005.

As an anime purest and as an anime store owner, I have strong feelings on both sides. As for marketing and for the hope of a true revival of anime in the US market, Naruto Shippuden being on Disney XD is amazing. My business will be booming and combined with Syfy channel, FUNimation channel, and The Anime Network, anime could finally not be at the butt of every joke at Williams Street and be back in the lime light. Though my friend Tiago who got me into anime, works for Willams Street (Adult Swim), the joke is really on Cartoon Network now. Like it or not, having the first Naruto series was a plus for them. Let's not forget Disney's recent acquisition of Marvel. Disney might even attract the same type of crowd and heck, maybe even the same crowd that Toonami had.

The anime purest in me though is going to be ticked off. The reason why is that we will see a well drawn (but highly fillered) series like Naruto become this kiddy, watered down US version to accommodate the kiddies on Disney. You'll see sandwiches digitally covering rice balls since the US market "won't get it" and any scene with blood and violence in Naruto will be brutally hacked or sweat will be replacing the blood. If this is the price to pay to bring back anime's popularity to the US, I guess it is a decent price to pay.


(oh, BTW, the quick Photoshop deal on that picture was me ^^;;)

Feel free to post your comments/opinions on this below. --- ## New Anime Site Feature: Thumbnail Posts - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-07-new-anime-site-feature-thumbnail-posts/ - Date: 2009-09-07 - Tags: anime blog, chucksanimeshrine, feeds, updates - AI-assisted: no Many sites have this, the ability to post their feeds with thumbnail photos, but my God is it a pain to find out HOW to do it, even for a programmer, like me. Even more of a tro...


Many sites have this, the ability to post their feeds with thumbnail photos, but my God is it a pain to find out HOW to do it, even for a programmer, like me. Even more of a trouble is that my blogs are all run from my own server/sites; so, despite this being a "blogger" blog, I get no customization love from Google being that this isn't a .blogspot blog or Wordpress blog -_-

Having thumbnail recent posts and label posts looks far better than the regular text feeds we commonly see with RSS feed aggregation. Thanks to a new reworking on the feed2js by engadgeteer.com's Bryan (who btw is also an anime fan), I was able to finally automate, thumbnailed posts for my blog and their labels. Of course, I'd like to have the code be local to my own site for SEO and security purposes, but this will do for now till I work a deal with them.

Check out some of the areas I've added recent posts to, like the front page (at the bottom), here (check below), and even on sections like anime figures, cosplay and anime music. Now with this, I can bring back old sections of the site like say Final Fantasy VII Tifa's section and have all posts about Tifa show under her gallery of photos automatically. This will then be integraded with the Member's Blog for more exposure to your posts.

Speaking of the member's blog, um, some of you signed up to blog and possibly win Nendoroid Kureha but haven't posted a single post -_- You have to be in it to win it guys, and being in the contest means posting on the Member's Blog .

Thanks again engadgeteer.com and their developer, Bryan for this much needed feature. --- ## Anime Pic of the Day: Marvel/Yamashita Girls - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-09-04-anime-pic-of-day-marvelyamashita-girls/ - Date: 2009-09-04 - Tags: anime pic of the day, Bishoujo, Kotobukiya, Marvel, otaku - AI-assisted: no This poster was at the Kotobukiya booth over at SDCC 09 about a month and a half back. just wanted to pay homage to Shunya Yamashita and his amazing work so far with Marvel. The...


This poster was at the Kotobukiya booth over at SDCC 09 about a month and a half back. just wanted to pay homage to Shunya Yamashita and his amazing work so far with Marvel. The Rogue figure recently arrived and it looks great. (kept one for myself ^^) Of course the news that happened earlier this week was that Marvel was bought out by, of all companies, Disney 0-O. As long as Disney keeps everything basically the way they were, Marvel will do just fine. Hopefully things don't go down the watered down kiddy route for Marvel. If that happens, chances are Yamashita won't be designing Bishoujo too much longer :-( It's very obvious that Yamashita with Kotobukiya (and sculptor Koei Matsumoto) make very gorgeous versions of American comic book girls. Sadly, the comic book girl figures developed here in the US tend to look like, well...very manly women 0_O, so please Disney...don't drop the deal with Yamashita and Kotobukiya. --- ## Chaos;HEAd Seira Orgel 1/7 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-28-chaoshead-seira-orgel-17-scale-figure/ - Date: 2009-08-28 - Tags: anime figures, Chaos Head, OrchidSeed, Seira Orgel - AI-assisted: no Being a long time anime fan, figure collector and anime store owner has it's perks but there are times when being a fan of what you sell is a major weakness. This figure, Orchid... Being a long time anime fan, figure collector and anime store owner has it's perks but there are times when being a fan of what you sell is a major weakness. This figure, Orchid Seed's recently announced Chaos;HEAd Seira Orgel 1/7 Scale Figure brings out that weakness and I'm bound to keep one for myself. Set to come out at the end of the year in Japan (probably late Jan, Feb 2010 here in the states -_-), Seira Orgel from the series Chaos;HEAd and Blood Tunes the Animation, looks great. This is an ecchi figure and is meant for older collectors, but despite her being a castoff anime figure, it's not a nude figure. I know, some of you are probably upset at that but I'm perfectly fine with the way this one looks. As long as Orchid Seed makes the final product look exact to this prototype, this figure is a true work of art and I can't wait to get one too ^^
Can be Pre/Ordered here
Check out more at Neko Magic

(a great site to see new figures even before even I am authorized to pre-order them for my store ^^;;)
 --- ## Eureka Seven Movie - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-27-eureka-seven-movie/ - Date: 2009-08-27 - Tags: anime, Eureka Seven, Eureka Seven Movie - AI-assisted: no To my wonderful surprise, the Eureka Seven Movie is coming to the US soon and is also going to be in some theaters ^_^. Make that 438 theaters. Yep, the English dub of "Eureka S... To my wonderful surprise, the Eureka Seven Movie is coming to the US soon and is also going to be in some theaters ^_^. Make that 438 theaters. Yep, the English dub of "Eureka Seven - Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers" will be out in select US theaters on September 24th, just before our arrival to the New York Anime Fest. Check out the trailer below:



More news as per Anime News Network. I'd say they are buds but I'm still wondering why the ANN head retweeted me on Twitter but added "I'm a big baby" at the end of my message -_- --- ## Nendoroid: K-ON! - Yui Hirasawa - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-21-nendoroid-k-on-yui-hirasawa/ - Date: 2009-08-21 - Tags: anime figures, figures, K-ON, Nendoroid, Yui Hirasawa - AI-assisted: no Of course I make sure to talk about Mio but let not forget Nendoroid Yui . Recently she became available for us USA anime retailers to pre-order...sadly though, looks as if her ...

Of course I make sure to talk about Mio but let not forget Nendoroid Yui. Recently she became available for us USA anime retailers to pre-order...sadly though, looks as if her official US release won't be until Feb 2010 o_0. Darn it! Like anything K-On, we here in the West are getting the scraps...or of course using the power of the internet to bypass silly delays and red tape. As Sony just found out with the spike in sales of the PS3 Slim, you gotta just listen to the fans and customers. Hopefully Studio Blue gets that about the K-On! popularity here in the states -_-



 --- ## K-ON! - Mio Akiyama 1/8 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-16-k-on-mio-akiyama-18-scale-figure/ - Date: 2009-08-16 - Tags: Akiyama Mio, alter, anime figures, figures, K-ON - AI-assisted: no Alter's Mio Akiyama figure has already been on the top of the pre-order list for many people for the past week and a half or so. I of course had to make her available for pre-or...

Alter's Mio Akiyama figure has already been on the top of the pre-order list for many people for the past week and a half or so. I of course had to make her available for pre-order here in my shop. Alter's craftsmanship is stellar as they tend to be and like other Alter figures, expect the prototype to look practically identical to the final product. She's on my list to keep for myself as well ^o^...her official US release doesn't seem to be until January 2010 though -_-




 --- ## Yu-Gi-Oh! Sets Guinness World Record - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-13-yu-gi-oh-sets-guinness-world-record/ - Date: 2009-08-13 - Tags: anime, cards, record, Yu-Gi-Oh - AI-assisted: no 22.6 Billion Cards! That's how many Yu-Gi-Oh Cards have sold since the series' debut in 1999. Once again anime is trumping areas of hobby, comics and games. To be honest, even t...


22.6 Billion Cards! That's how many Yu-Gi-Oh Cards have sold since the series' debut in 1999.Once again anime is trumping areas of hobby, comics and games. To be honest, even though I collected (and used to play) Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, I thought that Magic: The Gathering was the lead in sales; especially in my town since there sure are a large number of sad geeks...I mean non-anime card gamers out here on Long Island. With the combination of Manga being the top genre of Graphic Novels/ Comic sales in the US (~45%, most of whom that buy are 13-17 y/o girls) and now this news on Yu-Gi-Oh, many of the very geeky, shut-in American D&D, Magic fans/geeks are hiding away in their mother's basement in total disbelief. (Observe the different crowds at NY Anime Fest and NY Comic-Con, and you'll know what I mean...the CC people seemed to have no souls 0_0)

Anyways... I'll also admit that I did like the anime series though of course the horrors of the 4Kids dubbing, pillaging and maiming of any anime they touch also gave us fans bad memories of what Dic did to Sailor Moon as well as hurt our pride >_< ANN.

Speaking of Yu-Gi-Oh, you can't forget the epic Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged Series done by famed fan dubber, Little Kuriboh.

--- ## New Contest: Win Nendoroid Kureha - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-08-new-contest-win-nendoroid-kureha/ - Date: 2009-08-08 - Tags: anime, anime figures, contests, figures, updates - AI-assisted: no Finally, after a long, long time I have created a new contest for you, my loyal readers. The prize, the cute and adorable Nendoroid Kureha. Yes, I'm once again taking the time t...


Finally, after a long, long time I have created a new contest for you, my loyal readers. The prize, the cute and adorable Nendoroid Kureha. Yes, I'm once again taking the time to talk about the Member's Blog section; but hey, it's a cool feature to be able to write your own blog posts and promote your anime blog here...on my blog. Apparently I haven't had anyone ask to be a co-author and promote their otaku life and site here. Also the blogrolling.com blog roll is getting way too long to expose some of your sites correctly so this new section is something I hope can help make my site aid the anime fan community better. Plus...well, this site is slowly creeping to the 100,000 alexa rank and less so things are looking to be on track.

Anyways, here's what you need to do to hopefully get your hands on Kureha:
 --- ## Anime Store Gift Certificates - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-07-anime-store-gift-certificates/ - Date: 2009-08-07 - Tags: anime store, gift certificates, paypal, updates - AI-assisted: no Thanks to Paypal, I was able to add a much needed feature to my anime store . That feature of course is is to give anyone shopping at my store the ability to buy and redeem gift...

Thanks to Paypal, I was able to add a much needed feature to my anime store. That feature of course is is to give anyone shopping at my store the ability to buy and redeem gift certificates. They start as low as $5 and go up to $1000. I made it simple and had it as one button that opens up a secure page on Paypal.com in which you can choose the amount with the supplied drop-down menu. The Paypal gift certificate makes it so that you can print it out to give to someone or email them with a customize message as well. This is good if you know of a friend that is an anime fan but you are not sure what to get them, or if you want to give yourself a budget on what to spend. Trust me, I collect anime figures and merchandise too and particularly at cons, I have to limit myself ^^;;;

Hope anyone reading this blog can make good use of this feature. I have the button shown below as well as on the front page of the store of course.

(btw, the picture above is of course, Nendoroid Zange-chan)





--- ## Figma Mirai - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-04-figma-mirai/ - Date: 2009-08-04 - Tags: anime figures, dannychoo, figures, Mirai figma, otaku - AI-assisted: no Big congrats to Danny Choo (@dannychoo). As of today he graced fans on his two sites, dannychoo.com and figure.fm with pictures of the prototype to the Mirai Figma figure. It mu...

Big congrats to Danny Choo (@dannychoo). As of today he graced fans on his two sites, dannychoo.com and figure.fm with pictures of the prototype to the Mirai Figma figure. It must feel great to see a character that you create as a mascot to your site or just in general become an official anime figure. Many anime fans create characters based on their love of the art and manga artists sometimes get that honor of seeing their characters being added to the plethera of respected anime characters.



Hopefully my day will come when I set up my own mascot (Fumi) to be that. I still have that flash/iPhone game in mind (I didn't forget). As an anime store owner with a dealership with Figma, I'll make sure to aid Danny and Figma in this project by ordering some for my store. More info down the road once pre-orders are given the green light for me ^_^.

Check out more info and the people responsible for the Figma Mirai on Danny's sites. --- ## Anime Pic of the Day 8/02/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-08-02-anime-pic-of-day-80209/ - Date: 2009-08-02 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day, DOA, kasumi, wallpapers - AI-assisted: no Can't forget to post up this classic anime fan art piece. This picture of Kasumi from Dead Or Alive is simply stunning. Click on the image to get the full scale version of it. I...


Can't forget to post up this classic anime fan art piece. This picture of Kasumi from Dead Or Alive is simply stunning. Click on the image to get the full scale version of it. It's 1024x768 pixels. So if the screen fits, you can use it as a wallpaper ^^.
--- ## K-ON! Nendoroid Mio Akiyama - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-07-31-k-on-nendoroid-mio-akiyama/ - Date: 2009-07-31 - Tags: Akiyama Mio, anime figures, figures, Good Smile Company, K-ON, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no K-ON! and especially Mio fans (like myself) will be happy with this bit of news. Up for pre-order is the Good Smile Company Akiyama Mio Nendoroid figure. The official Japan rele...


K-ON! and especially Mio fans (like myself) will be happy with this bit of news. Up for pre-order is the Good Smile Company Akiyama Mio Nendoroid figure. The official Japan release date will be some time in November, so for us anime fans here in the US, chances are December is when we'll have her officially released in our neck of the woods. If any of you have been keeping track on dannychoo.com, you knew this figure has been in the works. Hopefully we can see the other girls from K-ON! soon as well ^_^

(I made sure to put her in my store. Click here to go to the pre-order page or email my store's account to be put on a waiting list. She'll be at $39.99USD plus $5 shipping for local, US buyers. If you are overseas, shipping will be rougly $15-$20 or maybe cheaper.)

More pics of Mio:




 --- ## Anime Pic of the Day 7/30/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-07-30-anime-pic-of-day-73009/ - Date: 2009-07-30 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day, summer, updates - AI-assisted: no Heading into the dog days of summer and finally this year we are actually getting summer weather here in New York. The anime business has been heating up for me as well (thus ex...


Heading into the dog days of summer and finally this year we are actually getting summer weather here in New York. The anime business has been heating up for me as well (thus explains some of my blogging absence ^^;;). It doesn't help that my p/t job is still thorn in my side and is continuing to dig just as deep as it did before I almost quit last year. Anyways, with the business starting to do well again, I'm going to put up a contest by next week. This time I promise. Been waaaay too long since the last contest and I've also keep saying "another one is coming". So by some time next week, there will be a contest and hopefully more good stuff here on the site. As for now, enjoy this great anime pic. --- ## Halo Anime: Halo Legends - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-07-23-halo-anime-halo-legends/ - Date: 2009-07-23 - Tags: anime, halo, halo anime, halo legends, SDCC09 - AI-assisted: no News straight from SDCC09. Looks like Microsoft is doing what was done with the Animatrix and the relatively recent Batman anime collaboration . Studios up for the project seem ...


News straight from SDCC09. Looks like Microsoft is doing what was done with the Animatrix and the relatively recent Batman anime collaboration. Studios up for the project seem to be Bones, Toei , Production I.G, Studio 4C and Casio. The project will be called, Halo Legends and is expected to be done and out on DVD and Blu-Ray by early 2010.

Big thanks to toplessrobot.com for the info as well as the L.A. Times. Check out their links for more info on this interesting melding of two worlds that us otaku are pretty well familiar with.

(Sure wish I was there, like last year, my anime business allowed me to get free tickets but due to my pathetic p/t job I need for health care...I'm land locked -_-. )




 --- ## Gundam Wedding - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-07-22-gundam-wedding/ - Date: 2009-07-22 - Tags: 1/1 Scale Gundam, gundam, odaiba gundam, otaku, wedding - AI-assisted: no Ok, I've been blogging a decent amount about the 1/1 Gundam in Odaiba but there is much more to add about this thing. As of a few days back, Anime News Network announced that we...


Ok, I've been blogging a decent amount about the 1/1 Gundam in Odaiba but there is much more to add about this thing. As of a few days back, Anime News Network announced that wedding ceremonies will now be done in front of the statue! This isn't just something a bunch of otaku decided to scheme up, it's actually being done by a professional wedding groups (known as Take and Give Needs (T&G)) and even by the famed wedding planner, Akemi Ariga. Thing is, applications to have our wedding done will be closing by the 26th in order to get the ceremonies all done before the statue closes on Aug. 30th.

So with that said...who'd want to be married in front of the 59 foot RX-78? Actually, the big question is, who has a significant other who'd agree to this?

Some of you might know that I'm engaged to marry my long time girl friend and AMV master, Danielle. I'm lucky that she' my part asian fiancee who's also a rabid otaku, thus she'd most likely not mind having the wedding there in front of the Gundam. We won't have the chance to sign up for this but our wedding plans for next year might still have Odaiba in the picture. Thing is, Danielle's grandmother used to work for the heads of such companies like Panasonic and her connections might allow us to stay at one of the 5 star hotels on Odaiba (somewhere near Rainbow Bridge). So, for our honeymoon, we might have the luxury to look out the window and see the Gundam..just wish the yen vs. the dollar ratio would change -_- It's getting very expensive to get items from our favorite land.



(PS: Sorry for the lack of blog posts ^^;; I did update the blog's template a bit and added a thumbnailed past posts widget below as well as the "read more" link to help the main page load faster and allow me (and anyone else who'd like to blog here) the chance to write a nice long post. the thumbnail posts widget only works for the main page though and it was a pain to do since blogger utterly fails to be customizable when you use your own site -_-) --- ## College Degree in...Manga? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-07-15-college-degree-inmanga/ - Date: 2009-07-15 - Tags: college, manga, otaku - AI-assisted: no Sorry for the delay in my posts, been doing some site updates and I also caught a nasty cold/flu. Anyways, did you know that you can get a college degree in Manga Research? I di...


Sorry for the delay in my posts, been doing some site updates and I also caught a nasty cold/flu. Anyways, did you know that you can get a college degree in Manga Research? I didn't know either but as per Anime News Network, Kyoto Seika University will have it's first graduate programs in the subject. Yet another reason why I hate, hate the US school system. It took years for video game development to be accepted by the pompous a-holes in charge of US "higher education" when for years it was in Japan. Funny thing is that many so-called "well to do" computer science grads are flipping burgers now since their department is in India now. The only successful people in those fields are..you guessed it, video game developers. I would bet my yearly anime products profits that a major in Manga research will go farther than a degree in say English Literature..but who am I but a former Computer Scientist who makes $$ from an anime business and who can develop video games & who has appeared in Business Week a number of times. Guess the joke's on the US college system XD

Anyways...had to rant a bit but due check out the full story by ANN. Would be a cool degree to get indeed, sure beats English Literature..which why the f$*# did I have to take as well in my Computer Science courses? (..maybe to not have some many typos in my blogs ^^;;;) --- ## Anime Pic of the Day 7/9/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-07-09-anime-pic-of-day-7909/ - Date: 2009-07-09 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Been all over some new blog templates as of late, but don't let that stop the blogging ^^;; Here's a wonderful picture for you to gander at today. This one is obviously done by ...


Been all over some new blog templates as of late, but don't let that stop the blogging ^^;; Here's a wonderful picture for you to gander at today. This one is obviously done by the great Shunya Yamashita. If I'm not mistaken, this is a variation of his character Roxanner, of whom will have a figure released in the coming months. --- ## TweetBoard - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-07-06-tweetboard/ - Date: 2009-07-06 - Tags: anime blog, tweetboard, twitter, updates - AI-assisted: no In case you all haven't noticed, I installed the Tweetboard application to the bulk of the site (seen as a tab on the left side). If, like me, you use twitter alot, this comes i...


In case you all haven't noticed, I installed the Tweetboard application to the bulk of the site (seen as a tab on the left side). If, like me, you use twitter alot, this comes in handy and allows for some more real-time convos here on the site which of course is synced into twitter. Big thanks to the developers of TweetBoard. Chances are, I'll be seeing if I'm allowed to modifiy it a bit more to go with my planned upgrades to the blog and site. --- ## How to Spot a Fake Nendoroid - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-07-02-how-to-spot-fake-nendoroid/ - Date: 2009-07-02 - Tags: anime figures, bootleg figures, figures, How to, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Ok, a big, big pet peeve of mine as both an anime figure collector and as an anime figure store owner has been the slew of cheap, fake and inferior Good Smile Company Nendoroid ...
Ok, a big, big pet peeve of mine as both an anime figure collector and as an anime figure store owner has been the slew of cheap, fake and inferior Good Smile Company Nendoroid figures. As somebody who both collects and sells the real deal, just thought I'd give some examples of what to look out for. I will be using the most commonly bootlegged figure, Miku Hatsune, as my example.

Here, is the real one:

http://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/catalog/images/GSC080304.jpg

Here's an image I took from my stock of the back of the figure.


Here is a list of ways to almost be certain a figure is a fake.Buying from a US seller?

  1. Make sure the Good Smile Company figures come from AAAanime.com, Mile-stone.jp or Diamond Comics. These are the official wholesalers of anime figures in the US and where I get mine from as well. For Nendoroids, practically all come from AAAanime.com. Don't see a AAAanime sticker on the back of your Nendoroid box?...it might be a fake.
  2. Ask for a copy of the seller's Certificate of Authority. This is the identification all sellers need to proved they are verified by their state to sell products in a legit business or one that isn't an MLM (they have different forms of identification). I have a copy for my anime store and Swaorvski figures selling. The seller should not show their ID number and other personal info that is on the form but their company name and the state they are locaed in is on the form. With one, I have to report sales tax to my state and my sales figures to both state and federal taxes. Sellers of fakes of course wish to bypass this responsibility and will buy cheap bootlegs from fake factories in China without the need to show any other identification, other than $$.
Hope this bit of info helps in your shopping and I've also provided images of more-than-likely fake I spotted on eBay in the post. Please note, the name of the seller, if on the image, has been blocked out to prevent slandering and to not falsely accuse them since some sellers take images from others and might not be selling fakes but show fakes in their images...of course, the opposite maybe true too. --- ## Saber Lily Nendoroid - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-26-saber-lily-nendoroid/ - Date: 2009-06-26 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Good Smile Company, Nendoroid, saber lily - AI-assisted: no I had a bunch of items not yet listed in my store for pre-order, so I went and got the store up to date. I also got the clearance today to set up pre-orders for the very cute an... I had a bunch of items not yet listed in my store for pre-order, so I went and got the store up to date. I also got the clearance today to set up pre-orders for the very cute and lovely Saber Lily Nendoroid figure. Saber is the background to my dual PC set-up at home still so I'll probably snag one for myself to add to my collection ^^. With my listings mainly up to date, I'll be sure to post the newest figures first now. Every single day there are new and amazing anime figures that get on the pre-order list and if I'm to be up there with the other anime stores...I gotta keep up ^^;;

Check out some more pics below. I also added these pictures and the pictures for my other recent figures additions to the anime figures part of the anime gallery.

--- ## Anime Pic of the Day 6/24/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-24-anime-pic-of-day-62409/ - Date: 2009-06-24 - Tags: anime, anime girl, anime pic of the day, updates - AI-assisted: no Been one of those busy weeks. So while I get some more posts ready for all of you, here's an anime girl picture that you'd might like. I'm also in the process of setting up a te... Been one of those busy weeks. So while I get some more posts ready for all of you, here's an anime girl picture that you'd might like. I'm also in the process of setting up a test/beta version of this blog so you can get a glimpse of any upgrades to the blog. Been looking all over for coding that will put up relevant posts as well as automatically thumbnailed posts...but Blogger is not friendly to customizations outside of the .blogspot.com site setup -_-. I'm a programmer, so I'll work my way around their errors somehow.

On the production block:
yeah...got a bunch to do -_-. --- ## Yoshiyuki Tomino Will Be At NY Anime Fest 2009 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-22-yoshiyuki-tomino-will-be-at-ny-anime/ - Date: 2009-06-22 - Tags: anime fest 09, gundam, otaku, Yoshiyuki Tomino - AI-assisted: no More good news for Gundam fans, it seems that the creator of the Gundam series, Yoshiyuki Tomino will be attending the 2009 New York Anime Fest to further commermorate the 30th ...
More good news for Gundam fans, it seems that the creator of the Gundam series, Yoshiyuki Tomino will be attending the 2009 New York Anime Fest to further commermorate the 30th anniversary of Gundam. I'll be attending NYAF 2009 as well and it'll be great to meet up with the man responsible for all Gunpla. chances are he'll be showing off video and other tidbits about the 1/1 RX-78 that we all so badly want to see. (Would love for one to be built here in NYC -_-) New York Anime Fest will be September 25-27 in the city (at the Javits center).

(ps: yes, I will eventually sell gunpla in my store...that day will come and I will let you all know)

Thanks to ANN for the info.
 --- ## Fate/Unlimited Codes: Saber Lily 1/8 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-19-fateunlimited-codes-saber-lily-18-scale/ - Date: 2009-06-19 - Tags: anime figures, fate/stay, figures, saber lily - AI-assisted: no Alter's new gem of a figure has already become a big hit. I'm a fan of Saber thanks to my fandom of Cloche (Chroche) from Ar Tonelico 2..being that they share the same English v... Alter's new gem of a figure has already become a big hit. I'm a fan of Saber thanks to my fandom of Cloche (Chroche) from Ar Tonelico 2..being that they share the same English voice actress and lets not forget just the sheer cool factor of the Fate series. With requests coming in for this figure the day I got the rights to pre-order her for my store, I just had to reserve some for my fellow Saber fans. The Good Smile company figure as well as this one by Alter are indeed very well made Saber figures. The production figure isn't out to review yet as the release date for them is around the October/November 2009 range, but Alter and GSC will most likely keep the quality the same in their final product as they usually tend to. Check out some of these images I got straight from my supplier. She's up there in price at around $100 for a 1/8th scale figure, but you know you gotta have one. Email me for pre-orders or you can check out her product page and do so there ^_^

--- ## Tim Burton's '9' The Movie - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-15-tim-burtons-9-movie/ - Date: 2009-06-15 - Tags: 9, 9 Movie, movies, otaku, Tim Burton - AI-assisted: no (Update 9/4/09) Just a few days away from the release of the 9 Movie and there's more to check out, plus another contest for you loyal readers of my blog ^_^ Here are 4 brand ne...
(Update 9/4/09)
Just a few days away from the release of the 9 Movie and there's more to check out, plus another contest for you loyal readers of my blog ^_^

Here are 4 brand new screen shoots from the film. (Gotta love that dark Tim Burton style.)









New Contest: Cognitive Circuit Minigame

(an addicting little brainteaser invented by the 9 Scientist to help train the Brain as it was being created)

Challenge yourself on http://www.9experiment.com/game.html

Also...
Elijah Wood and Timur Bekmambetov on G4's Attack of the show:
http://g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/exclusives/68289/Exclusive-Elijah-Wood-9-Clip.html


(Update 8/28/09)
You may have been following the film’s Scientist on Facebook (facebook.com/9scientist).
The Scientist needs some inspiration in these dark times -- are you up to the
challenge?
Begin the challenge by visiting www.9experiment.com . When you scroll over to
the chalkboard, you can participate by clicking on the piece of chalk to draw
a picture. When you’re done drawing your picture, screen grab it, save it, and
post your drawing to the Scientist's wall at facebook.com/9scientist to be entered
into the Chalkboard Challenge sweepstakes to win a fabulous "9" prize pack! There
will be 9 winners, so the lucky winner could definitely be you. However, in
order to be eligible to win, you have to enter by September 9, 2009 (which is
the day that "9" is released in theaters).

(Update 8/13/09)
You can now create your own Talisman on a personalized "infinite zooming" gallery that can be used with Facebook and other social networking sites. Pretty cool. Here's the official word on it:

"The Talisman is a key component in the story of the movie '9'... a device integral to the film's Stitchpunk characters. Fans can now create their own Talisman to share their pictures and thoughts with friends. Check out www.9Experiment.com and dive into the World Talisman, where
user pics from around the world can be viewed in an "infinite zooming" gallery
(trust me you have to experience it - this is the first website to ever do this).
Then create your own Personal Talisman by uploading your own photos, which can
then be shared via email, blogs or social networks.

Once you upload your Talisman, your memories will be preserved forever! After
you've created your Talisman, the site will give you a personalized URL that
you can share with friends (there's also a widget version of this you can stick
on your social networking profile)."

(Update: 8/4/09)
A few weeks back, the Scientist was forcibly removed from his laboratory and interrogated. Upon returning to his lab, the Scientist realized that the Chancellor's men had seized a collection of designs vital to his research. One of these designs holds the key to his next phase of development.

The designs have been shredded... torn into 9 pieces, scattered in 9 secret locations. We must find all 9 pieces and put them back together to reveal a secret alchemical code. Only the typewriter on www.9experiment.com can help decode the hidden message from the designs. Those who find all 9 hidden pieces and use the typewriter to decipher the code will be treated to another fantastic piece of 9” movie art, and can enter for a chance to win a pair of the Limited Edition 9” Shoes from Pony, as well as other great 9” movie prizes.

This link from the 9 Scientist Facebook page also provides more detail about where the 9 clues are hidden around the web: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=127893662737&ref=mf&__a=1


(Update: 7/16/09: 9 @ SDCC 2009)

9” ATTRACTIONS: ALL COMIC-CON LONG

Take a ride on the 9 San Diego Pedicabs and be the first to see exclusive videos and content for 9 when you unlock the QR code. Make sure you find all of them, there are different codes which will unveil unique content, not to be missed! To prep for a QR sighting, text READER to 4FOCUS for instructions on downloading our
preferred reader so your phone is QR-ready.

Special Edition Collectible Cards from 9 will be distributed daily throughout the San Diego Gaslamp District. The first 100 people to find the 8 character cards plus 1 exclusive machine card and bring their completed set (9 cards total) to NECA (booth # 4345) will win a guaranteed place in line to receive an autograph by Timur Bekmambetov,
Shane Acker, and Elijah Wood.

Check out NECA (booth #4345) for the latest 9 news.


9 PANEL: FRIDAY, JULY 24TH:

2:30PM- 9 Panel in Hall H with filmmakers Shane Acker, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov and stars Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly.

Also, check out the new Radio on 9Experiment.com, and stay tuned for upcoming fan challenges in the coming days!

(Update: 6/17/09: Check out the new 9 interactive Lab website.)

Some of you might have heard that Tim Burton and Shane Acker have been working on a special movie project called, 9. Set to release on, you guessed it, 9/9/09, the story of 9 revolves around a post-apocalyptic world where machines have long taken over the world. A scientist then brings to life his creation that resemble the characters from Little Big Planet. I'm a big fan of Tim Burton and I know many of us anime fans are mainly well into the Nightmare Before Christmas (or almost any of Tim Burton's film's) . It has his signature dark, gloomy type of world but looks to have plenty of action in it as well. As I get more info on the story and some other tidbits, I'll either post them here or make a new post for you all to see, so be sure to subscribe to my blog's rss feed for the latest info. Actors like Elijah wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connely and others are bringing their voice talent to the film.

Check the offical site here for the current trailer as well as the 9 Scientist facebook page. Also, the image header for this post is the pre-released poster for the movie so only here and a few selected sites got the rights to show it to you guys ^-^ Gotta love being an anime, otaku blogger.

Anyways, enjoy the trailer and I'll be in the theaters myself to see it; can never miss a Tim Burton movie.

Also check out this new exclusive video clip:



(Update: July 6th 2009)

Check out some pictures of the StitchPunk beings below as well as some more info on the movie.

For 1: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/708773574/2ff4ea3eca72a7c0ef18fa3e6b665d5c
For 2: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/708773784/8e77330cb3ba776a20787fed699cb560
For 3 & 4: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/708773876/3ddd5f18407f12fd0e96e1508af5f4ef
For 5: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/708773948/0f2f5bc4d7664fd6dfb49d749efd637f
For 6: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/708774160/f6986304bda3a161b0acea8dcecde292
For 7: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/708774226/8c328169b7945a5466f6336aeed093e4
For 8: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/708774388/1594b6caab369ae0662b140201376f80
For 9: https://rcpt.yousendit.com/708774462/876b025b5beda4b03f0970b6e83cdab0

Can't get enough of 9?

- Meet the Scientist at Facebook.com/9Scientist

- Explore the Scientist's lab at 9experiment.com

- Watch the trailer at 9TheMovie.com

- Visit on your cell phone at 9.msite.tv

- Sign up for mobile alerts by texting '9" to 4FOCUS (436287)

- Be sure to download the reader by texting 'READER' to 4FOCUS (436287) so you can decipher the secret messages on the street and gain access to exclusive content!


Official 9 Film Synopsis:
A new era in animated storytelling begins on 9.9.09. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton (The Corpse Bride, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Nightwatch) join forces to produce wunderkind director Shane Acker's distinctively original and
thrilling tale. 9 stars Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer and Crispin Glover and features the music of Danny Elfman. When 9 (The Lord of the Ring's Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him
taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to
destroy them in the first place. As they'll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.

Character Descriptions

1
-Voiced by one of the world's most respected actors, Christopher Plummer, 1 is the Scientist's first creation. As the elder, he is the self-declared leader of the group. He is clever and sly, but also domineering, quick-tempered, and threatened by the new arrival of 9, whose higher intellect leads him to question authority.

2
-Voiced by Academy Award Winner Martin Landau, 2 is a kindly but now frail inventor and explorer who embodies the Scientist's strong creative spirit. An inquisitive personality, 2 is fearless. Director Shane Acker affectionately describes him as a 'salty old dog'.

3/4
-Communicating visually, not verbally, 3 and 4 are the scholarly twins who voraciously catalogue everything they can see and find, recording and building a massive database for the group of the world that surrounds them and the history that led up to their creation.

5
-Voiced by Academy Award nominee John C. Reilly, 5 is a caring, nurturing engineer -- the loyal, big-hearted 'common man' who always tries to play the peacemaker. He is also an apprentice of 2, with whom he shares a special bond.

6
-6, the group's visionary is voiced by Crispin Glover. Although reclusive and eccentric, his bursts of artistic inspiration through drawings made from his pen nib hands may be keys to help his fellow stitchpunk beings navigate their darkest hours.

7
-A brave and self-sufficient warrior, 7, voiced by Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, is the group's sole female. A fiercely independent adventuress she has been out patrolling the wasteland. To survive, she has adapted, finding the bones of a deceased bird and crafting her signature skull helmet.

8
-Armed with a giant kitchen cleaver and half a scissor blade, the none-too-bright muscle and enforcer of the group, 8, is created to help the others physically survive the dangerous post-apocalyptic world.

9
-To voice the lead role of the newly born -- and aborning hero -- 9, Acker couldn't help but have in mind an actor who was so central to the film set he had worked on years earlier in New Zealand -- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King star Elijah Wood.
 --- ## Odaiba Gundam In Action - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-14-odaiba-gundam-in-action/ - Date: 2009-06-14 - Tags: 1/1 Scale Gundam, gundam, odaiba gundam, otaku - AI-assisted: no This thing gets more amazing the more we see it. Out of just sheer excitement, I had to post this bit of info. The 1/1 Scale RX-78 Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo is all set up with the... This thing gets more amazing the more we see it. Out of just sheer excitement, I had to post this bit of info. The 1/1 Scale RX-78 Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo is all set up with the lights, sounds and movement. This is a site to behold and a proud day to be an anime fan ;_; I love it. Of course, all the photo and news credit goes to Danny Choo and the originators of this news. Over hear in NY, we tend to get things a bit late due to the 13 hour time difference...or just me not being quick enough with the blog posts. Check out the Gundam in action in the video below. The video is now a part of the video section of the site.




--- ## Good Smile Company ActSta Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-12-good-smile-company-actsta-figures/ - Date: 2009-06-12 - Tags: actSta, anime figures, figures, Good Smile Company - AI-assisted: no Hijacked this great bit of figure news from Danny Choo's post as well as the Mikatan Blog yesterday. Big news if you are into articulated figures or, like me, love the detail an... Hijacked this great bit of figure news from Danny Choo's post as well as the Mikatan Blog yesterday. Big news if you are into articulated figures or, like me, love the detail and effort in Good Smile company anime figures. The upcoming actsSta line, actSta being short for "action, actor, active statue" is in a sense, larger Figma figures. These figures will be at around 1/8th scale and fully articulated and as you see from the photos, in par with the quality you'd expect from GSC. These will most likely be a part of my store and my personal collection as well.

Not sure yet of the release date for these but the latest figures on the production line (as of this post) don't come out till late November 09, so most likely a December/January 2009/2010 release in Japan..which means late Feb or March in the US -_- Don't hold me to that, but with my 3 years experience as a anime figure dealer...it's probably in that ballpark.
--- ## Our First Voice Dubbing - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-12-our-first-voice-dubbing/ - Date: 2009-06-12 - Tags: fan dubbing, From Far away, otaku - AI-assisted: no Well, it was bound to happen. We decided to do a little Fan dub sample. This fan dub is actually more like a manga read than a real dub though. The manga my fiancee Danielle cho...
Well, it was bound to happen. We decided to do a little Fan dub sample. This fan dub is actually more like a manga read than a real dub though. The manga my fiancee Danielle chose for us to read is "From Far Away" by Kanata Kara. It's actually a very loved series and a classic but sadly has never had an animated rendition. Maybe that will change down the road, but who knows. I'm not sure my voice fits Izark...for any type of editing I tend to be very hard on myself ^^;; Anyways, you probably find that Danielle is much better at this than I am. (and I'm the one talking more on how I want to voice dub anime ^^;;) Below you'll see our dub and then the one she did on her own. Check out Danielle's Youtube page here. Of course, From Far Away is owned by Kanata Kara as well as any respected licenses.



--- ## Odaiba Gundam Complete - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-09-odaiba-gundam-complete/ - Date: 2009-06-09 - Tags: 1/1 Scale Gundam, gundam, odaiba gundam, otaku - AI-assisted: no For some of you that have been tracking the progress of the 1:1 scale Gundam being made, well....its basically complete! Big thanks to Danny Choo for keeping us in tabs with the...
For some of you that have been tracking the progress of the 1:1 scale Gundam being made, well....its basically complete! Big thanks to Danny Choo for keeping us in tabs with the progress of it and for punynari for the great photos and news of its completion.


In case you didn't know, this is a full scale replica of the RX78 Gundam from the original Moblie Suit Gundam series. It obviously won't be a fully functional machine but an amazing monument with lights and sounds. If I'm not mistaken, it's decoration for a potentioal future olympics as well. Once I do make my trip to Japan, this will be one of the sites I'll stop at.


...and I of course wouldn't pass up the opportunity to pilot a Gundam...those days are not yet here but with the Obaiba Gundam...we can still dream.

Be sure to check out more pictures at the Danny Choo blog post and on punynari's blog. --- ## Cosplay House - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-06-cosplay-house/ - Date: 2009-06-06 - Tags: cosplay, cosplay house, otaku - AI-assisted: no My fiancee, Danielle brought this site to my attention. If you are a cosplayer, you'll probably love this site, www.cosplayhouse.com . Just a quick browse of their store shows s... My fiancee, Danielle brought this site to my attention. If you are a cosplayer, you'll probably love this site, www.cosplayhouse.com. Just a quick browse of their store shows some amazing detail in their costumes. The selection is really good and there's even costumes for characters that only wore them in only say one or two episodes 0_O They are located in California so its a great source for us US anime fans who still tend to get the short end of the stick. The LeLouche Emperor costume shown below is definitely on my wish list.

--- ## Kingdom Hearts Cell Phone Charms - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-05-kingdom-hearts-cell-phone-charms/ - Date: 2009-06-05 - Tags: anime figures, figures, final fantasy, kingdom hearts - AI-assisted: no Just posted up in the store the upcoming Kingdom Hearts Cell Phone Charms . They don't arrive to the US till around late October 2009 but you can pre-order them if you'd like or... Just posted up in the store the upcoming Kingdom Hearts Cell Phone Charms. They don't arrive to the US till around late October 2009 but you can pre-order them if you'd like or ask to be on a waiting list. They are about $10 and look pretty cool. Chances are I'll be keeping a Cloud one for my fiancee and me (if I can get it on my iPhone ^^;;)

Here's the the list of each type:
--- ## Anime3000 Podcast, Part 2, Future of Gaming - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-06-02-anime3000-podcast-part-2-future-of/ - Date: 2009-06-02 - Tags: E3, future of gaming, podcast, videogames - AI-assisted: no Here's part 2 of the Podcast from anime 3000.com that I got a chance to star in. As I post, E3 is going on and many new things have been announced and shown off. Here's a list o...
Here's part 2 of the Podcast from anime3000.com that I got a chance to star in. As I post, E3 is going on and many new things have been announced and shown off. Here's a list of some items from the current E3:

...and much more, with more to come. Check out the work being done at E3 by Engadget

The subject of our little rant here is the future of video games. So, where do you all think it's going? Is there new stuff in E3 that you dread or love?

As per the last podcast post, here's who's staring in the post:
You hear some of me but good God I need to stop mumbling. I think I was waiting for everyone to jump in mid comment ^^;; Trust me, I don't normally mumble like that.

Check out the podcast here. --- ## Sony PSP GO - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-31-sony-psp-go/ - Date: 2009-05-31 - Tags: gadets, psp go, sony, videogames - AI-assisted: no This was something that me and the other panelists talked about in the second part of the recent anime3000.com podcast (that podcast still pending release) and undoubtedly is al...
This was something that me and the other panelists talked about in the second part of the recent anime3000.com podcast (that podcast still pending release) and undoubtedly is all over the internet. E3 2009 is upon us and leaked out before the event is the new Sony PSP Go. I'll admit..I prefer my current old PSP over this but it might be worthy for someone who has yet to buy one. No UMD drive and no dual analog controls sadly. What do you all think of it? --- ## Anime Tattoos - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-30-anime-tattoos/ - Date: 2009-05-30 - Tags: anime tattoos, otaku, tattoos - AI-assisted: no Been wondering for a long while what tattoo(s) I'd finally get for myself. I'm the oldest of 8 kids and everyone but the 3 youngest and me don't have a tattoo. My father is load...
Been wondering for a long while what tattoo(s) I'd finally get for myself. I'm the oldest of 8 kids and everyone but the 3 youngest and me don't have a tattoo. My father is loaded with tattoos including a large Bald eagle that covers his entire chest. At first glance at my father and you'd not think he's covered with tats.

Anyways, I've always thought of Kanji writing as my younger brother has on the back of his neck but I've also of course thought of full anime tattoos. With the blessing of my fiancee, I'd most likely get a moe version of FFVII's Tifa Lockhart and even K-On!'s Mio wouldn't be bad if the tat is done right.

As I continue to ponder what to add, here's some interesting tattoos I found in a quick browse on the internets. Oh, and the title picture above is from yesterday's Anime Pic of the Day, can't get enough of that work by Muuten.

--- ## Japanese Idol: Kuroki Nanami - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-29-japanese-idol-kuroki-nanami/ - Date: 2009-05-29 - Tags: Idols, japan - AI-assisted: no Been some time since the last idol post and I've been getting some requests, so here's the idol, Kuroki Nanami. As of this post there's actullay no Wikipedia info on her ^^;; So... Been some time since the last idol post and I've been getting some requests, so here's the idol, Kuroki Nanami. As of this post there's actullay no Wikipedia info on her ^^;; So I'm not too sure about who she is but rumor has it she's one of those idols who is married and is basically at the end of her photo shoots, but that's rumors don't take that to heart.

I made sure to add her images to the idol gallery and again, I don't put up any really riske photos as I'm basically just showing you who she is and to show the beauty in the modeling. (I'm technically a model myself...well only one photo shoot...more on that maybe down the road... and I repect other models ..also, Danielle if you are reading this, don't be mad about another idol post ^^;;)

--- ## New Member Section/Blog - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-28-new-member-sectionblog/ - Date: 2009-05-28 - Tags: anime blog, member blog, updates - AI-assisted: no Great news. As of today I've basically completed a part of the blog that I think you all will like. I have created a member driven portion of the blog . In other words, if you g...
Great news. As of today I've basically completed a part of the blog that I think you all will like. I have created a member driven portion of the blog. In other words, if you get approved, you can create blog posts here on my blog! It's basically a utilization of Blogger's author sign-up function but it should work pretty well.

I actually made it a brand new blog but embedded it here in the site. If you got the email with "Member Rules"..sorry that was an accident; was suppose to go to the member blog ^^;; Still working out the kinks.

So if any one want to help add more anime posts, it can be done ^_^ Check out the rules and how to get involved below. Please note that once I hit about 100 authors, I'll reach my limit. I'm doubtful the site is THAT popular but..always good to warn evryone.

In related news. Due to the very buggy and easily hacked coding of phpBB, the anime forum will have to be taken away Y_Y Nothing but spam went there and now its somehow broken. Forums are very Web 1.0 anyways and unless its a place like gaiaonline...a forum is not so useful in today's online world anymore. So this member's blog will basically be a replacement. The member blog will be shown here on this blog better...just need to fix some design aspects. Anyways...on to the rules and other info:

What's in it for you?

Rules:
  1. Absolutely no hentai, loli, porn, offensive, extremely religious, or racist material.
  2. Absolutely no links to any sites with the items in rule #1
  3. Anime figures and manga mentions can be posted but no hentai or loli. Cast off figures must be shown in full clothed form and must not be too revealing
  4. Material in the blog posts must be related to: anime, manga, Japan, video games or anything that anime fans would deem interesting.
  5. No spamming. Google and blogger automatically create links on your user name when you post that should bring people to your site the natural way. You can link to your blog if you have more material to show in a related blog post, but NO topics with the blatant crazy advertising of your blog or a non-related blog i.e ("Click here for money tips.", etc). Other members won't care to click and it's distasteful -_-
  6. If possible, try to have one related picture per post that acts as a header to your blog post and reflects the topic shown (kind of how this post is done). This makes the post look nice and will create even more traffic to your post.
  7. Try to keep post titles small and to the point. Smaller titles yield better search results and make your posts look better.
  8. Don't overload a post with pictures. Use services like Flickr, photobucket or your own related blog to host the images...and again no images that have items that are in rule #1...I can't stress that enough -_-
  9. Posts can be short or large but please no posts that are too large.
  10. Any violations will mark an instant removal from the blog and from the Google Friend Connect member list of this site.
  11. We at Chuck's Anime Shrine have the right at any time to remove a blog post and member, so please follow the rules...a link to report a post will also be up on the blog for extra safety.

How to get involved:
  1. Join the growing list of members of Chuck's Anime Shrine by clicking the "join this site" button in the Google Friend Connect part of this page.
  2. Email me asking to be an author for Chuck's Anime Shrine...only after step one is done. I need to make sure you are a legit member.
  3. Be sure to tell me your member name in the Google Friend Connect system and your email must match the given user's email. Again, for the safety of other members and to weed out spammers.
  4. If approved, I will invite you to be an author on the site.
  5. Accept the invitation
  6. From your account on blogger.com, you can now begin posting.
Questions, Concerns:

Email me for any questions about the rules or how to get involved. As the site's popularity continues to grow...some emails might go through the cracks but I'll work as best I can to answer any questions. I set times that I go through my massive inbox of emails and I'm only human so immediate answers might not happen always.

 --- ## Sacred 2: Fallen Angel: Review - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-28-sacred-2-fallen-angel-review/ - Date: 2009-05-28 - Tags: game reviews, Sacred 2, videogames - AI-assisted: no Been playing lots of Sacred 2 during the past week/week and a half. My first impressions before playing was a bit iffy. I'll admit, I'm not a D&D, WoW, PC-style fantasy game...
Been playing lots of Sacred 2 during the past week/week and a half. My first impressions before playing was a bit iffy. I'll admit, I'm not a D&D, WoW, PC-style fantasy game fan. First thought was "seems like a college-level video game project that looks all too much like the Sims, mixed in with medieval themes." I was dead wrong though. Sacred 2 is more like a Grand Thief Auto set in a fantasy world with a Diablo 2 feel as well.

The game is very open-ended. From the start of which ever character or path you choose, the exploring and fighting starts and thrust me....there is a lot to explore. The world of Sacred 2 is very massive and loaded with side quests. The use of mounts (horses, and other mobile creatures you can buy), obelisks and warps can make your journey much less time consuming. I chose to be a High Elf in the light campaign and the instant I opened up the gates of the town I began in...I was ambushed by enemies...almost to the point of death right there. The controls might take a bit to get used to but the action scheme is very customizable and with a decent amount of empty slots to add either magic, weapons and shields collected in the game.

Speaking of the game's items, it doesn't take too long to completely fill up all your inventory from the loot dropped by the vast array of enemies that litter the landscape or the random barrels and chests in caves and in random households (ah the old, break in to a random villager's house and steal their loot deal that you find in say..Legend of Zelda and others). Thankfully you can rid yourself of the extra inventory by saving it in a Hero's Chest for later use, selling it, or , of you are stuck in the wilderness, simply scrapping old, worthless items for stronger loot you find.

As you battle your magic/skills and you level up. The quickest way to level up though is to complete a large amount of side missions. Actually much of your time in the game will be completing side missions as there are over 600 of them! You can of course skip them and go to the story's main tasks, marked on the map in a gold circle..but expect enemies to be much more fierce. Some side quests are a bit dull, I'll admit but some are pretty fun with awesome boss battles at the end of them, so they are worth it. Having people play with you online in this is a great bonus and like MMORPGs, can lead to quicker execution of tasks.

There are some quirks about Sacred 2 though. The inventory system can get rather cumbersome and its rather tough to see which weapons are the best to use. Also, the game's frame rate will slow when thee is lots of enemies and magic being throw around. I have the Xbox 360 version but I hear the same happens on the PS3. Similarly, the game will have odd loading slowdowns in the towns...something I'll admit I'm shocked to see on an Xbox 360.

Despite some flaws, I still give the game a 8 out of 10. It has the pick up and play feel of older games, the open ended play like GTA and makes me now think about picking up similar games that I've for so long avoided like WoW, Diablo, and Everquest.

Check me out on Xbox Live to see my progress in this game and others.

My gamer tag is chuckgaff415.

I'm still playing through the game (its very long, another benifit) so any new tidbits I can add to the review, I'll let you all know ;-)

Check out the trailer here:


--- ## Anime3000 Podcast - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-27-anime3000-podcast/ - Date: 2009-05-27 - Tags: otaku, podcast, updates, videogames - AI-assisted: no I finally got something to add to the podcast section of this site. As of a few days ago, I was asked to be part of a podcast with anime3000.com. Big thanks to Sean Russell for ... I finally got something to add to the podcast section of this site. As of a few days ago, I was asked to be part of a podcast with anime3000.com. Big thanks to Sean Russell for asking me to drop by. This is actually part of two podcasts, both pertaining to the history of video games and where we feel its heading to. The first pod cast shown here is a look back at the different generations of game consoles and of course we talked about what the game companies did well...and not so well. The rest of our recording, to be up some time soon, is essentially the second half of our 2 hour cast and is mainly us ranting on what is to come with gaming and more ranting as well. So now you all can hear what I sound like...which is either good or bad ^^;;

On the panel was:
Check out the main podcast page on anime3000 for info and links to related video game commercials and goodies.

You can download the podcast to your iTunes or listen HERE
 --- ## Haruhi Suzumiya, Season 2 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-27-haruhi-suzumiya-season-2/ - Date: 2009-05-27 - Tags: anime, Haruhi Suzumiya - AI-assisted: no Unless you have been away for the past couple of weeks, you'd probably know by now that the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has gotten underway in Japan. Of c... Unless you have been away for the past couple of weeks, you'd probably know by now that the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has gotten underway in Japan. Of course, Kyoto Animation is once again behind the scenes so thankfully don't expect a Tenchi Muyo or Full Metal Alchemist scenario where the artwork is changed from the first season or rendition. If I'm not mistaken, it's also a continuation of the first season which is great for all us Haruhi fans. From the looks of it, it's a bit more moe than the first season but that isn't bad, right?

Check out the ending below:

--- ## Munto AMVs - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-26-munto-amvs/ - Date: 2009-05-26 - Tags: amvs, anime, Munto, videos - AI-assisted: no Well, it's been some time since my last AMV. Apparently I've been known as one of the pioneers in AMVs and I've even made it to the top of Helium.com's tutorial on AMV creation ... Well, it's been some time since my last AMV. Apparently I've been known as one of the pioneers in AMVs and I've even made it to the top of Helium.com's tutorial on AMV creation..but sadly, its been about 4+ years since my last one (I will make one eventually ^^;;). That hasn't stopped my fiancee Danielle. She has been on a roll with AMVs. Her Final Fantasy Crisis Core AMV was unfortunately removed due to the music artist's neglect for the free advertising and the fact that it got insanely popular.

As of late we have been watching an anime that you might or might not know called Munto. The AMVs below by Danielle and Sapphire Star showcase a bit of this rather short anime. Munto seems to put you in that dream world like anime in the past has many times. It's that same feeling you get when you wake up from a dream that you were very attached to, like another you in another universe. This feeling comes to mind when I watch Munto and did the same for Princess Mononoke and basically all of Miyasaky's work. Munto was animated by Kyoto animation, the studio known for animating Haruhi, K-ON! and Lucky Star. At times the animation looks simple and then it looks complex. If you can still find it left in the stores or on ebay..or just watch it online. It's a great anime and deserves a bit more attention than what it's gotten so far.

Without further delay, I present Danielle's latest AMV ^_^:



Here's the AMV that got me into wanting to view this anime and inspired Danielle. the AMV is by Sapphire Star:



I will note again, AMVs are free advertisement for both the music artists and the anime. The anime, Munto is owned by Kyoto animation, the original creator and all respected licences. The song "That's the Way It Is" is owned by Celine Dion; "Stand in the Rain" is owned by Superchick and all repected music labels. Please use iTunes, Amazon MP3 or anywhere that sells their music. Please purchase Munto where ever anime is sold as well...if it isn't here in my store.
 --- ## Anime Pic Of the Day: 5/25/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-25-anime-pic-of-day-52509/ - Date: 2009-05-25 - Tags: anime pic of the day, art, otaku - AI-assisted: no This by far has to be the most amazing anime drawing I have ever seen and to my biggest surprise...it's not a picture of a cute anime girl! Done by the artist, Muuten, this imag...
This by far has to be the most amazing anime drawing I have ever seen and to my biggest surprise...it's not a picture of a cute anime girl! Done by the artist, Muuten, this image depicts a tattooed samurai with the image of a mech behind him. Simply stunning, a true work of art that should be in museums and yet another reason why I'm glad to be an anime fan. I just hope to have half of the artistic talent that is needed to make this image. --- ## TFS: Dragon Ball Z Abridged Episode 10 Part 1 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-25-tfs-dragon-ball-z-abridged-episode-10/ - Date: 2009-05-25 - Tags: dbz, parody, teamfourstar, videos - AI-assisted: no Looks like the talented fan dubbers at Team Four Star brought out the long awaited episode 10 two part finale to their first season. For a while fans of this parody have been wa... Looks like the talented fan dubbers at Team Four Star brought out the long awaited episode 10 two part finale to their first season. For a while fans of this parody have been waiting but today marks the first year since their first episode. If you are a DBZ fan and particularly if you enjoyed the Vegeta saga..you gotta check it out. This is a wonderful Memorial Day present. Big props to TFS ^_^

--- ## Beat Blades Haruka: Narika Sennin [Alter] - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-24-beat-blades-haruka-narika-sennin-alter/ - Date: 2009-05-24 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Haruka Sennin - AI-assisted: no Wanted to quickly showcase an anime figure I have currently up for pre-order in the store . This one I'm contemplating on whether to keep for myself as well. It's the newer Alte... Wanted to quickly showcase an anime figure I have currently up for pre-order in the store. This one I'm contemplating on whether to keep for myself as well. It's the newer Alter version of Narika Sennin from the hentai, Beat Blades Haruka. Just loving the design, color and look this will have once I set up a good display. Alter is very, very good at making sure the final product looks like the original concept figure seen here. She's scheduled for a late August, early September 2009 release here in the US. I'll admit, she's a bit pricey, the manufactures aren't giving us anime store owners any slack with the strong yen -_-....I made sure though that she's free shipping for US customers though.

Is she on your wish list? --- ## Evangelion With No Asuka? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-23-evangelion-with-no-asuka/ - Date: 2009-05-23 - Tags: anime, asuka, evangelion - AI-assisted: no Well, let me re-word that, "Asuka won't be called 'Asuka?'" As per rather recent news from sankakucomplex.com , what seems like something stupid you'd expect from the Hollywood ... Well, let me re-word that, "Asuka won't be called 'Asuka?'" As per rather recent news from sankakucomplex.com , what seems like something stupid you'd expect from the Hollywood version of Evangelion (which, by the way, is supposedly back in production), the newest Eva anime will change the name of Asuka! From further reading of the news, it still seems that Asuka will have the name in there but with her name being "Shikinami Asuka Langley" as oppose to "Sohryu Asuka Langley"...I guess though its not so bad ^^;;.

It's not like what will most likely happen in the Hollywood version where they'll probably name Asuka "Karen" and Rei "Mary" just so they can dumb it down for the American audiance. ::Shutters at the thought:: =_= --- ## Dragon Ball Z Doramatic Diorama Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-22-dragon-ball-z-doramatic-diorama-figure/ - Date: 2009-05-22 - Tags: anime figures, dbz, dragon ball z, figures - AI-assisted: no Just got a look at this figure this morning and it has a very, very accurate DBZ look to it. Depicting of course when Gohan defeated Cell with the just passed away Goku by his s... Just got a look at this figure this morning and it has a very, very accurate DBZ look to it. Depicting of course when Gohan defeated Cell with the just passed away Goku by his side, this is most definitely a DBZ figure to get. Let's face it, there's not many really good DBZ figures out there. Most of them are usually really cheaply made figures that tend to never reach the quality of say a Good Smile Company or Alter anime girl figure.

You will have to pay a pretty penny for it though. It costs about 10500 yen of probably in the range of $120USD (thanks to the yen being strong again =_=). To be honest, I'm not too certain of the scale just yet. If its like some of the other high quality DBZ figures that recently got released, it's probably a 1/7th or maybe even 1/6th scale.

I should be getting the rights to sell this in the store, so keep an eye out for it or you can message me and say "I want it!" and I'll see if its in my anime retailing powers to grab one. --- ## Evangelion Cellphone - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-22-evangelion-cellphone/ - Date: 2009-05-22 - Tags: evangelion, gadgets, otaku, phone - AI-assisted: no A few days back this phone obviously caught my attention on both Dannychoo.com and sankakucomplex.com . In celebration of the Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance anime movie, ...
A few days back this phone obviously caught my attention on both Dannychoo.com and sankakucomplex.com. In celebration of the Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance anime movie, this phone has a semi-old school look but matches perfectly to all that is Eva. The phone will be created by NTT Docomo and is dubbed the "SH-06A NERV"


If I didn't absolutely love my iPhone, this would be the phone I'd use. Even so, I might still snag one for the heck of it. (Maybe I should look for an Eva iPhone casing or something ^^;;)

If I can also grab some for the store to sell, I will as well. --- ## Anime Pic Of the Day: 5/21/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-21-anime-pic-of-day-52109/ - Date: 2009-05-21 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day, K-ON - AI-assisted: no Ok, this is not such a new picture and it's been publicized on a number of anime sites. Just thought I'd add it to list of favorite anime pics. It's the famous "Mio-Beam" pic fe...
Ok, this is not such a new picture and it's been publicized on a number of anime sites. Just thought I'd add it to list of favorite anime pics. It's the famous "Mio-Beam" pic featuring K-On!'s Mio in a maid dress firing an insane beam. You gotta admit..the picture is freaken cool and goes well with Mikuru's "Mikuru Beam" ^_^ --- ## Jailed For Manga - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-20-jailed-for-manga/ - Date: 2009-05-20 - Tags: manga, otaku - AI-assisted: no A while back I wrote about an Iowa man who's loli manga he got from Japan was confiscated by US customs, and then he was stalked by police on his way home, to which they then ar...
A while back I wrote about an Iowa man who's loli manga he got from Japan was confiscated by US customs, and then he was stalked by police on his way home, to which they then arrested him.

Well, looks like as of today he pled guilty to charges of obscene images and will get as much as 15 years in jail and a $250,000 fine!!

As much as I do think loli manga is gross and yes obscene, in the end its fictional drawings on paper and in no way, shape or form should be illegal. Not only its illegal, but look at how bad the sentencing can be. 15 years?! $250,000 fine?! Micheal Vick who ran a dog fighting competition that killed a number of dogs will be released next month because his meager 23 month sentence will be over.

This is utter proof that the US justice system is really, really corrupt. I just can't imagine how many otaku might get arrested for regular hentai mangas..or hell, normal manga misconceptions.

What about all the stupid European art of little naked and very anatomically correct cupids that litter museums and many common greeting/ valentine cards? This is not right. Minus -1000 points there USA =_= --- ## King Of Fighters Fan Art Contest - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-19-king-of-fighters-fan-art-contest/ - Date: 2009-05-19 - Tags: contests, King of Fighters, videogames - AI-assisted: no Great news KOF fans! If you haven't heard yet, Ignition Entertainment is doing a fan art contest with lots of cash and prizes to commemorate the The release of The King Of Fight... Great news KOF fans! If you haven't heard yet, Ignition Entertainment is doing a fan art contest with lots of cash and prizes to commemorate the The release of The King Of Fighters XLL for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

First place Prize is $1000 cash, second place prize is $500 with runners up getting a free $100 KOF figure and/or the KOF XLL game. Enter the "Fan Art Section" of www.kingoffighters12.com upload your work ^_^

The contest has been on since April 11th and will go on till July 31st 2009...so get the art flowing.

Speaking of KOF...this game marks the 15th anniversary of the KOF franchise. I remember being an eager 10 year old gamer back in 1994 (what is the deal with that year always coming up when anyone refers to the 90's anyways 0_o?). I would go to whichever arcade my parents would take me to, to let me play games like KOF, Street Fighter II, Turtles in Time, etc. I got some good memories of KOF and execpt for the a few recent 3D versions, KOF has kept it's 1994 graphics...which to me is fine since I'm an old timer in the gaming world.
So, who's your favorite KOF fighter?..no surprise mine is Mai Shiranui ^^;; Of course you can see why:
Anyways...get going with your art work before it's too late and don't be shy about adding your fan art to my fan art portion of the anime gallery or Flickr group as well ^_^
--- ## Box of Nendoroids - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-18-box-of-nendoroids/ - Date: 2009-05-18 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Good Smile Company, Nendoroid - AI-assisted: no Today I got a big shipment of new anime figures from the new Kingdom Hearts Cloud and Sephiroth; not to mention a bunch of Haruhi Suzumiya Extravaganza figures, just to name a f...

Today I got a big shipment of new anime figures from the new Kingdom Hearts Cloud and Sephiroth; not to mention a bunch of Haruhi Suzumiya Extravaganza figures, just to name a few. I also got about 12 Nendoroid figures. Just wanted to use this post to show them off before they are taken away from any of my customers or before I add a few to my own personal collection ^^;; I definitely could use some di:stages for these guys.

Anyone got a favorite Nendoroid?

A wonderful site

Itoshiki Nendoroid


Going to be giving most of them a new home soon. I might keep one or two but...gotta run the biz here ^^' --- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine: Mobile - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-14-chucks-anime-shrine-mobile/ - Date: 2009-05-14 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, iphone, mobile web, updates - AI-assisted: no Got an iPhone? Well, now you won't have to wait too long for my site to load. As of today I made a very simplistic but somewhat useful mobile section to the site. as of this pos...


Got an iPhone? Well, now you won't have to wait too long for my site to load. As of today I made a very simplistic but somewhat useful mobile section to the site. as of this post, if you go to the main part of my site, chucksanimeshrine.com and you have an iPhone, you will be redirected to the Mobile page. From there you can view that anime, figure, idol photo galleries and the mobile version of this blog as well.

If you don't have an iPhone, you can still bookmark that page. The links should still act accordingly for your phone since the blog link goes to the rss feed and the gallery link goes to the MoblieMe gallery page directly , thus if your phone can convert an RSS page and if the MobileMe site can detect your phone...it should work ok.
Also, as you can see below, a few week ago or so I added an iPhone web icon for the site so this site can almost act and look like an iPhone app.

If I can, down the road I'l add the video, music and store sections...but for now, lets keep it simple ^^;




--- ## K-ON! Music - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-14-k-on-music/ - Date: 2009-05-14 - Tags: K-ON, music, updates - AI-assisted: no Good news for you K-ON! fans. Looks as if Playlist.com has both the "Cagayake! GIRLS" and the "Don't Say Lazy" singles by Aki Toyosaki & co. from the K-ON! opening and endin...

Good news for you K-ON! fans. Looks as if Playlist.com has both the "Cagayake! GIRLS" and the "Don't Say Lazy" singles by Aki Toyosaki & co. from the K-ON! opening and ending sequences. Naturally I added them to the Anime.fm Anime Playlist and the anime music section here on CAS. If I can get a hold of the whole Cagayake! GIRLS CD, I'll be sure to post it up in my store. Gotta give the music artists their dues of course.

Enjoy K-ON! fans ^_^.

(Update: Added the Anime.fm widget below...if you don't want to travel to Anime.fm or the Music section of this site)



--- ## Anime Pic of The Day: 5/12/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-12-anime-pic-of-day-51209/ - Date: 2009-05-12 - Tags: anime pic of the day, ar tonelico 2, otaku - AI-assisted: no Ar Tonelico 2 has been eating up much of my time as of late. Here's a picture of Luca and Cloche (Chroche) from the game. I'm most likely going to create a whole section devoted...


Ar Tonelico 2 has been eating up much of my time as of late. Here's a picture of Luca and Cloche (Chroche) from the game. I'm most likely going to create a whole section devoted to this game. Once you start playing this game..you might as well not come out of your gaming cave for at least a month. This game is an anime fan's dream ^^.

Anyways, more posts to come....sorry about the gap in blog posts ^^;;. --- ## Blood, The Last Vampire Movie - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-07-blood-last-vampire-movie/ - Date: 2009-05-07 - Tags: anime, blood last vamipire, movies, vampires - AI-assisted: no Let's face it, Hollywood has it out for the anime genre. The success of the comics to movies made many in Hollywood raise a few eyebrows along with their bank accounts. Sadly fo...

Let's face it, Hollywood has it out for the anime genre. The success of the comics to movies made many in Hollywood raise a few eyebrows along with their bank accounts. Sadly for them...and us, anime is a whole other beast and the formula doesn't work so well for the US movie makers. Just look at how Dragon Ball Evolution, Speed Racer and others not only bombed in the box office, but offended us anime fans to the core. Only Transformers has created an appreciated showing of a classic anime series.

Anime is not men in tights with lackluster storylines that you can build a Hollywood movie around. To turn the storyline of an American comic into a cool blockbuster movie is child's play for any movie writer since they are so simple to begin with. Anime has more depth and life to their stories. The fandom runs deeper even if a series is no where near the age of say an X-Men comic.


We anime fans are continually faced with disbelief and anger with the notion of some of the anime-to Hollywood movies to come. The Cowboy Bebop movie with Keenu Reeves set to play Spike, the Steven Spielberg acquisition to rights for a Ghost in the Shell movie and the planned Akira movie by Leonardo DiCapro's production studio is enough to give us heart burn. Add that to the recent news of Death Note getting a US movie made by Warner Bros. (yes they seemed to have ignored the 3 very successful Japanese live action Death Note films) and you have to take a whole lot of Tums to cure that indigestion.



Well, there is hope for us . There is some light at the end of this Hollywood-induced dark tunnel. Even better than the second Transformers movie we have the Hollywood rendition of Blood, The Last Vampire to look forward to. A sight for sore eyes as this looks to be the Anime-to-movie creation that we can be proud of. Not only is the movie set to match up with the Manga almost perfectly, the producers realized the simple fact that the main character, Saya, will actually be played by an asian actress (Gianna Jun) who looks just like her. Once you see who's making the movie (the producers of both Heros and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), it then comes to no surprise why we'll finally see a movie true to the spirit of an anime, violence, sailor outfit and all ^_^.

I'm going to enjoy this flick. Check out the trailer below...and no, these vampires don't sparkle.


--- ## K-ON! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-05-k-on-05/ - Date: 2009-05-05 - Tags: anime, Cagayake GIRLS, K-ON - AI-assisted: no I'm a little late on the scene but the current fad in Japan and us otaku right now is the new hit show K-ON! Already the show's opening song "Cagayake! GIRLS" has reached #2 in ...

I'm a little late on the scene but the current fad in Japan and us otaku right now is the new hit show K-ON! Already the show's opening song "Cagayake! GIRLS" has reached #2 in the Japanese charts. at a quick glance you can see that the show was animated by the same people who brought us Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star (Kyoto animation). The opening (seen below) is just wonderfully done and proof that only Japan does animation best.


The story of K-On! revolves around four high school girls who are trying to keep the music club they are a part of from going away. Not only are they the only ones in the group, their one member Yui never played instruments nor does she know how to read music ^^;;



A must for any anime fan and you know for certain DVDs, figures and more will be on their way.



K-ON! Opening


K-ON! Closing --- ## C.A.S Flickr Group - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-04-cas-flickr-group/ - Date: 2009-05-04 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, flickr, otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Something I should have done long ago, but up is the Chuck's Anime Shrine Flickr group . Post what ever anime/otaku related photos you want up there. This adds another way to su...


Something I should have done long ago, but up is the Chuck's Anime Shrine Flickr group. Post what ever anime/otaku related photos you want up there. This adds another way to submit fan art than just the MobleMe part of my site. The group is new but hopefully it can help gain some eposure for all of you ^^;; --- ## C.A.S iPhone Webclip Icon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-03-cas-iphone-webclip-icon/ - Date: 2009-05-03 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, iphone, iphone posts, updates - AI-assisted: no Just a little addition I did for the site in preparation for an iPhone/mobile friendly version of the site. I made an iPhone webclip icon for the homepage of your phone. It's fr...


Just a little addition I did for the site in preparation for an iPhone/mobile friendly version of the site. I made an iPhone webclip icon for the homepage of your phone. It's from the picture I drew and looks a lot better on the iPhone/ iPod Touch springboard than the typical screenshot.



So, if you want to add this site to your iPhone, go ahead and the image above is what you'll see ^_^

How To Create an iPhone Webclip Icon for Your Website:
--- ## The End of Geocities - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-03-end-of-geocities/ - Date: 2009-05-03 - Tags: geocities, otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Not so much new news but as of recently, Yahoo, as part of their crazy restructuring will drop the free web hosting service, Geocities. Back in December till around March of 200...

Not so much new news but as of recently, Yahoo, as part of their crazy restructuring will drop the free web hosting service, Geocities. Back in December till around March of 2002, I first posted this site on Geocities so I can thank my very start to the service. The offical release of Chuck's Anime Shrine then happened in March when I payed for service on ocatch.com, then migrated to Netfirms.com an then finally to globat.com. Yep, I still use a web hosting service for the site after all this time. Granted, yes I should soon migrate to running my own servers as the traffic becomes higher and higher but..I'll leave that to the future.

Anyways, Geocities and sites like xanga.com were home to the first anime fan websites. Many of them are long gone, sadly but these were the Myspaces and Facebooks of their time. We proudly showed what we loved on a site that was almost our own. To me showing your fandom on a Myspace page or Facebook just isn't the same as having your own site. For those who are still trucking on in Geocities, time to make a move before it's too late.

As an honor to the anime fan sites of old, I'll be going back to making "shrines" of different series and games. Some of which I have on here already and of course was the original point of my anime website in the first place. These "shrines" go beyond the typical blog post or archive and I won't them die on my watch. With this site and blog working with some of the anime companies directly, either it be promos (like the Naruto one recently) or through my store, I'll have more leverage to promote these series and give them some sort of permanent space on the web. One thing us true anime fans never do is forget a series we watched. We eventually go back to watching them again because anime means more to us than a simple cartoon show or the like, even as we get older. --- ## Watch & Win NARUTO Shippuden - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-02-watch-win-naruto-shippuden/ - Date: 2009-05-02 - Tags: anime, naruto, Naruto Shippuden, videos, viz - AI-assisted: no If some of you are not aware..which I doubt, Hulu.com features full episodes of Naruto. Actually as of a few days ago , Naruto was ranked #20 on Hulu; so a nice little cheviot f...


If some of you are not aware..which I doubt, Hulu.com features full episodes of Naruto. Actually as of a few days ago, Naruto was ranked #20 on Hulu; so a nice little cheviot for us anime fans in an increasingly neglected US TV media.

If you all think free full episodes of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are great, well Viz and their site at Naruto.com are doing a special WATCH & WIN contest weekly. In short, you watch the latest episodes of Naruto Shippuden on the Naruto.com site, answer a quick quiz and you can enter your info for a free weekly prize! The current prize for this week is a set of 5 Ninjutsu Figurines. The offical rules for the contest can be found here. So go do what most of you do already, go watch some Naruto but watch it via Naruto.com so the episodes won't only be free...you might win some free stuff ^_^




(oh for those wondering "When the hell are you going to do another contest Chuck?" I didn't forget, there will be more in the future. ^^;)
--- ## Death Note Movies - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-05-01-death-note-movies/ - Date: 2009-05-01 - Tags: anime, death note, otaku - AI-assisted: no Some of you might know that just recently some select US theaters got to see the Death Note: L Change the World live action flick. Without giving anything away, the movie is a d...

Some of you might know that just recently some select US theaters got to see the Death Note: L Change the World live action flick. Without giving anything away, the movie is a different take on the ending of the series than how the manga or the anime concluded and for the most part, many fans enjoyed all three Death Note Live action movies. One cry from the fans I have heard is the fact that the movies were dubbed for the english and other audiances. Granted, at least for the english dubbing, it was the same group of talented voice actors behind the anime.



Personally I feel that dubbing any live action cheapens flicks and downplays the actors in any foreign film...plus just looks plain silly... but the acting was very good nonetheless.

I was given the attention of one site, http://www.mtviggy.com/, that did a great job going over the Death Note Movies, so if you want to check out more on these movies check out these links below.

Death Note: The Story Behind the Phenomenon

Death Note: Top 5 Moments From Death Note I & II



mtviggy.com global
Trailer for Death Note: L, Change the World



Comment below on what you thought of the movies as well ^_^ --- ## Danny Choo Nikon Commercial - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-28-danny-choos-nikon-commercial/ - Date: 2009-04-28 - Tags: dannychoo, otaku - AI-assisted: no Danny Choo is the person I can thank for reawakening my anime fandom that I somewhat strayed from between 2004 till almost all of 2006. His blog inspired me to start this one wh...


Danny Choo is the person I can thank for reawakening my anime fandom that I somewhat strayed from between 2004 till almost all of 2006. His blog inspired me to start this one which shortly then lead me to run my anime figure business. Though I still currently work part time for Berger Brothers Camera (which BTW is only a few miles from the Nikon's USA headquarters), my anime blog and anime business has got me to be working far less on stuff I don't want to do and thus more on what I love doing.

Just recently Danny got to be the theme behind the latest Nikon Camera commercial. Check out the video below. As we can see, the anime/otaku blogosphere is indeed strong, growing and inspiring many to be creative and live fulfilling lives. Remember the old saying, "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life."

Danny has inspired many of us and we owe him a big thanks for his continued love for all that is otaku. I hope my blog continues to grow and inspire as well. I know back on the start of my site in 2002 and 2003 Danielle and I inspired many with our AMVs and the feeling of having some fans and more importantly, to have inspired others to be anime fans is a fulfillment of a lifetime goal and just a wonderful feeling to have. Awesome job Danny and I hope to achieve at least just a fraction of the stuff you have ^_^

(oh BTW Danny, if you read this post I am getting back to work with Anime.fm. I'll gladly give you the reigns to the site if you so want to again ^^;;.)


--- ## E-Commerce Tax - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-28-e-commerce-tax/ - Date: 2009-04-28 - Tags: business, businessweek, updates - AI-assisted: no Ok, so the economy has been doing bad. We can go on for hours on the causes, the culprits and the results of many of the actions taken. One action trying to be done will automat...


Ok, so the economy has been doing bad. We can go on for hours on the causes, the culprits and the results of many of the actions taken. One action trying to be done will automatically prevent new jobs, destroy thousands of current ones and cause any type of recovery we see now to go out the window. It's a law that would force you to pay sales tax on say anime figures you buy outside your own state.

I'm talking about the tired case of Quill vs. North Dakota, aka the e-commerce tax, or the "amazon tax." Looks as if two moronic politicians, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Representative Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) want to try to unconstitutionally break a Supreme Court ruling that clearly states that you only pay sales tax if the business you purchase from is in the state you reside. I've already made my point clear and as of today, the great editors and staff at BusinessWeek.com put my comment on the front page for today.



Many Internet businesses have grown despite what the economy has thrown at them. My anime business has grown steadily as well despite me starting it in late 2006 and throughout this whole recession, my customer service has been creating a thriving company that hopefully soon I can create jobs with. New York already broke the laws of the land by having it where you have to pay the already inflated New York sales tax even if you don't live in NY!!

Because many rich scammers out there can't run their hedge funds anymore, the states are strapping for cash they once had from these legal Ponzi Schemes and that means your anime items, not just from me, but from every anime business or all products from all e-commerce businesses will cost more for you. Instead of doing the right thing, many states want to steal money from the average citizen by imposing this tax. Granted a very small universal tax should be a solution to accommodate the state's need and ours but...we all know that won't happen either because of states like New York who can't balance their budget even in an utopian society.

I know I'm sounding much like Code Geass's Lelouche but fighting this is a must for anyone who wants to see the economy continue to recover from such idiotic actions. Call your state representative or aid ebay.com and overstock.com in their fight against this. You can also add to the discussion on BusinessWeek.com along with me. Despite what naysayers think, many e-commerce sites, including my own already pay enough taxes to our state government. I cringe every time I have to impose the Suffolk County 8.625% sales tax on anime figures bought by my fellow New Yorkers. An besides, if my company grows and I add more employees, income tax comes into play and that's where the money should come from! Its a crime to begin with and there is no way this crime should be allowed to expand. --- ## New TMNT Live Action Rumors - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-27-new-tmnt-live-action-rumors/ - Date: 2009-04-27 - Tags: live action, movies, ninja turtles, otaku, TMNT - AI-assisted: no Anyone here fans of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action films from the early 90's? I didn't see the recent CG movie and apparently it wasn't enough to celebrate the...


Anyone here fans of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action films from the early 90's? I didn't see the recent CG movie and apparently it wasn't enough to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our favorite pizza loving turtles. Still mostly hype but it's looking to be a solid project.

It seems that Scott Mednick, producer of Superman Returns and former head of Legendary Pictures will be producing the film. Rumors are that it'll be a prequel showing the creation of the Turtles and Splinter from of course the Ooze, and such. It is aimed for a 2011 completion.

(I was in elementary school when the movies came out and this will heal my Dragon Ball Evolution wounds ^^;)

News thanks to:

Empire

ComicBookMovie.com --- ## Anime Pic of The Day 4/25/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-25-anime-pic-of-day-42509/ - Date: 2009-04-25 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day, summer - AI-assisted: no Summer is coming soon and here in NY we are having one nice late April day. Enjoy a day out in the sun if you are lucky enough to have a good day. Try not to work too hard since...


Summer is coming soon and here in NY we are having one nice late April day. Enjoy a day out in the sun if you are lucky enough to have a good day. Try not to work too hard since there should always be those days where you do nothing at all. --- ## The 20 Year Old Game Boy - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-23-20-year-old-game-boy/ - Date: 2009-04-23 - Tags: gadgets, game boy, nintendo, videogames - AI-assisted: no 20 years since the Game Boy came out? Man I feel old. I was 5 years old at the time in 1989 and I was already a gamer for 4 years so...yep I indeed had one. I actually still hav...


20 years since the Game Boy came out? Man I feel old. I was 5 years old at the time in 1989 and I was already a gamer for 4 years so...yep I indeed had one. I actually still have my original Game Boy, the odd long orange carry case (more of a reason I always refer to the 1980's as the 'awkward 80's') and good old Tetris.

From there I of course got the color adapter, then Game Boy Color, then Game Boy Advance, then the DS. (I have yet to get the DSi as of this post ^^;;)

Anyone got any good Game Boy memories?


I so remember this commercial. Was on Nickelodeon when I was watching Double Dare, Fun House and Count Duckula.

Thanks to Engadget for letting me know of the GB reaching the big 2-0. --- ## Lux Pain Review - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-22-lux-pain-review/ - Date: 2009-04-22 - Tags: game reviews, Lux Pain, videogames - AI-assisted: no Just recently I finished the Nintendo DS game, Lux Pain. The game was definitely something different. Depending on what type of gamer you are will determine a much different tak...

Just recently I finished the Nintendo DS game, Lux Pain. The game was definitely something different. Depending on what type of gamer you are will determine a much different take on the game. Myself along with most of the readers of this blog will find this game more appealing than say a gamer who has no intention of getting into anime or manga.

Lux Pain in short is more of an interactive manga than say a true hands-on video game. It's akin to say a dating sim without much dating. There are moments, mainly in the bonus clips that you can unlock that almost are dates with any of the male and female characters...so almost a dating sim. Lux Pain acts more like a "mystery sim". The purpose of the game is to unlock hidden Shinen (or remnant feelings) in both the area you go to or the characters you meet to unlock the mystery behind cases of these creatures called Silent. Silent, in shor t, are like parasitic worms that feed off of bad feelings (Shinen). It sort of creates a physical reason to why people kill or commit suicide.


Finding the Shinen is not too hard at all even with a timer that appears in most searches. First time playing, you might miss one or two but a basic cycling of the stylus will let you find the Shinen withou t the need for the "Search Mode" that's available.

Eventually you will run into Silents. This is where the bulk of the actual gaming comes into play and there are three types of ways you'll have to defeat them. The latter two ways; breaking a glass shield then scratching the white orb on the screen or the "stringing corners" one, make decent use of the stylus.

Like dating sims, be prepared for ALOT of text reading. Again, this goes to my point about the game being more of an interactive manga...which is not bad since its still rare to see such games make it here from Japan; something we have been asking for.

The story is a bit confusing at first but like in any anime or manga, you will get to like many of the characters. I particularly li ked Rui and aimed much of my encounters with her first if possible ^^;; The voice acting of the characters is very good and for good reason I'll get in a second. The one issue though that you'll notice off the bat is tha t the text will not match what the voice actors are saying...it more paraphrases their statements. There are some typos and misspellings as well, but as a game developer and with loads of errors I usually catch in my own blogs, I can't bash that too much ^^; The voice acting was good and was because a bunch of popular US voice actors did take role in the game. Actors like Chris Sabat (Vegeta, Piccolo, Louis Armstrong, Kuwabara...etc), Monica Rial (Steel Angel Kurumi's Saki...and many others), and Eric Vale (the voice of my favorite male anime character, DBZ's Future Trunks)

Rui was my favorite by far.

Kudos to Ignition for getting the good dubbers but the issues in the localization can sadly be seen.


Overall, as an anime fan, I give the game a 7/10. Gamers looking for a quick and fun video game that are not anime fans might give this game a 3/10 though. My blog is for anime fans so the higher number is what you'd expect. Rent it first if you can but I didn't mind adding this game to my collection and I give it more credit than IGN or others would give it.

Here's the trailer for those who didn't see it yet:


 --- ## Goku's Funeral - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-19-gokus-funeral/ - Date: 2009-04-19 - Tags: dragon ball evolution, dragon ball z, goku - AI-assisted: no Sorry for the lack of updates...and the fact that the last batch of posts have basically been all DBZ posts ^^;; Anyways, just saw something I thought you all would get a kick o...


Sorry for the lack of updates...and the fact that the last batch of posts have basically been all DBZ posts ^^;;

Anyways, just saw something I thought you all would get a kick out of. More fan anger toward the Dragon Ball Evolution movie as ans weep on the loss of our dear Goku as Justin Chawin practically killed him in his sad role as the FOX version of Goku. Just remember that the is now Dragon Ball Kai to hopefully make you feel better.

Be back will more updates on the way and a full review of the DS game, Lux Pain.




Image and post all thanks to www.japanator.com --- ## Anime IPhone Game, Abigale - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-10-anime-iphone-game-abigale/ - Date: 2009-04-10 - Tags: anime iphone game, iphone, videogames - AI-assisted: no Anime games are still a bit rare on the iPhone but they are slowly coming up in numbers. Well, this game in particular caught my eyes for two reasons. First off, its an anime ga...


Anime games are still a bit rare on the iPhone but they are slowly coming up in numbers. Well, this game in particular caught my eyes for two reasons. First off, its an anime game on the iPhone that has an anime girl as the main character. I downloaded Abigale which, by the way is by Japanese mobile developer, Meridian. It's a 2D side scrolling shooter with very nice graphics, a story, a bunch of levels and a few bosses as well. Better yet, it's only about $.99 for the intro rate and will soon only go up to about $2.00 or so after. The only issue really with it is that its got no music...kind of a downer but I'd expect maybe a later version will have music.

And as for the other reason why this caught my eye...well this will only be relevant to people who've followed my site over the past couple of years. On and off in my very rare "free time" I've been working on a gaming project I've called "Project Fumi" Since 2003 I've always wanted a mascot for the site and also wanted to create a game pertaining to her. This game, Abigail is basically the game I had in mind...but with some differences of course. These improvements would make the game better than Abigale...if I only had the damn time to draw better images than my first ones, the sprites and of course finish the game engine in which I have a bit done. ::sigh::



Anyways, here's the video of the game on youtube:




Big thanks to TouchArcade for introducing this app and for providing the video. --- ## Dragon Ball Evolution Review - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-10-dragon-ball-evolution-review/ - Date: 2009-04-10 - Tags: dragon ball, dragon ball evolution, dragon ball movie, dragon ball z - AI-assisted: no The Dragon Ball Evolution movie is out. Its a movie very much hated by fans just from viewing the trailers, but lets get some honest reviews. So who's seen it? **Write in the co...



The Dragon Ball Evolution movie is out. Its a movie very much hated by fans just from viewing the trailers, but lets get some honest reviews.

So who's seen it?

**Write in the comments your review of the movie. I'm curious to what fans and maybe first time Dragon Ball fans thought after actually seeing the movie.**

(I'll add my review here once I see it myself..not sure if I want to support FOX so much but I am an anime blog and anime store owner so its kind of a duty ^^;)



Update:
Well, I'm probably going to wait to buy the DVD at wholesale through my store but looking through the blogosphere...DBE tanked in the fans eyes and in general. Anime New Network went as far as saying "The fans were right!"
I see some reviews below Keep on adding them, would love to hear your opinions on the move.

I just hope FOX and Hollywood get the picture that they need to try even harder with anime and game movies. Us anime fans know that there is more depth and more soul to our manga, games and anime than say..yes..an X-Men or Superman comic. American comics are naturally bland and lack story/character depth and thus Hollywood can orchestrate a wonderful blockbuster movie since they have a very simple story to build and add upon. The Wolverine movie for example looks simply stunning....yet not even half the effort seems to be put into play for our beloved series...and much much more is needed to create a live action anime film that actually reflects or enhances the soul of its original creation.

So Hollywood, FOX... please get the picture. To come up with something at least half way decent and for the fans you have to go down the Harry Potter route both in quality and in budget in making anything from video games or anime. This is just embarrassing. FOX should be more embarrassed than Warner Bros. was back in the 1980's when they took over Atari and speed marketed E.T. leading to thousands of games to be thrown in the desert. (do your video game history on that one) I'm not going to get into the figures for the movie...if you need to have your eyes bleed..look at this.

--- ## Dragon Ball Kai - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-05-dragon-ball-kai/ - Date: 2009-04-05 - Tags: anime, dbz, dragon ball, dragon ball kai, dragon ball z - AI-assisted: no It's no joke that many anime fans have been horribly insulted by the Dragon Ball Evolution movie. Upset? Angry? Want 20th Century Fox to burn for all eternity? Well, relax and f...


It's no joke that many anime fans have been horribly insulted by the Dragon Ball Evolution movie. Upset? Angry? Want 20th Century Fox to burn for all eternity?

Well, relax and forget about the obvious insult to anime fans that Hollywood love to throw out and sadly..will continue to do.

Just released in Japan a few hours ago was a new Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball Kai. In short the series is a filler-less redo of the Dragon Ball Z series. Brand new animation and all the original voice actors (except for the late Seiyu of Tien) this is a God-sent for any anime fan...particularly DBZ fans who will surley cause some riots over the Hollywood insult.
Let's hope that the eventual American release for this does a few things:
  1. Doesn't take 15 years to get here like DBZ originally did
  2. Does not get watered down into a "kiddy cartoon"..as DBZ originally did in the original Ocean dub
  3. Gets put on to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim since CN has forsakend the very group of anime series that put them on the map. (Nobody gives a crap about King of the Hill, your own home-made garbage shows and we can simply watch Family Guy on Hulu.com)
  4. Creates an anime resurgence in the west

Anyways, here's the opening and ending sequences:





Update:
But wait there's more; Out on the 29th is an awesome looking Dragon Ball Kai Nintendo DS game.....sweet.

--- ## Let the Dragon Ball Evolution Bashing....Begin - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-04-01-let-dragon-ball-evolution-bashingbegin/ - Date: 2009-04-01 - Tags: anime, dbz, dragon ball, dragon ball movie - AI-assisted: no Well...more like continue and go into a fervor. The movie is about a week from release and already some people have seen it, including famous anime & DBZ fan dubber Lanipato...

Well...more like continue and go into a fervor. The movie is about a week from release and already some people have seen it, including famous anime & DBZ fan dubber Lanipator. His review of what he saw says it all. I'm sorry guys, any hope of this being somewhat of a film us fans maybe, maybe wanted is practically up in smoke. The trailers show much of what we fear but I'm a cup-half-full kind of guy. Sadly, even with my optimism...there's not much hope here for a person who looks like and personifies himself with DBZ's Trunks (yeah, yeah I'm a bit of a DBZ nerd :-/). I can't give a real opinion with out actually seeing it....but that would give money to the evil organization that makes the Red Ribbon Army look tame...20th Century Fox. Rumors have it that there is already a sequel in the mix.

Dragon Ball Evolution looks to be the biggest insult to fans and FOX's most distasteful April Fools joke. -_-

Here's a quick glimpse across the blogosphere:

Via Anime Vice: Bulma Actress Emmy Rossum pleads for fans to watch movie.
Via YouTube: Hitler Learns of Dragon Ball Live Action Movie
Via Lanipator: Lanipator's Impression of the DBE Movie


well..at least Piccolo was made back to green -_-


The pain us anime fans will probably feel isn't over. Movies are set for the following anime/game series:

Tekken
Cowboy Bebop
Akira

links thanks to Dannychoo.com and firstshowing.net

::Face-palm:: >_<

(Update)
This is not an April Fools joke. Ayumi Hamazaki's new single, "Rule" is going to be the single for the movie.

Don't believe me? Here's the latest and probably the final trailer:



Wow...us anime fans are being simply smacked across the face :-( --- ## Fixing My Anime Space - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-30-fixing-my-anime-space/ - Date: 2009-03-30 - Tags: otaku - AI-assisted: no Been a busy weekend. My room's pic on Dannychoo.com prompted me to do some much needed spring cleaning. This messy picture was from about a day ago while I was in the middle of ...

Been a busy weekend. My room's pic on Dannychoo.com prompted me to do some much needed spring cleaning. This messy picture was from about a day ago while I was in the middle of cleaning up. Spent the entire weekend fixing my Otaku hub to look much less messy. Looking even better than this now with my new bookshelf set up with all my manga and the real How to Draw Manga books.

Now all I need to do is set up all my video game systems to my TV and put them on a new self I still need to go out and buy. Once this is done I'll do a while showcase of the room to yes..show off how big of an anime and game fan I am but to also show that an Otaku can have a nice clean room too ^^;

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Samurai Spirits Iroha Gallery - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-26-samurai-spirits-iroha-gallery/ - Date: 2009-03-26 - Tags: iroha, otaku, samurai spirits, videogames - AI-assisted: no For the game Samurai Spirits comes the ever so popular Iroha. She's a unique anime/game character since she's not your stereotypical (zombie-looking) thin girl. The Samurai Spir...


For the game Samurai Spirits comes the ever so popular Iroha. She's a unique anime/game character since she's not your stereotypical (zombie-looking) thin girl. The Samurai Spirits game is not much different than say Guilty Gear or Capcom vs. SNK but to this day more figures of her are coming up out of the woodwork.

View the entire gallery here on the anime gallery page. More to come and hopefully a section devoted to her as well ^^;




--- ## Anime Pic of the Day 3/22/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-22-anime-pic-of-day-32209/ - Date: 2009-03-22 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Sadly in the news today has been yet more deaths to cancer. My aunt in particular passed away on the 10th from about a year's struggle. There was also the loss today of Jade Goo...

Sadly in the news today has been yet more deaths to cancer. My aunt in particular passed away on the 10th from about a year's struggle. There was also the loss today of Jade Goody today from her battle to cancer. It's only fitting that I show a picture from an anime that goes through a bit of the loss of a loved one to a terminal illness. The picture chosen was that from the anime, Air. R.I.P. My dear aunt and godmother, Dorothy Trifaro. We all miss you ;-(.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Fate/Stay/Night Gallery - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-20-fatestaynight-gallery/ - Date: 2009-03-20 - Tags: anime, fate/stay - AI-assisted: no Just recently added a Fate/Stay/Night gallery to the overall gallery. It's not a large selection but over time that should change along with an eventual section dedicated to the...


Just recently added a Fate/Stay/Night gallery to the overall gallery. It's not a large selection but over time that should change along with an eventual section dedicated to the series (and others). Also wanted to give the winner of the last (an long time ago) contest their rightful place on the site ^_^

Check it out if here if you haven't already

Here's some pictures from the section




--- ## Submit Your Anime Fan Art - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-19-submit-your-anime-fan-art/ - Date: 2009-03-19 - Tags: anime, fan art - AI-assisted: no Got some images you want to submit? Well, as some of you might know, before the recent remake of the website, I had a nice Fanart section and I don't want that to come to an end...


Got some images you want to submit? Well, as some of you might know, before the recent remake of the website, I had a nice Fanart section and I don't want that to come to an end so...I left a part of the Anime Gallery open for you all.

How to submit:

Go to the "Fan Art" Section of the Anime Gallery and simply choose the "Upload" function.

Follow the walk through instructions and that's it.

I currently use Apple's MobileMe to house the galleries and I'd be glad to see some cool fan art pics.

Please keep the pictures rated no more adult that PG13 though ^^;

As I finally bring back the contests in the coming weeks, who knows...I might randomly select some finalists to win some cool figures ^_^


..oh and the old section is somewhere on the site ^^;; I'll make sure all of you who submitted your fan art over the years get your places in that section as well. --- ## Blue Dragon Plus Review - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-16-blue-dragon-plus-review/ - Date: 2009-03-16 - Tags: blue dragon, videogames - AI-assisted: no Alright, just finished through the awesome DS game, Blue Dragon Plus. It's been some time since I've played an RPG on the DS and this one was well worth it. Took about 18 hours ...

Alright, just finished through the awesome DS game, Blue Dragon Plus. It's been some time since I've played an RPG on the DS and this one was well worth it. Took about 18 hours of game play to go through the main story line and I still have some touch-ups to do with side quests and other aspects of the game.

Here's my review of Blue Dragon Plus:

Graphics:

Don't expect the DS to simply wow you with graphics since the machine isn't a PSP but 2-D pixel junkies like me love to see the graphics doing fin in this time in video game history. As you can see from the screen shots I kept from my previous posts, the graphics looks much like that of say, Final Fantasy Tactics...which is very accurate to the game play and suitable since the game based off an anime. 3-D graphic are mixed in during real game play when you or your enemies summon their shadows. The graphics are done well in the numerous CG cut scenes that litter the beginning and end of the game's story. Granted though, as an anime fan and Akira Toryama fan, I'd rather see hand drawn anime cut scenes (much like Chrono Trigger). Nevertheless, I had no real complaints about the animations here.

Music:

The instant you hear the music, you know its famed Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu behind it. Need I say there's much similarity to the music in BDP to that of FFVII's music and that of his earlier FF titles. The battle music might get a bit repetitive but there are a few different scores for the battles throughout your course. Most of the time though, you will have the basic battle theme which will be stuck in your for a while. Not a bad thing but I can tell you I hear it right now a few hours later ^^;. All-in-all a wonderful score and what you'd come to expect from Nobuo Uematsu.

Story:

Well, the story is set after the end of the anime, I believe. I'll admit, I've only seen the first episode of the anime in which the main character, Shu (looking of course like Goku to some degree) first gains his Shadow powers. If you are a fan of Blue Dragon or plan to watch the series (like me), the game will be a be of a spoiler...but its very well encased in its own, acting like a finale movie to the story. Don't expect any flash-backs, so there will be a story gap for those who haven't seen up to this point. It still is a wonderful story that revolves much around the main antagonist, Nene and his connection to the cube the story takes place in.

It took me about 18 hours to go through like I side but it did feel that the main plot goes by very fast. That might not be good for "hard-core" RPG fans but goes well for Blue Dragon and for its platform on the DS.
Gameplay:
I'm a fan for strategy games like Final Fantasy Tactics and say, Command and Conquer and that's exactly what game feels like, a mix of the two. This of course goes great with the DS's touch screen format.

Like FFT, you control a number of characters (up to 16 at once) that each have their own powers and weaknesses. The story splits up the groups into teams but most of the party can switch between these teams. Some area are only playable by certain teams based on the story.

Unlike FFT and more like C&C, Blue Dragon Plus is played in real time. Things of course can get very chaotic and tough at first to command. Eventually as the party grows and with the ability to create Mechas, to join your party, sheer numbers can be used to take your enemies...usually. I've found myself usually keeping my team together in a large group as oppose to spreading them thin. You can practically save at any point which is a big bonus if you are busy like me, once again a testament to the developers keeping with the DS's mobility.

The environment of the game is played in the cube and there's no real central hub so to say. Yet there are a few stops like a number of shops, marked by a servant robot at the location.

Another great feature is the way you can create your own robot team members. Though not really needed to get through the story, you can create robots from the Activation Units spread throughout the game. You can then customize their abilities based on a rather interesting power-grid circuit format. I wasn't able to get much play-time with this but the more powerful the robots are that you find, the more intricate their circuits are and thus more abilities you can add..that is as long as you don't drain their powers wrong on the grid. Probably will be of good use as I continue doing the side quests the game offers.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall I really enjoyed the game and after playing it...I really need to sit down and watch the anime (uncut and un-Americanized of course).

I give this game a solid 9 out of 10.


As per my last post...check out the trailer below :





Cover image from IGN --- ## BusinessWeek Meeting - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-16-businessweek-meeting/ - Date: 2009-03-16 - Tags: business, businessweek, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Last Tuesday me, along with a select few got the honor to visit the BusinessWeek headquarters in NYC. We were nominated as BusinessWeek's top readers of 2008 and the purpose of ...

Last Tuesday me, along with a select few got the honor to visit the BusinessWeek headquarters in NYC. We were nominated as BusinessWeek's top readers of 2008 and the purpose of the meeting was to go over what BW and the BusinessWeek.com site should improve on and try to portray in this coming year. At the top floor of the McGraw-Hill building we were greeted to a wonderful and very talkative cocktail party and then a very tasty dinner and dessert.

(Update: check out the official blog post on this at BusinessWeek.com)


The view from the 50th floor (in dire need of a better camera ^^;)


The whole set up was thanks to BusinessWeek's Editor-in-Chief, John Byrne, and his top editors of whom we got to meet with. It was wonderful to see such a large media company take the time and effort to reach out to their readers like this. John and the staff are all very down-to-earth and a pleasure to speak wit. In no way, shape or form did we feel belittled by them being there. (Can't say the same about my p/t job's boss though.) One of the obvious truths we are seeing in public media is that the media is being diluted by the numerous blogs and of course the dwindling newspaper sales thanks to the good old internet.

The one of the biggest topics we talked about though was the workings of different comment systems on the website and on sites in general. Currently, BW has a more welcoming commenting system than say engadget.com or youtube. For the most part you can state your opinion logically like an educated adult and not get too much slack. The balance of whether to have comments or not is always a big choice for a webmaster. There are times that garbage and childish comments by "trolls" can ruin the image of a story or site, yet the user ingagement make the site come alive so you do need it to some degree. One good example just from here on CAS is the fact that I had to make it so members only can post on the "Otaku Blurbs". This was after a troll or two got a hold of the feature.

So, what comment system would be good for both here or on a site on say, BusinessWeek?


A quick shot us at the table

The other major topic that came up has been the current buzz on the web for the past year now. I'm talking of course about Twitter. In the coming months, BW will be utilizing both the comment system and Twitter together in different ways, most likely with use of # hashmarks to better categorize the events in business and throughout their site. Finding a use for Twitter outside of its obvious social fad has been the main question for many in both social and business circles. I mentioned a bit of a site I just started working with, beamagpie.com in which you can approve tweets to broadcast on your account and the more followers you have..the more you can get payed. Not certain on how well it'll work and I'll assume more like it will be down the road. Granted of course, my goal is to never come off as money grubbing advertiser on Twitter. Such actions by any person there will prevent any meaningful followship and might cause many of the issues that plague Facebook for the site as a whole.

I'll ask you, the readers of CAS... what do you find useful about Twitter? For me right now, it drives traffic to my site...and is a great place to vent with listeners.

...
After a 4+ hour talk we all parted our ways and we even got some great parting gifts as well like a shirt, BusinessWeek bag, flash memory card and flashlight. Another little tidbit is that this Align Centermight be the first of many meetings with a potential creation of the Business Week Readers Advisory Panel.

Part of our parting gifts, a BW flash memory card


Here's the awesome BW we got

To everyone I met there at the meeting, I had a great time and it was an honor to meet you all, both the wonderful readers and the BW staff ^_^ Sorry I didn't mention any names, didn't want to single anyone out at all.

Here's to a great 2009 and hopefully more insightful meetings like this one. --- ## Advertise on CAS - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-13-advertise-on-cas/ - Date: 2009-03-13 - Tags: advertising, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Just added a new feature today. For those who want to advertise say their anime con, anime store, video game store, sushi restaurant, etc; you can now do that on the site. The l...

Just added a new feature today. For those who want to advertise say their anime con, anime store, video game store, sushi restaurant, etc; you can now do that on the site. The link can be found under the Sponsors section or where you might see this cute pic of Yuki Nagato.

The traffic on my site has been on the rise over the past year. I was thinking of doing what otaku guru Danny Choo does by selling adspace at a fixed rate, but my site has yet to even reach half the views he has ^^; (Danny gets about 10 or so million unique visitors a month and his ad prices are actually really good for that kind of exposure..so check it out if you can as well)

Currently, as of this date, my average daily unique views are about 2000 with it growing every week (or about 60,000 a month). My alexa ranking is at about 190,000 and about half or more of my traffic comes to the blog here. I'll be posting stats from my webhosts her on this post or on futrue posts...so you guys know exactly how much is coming in.

The ad box is done by projectwonderful.com and instead of giving a flat rate for ads, they let me simply auction off the spot. This makes it fair for any would-be advertisors since you can determine the daily price of your ad. Its starting off free, but won't be that since somebody can out bid you at any time ^^;

Ad info:

Size: 300px x 200px
Prefered ads: anime, game, japan, gadget, otaku related items
(yep, I own an anime store but I don't mind anime store links shown there as well)

For more info and additional terms, check out the the terms and FAQs of http://www.projectwonderful.com --- ## Anime Store: Bonanzle Branch - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-09-anime-store-bonanzle-branch/ - Date: 2009-03-09 - Tags: anime, anime store - AI-assisted: no Last week I created a new branch for my anime store. Now you can find me on Bonanzle . For some of you that, like me, didn't even know much about Bonanzle, its an online marketp...


Last week I created a new branch for my anime store. Now you can find me on Bonanzle. For some of you that, like me, didn't even know much about Bonanzle, its an online marketplace like ebay. Yet, unlike ebay, it isn't loaded with fees and is very user friendly. I was able to import all my listings there very quickly and the community there is very positive and will IM you a bunch. When I'm on the site you'll know and you can IM me with questions about items or just chat about anime, politics...whatever.

Unlike other online sellers, I don't bash eBay but I'm always looking for more fans of anime to service my store to. Overstock.com might be next.


Here's my current store branchese:
  1. Here on CAS, of course ^_^
  2. eBay Store (aka "Chuck's E-Store")
  3. Amazon Store
  4. (New) Bonanzle Branch
Lets also not forget my very first stores on CafePress, going to update them eventually ^^;:

Oh and Danielle has one as well (in the works):

One more batch of stores (yeah, I'm an entrepreneurial nut ^^;)


Just showing that I'm an anime fan and store owner at the same time ^_^ --- ## Final Fantasy VII Novelette Anime - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-08-final-fantasy-vii-novelette-anime/ - Date: 2009-03-08 - Tags: anime, final fantasy, final fantasy VII - AI-assisted: no More good news for Final Fantasy VII fans. Looks like the recent "On the Way to a Smile" novelettes that went with the Advent Children Collector's DVD set will get an anime. In ...


More good news for Final Fantasy VII fans. Looks like the recent "On the Way to a Smile" novelettes that went with the Advent Children Collector's DVD set will get an anime.

In case some of you don't know about these little stories, they are accounts of Tifa, Barret and Denzel during the two years between FFVII and Advent Children. There are also ones coming out with the new Complete release that includes stories of Yuffie, Red XIII and Vincent.

Aniplex and BeSTACK will be creating the animation and not MadHouse, as it was with the Crisis Core anime.

As a big fan of FFVII...awesome...but how about a PS3 remake or the inevitable sequel Dirge of Cerberus hinted at? Granted, we still have to wait for FFXIII before any of that will be hinted at ^^;

Info thanks to Anime News Network and Otaku Review
 --- ## Anime Gaming: Lux Pain - Nintendo DS - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-07-anime-gaming-lux-pain-nintendo-ds/ - Date: 2009-03-07 - Tags: Lux Pain, videogames - AI-assisted: no Boy has my gaming gotten on a role lately ^_^. Here's yet another ga me coming out that I'll be reviewing. Gotta love that we are seeing more ani me games come to the US. For ye...

Boy has my gaming gotten on a role lately ^_^. Here's yet another game coming out that I'll be reviewing. Gotta love that we are seeing more anime games come to the US. For years games like this were "Japan Only" since US marketers thought there was no market for them...and of course we know the opposite is true. Anyways, more on this game once I get a good play-thru. Here's the details:

GAME OVERVIEW

Lux-Pain is set in historical Kisaragi City, a town plagued by mysteries from small mishaps to murders - with no logical explanation as to why these events occur. It seems “Silent”, a worm born through hate and sadness, has infected humans and forced them to commit atrocious crimes. The hero’s parents, Atsuki, are victims of such crimes. To avenge his parents, Atsuki goes through a dangerous operation to acquire Lux-Pain in his left arm, a power so strong that his left

eye turns golden when using it to seek and destroy Silent for good.

FEATURES

Title: Lux Pain
Genre: Adventure
Platform: Nintendo DS™
 Release: March 2009
Rating: T

Check out the trailer below:






Check out another trailer as well ^^:








Update:
First shipments of the game will include an exclusive art book. Very cool ^_^.

--- ## Top 100 Business Week Readers of 2008 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-06-top-100-business-week-readers-of-2008/ - Date: 2009-03-06 - Tags: business, businessweek, otaku - AI-assisted: no Looks like I became one of Business Week's Top Readers of 2008 (not yet in pic above). Based on the list here , I'm actually in the top 12 ^^. Been in talks with the Business We...


Looks like I became one of Business Week's Top Readers of 2008 (not yet in pic above). Based on the list here, I'm actually in the top 12 ^^. Been in talks with the Business Week editors, going to be at a party held by them on March 10th in NYC. Much more to come on this. Congrats to Hugo who won the top spot and to all the other readers on Business Week.

Just letting you guys know that you have a fellow otaku trying to get the word out about anime, video games and all the Japanese stuff we love. --- ## Black Rock Shooter Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-05-black-rock-shooter-figure/ - Date: 2009-03-05 - Tags: anime figures, black rock figure, figures - AI-assisted: no Up next on the pre-order block is the amazing Black Rock Shooter Figure by Good Smile Company. Announced from both my good friends at Mile-stone and of course Dannychoo.com, thi...


Up next on the pre-order block is the amazing Black Rock Shooter Figure by Good Smile Company. Announced from both my good friends at Mile-stone and of course Dannychoo.com, this stunning figure is a model from a picture done by Huke. He's actually the artist behind vocaloid Miku.

(UPDATE: Due to her very high demand, she's still as of November not into America -_-, she will hopefully be in soon for all those who ordered her.)

She can be ordered here. (quantities limited, if she's sold out..the link won't work >_< ) Align Center


More pics are here in the anime figure gallery.


Big thanks to Danny Choo and his efforts at Good Smile Company. --- ## Sacred 2: Fallen Angel (PS3, X360) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-04-sacred-2-fallen-angel-ps3-x360/ - Date: 2009-03-04 - Tags: Sacred 2, videogames - AI-assisted: no Going to be reviewing another game soon. This one is Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. For both the PS3 and Xbox 360, should be an interesting game, can't wait. Here's some info on it: Sa...

Going to be reviewing another game soon. This one is Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. For both the PS3 and Xbox 360, should be an interesting game, can't wait. Here's some info on it:

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an action-RPG unlike anything you’ve ever played! With a massive, hand-designed game world, hundreds of monsters, two distinct campaigns and six unique character classes, Sacred 2 will immerse you in a world of adventure and magic. Sacred 2 combines the best elements of hack ‘n slash gaming, roleplaying and an engrossing story about a magical world on next-generation consoles.

Key Features


ESRB Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Violence
Genre: RPG
Also Available On: PC, PS3, XBOX 360
Release Date: March 24, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

Check out the trailer here:


--- ## Shunya Yamashita Kanaru Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-03-03-shunya-yamashita-kanaru-figure/ - Date: 2009-03-03 - Tags: anime figures, figures, kanaru, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Finally out in the US, the long awaited Shunya Yamashita Kanaru figure by Artstorm can finally be in the hands of us American otaku. Just one look and you'd see why this one has...

Finally out in the US, the long awaited Shunya Yamashita Kanaru figure by Artstorm can finally be in the hands of us American otaku. Just one look and you'd see why this one has been on the wish list of many. Excuse me while I grab a tissue to plug my nosebleed ^^;;

Added her photos to the anime figure gallery.

You can purchase her here (while supplies last of course)
--- ## Naruto: Sasuke Orochi Ultimate Chidori Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-28-naruto-sasuke-orochi-ultimate-chidori/ - Date: 2009-02-28 - Tags: anime, anime figures, ffigures, naruto, sasuke - AI-assisted: no Here's an interesting figure that will be very limited (only 2,000 made). Any fans of Sasuke will like this version of him of course under the full Orochi mode he had during the...


Here's an interesting figure that will be very limited (only 2,000 made). Any fans of Sasuke will like this version of him of course under the full Orochi mode he had during the original Nartuo series. A bit step in price though but are some of you Naruto fans that crazy for this? More images will come if I can snag some when they arrive to the store some time in March or April 09.
--- ## Eiji Komatsu Gallery - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-26-eiji-komatsu-gallery/ - Date: 2009-02-26 - Tags: anime, art, Eiji Komatsu, gallery - AI-assisted: no Remember that awesome looking Nurse Nana figure ? Well, here the art that inspired the figure. Eiji Komatsu's work is simply amazing and is by far an anime standard. Check out t...

Remember that awesome looking Nurse Nana figure? Well, here the art that inspired the figure. Eiji Komatsu's work is simply amazing and is by far an anime standard.

Check out the entire gallery here.




More Nurse Nana




--- ## Japanese Idol: Hata Mizuho - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-24-japanese-idol-hata-mizuho/ - Date: 2009-02-24 - Tags: Hata Mizuho, Idols - AI-assisted: no ( Full post archived to Censored Chuck's Anime Shrine blog ) ( Also archived to archive.today ) It would appear that this blog post became a victim in Google Adsense's new SJW-l...

(Full post archived to Censored Chuck's Anime Shrine blog)
(Also archived to archive.today)


It would appear that this blog post became a victim in Google Adsense's new SJW-like content policies and had to be censored despite the fact that this wasn't porn nor showed any nudity.

Here's one of the emails I got from Google and it seems like this terrible trend isn't backing down...


To comply to these rules, here's images of women that Adsense would rather us post







Do you also run an anime/gamer blog?  Here's a chart to help convert your site and blog to Google's new policies...



--- ## How to Draw Manga and How NOT to Draw Manga - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-16-how-to-draw-manga-and-how-not-to-draw/ - Date: 2009-02-16 - Tags: art, manga, otaku - AI-assisted: no So you want to draw anime and manga? Well, like anything in art you have your own personal touch but to mimic the great arts from Japan, the right way, there's a bit more that n...

So you want to draw anime and manga? Well, like anything in art you have your own personal touch but to mimic the great arts from Japan, the right way, there's a bit more that needs to be added. A great student always becomes a great teacher. The opposite sadly holds true as well. One of my biggest pet peeves is to observe the number of "How to Draw Anime" books in America that simply are nowhere near the art, style and beauty of real anime and manga. Why is it that many of you become anime fans? Well, usually its the quality of the art that draws us otaku in and yes, eventually its the quirky and different Japanese styles and culture references that keeps us in.

Sadly, the popularity of anime has also bred many copycats who quite frankly, can't draw anime. I'm all for everyone trying to draw it and increasing both their fandom and their love of art, but its the growing number of fake anime shows and fake "How to Draw Anime" art books that are the issue here. This isn't all too new as the anime surge in popularity has had its sad western copycats for at least 7-8 years (as of this post). I've gone over the TV shows in a previous post but here's a look at some baaad "How To" books, the good and some little tips from me from my experience.

First, before I show the bad, let me show the good. The number one source you should look for in how to draw manga and anime is not surprisingly the official "How to Draw Manga Books"




The work in these books are done by some of the greats in anime art. On top of that, you get very detailed instructions that don't just tell you the basics of drawing but of the art tools needed to draw manga & anime, the difference in anime anatomy and realistic anatomy with plenty of examples from a wide range of real anime artists.

Now for the bad...observe a book like this, many of them are filling the book shelves at local book stores:



To teach others how to draw anime you first have to know how to draw anime in the first place! Clearly books like these are just god-awful in terms of learning how to draw anime. They do however teach simplistic cartooning and simply show the style of the artist but...NOT anime and manga. Again, before you know how to draw anime..don't make a book teaching it!

Some tips for drawing anime & manga:

Now, I've been away from drawing anime since around 2004...but I'll be back into it soon. I'm not the number one expert so again, go to the real "how to draw anime" books for full instructions since it is a long process, something that simply can't be taught by one blog post. I will however give you a bit of tips here to help you start. If you are to "really" draw anime...its the same as learning how to mimic the fine arts, NOT cartooning like the fake "how to" books show.

Tip 1): The eyes make it anime and make the soul of the picture:

This picture done by Uzumaki-Akane-sama shows some good examples of anime eyes. One thing I've focused on is getting right are the eyes. Without getting the eyes correct...it doesn't matter how good you can draw the rest of the picture, it just won't look like authentic anime. All the real "How to Draw Manga" books show even more examples and give you real step by step instructions on this very vital part of anime art. This by far is the first skill you need to learn. Of course use your own style but if the eyes are off, the entire picture is off. Those big anime eyes are meant to entrap more emotion than a simplistic cartoony western animation.

 Tip 2) Treat every part of the drawing as a separate drawing/line:
What do I mean by this? Well, above is a picture I hand drawn back in 2001. I simply looked at a picture of DBZ's Goku and I copied what I saw. This is not a trace and yes, its of an already established character so this mainly pertains to copying...which is your "training wheels" so to say when you start drawing anime. Many anime artists first copied different styles to get the overall feel for it and then jump into their own work.

When I copied this photo to my hand drawn version, I didn't just see the one main picture, I focused on every small line and copied the shape and angle of the small parts. Focusing on just the entire picture is a sure way to create a picture that comes out looking both out of proportion and out of touch with the image. Practice will make it second nature to then your imagination will soon take hold and you won't really need the handicap of using other works for examples.Tip 3) Use your favorite anime artist(s) as an example to work off of:


All the greats in anime and art usually used the works of past great artists to get them started in their work. Above are some pictures from one of my favorite artists, Eiji Komatsu. Find an artist you like and observe the different layers of the art from the anatomy, to the emotion to the shading and more. Utilizing the skills of a better artist will only help move your artwork up in quality.

Now, like I said, I've been away from drawing for a while but lets face it, though I'm just an ameture, what I learned from the real "How to Draw Manga" books made my images look more like real anime images than these so-called teachers in the fake "How To" books. Here's some more examples of stuff I've done:



Again, nothing amazing but at least I'm trying to make it look like real anime. Yes, angel Fumi looks a bit o_O.
In the end, art, is art. You make it what it is but anime and manga tend to have more depth to them and fall in the fine arts category...not cartooning. You're style makes your work unique but there are underlying basics to anime that sadly...many western artists fail to grasp.

Hope this was of some help ^^.

............
This long post is something I had to get of my chest since I've seen too many of the fake anime "How To" books poisoning the fans who really do want to draw well. Many of those artists...need to go back to the drawing board.

--- ## Cloud & Tifa Valentine AMV - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-14-cloud-tifa-valentine-amv/ - Date: 2009-02-14 - Tags: amvs, final fantasy VII, videos - AI-assisted: no Happy Valentine's Day everyone! My fiancee, Danielle just made an AMV that is just perfect for today and I'll admit...its been a long while since I've promoted an AMV ^^; so hop...
http://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/animeblog/uploaded_images/ff_cloud_tifa-745779.jpg

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! My fiancee, Danielle just made an AMV that is just perfect for today and I'll admit...its been a long while since I've promoted an AMV ^^; so hopefully the (hate) mail might stop.

There are plenty of FFVII AMVs out there but other than this being done by my fiancee, I thought this was a great overall video. Some of you might remember Danielle's other FFVII AMV but due to its huge popularity and since the music industry loves to protect their extra deep pockets without realizing AMVs are actually free ads for their artists..the video was booted ~_~

If you don't have a Valentine or lost yours today, don't fret since the time will come and some of you probably like the single life.

The song is a more modern version of "You Raise Me Up". Pardon my not knowing the artists. Once I know who sings this version I'll give credit of course where credit is due.

Enjoy..and don't eat too many sweets.


--- ## IBM's Bionic Armor - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-14-ibms-bionic-armor/ - Date: 2009-02-14 - Tags: bionic armor, gadgets, IBM - AI-assisted: no An interesting bit of news from Engadget . Seems that IBM recently patented a bionic armor concept. Not only will the armor use electromagnetic waves to bounce off bullets or an...


An interesting bit of news from Engadget. Seems that IBM recently patented a bionic armor concept. Not only will the armor use electromagnetic waves to bounce off bullets or any other fast moving projectiles but will also stimulate the wearer's muscles to automatically dodge a bullet.

Granted, this has to be something that won't be around for a while but how cool would that be? --- ## Oppai Mouse Pads Arrived - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-13-oppai-mouse-pads-arrived/ - Date: 2009-02-13 - Tags: oppai, oppai mouse pad, otaku - AI-assisted: no Got the Oppai mouse pads today straight from my dealer in Japan. Would love to keep one but my fiancée is not a fan of me having one ^^;;. Going to post them in the store. Who h...

Got the Oppai mouse pads today straight from my dealer in Japan. Would love to keep one but my fiancée is not a fan of me having one ^^;;. Going to post them in the store. Who here has, likes or wants oppai mousepads?

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## New York Comic Con 09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-12-new-york-comic-con-09/ - Date: 2009-02-12 - Tags: NYCC09, otaku - AI-assisted: no Sorry I'm a few days late. Had over $3000 worth of anime figures to ship since Monday ^^; Anyways, we came back this weekend from an awesome New York Comic Con. For those of you...

Sorry I'm a few days late. Had over $3000 worth of anime figures to ship since Monday ^^;

Anyways, we came back this weekend from an awesome New York Comic Con. For those of you that were there, the one thing you noticed was how unbelievably packed it was. The economy has nothing on the comic, anime and video game industry since its booming here in New York.

Danielle and I lucked out this time because of the store. We got VIP passes and was able to make good use of Friday. Saturday and Sunday were just nuts and our sanctuary was the Blue Room set up for professionals. Didn't get to meet Seth Green but met with Lou Ferrigno who probably left with a boatload of cash since he was charging for autographs ^^;;

Also loved how I got to check out the gaming booths with games like Sega's MadWorld and others yet to be released ^^.

Below are some pictures from the con. More can be found at the NYCC09 section in the gallery.

If you were at the con, upload your pictures as well to the album. Would love to see some from you guys ^_^

Gotta love my business ^^


Getting the cover of MadWorld signed by the creators


Me in front of the EA photo wall


Wanted to snag a bunch here


Did manage to grab a Zack for Danielle...stocking them soon.


Watching the Dragon Ball Evolution video game demoed at the Namco booth...the movie is bound to be an insult to all Dragon Ball fans though ~_~




--- ## Blue Dragon Plus - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-09-blue-dragon-plus/ - Date: 2009-02-09 - Tags: anime, blue dragon, videogames - AI-assisted: no Hey Blue Dragon Fans, Just got back for the 2009 New York Comic Con and before I do a full post on the events, just wanted to post about something that you'd enjoy. Of course yo...

Hey Blue Dragon Fans,

Just got back for the 2009 New York Comic Con and before I do a full post on the events, just wanted to post about something that you'd enjoy. Of course you know that the new Nintendo DS game: Blue Dragon Plus is on its way and is looking great. I am a fan of Akira Toriyama of course since he's the man behind the Dragon Ball Sagas, Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest. I'll admit, I've only seen a bit of this series but in a few short weeks, I'll be doing a full hands on review to this game. It was promoed at NYCC09 along with a slew of other cool games.
Here's some features and specs for some of you that don't know of it yet:

One year has passed since Shu and his companions defeated the tyrannical remnant of the Ancients, Nene. In the midst of the battle, the world split in two and now consists of a myriad of “cubes” that exploded from its depths. In one of these cubes, King Jibral stands on the balcony of Neo Jibral Castle and surveys the scene before him. He notices a mysterious cube in the distance suddenly start to move violently, and from it he sees the Shadow of a Balaur, a three-headed dragon, emerge. The enormous and sinister Shadow is just the beginning of the new turmoil and devastation to come.

Features

Other Background Info:

Check out one of the trailers below:





Cover image from IGN --- ## Anime Pic of the Day: 2/8/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-08-anime-pic-of-day-2809/ - Date: 2009-02-08 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day, Gurren Lagann - AI-assisted: no Everyone is a fan of Gurren Lagann's Yoko. Here's a little picture of her for the day. Been busy over here at New York Comic Con (more on that in a future post). This picture wo...
Everyone is a fan of Gurren Lagann's Yoko. Here's a little picture of her for the day. Been busy over here at New York Comic Con (more on that in a future post). This picture would Make a nice desktop background...just need to boost it's size for you all since the iPhone keeps these a bit small. More on that too in a future post.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Mecha Musume Nana Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-02-03-mecha-musume-nana-figure/ - Date: 2009-02-03 - Tags: anime figures, figures, nurse girl nana - AI-assisted: no As of today this figure has been put up for pre-order. I'm most definitely grabbing one for myself. I simply love the picture this came from, not too familiar with the series or...


As of today this figure has been put up for pre-order. I'm most definitely grabbing one for myself. I simply love the picture this came from, not too familiar with the series or artist though ^^;
In case some of you don't remember from one of my old posts...the image of Nurse Girl Nana is my iPhone's background and has been since I got it last year.
(Pre/order Here)
She does cost a bit at around $105USD, or 9300 yen, but (at least for me) this awesome looking 1/8th scale figure from Orchid Seed is most definitively going into my collection.


(more pics of her)


Here's my iPhone BG. Never changed it since I bought it.





--- ## Anime Pic of the Day: 1/30/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-31-anime-pic-of-day-13009-31/ - Date: 2009-01-31 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day - AI-assisted: no For the loyal readers, my apologies for the last post. Appearently ShoZu messed the picture up for some odd reason. If Kanu is not in this pic, I'll do it manually from blogger....

For the loyal readers, my apologies for the last post. Appearently ShoZu messed the picture up for some odd reason. If Kanu is not in this pic, I'll do it manually from blogger. Anyways, as I was stating in the post, Ikki Tousen's Kanu has to be the most "figureized" anime character with figures of her being announced at least once or twice a month.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Anime.fm Gadget - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-29-animefm-gadget/ - Date: 2009-01-29 - Tags: anime.fm, code, otaku - AI-assisted: no Here's a little something I cooked up for you all. For some of you that might want to listen to anime music on your site or on, say your iGoogle dashboard, this little widget sh...

Here's a little something I cooked up for you all. For some of you that might want to listen to anime music on your site or on, say your iGoogle dashboard, this little widget should help you out. Presenting the anime.fm iGoogle gadget ^_^.

More updates to this gadget/widget will come down the road. Thanks once again to Playlist.com for the bulk of the coding on this one. Be sure to support them and of course you can also support me on anime.fm.

Here's what the gadget looks like:



Here's the script you can use to post this on your own website:




Use this button to add it to your iGoogle Dashboard:

Add to Google --- ## Ready 2 Rumble Revolution - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-23-ready-2-rumble-revolution/ - Date: 2009-01-23 - Tags: ready 2 rumble, videogames - AI-assisted: no Ever since I was little I was always a fan of Nintendo's Punch-Out!! There is a remake in the works or just recently out but another great title in the small but loved boxing ga...

Ever since I was little I was always a fan of Nintendo's Punch-Out!! There is a remake in the works or just recently out but another great title in the small but loved boxing game genre is Ready 2 Rumble.

I remember back when I worked at Kay Bee Toys in 2000 and getting the game for Christmas since it was bundled with my brand new Playstation 2. Some can argue that it wasn't the greatest boxing game but for many gamers who then didn't see a boxing game since the good old days of Punch-out, it was a warm welcome.

It's no surprise now that the popular Wii Boxing has brought this game back for more. Here's the features as per IGN:

More info on gamespy as well.



Click the item below to get a sneek peek at this title.
Comes out March 17th.








Oh, also if you pre-order the game at either Walmart, amazon.com or Gamestop you'll get $10 off ^_^

--- ## Super Saiyan Energy Drink - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-21-super-saiyan-energy-drink/ - Date: 2009-01-21 - Tags: dbz, energy drinks, otaku - AI-assisted: no Was browsing through one of my product suppliers and found this new energy drink. Created by Boston America. That's right...a DBZ Super Saiyan energy drink. A full case of 24 wo...


Was browsing through one of my product suppliers and found this new energy drink. Created by Boston America. That's right...a DBZ Super Saiyan energy drink. A full case of 24 would run you about $70USD or about $3 a can.

For DBZ fans like myself, I'd just like the novelty of it and wouldn't care much for the drink itself.
Chances are like all other energy drinks, it probably has a super strong citrus flavor and enough sugar to make you diabetic in no time; but then again it probably does its purpose (shouldn't bash my own product line ^^;).

My favorite energy drink of all time though has to be XS Energy drink since they taste good, have loads of flavors and the drinks are actually good for you. (..and its not just because I market them, too ^^)

So, who'd drink or keep one of these?

Anyone got a favorite energy drink? --- ## Cloud Strife PS3 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-20-cloud-strife-ps3/ - Date: 2009-01-20 - Tags: final fantasy VII, gadgets, ps3 - AI-assisted: no Once again we are graced with yet another special version of the Playstation 3. For Final Fantasy VII fans (like myself) , this PS3 might make you want to finally get one after ...

Once again we are graced with yet another special version of the Playstation 3. For Final Fantasy VII fans (like myself) , this PS3 might make you want to finally get one after all this time. Painted in "Cloud Black", this FFVII PS3 features the wolf emblem from Cloud's Advent Children outfit but it also comes with other goodies like the new re-release of the Advent Children that includes 30 more minutes of our favorite characters, a 160GB drive and even the demo to Final Fantasy XIII. Comes out next month in Japan, but like usual, us American gamers + otaku seem to be getting shafted since there is no set US release date ~_~ Well, here's some food for though Sony and Square-Enix...after doing my taxes I found I actually did over $100K in 2008 in anime and game sales for this site so...um Sony, Square-Enix, there is a market here for this...no need to shaft the US gamers because of needless fear of... "THE DREADED ECONOMY"

Granted, would any of you pay $550 for this set?

Thanks to Engadget. --- ## iPhone Dating Sim - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-12-iphone-dating-sim/ - Date: 2009-01-12 - Tags: anime, gadgets, iphone, videogames - AI-assisted: no Looks like the eroge, Gift is finally available at the Apple App Store. Only the Japanese version is out so if you are like me and still haven't learned your Japanese yet (^^;) ...


Looks like the eroge, Gift is finally available at the Apple App Store. Only the Japanese version is out so if you are like me and still haven't learned your Japanese yet (^^;) don't fret, the English version will come out soon.

So glad to see a real anime app for once. A bit pricey though for an app at $12.99USD, but it might be worth it.


Check out the game's main site here.

A bit of a warning..there might be eroge CGs in your search. --- ## Japanese Idol Of the Week: Shoko Hamada - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-09-japanese-idol-of-week-shoko-hamada/ - Date: 2009-01-09 - Tags: Idols, Shoko Hamada - AI-assisted: no Sorry for the two week delay. Here this week we have the lovely Shoko Hamada. Ms. Hamada was born on New Year's Day in 1986 so she just celebrated her 23rd birthday. She's a fam...

Sorry for the two week delay. Here this week we have the lovely Shoko Hamada. Ms. Hamada was born on New Year's Day in 1986 so she just celebrated her 23rd birthday. She's a famous gravure idol and race queen.




--- ## Anime Pic of the Day 1/8/09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-08-anime-pic-of-day-1809/ - Date: 2009-01-08 - Tags: anime, anime pic of the day, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Haven't done the Anime Pic of the Day in a while. Thought I'd bring it back with a favorite of mine. This is a lovely anime angel pic drawn by none other than Shunya Yamashita. ...


Haven't done the Anime Pic of the Day in a while. Thought I'd bring it back with a favorite of mine. This is a lovely anime angel pic drawn by none other than Shunya Yamashita. Love his art and the figures based on his art. Just one look at this pic and you can see why he's the master of the Bishoujo (pretty girls) genre. --- ## Most Wanted Anime Figures Of 2009 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-07-most-wanted-anime-figures-of-2009/ - Date: 2009-01-07 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no Lots of cool anime/game figures are coming out this year. Which one's are on your wish list this year? Here's my anime figure wish list: Yamashita Bishoujo Rogue Gurren Lagann Y...


Lots of cool anime/game figures are coming out this year. Which one's are on your wish list this year?

Here's my anime figure wish list:

Yamashita Bishoujo Rogue

Gurren Lagann Yoko 1/5th Scale By Gift

Crisis Core Zack

Extravaganza Haruhi

Tamaki Kosaka School Swimsuit

Alter Yuki Nagato School Uniform Figure --- ## Otaku Blurbs - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-06-otaku-blurbs/ - Date: 2009-01-06 - Tags: otaku blurbs, updates - AI-assisted: no In case you haven't noticed for the past month, as of this post on the right hand side you can find "Otaku Blurbs" Like my role-model DannyChoo's Puchi Blurbs, this little featu...


In case you haven't noticed for the past month, as of this post on the right hand side you can find "Otaku Blurbs" Like my role-model DannyChoo's Puchi Blurbs, this little feature lets you state what you are doing right now. Very much like twitter.com's micro blogging but with an added ability. You can put a link to a youtube video and your post will show the thumbnail of it. I did an example a while back showing it.

It's all part of the new Google Friend Connect interface. Be sure to join my site as well ^_^ --- ## An Otaku on BusinessWeek - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-05-otaku-on-businessweek/ - Date: 2009-01-05 - Tags: business, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no For the second time I once again grace the front page of BusinessWeek's website . This time, instead of poking fun at Secretary of Treasury Paulson, I got my own article up ther...


For the second time I once again grace the front page of BusinessWeek's website. This time, instead of poking fun at Secretary of Treasury Paulson, I got my own article up there. The article might not be anything of use for my fellow anime fans but in it I talk about how email is the number one form of communication between me and my customers, which is usually fellow otaku. Business has been getting rather busy but even so, I'm not answering phone calls like a maniac as seen in my day-job or in many other businesses. Granted, the anime fan demographic is that of people who are in this century and who would use email instead of a phone to answer simple questions.

Basically, we all know jobs could and should be kept here in the US (for those of us living in the US). I know many people, anime fans or not would love job opportunities to open up if major companies just keep their international staff internationally. Anyways, check up on the article if you'd like. --- ## 2008: CAS Felt No Economic Pinch - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-04-2008-cas-felt-no-economic-pinch/ - Date: 2009-01-04 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no I know, I'm a bit late on this now that it's Jan. 4th but here's my little look back of 2008, my anime site during 2008 and other cool events. For many, it was a crappy year. Th...


I know, I'm a bit late on this now that it's Jan. 4th but here's my little look back of 2008, my anime site during 2008 and other cool events.

For many, it was a crappy year. The warnings I gave many who threw their money and time into things like expensive college degrees for so-called "good jobs", to stocks to a new home sure got their rude awakening. I feel bad for those who didn't fair well in 08 and I do hope for a better 2009 but I'll say it again....if you don't get control of your life (instead of depending on a job or boss to take care of you), this will happen over and over again. The financial morons who caused many problems will go away free and those who thought that working hard for a job will once again get the short end of the stick. You all work hard, so do what you love and love what you do. Don't get a degree or job just because your parents said "There's money in it" That's nothing but slavery with a paycheck attached to it. Anyways, on to the anime site.

As some of you know as of a few weeks ago I claimed my freedom from my job. Well, I'm still at my job but only on a part-time deal (two days a week to be exact). I did leave out of anger and frustration plus the anime biz has been growing like crazy. The full "Leap of Faith" will happen but I'm basically a free man as of x-mas eve.

Anyways (sry ranting again ^^), some of you might have noticed a lack of updates..that's mainly from the the anime biz getting well...busy. Economists and the public cried how sad sales and business was for 2008 but I sure saw different.
Here's a list of what happened in 2008 for me:

(Please note that I'm not doing this to brag, I wanted to show you all that 2008 didn't have to suck and if you just follow your dreams and ignore society's crys for unneeded extended college time, jobs and drudgery, you'll do fine. Of course anything you do, you got to work for it. Make sure you work for yourself and you are not wasting your life filling you're boss's pockets and ego.)


See! 2008 didn't suck for everyone. Us otaku don't follow the norm and while everyone was crying we just stayed in our own anime-loving world doing what we like.

I really want to thank all the fans of the site and all my customers for making 2008 a wonderful year. 2009 will be even better. I do plan on doing at least one anime con appearance and with my store, I should once again get professional passes to SDCC . It's one heck of a trip from NY but it would be great to first see it in person. --- ## Yamashita Bishoujo X-Men Rogue Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2009-01-01-yamashita-bishoujo-x-men-rogue-figure/ - Date: 2009-01-01 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Browsed through the magazine I got from one of my suppliers and this caught my eye. This is a 1/8th scale of X-Men's Rogue made by Kotobukiya. As you can see from just how prett...


Browsed through the magazine I got from one of my suppliers and this caught my eye. This is a 1/8th scale of X-Men's Rogue made by Kotobukiya. As you can see from just how pretty she is, that this is indeed a Shunya Yamashita figure.

I used to be an X-Men fan back in the mid 90's when I watched the cartoon Saturday mornings and yes I did have a thing for Rogue. Granted, as I got older and saw the difference between the girls of X-Men and other American comic I soon lost interest. Let's face it, American comic girls tend to be drawn and made into figures that look more like ugly steroid-ridden she males than goddesses of beauty. Thankfully that's not the case here.

Rogue is an absolutely stunning and by far a figure on my wish list. Already ordered a half a dozen or so of them for the store and she's going to be placed next to Tifa, Mirei, Needa and Yuffie.

Here's some more good info, looks like this is the first in a series of Marvel Bishoujo figures by Yamashita. I wonder who will be given the pretty treatment next?

Check out some pics here and in the anime figure gallery.


--- ## My Christmas Break - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-29-my-christmas-break/ - Date: 2008-12-29 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates. This holiday season has been a big rush for me. The anime figure biz has been doing great, so great that I have been so busy boxing i...


Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates. This holiday season has been a big rush for me. The anime figure biz has been doing great, so great that I have been so busy boxing items even after x-mas has passed. I had as much as 30 items that had to go out in one day @_@. There is a bunch of good things along the way so hopefully I can fill you in on that.

The weekly Idol post (that I just started) will continue next week. I want to put more effort in the posts instead of just placing pics. There is going to be a reason for to lower the "ero" factor for the next few days. The site's hits have been on the rise and as of last week, surpassed the top traffic I had in the summer. In the next month I should be below a 200,000 Alexa rank but that's not the half of it. As soon as today, the site should suddenly get a huge spike in hits. If the site should stay up (and my bandwidth bill should still be ok ^^;). Why this is will be reveiled in good time. Use the twitter updates and charlesgaffney.com as hints. --- ## Japanese Idol of The Week: Yuko Ogura - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-22-japanese-idol-of-week-yuko-ogura/ - Date: 2008-12-22 - Tags: Idols - AI-assisted: no Yuko Ogura : She's actually just one week older than me ^^ She was born on Nov. 1, 1983. You can check out her official website here . Note about these posts: I decided to start... Yuko Ogura:








She's actually just one week older than me ^^ She was born on Nov. 1, 1983.

You can check out her official website here.

Note about these posts:
I decided to start this weekly segment for the people who want to see more idol posts. I will try once a week to talk about or briefly showcase an idol. You can rate and comment about the pictures. No, I will not show nudes or let things get too ecchi and please... be clean in all comments. The purpose of these posts is to promote Japanese beauty and to provide another part of the otaku world. Click Here to access the idol gallery. --- ## Anime Ringtones - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-19-anime-ringtones/ - Date: 2008-12-19 - Tags: anime, ringtones - AI-assisted: no Ringtones tend to always be a hassle; from the payment to getting the file right and for us otaku , getting a ringtone we like. Well, I finally today added a custom ringtone to ...


Ringtones tend to always be a hassle; from the payment to getting the file right and for us otaku, getting a ringtone we like. Well, I finally today added a custom ringtone to my iPhone and its none other than "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu" Yes, I'm most definitely copying Lucky Star's Konata with that one. Granted, there are a slew of way to get ringtones but here's how I did it for free.

First I went to http://anigame-ringtones.blogspot.com/ and downloaded the song.

Then I went to audiko.net and I used the cool UI they have there in creating the right format for my iPhone.

I just opened iTunes, added the file to my library and added it to my phone.

Cool stuff. Thanks to the owner of anigame-ringtones. Now I can confuse the heck out of my friends and family when someone calls me ^_^;; --- ## The Leap of Faith - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-15-leap-of-faith/ - Date: 2008-12-15 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no The countdown has begun. I did it. After years of claiming one day I will, after years of doing a network marketing company (hence why between 2004 and 2007 I was absent) and no...


The countdown has begun. I did it. After years of claiming one day I will, after years of doing a network marketing company (hence why between 2004 and 2007 I was absent) and now the almost two years of running the anime business, I've finally put my two weeks (more like week and a half) resignation into my job. I was originally claiming that I was doing this before my 25th Birthday in November but, due to being offered health insurance, I stayed. This past Friday, the second week of working mostly from home, the stress my job gave me along with the back-lashing because I was home finally made me throw in the towel. On Dec. 24th 2008, the one year anniversary of Danielle and I's engagement, I will no longer be an employee. From that day on (as long as things go well of course) I will be working this site, anime.fm, charlesgaffney.com (BuisnessWeek connections) and the figure biz full time. My "title" will be a full time Otaku, writer, blogger and Anime Store Owner. Gone are the time cards, the morning commute, the pointless belittling that occurs in all jobs. As long as things go well, I will finally, finally own my life and Danielle will soon also do the same (no more Bob's Stores!).

The economy sure is scary right now. Lots of lay-offs are happening. Loads of people won't have a home or a job to go to, while you have me, a 25 year old otaku, a Computer Science semi-grad who is telling the corporate world "please take my job, for I don't want it."

I'm trying to prove my mantra as true. The truth that you can run your own life by following your dreams and doing what you love. Too many times I've seen people toss their dreams for a so-called "good job." When the schooling for that job, the boot licking and the stress caused by this job along with the inevitable layoff has done nothing but hurt you and your future. Chances are you don't want to do what you do and it's the very thing that causes us all to age and die from the inside out. If it wasn't for the Internet, yes, getting a good job would still be a good deal since starting a business would be that much more harder to do. Times have changed though society, schools and even our parents won't think that is so. While jobs fall everywhere, these pillars of our life will think it is still in our best interest to spend tens of thousands of dollars in college when, truthfully, if you don't have the scholarships and you have something like a business, a possible music, writing or art career, that that path would actually be the better route to take and more fulfilling to your being. Here's part of my letter to my boss:

"...I've made myself seem like I'm just some lowly worker who just follows
orders like a child but despite the childish behavior that constantly
comes from the unneeded, frantic panic at work; I've always just took
it and did what needed to be done. I have been grateful for the
chance you gave me to work from home and the other help you have given
me when things were down but since my being at home seems to offend
others and I must be a babysitter of some sorts, I'll come in next
week and the week after during the normal times and even on Tuesday
the week of Christmas but Christmas Eve will be my last day or any
time sooner if you see fit."

I want to thank all my current and future fans/customers for helping me do this and I will bring back contests and other cool stuff as this site and the internet in general progresses.

Hey, and I think its pretty cool to be a "full time otaku." So enough of the deep talk. Time to celebrate ^_^. Below is the video I always wanted to show as my victory dance...



--- ## Japanese Idol of The Week: Reon Kadena - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-14-japanese-idol-of-week-reon-kadena/ - Date: 2008-12-14 - Tags: Idols - AI-assisted: no Reon Kadena : Note about these posts: I decided to start this weekly segment for the people who want to see more idol posts. I will try once a week to talk about or briefly show... Reon Kadena:


Note about these posts:
I decided to start this weekly segment for the people who want to see more idol posts. I will try once a week to talk about or briefly showcase an idol. You can rate and comment about the pictures. No, I will not show nudes or let things get too ecchi and please... be clean in all comments. The purpose of these posts is to promote Japanese beauty and to provide another part of the otaku world. Click Here to access the idol gallery.



--- ## Japanese Dream Reading - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-13-japanese-dream-reading/ - Date: 2008-12-13 - Tags: gadgets, japan - AI-assisted: no Looks like others can now see what we think. Japanese scientists at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories were recently able to successfully display test subjects' thought...


Looks like others can now see what we think. Japanese scientists at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories were recently able to successfully display test subjects' thoughts. Imagine what can be done as this technology progresses? I know what they'd find if they scanned many otaku......



Thanks to Engadget --- ## Dragon Ball Evolution Trailer - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-11-dragon-ball-evolution-trailer/ - Date: 2008-12-11 - Tags: anime, dragon ball, dragon ball movie, otaku - AI-assisted: no Here it is, the second teaser trailer to what is now called Dragon Ball Evolution. Now, if I never ever heard of or saw Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or GT... I'd look at this trai...


Here it is, the second teaser trailer to what is now called Dragon Ball Evolution. Now, if I never ever heard of or saw Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or GT... I'd look at this trailer and say, "Sick, this looks like a great movie!" Yet, as you guys have seen from my blog posts, the site and my user name across the internet, I'm a big DBZ fan. I just can't imagine what Akira Toriyama is thinking when he sees this. The parts picked look actually ok. Piccolo looks to be greener now but why oh why did they butcher the story? I can understand making a live action version would be tough if you went with the exact story, but even Dragon Ball has its own full length movies that are off the story arch. This isn't even in the same universe as Dragon Ball. Some body please, take the writing staff of this movie and sit them through the DVD box sets of DB, DBZ and GT and make sure they sit there like the chicken has to in Robot Chicken because they need to be taught a hard lesson in Dragon Ball 101.
Thanks to DannyChoo for posting it before me ^^


--- ## New Features To CAS Site - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-07-new-features-to-cas-site/ - Date: 2008-12-07 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no With the extra time I've had, I've been able to do a few new updates to the site. Some of you may know that google's Friend Connect just came out. I wasted no time in getting so...


With the extra time I've had, I've been able to do a few new updates to the site. Some of you may know that google's Friend Connect just came out. I wasted no time in getting some of the features here on the site. Now you can "login" to my site! If you have a google, yahoo, orkut or an Open ID, you should be able to keep all your info for this and many other sites. Other changes have been made and now that I work only 2 days a week at my job, expect more to come. Here's a list of what's new:

--- ## Anime Figure Pre-Orders Complete - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-05-anime-figure-pre-orders-complete/ - Date: 2008-12-05 - Tags: anime figures, figures, updates - AI-assisted: no After many hours of work, I finally got the anime pre-orders up in the store . As I stated before I had about $10K worth of figures on hand and about $40-$50K pending in pre-ord...
Haruhi: Haruhi Suzumiya Extravaganza Ver. 1/8 Scale Figure

After many hours of work, I finally got the anime pre-orders up in the store. As I stated before I had about $10K worth of figures on hand and about $40-$50K pending in pre-order from my suppliers from the land of the raising sun. I think this should put the nails on the coffin of ever working a job again. I just work my day job 2 days a week now and the time has come for me to turn this site into the otaku hub I wanted it to be since I was in the 12th grade back in 2002. I still have a bunch of "look and feel" upgrades I have to do for the store and here but the bulk of the work that was in my path is now done. If you do chose to do any pre-orders, do the "money order" option at checkout and you'll be invoiced via Paypal when the figure(s) arrive. If you chose to complete the Paypal payment, you will be charged but those who do this get top priority.

Just email the main store email here with a list of what you want if you don't want to do the checkout thing (I'll try to fix the bug or make it an easier process in the future).

As you can see above, one of the figures coming in the next few months is the super awesome Haruhi Suzumiya Extravaganza Ver. 1/8 Scale Figure by Max Factory. So far just Harhui is available to me but I would assume soon the Yuki and Mikuru Extravaganza figures will be up. --- ## Tears to Tiara: Riannon 1/8 PVC - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-04-tears-to-tiara-riannon-18-pvc/ - Date: 2008-12-04 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no All the other American anime stores....eat your heart out! I just got a box today of 10 Riannon figures. This figure was to come out to America in February 09, but I have them r...

All the other American anime stores....eat your heart out! I just got a box today of 10 Riannon figures. This figure was to come out to America in February 09, but I have them right now. This is a very cute figure indeed. Very soon the PS3 game and the anime will be released and Kotobukyia does a great job in releasing this. The people over at Kotobukyia have a knack for getting them to look just like the anime characters in 3D. Must like the figs you see from Good Smile Company, the finished product looks practically identical to the pre-production original figure shown in the photos. There's a bunch here so I might snag one. Outside of Japan, I'm the only one who has one right now ^_~ Grab your hands on her here.

--- ## Anime Figures Widget - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-02-anime-figures-widget/ - Date: 2008-12-02 - Tags: anime figures, figures, updates - AI-assisted: no After adding a bunch of anime figures, it seems that of the three store fronts I have, Amazon is the easiest to list with my main store coming in second and ebay last. For your ...


After adding a bunch of anime figures, it seems that of the three store fronts I have, Amazon is the easiest to list with my main store coming in second and ebay last. For your anime figure viewing pleasure, I've added an Amazon product widget to the blog (check the lower right hand side) that links to the figures and games that are in my store.

Now, if you want to order from me, the links won't go directly to my store (yet); they actually go to me and my competitors ^^;; To find what I'm selling the same items for, just browse through the list of sellers on the amazon product page and find "chucks-anime-shrine". I'll admit, I might not be selling the figures at the lowest price but I do my best. My Amazon profile is not as strong as my perfect eBay Powerseller rating but its me.

To view my amazon store directly, click here.

Keep watching for more figures ^_^ (and yes I should be getting the cute Miyuki Takara Nendoroid figure you see above) --- ## Oppai Mouse Pad Pre-orders - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-12-02-oppai-mouse-pad-pre-orders/ - Date: 2008-12-02 - Tags: anime figures, otaku - AI-assisted: no Finally, here in the US we will be able to get oppai mouse pads! Up until recently, the only way you can grab these awesome takes on cushioned mouse-pads was to order directly f...


Finally, here in the US we will be able to get oppai mouse pads! Up until recently, the only way you can grab these awesome takes on cushioned mouse-pads was to order directly from a store in Japan. None of my local suppliers had them except for one that look liked a sad attempt by an American anime-drawing hopeful. Thanks to my good friends and direct-from-japan supplier, Mile-Stone we can now see more here. I wasted no time in placing them in the store. They won't be out for another month or two but I'm glad we don't have to pay about $80-$100 for these.

Currently I have Mizore Shirayuki, Katagiri Yuuh, Moka Akashiya and Minato Nagase on their way but there will also be a Kanu one coming as well. Moka and Kanu are the ones I'm debating on for my anime work station.

(oh and I will be changing the look of the store...images are a bit small and the whole thing needs a design updgrade ^^) --- ## My New Anime Work Station - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-30-my-new-anime-work-station/ - Date: 2008-11-30 - Tags: other, updates - AI-assisted: no As of a few days ago I put my anime business revenue to good use by upgrading my work station here at home. I upgraded to a nice 19" LCD monitor, got a new video card and I kept...


As of a few days ago I put my anime business revenue to good use by upgrading my work station here at home. I upgraded to a nice 19" LCD monitor, got a new video card and I kept my old monitor for the duel monitor setup. I'm loving it it and though I wish I got more done, with my job only going to be about two full days a week, the day has come for most of my efforts for here and my anime store plus the continuation of my artwork, Flash animations and games, anime.fm, my personal blog, contests and many more. Damn job has been such a pain so I do hope I can fire my boss once and for all soon. Loving being able to work from home and hence this new setup.

The figures up on top of my desk are (from left to right) Needa, Kotobukiya Tifa, Mirei-san and Yuffie by Kotobukia. On the shelf you can see Figma Mikuru and a few other small figures.

Next I need a wiredless mouse (again, my last one broke) , an oppai mouse pad and I should use my regular camera for these types of pics...not my iPhone.






--- ## Some of the New Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-30-some-of-new-figures/ - Date: 2008-11-30 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no Gotta love my internet connection. It loves to be a bother. Things didn't go as smoothly in adding new figures but I do have a few up due to my internet connection and my just s...
Haruhi: Nendoroid Ryoko Asahina w/ Enhancing Parts

Gotta love my internet connection. It loves to be a bother. Things didn't go as smoothly in adding new figures but I do have a few up due to my internet connection and my just stalking me this weekend. Really getting tired of their crap ~_~. There are indeed much more figures to add, particularly Pre-order figures but they will be going up, bit by bit. To see the new figures and to watch for new ones, just click here to the main page of the main store and you'll see what's new. Figures shown are the Haruhi: Nendoroid Ryoko Asahina w/ Enhancing Parts, Final Fantasy VII: Weapons set, Static Arts Sora, and the Ryubi Gentoku Figure. Some not shown but in the store is the re-relase of the Rei Ayanami Creator's Labo #015 Figure, Fate/Hollow Ataraxia: Sakura Matou 1/6 Scale PVC Figure, Art of Shunya Yamashita: Karin Fine Art Bust, the Shining Wind: Elwing (Elwyn) PVC Figure, and the Shining Wind: Blanc Neige PVC Figure

Everytime I look at these figures I'm so tempted to keep and I have kept a few ^^

Shining Wind: Blanc Neige PVC Figure
Art of Shunya Yamashita: Karin Fine Art Bust
--- ## Black Friday Anime Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-28-black-friday-anime-figures/ - Date: 2008-11-28 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no Well, its that time of the year again, Black Friday. This is a year everyone is scared that sales won't go as usual due to the world economy being screwed up (because American r...


Well, its that time of the year again, Black Friday. This is a year everyone is scared that sales won't go as usual due to the world economy being screwed up (because American realtors thought it was funny to double house prices every two years) but we otaku are different. Proof that we stray from the norm can be seen by the fact that my anime store's sales have doubled from last year; take that economists! When we want our figures, games and manga, we want them. I have to thank you guys for the support so far in both the threee branches of my store and the site of course. The site is now 250K+ in hits as of a few weeks ago and although I'm not 100% free from my job like I wanted; I only go into there now just on Mondays and Wednesdays w/my time being at my newly upgraded home office (more on that in a future post).

For some time you have heard me say that I have loads of anime figures and have many on pre-order but have not seen much in figure posts nor many additions to either the Amazon, eBay or OsCommerce branches. Granted this was due to my job up until last week still holding me hostage and the good old running life throws at you.

I simply have to do a big thankyou for all the support. The pictures shown here don't even do justice to the amount of anime figures I currently have in stock. As of this post I have $10,000 of anime figures in stock with about $30K-$40K pending in preorders. I completely doubt ANY store here on Long Island has as many anime figures as I do.

Starting later today and into the entire weekend plus Cyber Monday I will be posting and blogging these wonderful figures I have here and the ones to come. As a thankyou, for this holiday season all anime figures will be free shipping for US customers. For overseas customers, I can't do free shipping but if you shop in the main store, shipping is very low to begin with for you and you automatically get free shipping if your order is over $100. Please note, the shipping will be refunded to you via paypal if you shop here and if you shop my ebay branch, you will already see the discount.

So relax this holiday season and don't try to beat the crowds. Also, don't listen to what the news is saying about "people not having any money." I was just at the midnight opening at KayBee Toys here to get skateboards for my siblings and the place was simply mobbed with people 0_O. So if you'd like, shop at my store or just gander at the cool anime figures as I post them. I so badly want to keep a bunch of them so grab them before I do ^^;;


--- ## Return of the Haruhi FREEING Bunnies - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-28-return-of-haruhi-freeing-bunnies/ - Date: 2008-11-28 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Haruhi Suzumiya - AI-assisted: no There's no surprise that these amazing figures needed a second wave of shipments. I was able to snag only a few of these simply stunning Haruhi figures. Mikuru in particular is ...



There's no surprise that these amazing figures needed a second wave of shipments. I was able to snag only a few of these simply stunning Haruhi figures. Mikuru in particular is my favorite (saved one for myself ^^;) and she's also sold out everywhere. All of them have real (and real delicate) fishnet stockings and stand, well... sit or lay roughly 13 inches across or tall. As you can see, I was also able to snag the new Emiri and Ryoko bunnies as well.

I'm proud to announce I have them (Mikuru and Haruhi) w/the others (Emiri & Ryoko) in shipment right now. Click HERE to order Haruhi, HERE for Mikuru, HERE for Emiri Kimidori, and HERE for Ryoko Asakura . Since they are over $100, the shipping is automatically free. Grab them while you can or just gander at their beauty in these pics.



--- ## 250K Hits!! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-26-250k-hits/ - Date: 2008-11-26 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Looks like as of a few days ago the site finally reached the 250,000 hit landmark. Nothing too special nowadays but a cool landmark nonetheless. The site has been around since M...


Looks like as of a few days ago the site finally reached the 250,000 hit landmark. Nothing too special nowadays but a cool landmark nonetheless. The site has been around since March of 2002, and I've been tracking the hits since 2003 so its had some time to reach this mark. I can say though that the past 100K hits has happened faster than the first 150K. Anyways, just want to thank the fans of this site for all the page views and here's to much, much more in the coming year and years to come ^_^ --- ## Watch Newest DBZ Movie - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-26-watch-newest-dbz-movie/ - Date: 2008-11-26 - Tags: anime, dbz, videos - AI-assisted: no Looks like the latest Dragon Ball Z movie, Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! is now live, subbed and in HD on youtube. We can thank user, dbzantossj for the uploads. Below i...


Looks like the latest Dragon Ball Z movie, Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! is now live, subbed and in HD on youtube. We can thank user, dbzantossj for the uploads. Below is a sample clip. Don't know how long they will be up for though as with the licensing and stuff. We can all be thankful for this movie this thanksgiving and hopefully forget that Fox is trying to mock the series with the very sad looking Dragon Ball Hollywood movie. Many DBZ fans can be happy to see that Akira Toryama is back. Enter into youtube from the video to see more.

--- ## Anime Store Fixed - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-24-anime-store-fixed/ - Date: 2008-11-24 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Good news! Looks like the error was fixed and I don't see the store being falsely marked as an "attack site". It was definitely not a message I wanted to see right as I'm about ...


Good news! Looks like the error was fixed and I don't see the store being falsely marked as an "attack site". It was definitely not a message I wanted to see right as I'm about to start redoing figure posts with links to the store and when 40 or so items got sold in the store at the same time @_@. --- ## Anime Girl of the Day 11/23/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-23-anime-girl-of-day-112308/ - Date: 2008-11-23 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Enjoy this picture today. Finally got things ready for the week at hand with all the working from home that I will do. Soon you'll all see more video game blog posts and I'll be...
Enjoy this picture today. Finally got things ready for the week at hand with all the working from home that I will do. Soon you'll all see more video game blog posts and I'll be sure to add the anime figure posts with better a link for preordering them.
Posted by ShoZu
--- ## Major Store Error @_@ - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-23-major-store-error/ - Date: 2008-11-23 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone. Just when I thought things were back in gear, this had to hit me. Here's the story, over a few months back there was a hack into the site. It busted the old forum ...


Hey everyone. Just when I thought things were back in gear, this had to hit me. Here's the story, over a few months back there was a hack into the site. It busted the old forum and thus screwed up all the old posts on there. Since then I made the new forum (which is more dead than the old one ~_~;;) Also, at that same time, the same random java code was in many of the .php pages of the store. If any of you are customers of the store or plan to be, no worries at all since this was just apparently a weird counter tool from a stupid site called statun .com. None of your information was taken at all since I use Paypal for payments. Only if Paypal ever gets hacked would there be any need to worry.

As of today, there must have been something still there in the store and of course google had to catch it and mistake the store as an "attack site" In the mean time you can always use the amazon and ebay branches of my store or do special orders by requesting items from either aaaanime.com or yesanime.com. Again, nothing to be worried about...just a big annoyance and I'll be added an SSL certificate to the store pages, just for extra protection...though again all payment info is on Paypal so, it'll be like putting a bullet proof vest on top of armor.

Once this issue is fixed, you should soon see more anime figure posts with links to pre-order or order them. Now excuse me while I burn down statun.com ~_~;;;;; --- ## Working From Home - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-21-working-from-home/ - Date: 2008-11-21 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone. So sorry for the gap in blog posts. I had a vehicular situation that turned out to be a big blessing in disguise. I didn't get into an accident or anything. My goo...
 Hey everyone.  So sorry for the gap in blog posts.  I had a vehicular situation that turned out to be a big blessing in disguise.  I didn't get into an accident or anything.  My good old 1995 Buick Regal acted up on me again.  The car is my very first car ever that I got back in 2002.  Need to say, the old girl has 228K miles on it and her fuel pump decided to go after I drove to work 33 miles from my house.  I had to do the train thing again and go without a car...which sucks for anyone who's been in a similar situation.  I lucked out thanks to my father and what would have been a $700 fix was just $400.

So why is this a blessing?  Well, this wasn't the first time this happened and it gave me fuel to ask my job for less commute time.  As you guys know, I was going to quit my job due to the success of the anime store but my boss was uncommonly nice by giving me medical and now due to my dying car, I'm working from home most of the week!  That's right, only Monday and Wednesday do I go into my job.  The other days in the week I still work on my job's projects but from the comfort of the anime base itself...my room.

What's even weirder about this was that I was suppose to start this new schedule next week.  I instead started it yesterday because the phone and internet systems at my job have been down until a few hours ago.  I hope my timing doesn't make it seem like I had anything to do with it ^^;;.

I of course will do my job projects first since I've been rather grateful of the opportunity to be more at home.  The additional time gained from not having to commute 33 miles one way most of the week will give me more time for here and the biz so to pay for Danielle and I's house and wedding.  The economy is bad now but we seem to be on the winning side, which is not very crowded as of now. This brings my question for you guys;

Do you think you'd get more work done at home or at the office? --- ## iPhone Apps For Otaku - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-16-iphone-apps-for-otaku/ - Date: 2008-11-16 - Tags: iphone, otaku - AI-assisted: no For the past few months I've had the 3G iPhone and yes, I do love this little device. I know there is a fervor out there on which phone is the best but I'm not here to claim tha...


For the past few months I've had the 3G iPhone and yes, I do love this little device.  I know there is a fervor out there on which phone is the best but I'm not here to claim that the iPhone is the best phone but for those who have it, chances are you love it and it those wonderful apps allow it to be ever more useful.  Here's a list of Apps for you otaku who own an iPhone.  I'm sure you have seen these apps or tried them.  If not, check them out:

1) iKoto: 

This wonderful app is perfect for the little musician in you and a possible annoyance to others around you.  With this app you have control of a virtual Koto (Japanese harp).  Just recently an update was done to the app where you don't just record your attempts at otaku musical bliss, but you can now listen to 3 examples like Sakura, Rokudan and For Elise.  The new version even has the ability to create pinch tone effects and you can change the tone to the koto as well.


2) vSnax:

Anime Fans cannot live without watching anime episodes and thankfully you'll find that with vSnax.  On top of have a bunch of cool channels like G4TV, Discovery and more, there is channel dedicated to anime of course called Anime!.  On Anime! you can watch episodes of Saiyuki, Azumanga Daioh and more.  Granted the pickings are slim but at least otaku have something to watch on the iPhone outside of youtube.



3) LadioTouch:

With this app you can listen to a large list of Japanese radio stations.  Black Angel Radio in particular is pretty good with game music and j-pop played.  It does crash sometimes and you wont understand many of the talk shows if you don't speak Japanese, but to me that's not an issue...well I don't speak it fully yet but otaku don't mind listening to Japanese.




4) Pandora Radio:

This app is great in finding commercial free, streaming music based on what you look for.  It's still a bit rough to find what anime fans want but searching "Euro beats" will nab a bunch of Initial D music and you could get a decent amount of J-Pop by searching "Gackt" or any other J-Pop artist.  As great as this app is, it will repeat almost as bad as some of the local radio stations here on Long Island but if you set it up right, you can have a bunch of cool streaming songs.  A must for your iPhone if you an otaku or not.


5) iTalk

There are a few voice recorder apps out there.  I started to like this one since you can download a program from their site in order to download your recordings on to your computer.  I've been using this to prep for my anime voice acting auditions and to see what I can do plus where I need to improve.  A very useful app indeed whether you use it like me to record your different voice impressions or just to keep a voice memo.


6)Ah...Moemory:

No otaku can also be without cute moe images of anime girls.  This program is a simple memory match game with you getting a picture of a cute anime girl.  Thankfully the images are indeed real quality anime and not some fake fanart ripoff.  In the paid version I believe you can save the photos and I would assume there is more then the 5 or so in the lite version.



7)MotoChaser:

One of the top paid apps as f this blog post, MotoChaser is a perfect example of why the iPhone is a contender in the mobile video game industry.  The characters have an anime-ish style to them but the more important aspect of this game is that it is a solid motorcycle racer in which you can even beat up enemy racers, almost like Road Rash, but not quite.  (Speaking of Road Rash, that needs a current gen makeover)  MotoChaser is a bit tough to get use to but it is a cool game indeed.


8)Fire Drop:

This app is one of your typical 3-pair Tetris-type games.  This one can appeal to Otakus since it has an Asian tone to it with good proverbs between levels. Its a very casual, easy going game and its for you if you must have an asian tone to your iPhone apps.





9) Vay:

Many Otaku are fans of RPGs and thankfully Vay is available on the iPhone.  This classic anime RPG from back to the year 1994.  Its the full RPG in here with the cut scenes and all.  Its no Final Fantasy but a great addition to your list of apps.  I still have to play trough it actually ^ ^;




10) iPhone Manga:

With a little bit of searching you can find some manga apps.  Most are in Japanese and a few are in english.  As of this date, I have yet to find any of the big time mangas on there but one the one pictured above that I have is a nice read and allows me to show off that I'm an anime fan.




11) IGN Reviews:

We otaku are mainly gamers and most of you like to get an idea on how good a game might be before you drop some dough and playtime for it.  IGN Reviews is a great app to quickly see a review on the latest games.  Personally, I don't really go with reviews so much.  As long as its not a Barbie game or the like, I'll be sure to have fun playing the game.  I even had fun playing the game Night Trap years ago and to this day its considered one of the worst games (not just because it got that evil old fart Joe Lieberman to create the ESRB).   Anyways, this  is good if you are iffy on what game to get.


12) World 9:

This is a novelty if anything else but I know people cosplaying as Mario or Luigi will make great use of this.  World 9 is an app you use to create the Mario jumping sound.  So, basically, you turn it on, put your phone in your pocket and if you jump, you'll sound like Mario jumping.  There is also a map on there to see people jumping across the country.  A novelty to some but to many otaku and gamers, a must.


13) Tap Tap Revenge:

Tap Tap is to the iPhone what DDR is to games.   In this game, you tap 3 separate points at the bottom of the screen to match the song playing.  I haven't used it too much but you can download many new, popular songs and have fun tapping away.  As a long time DDR fan, I do love this app.




14) Free RSS Reader:

On the go yet want to see the latest posts on your favorite anime sites like Dannychoo.com or here?(most likely Dannychoo.com though) This simple app is what I use to check the RSS feds of my favorite anime sites without using the sometimes slow Safari app.





15) Koi Pond:

Need to relax?  This wonderful app allows you to look over a Koi pond and interact with the fish and environment.  I hope to have a Koi pond at my home one day but with this app I can right now.  Its a novelty but it does relax you when you have a stressed day.





16: Light Saber:

Last but definitely not least is the app all otaku have to love.  Light saber turns your iPhone into a virtual light saber with sounds that react to your swinging of the phone.  Don't be too rough or you might throw the phone though ^^;  I haven't done it but I can see it happening.  Just recently an update was added that allows you to create a character, their light saber and story in it.  I chose Gurren Lagennn's Yoko since I just had to have a hot anime girl in there.



Hope this list was useful.  Of course there can be and will be more apps that will be great for us otaku or just good in general. --- ## An Otaku on Party 105 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-16-otaku-on-party-105/ - Date: 2008-11-16 - Tags: other, radio - AI-assisted: no I'm a few days late on posting this but on Thursday Danielle and I went to a neat event hosted by one the local radio stations here, Party 105 . as some of you might have rememb...
I'm a few days late on posting this but on Thursday Danielle and I went to a neat event hosted by one the local radio stations here, Party 105. as some of you might have remembered from the past posts, we became finalists for the "Get Hitched on the House" contest where we could have gotten our wedding for free.  I do thank some of the fans here for the votes but unfortunatly we didn't win.  The winning couple got over 1100 votes which I would assume was waaaay more than what we got. No matter.  It was a cool event were we were able to mingle with some of the radio celebes here.  Danielle and I did mangae to grab a quick spot on the radio though.  Three couples were chosen to answer this question during Nikki At Night's Lady's Lounge; "Do you kiss on the first date."  We were the last couple to answer and while the other couples stated that th guy tryed, I just said "She kissed me."  All in all in was cool to get a few seconds on the radio.  It's true  Danielle actually kissed me on the first date. I guess I should ask you guys this qustion, do you kiss on the first date? --- ## Dragon Ball Movie WTF?! Moments #2: White Piccolo - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-14-dragon-ball-movie-wtf-moments-2-white/ - Date: 2008-11-14 - Tags: dragon ball movie, dragon ball movie WTF Moments - AI-assisted: no Not exactly a new WTF moment but this one of course had to be on the list. These images caused many otaku to leave a palm print on their foreheads. James Marshers was a great ch...
 
 
 Not exactly a new WTF moment but this one of course had to be on the list.  These images caused many otaku to leave a palm print on their foreheads.  James Marshers was a great choice for Piccolo but it seems like the production crew will be recycling his old Buffy costumes and they must be out of green paint ~_~ --- ## Dragon Ball Movie WTF?! Moments #1: Goku's Transformation - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-12-dragon-ball-movie-wtf-moments-1-gokus/ - Date: 2008-11-12 - Tags: dragon ball, dragon ball movie, dragon ball movie WTF Moments - AI-assisted: no You know, I was at one point looking forward to the Dragon Ball Movie. The concept of a Dragon Ball live action with the financial backing of Hollywood could have been such a go...

You know, I was at one point looking forward to the Dragon Ball Movie.  The concept of a Dragon Ball live action with the financial backing of Hollywood could have been such a good thing if done right.  The cast that was set up seemed not too bad of choices in my opinion...lacking a more realistic, more Asian cast, but still sounding well. After this image surfaced and the other aspects of the upcoming movie,  I had to start this new segment aptly called Dragon Ball Movie WTF?! Moments.  Leave it to Fox to mess things up ~_~

This first image is actually the newest WTF moment.  What you are seeing is not some sort of weird Photoshop prank by somebody, but instead real footage from the movie.  This my friends is what Fox's equivalent to Goku's Oozaro transformation looks like.  Rumor has it that the CG needed to create the real Goku oozaro transformation was too much for them.  I understand it takes lots of work to make good CG, but we are in 2008 not 1998. How that can be confused with this below can only be rationally explained if we think that possibly the group of people who first took (and butchered) DBZ are in charge of this one.  

--- ## Dragon Ball Movie Trailer - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-11-dragon-ball-movie-trailer/ - Date: 2008-11-11 - Tags: anime, dragon ball, dragon ball movie - AI-assisted: no I was a bit late in posting this but here it is with audio, the Dragon Ball Movie Trailer. If I never saw Dragon Ball I would think this is cool but for many of us otaku, this i...
I was a bit late in posting this but here it is with audio, the Dragon Ball Movie Trailer.  If I never saw Dragon Ball I would think this is cool but for many of us otaku, this is going to be a movie to watch for laughs on how bad Fox messes it up.  Director James Wong states he wants this to be a "family film" so expect even more bastardization of the Dragon Ball saga than the horrible first english dub was ~_~  Chances are, I will still see it but I'll have to watch it with the thought that is not a Dragon Ball movie and has nothing to do with the anime.

--- ## Toonami + My Anime Beginnings - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-11-toonami-my-anime-beginnings/ - Date: 2008-11-11 - Tags: anime, anime.fm, chucksanimeshrine, otaku, updates, videos - AI-assisted: no This is a few months late but I just had to write about this. After reading Sanjo-chan's blog on it I had to put in my two-cents. Many of you otaku know that Toonami stopped air...

This is a few months late but I just had to write about this.  After reading Sanjo-chan's blog on it I had to put in my two-cents.  Many of you otaku know that Toonami stopped airing in late September.  Many of us can thank Toonami for turing us into otaku.  I started right at the very beginning in 1997 and I've seen up until about a year or two ago when Toonami only had Naruto as their only anime.

When I stated in the past that it was Final Fantasy VII that helped me become an otaku after years of just being a gamer, that was just half the story.  I am still upset of the downfall of Toonami and anime in general on Cartoon Netwoork so I feel I have to let you know my story and where I'm going as an otaku because I might have a hand in what is to come.  If you'd care to read on, here's my story:

Back in 1997, which was now 11 years ago, I was in the 7th grade.  (Yeah, I turned 25 as of last Saturday so I'm an older otaku).  Back then my days were basically that of playing baseball, hockey and football watching the New York Ranger's hockey and playing lots of video games after school.  In September of 1996, Pokemon came to the US and I would watch it every morning at around 6am.  I watched it not because I was an anime fan but because I was a fan of the game, which BTW still holds my record consecutive play time of 13 hours.  Yes, I one day played Pokemon Blue for 13 hours straight.  Sure wish I could have that kind of free time now.  Anyways, anime's height in America at the time was the rare showings on Sci-fi channel and the occational Miyasaki runs on pay-per-view (Princess Mononoke to be exact).  Finding anime was tough here at the time and as both a jock and a gamer, anime wasn't something I really knew of.

The popularity of Pokemon woke up the execs of Cartoon Network and thus Toonami months later came to be with its first host, Moltar from Space Ghost Coast To Coast; Cartoon Network's only in-house production at the time (more on those in a bit).  During the spring of that year I was introduced to Final Fantasy VII by my long time friend, Tiago Barros.  He had a Playstation and I was just a Nintendo boy so I went to his house often to fight him in Dragon Ball GT Final Bout, Bust-A-Move and of course watch him play FFVII.  He would tend to leave mid game to watch Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z on Toonami.  I didn't know what the appeal was and I just played the games while he watched.  Shortly, I began to watch Toonami with him and with my love for Tifa in FFVII, I was all over the internet (aka the World Wide Web at the time) looking for more info and getting into Toonami and anime.  It was then I became an otaku.  I of course went beyond Toonami in terms of series to watch since not all anime was shown on there, but it was Toonami that got me into it in the first place (along with FFVII).

Fast forward to 2001-2002, I was in the 12th grade and I was in Miss. Beris' Web design class in New Field High School, mainly to kill time.  A project was due to create a full working website and thus this site, Chuck's Anime Shrine, was born.  Thanks to Newgrounds.com, in which alot of the design ideas came from, my site became popular with otaku since it was one of the few places pre-You-Tube to have AMV videos to view.  Because of this site and my anime fandom, I met Danielle who is now my fiancee and turned this site into a business that is on a roll.  Sales will be double of last years, very close to $100K and as of last month, my profits matched my job's income...even when I only listed and sold a fifth of the items I have on hand and not even a tenth of items on the way.  I can safely say that my job is now completely expendable and my originally failed plan to escape the 9-5 rut is only a few months away or less.

As you see I owe a bunch to Toonami and have lots to be upset for them being gone, but here's the surprise you get for reading through this very large blog post; I'm going to use my newly gained anime presence to try to bring back something like Toonami or Toonami itself.   Remember my good friend Tiago who I thank dearfully for converting me into an otaku?  Well, for the past 5 years he's actually been working in Atlanta with Adult Swim and more recently with Cartoon Network headquarters.  Toonami's death and anime's slowdown on Cartoon Network can be blamed for Adult Swim's transformation to Cartoon Network First Party Only shows but once I'm freed from the chains of a 9-5 job, I'll make this one of my big goals.  So, Tiago, if you are reading this, I'll be in touch with you soon on some things.

Anime.fm is a site I recently aquired that even got the attention of our favorite blogger, Danny Choo and if you are reading Danny, turning Anime.fm into what Toonami was would be a great idea for us on it if you still want to work with me on it ^_~.  Let's also not forget that I'll be training to be an anime voice actor along with making video games for Flash, X-box 360 and Apple iPhone so very soon my dream of being a force in the anime/game industry will be a reality. In other words, I have connection in the right spots.

Hope you guys like the new look of the site and the lack of updates was because of the huge number of anime orders I had to deal with so check up on my updates as they will be more frequent again.  Though I didn't quit Berger-Bros like I wanted to a few weeks ago, the time is soon and with all that is in front of me now, my days an a meager employee are almost done. Below is the final broadcast of Toonami but I'm using this blog post to let you all know that anime won't die if I have something to do about it, since I might be in the coming months.

(Also, don't forget that Toonami still lives on with its Jetstream website)
--- ## Inline Comments - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-07-inline-comments/ - Date: 2008-11-07 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no As you can see by looking at my posts, I was able to finally embed the comments. This was thanks to a some-what new update via Blogger and big thanks goes to bloggerbuster for t...

As you can see by looking at my posts, I was able to finally embed the comments.  This was thanks to a some-what new update via Blogger and big thanks goes to bloggerbuster for the code that I needed since my blog is rather custom and needed some tweaking.  for anyone who is running into the problem of getting the comments embedded, use that code on bloggerbuster and place it where your comments code is in your template.  The code that you have to replace doesn't have to be the exact one they mention, just place it in your comment area and test it to see if it works.  Next Blogger coding hurtle...Related Posts.

(note: picture featured is not mine, I modified it via Photoshop but I might use it for other technical fixes and additions) --- ## Anime Girl of the Day 11/6/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-06-anime-girl-of-day-11608/ - Date: 2008-11-06 - Tags: anime girl - AI-assisted: no I know, there I go again, buying more time. I will be getting back to doing more diverse and more frequent posts. I'm still kind of swamped at work and preping for x-mas. I stil...

I know, there I go again, buying more time.  I will be getting back to doing more diverse and more frequent posts.  I'm still kind of swamped at work and preping for x-mas.  I still have loads of anime figures sitting in my storage that I have yet to post along with $40K or so of pre-orders coming.  Lots to do so hopefully this post will be the last time I simply post just these random anime girl pics.  I know that some like this and I'll make this a feature if I can ^^ --- ## Otaku Celebrate Obama Win! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-04-otaku-for-obama-win/ - Date: 2008-11-04 - Tags: otaku - AI-assisted: no I know many of you Otaku were indeed rooting for Obama just like our friends in Japan and others across the world did. Just take a look at Grant Park and you will see something ...

I know many of you Otaku were indeed rooting for Obama just like our friends in Japan and others across the world did. Just take a look at Grant Park and you will see something to behold with that amazing crowd. Congrats to Barack Obama from all of us Otaku here. I know my vote in NY went through and now it is time for America to be the country it was meant to be. We Otaku have seen for years how the conservative mindset has poisoned anime, video games and other items we enjoy. We have more importantly seen how that type of negative mindset has hurt global relations, human progression and the lives of the young, the future of this country. For too long has America been to some respect, a more modern, western version of the middle east extremist views, bound by the old human flaws of racism, sexism and religious tyranny toward common sensical life. I hope now that this win for Obama will be a great thing for the world and I think Otaku both here and in japan knew that before hand. Let's hope we were right.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Anime Girl of the Day 11/03/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-11-03-anime-girl-of-day-110308/ - Date: 2008-11-03 - Tags: anime girl - AI-assisted: no Just a day before election day and like the two candidates I've been swamped with work. I have loads to do at my day job. At home I have to continue the CAS 4.0 upgrade, post mo...

Just a day before election day and like the two candidates I've been swamped with work. I have loads to do at my day job. At home I have to continue the CAS 4.0 upgrade, post more items I have and am preordering, box another bunch of figures, get my xbox 360, iPhone, and Flash development kits for my video game (yes, I can now code games for xbox; more on that later) and not to mention fix up anime.fm @_@. Good news is that even with only a 5th or so of my anime figures posted, I'm officially making the same money in my anime biz as in my job based on some major number crunching I've been doing. So, even if my boss catches me here posting this.... I can care less. It's such a great feeling to know that your job is now just extra income...next is to delete the job once and for all.

Anyways, enjoy this image that looks very similar to that old Sera-chan figure.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Otaku Halloween Music - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-31-otaku-halloween-music/ - Date: 2008-10-31 - Tags: music, otaku - AI-assisted: no Happy Halloween 08 everybody! As promised, I was to give you all a special surprise today and here it is. Thanks to playlist.com, I set up a Halloween music playlist for you all...


Happy Halloween 08 everybody! As promised, I was to give you all a special surprise today and here it is. Thanks to playlist.com, I set up a Halloween music playlist for you all that should be good for both fans of Halloween and otaku alike. You'll find music from E Nomine, Michael Jackson, Exorcist, Nightmare Before Christmas; from anime like Death Note, Hellsing, and Vampire Knight and for video game fans, I added a little Castlevania to the mix. Just sit back and let it play while you browse to help you get into the Halloween spirit. This year Halloween can be a weekend event so have fun!

Enjoy a safe and fun Halloween ^_^.

(If the playlist is a bit buggy, you can try the main page here)





--- ## Anime Girl of the Day: Halloween Eve 08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-30-anime-girl-of-day-halloween-eve-08/ - Date: 2008-10-30 - Tags: anime girl, halloween - AI-assisted: no Here's a little treat for today on the eve of Halloween. Been way too busy in my job and the anime biz but there is more to come soon. Enjoy this nice anime Halloween pick. I ha...
Here's a little treat for today on the eve of Halloween. Been way too busy in my job and the anime biz but there is more to come soon. Enjoy this nice anime Halloween pick. I have something in store for tomorrow though. Will it be a trick or a treat??

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## TFS Dragon Ball Z: Episode 6 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-28-tfs-dragon-ball-z-episode-6/ - Date: 2008-10-28 - Tags: dragon ball z, videos - AI-assisted: no As of a few days ago, the hilariously funny TeamFourStar Dragon Ball Z Abridged parody got its latest episode. Like many otaku, I've become an instant fan of the parody. Speakin...


As of a few days ago, the hilariously funny TeamFourStar Dragon Ball Z Abridged parody got its latest episode. Like many otaku, I've become an instant fan of the parody.

Speaking of DBZ's early episodes; Danielle and I have been watching the DBZ Season 1 Uncut DVD and its amazing how different the series is when you see it in its original form and not the bastardized first dub. I'm so glad anime brought to America has been kept whole and not filtered into a kiddy-Christian abomination...for the most part.

Anyways...check out the episode below:



--- ## CAS Version 4.0 is Live - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-26-cas-version-40-is-live/ - Date: 2008-10-26 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no After a long weekend and a rather buggy computer slowing me down, I'd like to introduce you to Chuck's Anime Shrine version 4.0. Now the completed product is still in the works ...


After a long weekend and a rather buggy computer slowing me down, I'd like to introduce you to Chuck's Anime Shrine version 4.0. Now the completed product is still in the works but I'm sure you have noticed the difference here. Here's a list of what is new, what is gone and what's on the way:

New:
 -Recreated the whole look of the site to look like... well, a shrine!

-random backgrounds at the top (6 for now)

-a smaller blog address (thanks to redirects)...but the working url is still the same; new blog link shortcut: chucksanimeshrine.com/blog.html

-twitter : you get to see my twitter status, of course I do what you all to do tweets from here as well in the future

-addthis.com button: a simple button for adding posts to a large amount of news, blog sites

-fewer ads

-less cluttered blog

-broader page size

-MobileMe embedded gallery

-Fanart gallery that you can submit your work to

-an idol section; yes, you can now view japanese idols here as well

-anime figure gallery

-anime music section; the same system I have on anime.fm

-new store page that shows all our store branches


Old:

-all older sections of the site are in the sitemap for now but will soon be integrated
- "Non-series" pictures are all now part of the anime gallery with new pictures
-all old fanart items will be added soon

On the way:

-If you are viewing this from the home page, I promise it will look nicer and will be more useful than just a text copy of the blog

-more contests: submit your fan-art to the new fan-art section because the best ones will be selected in the next contest and hopefully future ones as well

-more picture submission albums in the gallery

-all the anime series I currently have (not many) will have all their pictures in the gallery soon

-More anime series sections and pictures

-a better amv section, if possible

-this site to appear in Otaku USA (for the store mainly)


Well, there you have it. Version 4.0 is not a 100% but now the stage is set for a more functional site and more content for me to easily add and you all as well. Now I'm off to watch some uncut season one DBZ, I'm beat @_@. --- ## Anime Girl Pic of the Day 10/25/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-25-anime-girl-of-day-102508/ - Date: 2008-10-25 - Tags: anime girl - AI-assisted: no Was busy all day fixing my Internet (again ~_~) and then I got to work on the new site. Got most of the template and new blog layout done but I sure have a load of anime figures...
Was busy all day fixing my Internet (again ~_~) and then I got to work on the new site. Got most of the template and new blog layout done but I sure have a load of anime figures and even video games to put up on the store. Keeping the blog updated with another quick anime girl pic. (and buying some time ^ ^;)

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Anime Girl Pic of the Day 10/24/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-24-anime-girl-pic-of-day-102408/ - Date: 2008-10-24 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Been busy making version 4.0 of the site. In the mean time, enjoy this Code Geass picture. Since it's getting cold here in NY and x-mas is coming, I thought this would be a good...
Been busy making version 4.0 of the site. In the mean time, enjoy this Code Geass picture. Since it's getting cold here in NY and x-mas is coming, I thought this would be a good pic. I know some you wish you were Lulu here.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Best Anime Fan Dubs - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-22-best-anime-fan-dubs/ - Date: 2008-10-22 - Tags: dbz, otaku, videos - AI-assisted: no I know, "dubbing" is basically the otaku "f-bomb" and fan dubbing tends to be all the more sinister but lets face it, anime dubbing has gotten better over the past years. With t... I know, "dubbing" is basically the otaku "f-bomb" and fan dubbing tends to be all the more sinister but lets face it, anime dubbing has gotten better over the past years. With the advent of youtube, fan dubbing has been seen much more. Granted, like AMVs, fan-dubbing is a dime-a-dozen and its sometimes hard to find stuff that you just can't click away from amongst the sea of videos.
Then there is stuff like the Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Series. It's a very funny, fan-dub with practically all the voices done by the now famous dubber known as Little Kuriboh. If you haven't seen any of his stuff, I provided a few clips below.
As of very recently, he's been guest staring in what has to be yet another very well done fan dubbing series, this one about Dragon Ball Z, also called an Abridged Series. Along with Little Kuriboh, a simply amazing group of dubbers known as TeamFourStar works these parody episodes. Danielle and I can't get enough of this fan-dub and already thousands of otaku have subscribed to their work. The voice of Vegeta, Lanipator sounds exactly like Chris Sabo and like Chris Sabo, he does a good chunk of the voices in the series. The other members of TeamFourStar, KaiserNeko, Takahata101 and the others and along with Little Kuriboh, couldn't be any better of a fan dub team. They really do give the real english dubbers (and writers) a run for their money.

One last thing about anime dubbing. As some of you might know, I was suppose to participate in the Bang Zoom! studio panel at Anime Fest 08 to hopefully get my foot in the door as well as an anime voice actor. That unfortunately was shot down due to the huge, huge crowd the latter two days had. No worries though, as I continue to break free from my job with my anime store, I'll be able to do Flash and dubbing myself to prove myself (please don't use my supposed podcast as an example ^^;, it sucked and wasn't really a podcast) plus I'm still in contact with Bang Zoom and will eventually attend their $300 lessons to get my old chorus voice back and improve my acting since both are a bit rusty. One of the other fellow attendees at Anime Fest 08, AnimeAlmanac was able to do an interview and in-depth report on the class when Bang Zoom did one in NYC not long after the festival. Check out the amazing blog post here and remember, if we american otaku are to get in the anime voice acting biz...its not all fun and games, its an art and must be done right.


TeamFourStar Convention Parody, LOL at last comment xD



First Episode of DBZ Abriged




Can't forget the amazing Yu-Gi-Oh Abrigded Series




LOL at the Beauty and the Beast Parody; f$%king birds! xD

--- ## Vote for an Otaku Wedding - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-22-vote-for-otaku-wedding/ - Date: 2008-10-22 - Tags: otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Normally I don't do these kind of post but I feel this would be a good way to get some help. As of last x-mas, some of you might have known that Danielle and I got engaged after...


Normally I don't do these kind of post but I feel this would be a good way to get some help. As of last x-mas, some of you might have known that Danielle and I got engaged after being together since a few weeks after I started this site back in March 2002. A radio station I listen to here on the island, Party 105 has a contest to pay for a couple's entire wedding. We have entered the contest and are one of the many couples up for grabs to get our wedding payed for.

In order to win, we need as many votes as possible. If possible, I'm asking the readers of this blog to kindly put their name in the ballot to help us out. Being able to win this contest would help us big time in our quest to quit our day jobs and to have all our focus be on the anime site and business and not some stupid, mindless camera store site or Bob's Stores (Danielle's current job).

As a promise to the fans, I will be setting up contests for free figures and other cool stuff, plus making the site look much much better than ever before. If I can expand the store even more than the recent $40,000 pre-order (that I still need to post in the store ^^) I'm going to probably do something that no other anime store can do; and that is give free (good) manga with every figure purchase. I haven't set up things yet with my dealers but the possiblity is very real. This and many other things I still have in the backburner can be closer to achieveing if Danielle and I get our wedding paid for so, in a rare post as this is,

Vote for us Here on to help us win a free wedding.
We are couple # 61

Any and all votes will be greatly appreciated and we will bring this site into the limelight for all the fans and...you might see us in Otaku USA Magazine in the coming months ^_^


(...also, don't mind how weird I look in that photo...its the image size and my weird smile. ^^) --- ## Better Tifa Wallpapers - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-19-better-tifa-wallpapers/ - Date: 2008-10-19 - Tags: final fantasy VII, tifa, videogames - AI-assisted: no Here's a much better set of Tifa Lockhart Wallpapers than that simple one I did a while back with smoother graphics and bigger sizes. Thanks to photobucket user altoidyoda for t... Here's a much better set of Tifa Lockhart Wallpapers than that simple one I did a while back with smoother graphics and bigger sizes. Thanks to photobucket user altoidyoda for the 1820px x 1024px size that I edited for these. Each photo has been adjusted to the popular monitor sizes. Enjoy ^_^

1820px x 1024px



1280px x 1084px



1024px x 768px
--- ## Square-Enix Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-18-square-enix-figures/ - Date: 2008-10-18 - Tags: anime figures, figures, final fantasy VII - AI-assisted: no Some exciting news from Square-Enix with the recent announcement of even more new figures! Many of you are aware of the new Crisis Core figures that will arrive state side begin...


Some exciting news from Square-Enix with the recent announcement of even more new figures! Many of you are aware of the new Crisis Core figures that will arrive state side beginning 09 but as of yesterday, one of my dealers gave the go-ahead to pre-order the latest in the line of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts figures.

Set to arrive some time near March-April here in the states comes these 6 figures Square-Enix:

(Click pics to see full res)

Kingdom Hearts: Halloween Town Sora Play Arts Action Figure


Kingdom Hearts: Coliseum Cloud Strife Play Arts Action Figure


Kingdom Hearts: Coliseum Sephiroth Play Arts Action Figure


Final Fantasy VII: Sephiroth Static Arts Statue


Kingdom Hearts 2: Riku Static Arts Figure



Final Fantasy XII: Judge Master Gabranth Play Arts Action Figures



One in particular that catches my eye of course would be the Sephiroth Static Arts figure. This is really the first time since the old resin models that the characters from Final Fantasy VII are made into the standard, static PVC models. For a long time FFVII figures have been mainly the simple and poseable Play Arts $30 figures (minus those rather recent $400 models), which are great but many figure collectors look for those figures that are high in quality (and not over $400) that match more of say the figures of Good Smile Company.

Lets not forget the Crisis Core Figures as well:

Final Fantasy Crisis Core: Aerith Gainsborough (Aeris) Play Arts Action Figure



Final Fantasy Crisis Core: Cloud Strife "Shinra Guard" Play Arts Action Figure



Final Fantasy Crisis Core: Zack Fair Play Arts Action Figure



As part of my site and store's expansion, I of course went and pre-ordered a bunch of every one of these figures for you guys. Check out the Final Fantasy + Kingdom Hearts sections of the store to put in any pre-orders*. The exact quantities that I should be getting are in the system but like all anime figures, they are usually limited edition and will sell quick ^_~



*Currently the store only allows for pre-order reserves by paying the full amount for the figure(s) but you can simply ask to be on the waiting list by emailing me here. People who pay for the figures in advance do get the figures first though and if you pay or not for pre-order figures you can always cancel at any time...just be sure to message me in advance ^_^...oh and shipping is FREE if you buy $100 or more and are in the US. --- ## Anime Store Optimized + CAS 4.0 Sneek Peek - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-16-anime-store-optimized-cas-40-sneek-peek/ - Date: 2008-10-16 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no If any of you went to the anime store section of the site, you probably noticed a huge bunch of items are now gone. Don't worry though, I did this to fully optimize the store fo...

If any of you went to the anime store section of the site, you probably noticed a huge bunch of items are now gone. Don't worry though, I did this to fully optimize the store for the coming x-mas season. The store is over a year old now, and my original method of doing business was to have a few items from my only dealer at the time and put those in a "special category" to show that they are ready for immediate shipment. Everything else on the over 3000 item list was items I could get from that dealer but I'd have to wait almost 4 business days to be able to hand them out plus there were times that my wholesaler said were in but they themselves needed to update their site. Granted, the items I have kept for the store constantly come and go thanks to my amazon.com and ebay.com branches and I've held a perfect customer record on both sites. This year's sales are also very close to $100,000 but with the main store's site lagging in performance and with weird shipping amounts, I simply had to fix it. Also over time I have added a bunch of dealers including one for videogames that I have yet to utilize plus a very hefty stock of about $15,000 worth of items in storage at my house ^^;

With the success of the store, I've begun even more expansion with get this, about $40,000 worth of anime figures, manga, DVDs and more now on pre-order! This is for the coming months up till May of 09, with much more to be added to that list. Browse and shop the store all you like and the exact quantity of what I have to ship asap is there, plus all orders in the US that are over $100 get free shipping! As of today, the list looks small but I have loads of items on hand that I have yet to add along with an even bigger list of figures and otaku goodies for pre-order.

This is all part of the transition to version 4.0. Speaking of version 4.0, take a look below to see a quick peek at the new look of this site and hopefully the store as well ^_^.



-The final layout will look even better than this early image from about a week ago with the images behind the shrine randomly changing behind the shrine (yes, it'll acually be a shrine). Page-refresh backgrounds are nothing new on the web but a much smoother look with new features coming as well.
(Sorry about the small iPhone images ^^;)
--- ## Jiburiru Holy Angel 1/7 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-15-jiburiru-holy-angel-17-scale-figure/ - Date: 2008-10-15 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no What has to be one of the most gorgeous figures I've seen in the past few months, Griffon really does well with this one. From the hentai, Jiburiru - Devil Angel, this 1/7th fig...


What has to be one of the most gorgeous figures I've seen in the past few months, Griffon really does well with this one. From the hentai, Jiburiru - Devil Angel, this 1/7th figure depicts St. Jibril. as a very stunning figure indeed. It's going to cost a bit though at around $97 retail which is much for a 1/7th scale figure but sure worth it if you like this series and if the final product looks this good. Granted, as expected from a figure that's in a hentai, the figure is cast-offable with St. Jibril having a version you can display of her with no top. Either the top comes off or there is a different torso, that of which I'm not sure. Of course, this is then meant for mature collectors only. I pre-ordered a handful for the store and with hopes of me keeping one as well...in her clothed version of course to not offend my soon-to-be-wife Danielle ^^;; Won't be out till some time in February.

(Click to see the full res pictures)

--- ## PS3 and PSP Firmware Updates - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-13-ps3-and-psp-firmware-updates/ - Date: 2008-10-13 - Tags: gadgets, ps3, psp, videogames - AI-assisted: no More gadget news via Engadget . This one is particularly good if you own a PSP. The Playstation 3 (the last of the next gen system I have yet to own) soon will be getting firmwa...


More gadget news via Engadget. This one is particularly good if you own a PSP. The Playstation 3 (the last of the next gen system I have yet to own) soon will be getting firmware version 2.50, supposedly nothing big, mainly bug fixes and Bluetooth support for the SOCOM headset. The PSP will recieve version 5.00 which will include direct access to the Playstation Store in order to download games right to the PSP. Now the PSP can be added to the list of systems that utilize game downloads and patches, like the 360's Xbox Live downloads, The Playstation Store (for the PS3), the Wii's WiiWare and the iPhone/iPod Touch's App Store. The progression of game distribution is obviously heading towards an all download media.

You can bet your money that eventually all DVDs and Blue-ray disks will be replaced by just data flowing to and from your systems. Going to miss the days of opening a brand new video game box and getting that old "New-Game" smell.

(not like I smell the box but you gamers know what i mean ^^;;) --- ## Iowa Otaku Arrested for Manga - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-10-iowa-otaku-arrested-for-manga/ - Date: 2008-10-10 - Tags: otaku - AI-assisted: no This news completely ticks me off! Check this article out by Anime News Network . An otaku in Iowa was charged with up to 20 years in prison for possession of obscene loli manga... This news completely ticks me off! Check this article out by
Anime News Network. An otaku in Iowa was charged with up to 20 years in prison for possession of obscene loli manga he bought from Japan. Now I'm completely against that type of manga but this is an obvious violation against First Amendment rights. Basically customs checked his shipment and browsed through his manga before handing it to him at the post office and then arresting him on his way home. He's winning due to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund but this arises worry and questions for us American otaku.

What if you buy regular manga with some strong scenes that aren't loli or if you buy hentai, yuri or yaoi?

I can easily see someone in customs mistaken some regular hentai as loli or just offensive enough for this kind of action

News also thanks to a twit on twitter from the creator of The Anime Almanac. --- ## Preparing For X-mas - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-09-preparing-for-x-mas/ - Date: 2008-10-09 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Sorry for the lack of blog posts, been busy pre-ordering inventory and getting ready to restructure the entire anime store and this site (plus my damn day-job is still a part of... Sorry for the lack of blog posts, been busy pre-ordering inventory and getting ready to restructure the entire anime store and this site (plus my damn day-job is still a part of my life ;_;, for now). There will be more posts since we sure know there's been alot of news lately, mainly economic stuff. With x-mas coming and the new year that means lots of anime figures are coming!

Screw the economy! The anime and videogame industries are still on the grow and that's what we all care about anyways. Enjoy this high rez pic (click on it for full size) of the upcoming Jiburiru Holy Angel 1/7 Scale Figure by Griffon that will grace this blog and my store.

More on this figure and other stuff in the next few days. Just have to juggle the huge number of tasks ^^; --- ## Newer Anime Forum - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-06-newer-anime-forum/ - Date: 2008-10-06 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Was out for two days relaxing for the weekend and also cleaning up my huge anime inventory that I have to correctly add and count for my different stores. Anyway, got to work to... Was out for two days relaxing for the weekend and also cleaning up my huge anime inventory that I have to correctly add and count for my different stores. Anyway, got to work today on version 4 of the site by first upgrading the forum into the latest phpbb version and in a color scheme that better fits the site and the next version. Right now I'm using a badass pic of Lulu from Code Geass as the title pic but expect it to change to a random set of pictures plus a few more cosmetic changes. One major issue though as some of you might have noticed is that all the prior users and topics have been erase ^^;;;;;.

Looks like there was an error moving the database over to the new version and with the recent spamming done by some website named statuncore.com or something to that degree (beware of that site since it looks like they randomly add java code pages on your site!

Anyone who used the forum before I apologize for this but the newest version is now very secure and should hopefully be a better (and more populated) experiance. --- ## Space Elevator - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-03-space-elevator/ - Date: 2008-10-03 - Tags: japan - AI-assisted: no Looks like some Japanese engineers, make that over 100 of them are taking something many of us probably thought of in middle school and planning on making it a reality. What is ...
Looks like some Japanese engineers, make that over 100 of them are taking something many of us probably thought of in middle school and planning on making it a reality. What is it might you ask? Why, its an elevator that takes you straight from the ground here on earth to a space station up above. This is something I know I've seen on an anime or two, the titles just can't come to mind but it appears that this is something that will be started in 2030 for real. The full story can be found here on CNN. --- ## Anime Girl Pic of the Day 10/2/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-02-anime-girl-pic-of-day-10208/ - Date: 2008-10-02 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no I know, another hot Gurren Lagen pic. I'll change things up but this is for people who wanted to see Yoko and other hotness from the show. Also, it's a good pic for those like m...
I know, another hot Gurren Lagen pic. I'll change things up but this is for people who wanted to see Yoko and other hotness from the show. Also, it's a good pic for those like me who are still upset about the passing of summer....just 8 months to go ~_~

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Anime Girl of the Day 10/01/08: Yoko (2) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-01-anime-girl-of-day-100108-yoko-2/ - Date: 2008-10-01 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Just had to add another pic of Yoko. The other picture was ok but hopefully this one is in a higher rez. Would be nice if I could blow up the thumbnail a bit but ShoZu hasn't up...
Just had to add another pic of Yoko. The other picture was ok but hopefully this one is in a higher rez. Would be nice if I could blow up the thumbnail a bit but ShoZu hasn't updated that yet :/

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Anime Girl Pic of the Day 10/01/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-01-anime-girl-pic-of-day-100108/ - Date: 2008-10-01 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Looks like the iPhone app ShoZu now shows pictures a bit bigger than before. Doubt the thumbnail is bigger though but if you click on this nice pic of Gurren Lagen's Yoko, she s...
Looks like the iPhone app ShoZu now shows pictures a bit bigger than before. Doubt the thumbnail is bigger though but if you click on this nice pic of Gurren Lagen's Yoko, she should be in a higher rez. Enjoy.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Death Note II: Last Name Ticket Contest Update - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-01-comment-here-for-free-death-note-ii/ - Date: 2008-10-01 - Tags: death note, updates - AI-assisted: no (Update : Thank you for participating in this ^_^. The contest is over as of now The winners' email addresses have been sent to FathomEvents .com by their advertising agency. As...
(Update: Thank you for participating in this ^_^. The contest is over as of now The winners' email addresses have been sent to FathomEvents.com by their advertising agency. As of this post I wasn't told who won but if you won, any day now you should get the email. If you don't get an email in the next few days, looks like you didn't win. Don't worry though. There will be more contests here on Chuck's Anime Shrine in the coming weeks and months either by me or by others in the anime biz. Subscribe to my blog to keep up to date.) --- ## Dragon Ball Movie Trailer Surfaces - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-10-01-dragon-ball-movie-surfaces/ - Date: 2008-10-01 - Tags: anime, dragon ball movie - AI-assisted: no Get ready to have your palm in your face...below is clip from a con goer in Europe viewing the Dragon Ball trailer. One big thing to take note is the quick clip of Goku making o...
Get ready to have your palm in your face...below is clip from a con goer in Europe viewing the Dragon Ball trailer. One big thing to take note is the quick clip of Goku making out with Bulma......The otaku world is going to flip its lid on this one!

Thanks to Theanimeblog.com for the footage.



DRAGONBALL FOOTAGE
Video
Envoyé par DBZ-LEFILM sur wat.tv
--- ## New York Anime Fest 2008 Recap - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-30-new-york-anime-fest-2008-recap/ - Date: 2008-09-30 - Tags: anime fest 08, otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Danielle w/Hideyuki Kikuchi ( Click Here for the full gallery ) Got that post-con sad feeling a bit. No matter though; here is a review of our experience at the 2008 New York an...

Danielle w/Hideyuki Kikuchi (Click Here for the full gallery)

Got that post-con sad feeling a bit. No matter though; here is a review of our experience at the 2008 New York anime Festival and yes, the picture above is my fiancee, Danielle with none other than Vampire Hunter D creator, Kikuchi. Here's the run-down:

Day 1:

Left for the LIRR to head on over to the Javits center in the city. Got there at around 1:30pm and without a hitch headed to the main room where the first site was the Bandai booth that looked much like a stage than that of a booth. Got to check out other booths, stores, the array of fan art for sale, took pics of the cosplayers and even said hi to Ben Boyles of OtakuUSA magazine whom I've been speaking to before the con on this site's eventual inclusion in the magazine (more on that in the future). We then went to a few panels including the Kikuchi panel to meet of course Vampire Hunter D's creator, Hideyuki Kikuchi. During the panel, Yoshitaka Amano, the original Final Fantasy character designer and Vampire Hunter D artist snuck in to suprize Kikuchi and fans alike. After the panel, Danielle was able to snag a quick signature from him in her Vampire Hunter D vol2 book. Watched a bit of Lucky Star and I'd have to say...I need to buy that anime. The night progressed and we head back home via LIRR as we continued to do the rest of the weekend.

Day 2:

For the second day we arrived at around 11:00am but as expected, the entrance was simply packed. This was the case much of the day as the entire con was simply loaded with people. Screw the economic crisis, otaku and the entire game and anime business is doing fine with or without Wall Street. The crowd did prevent us though from getting Amano's signature and I couldn't even get a chance to try out my luck in the voice acting, but I will be doing something down that line though with the help of this site and my current projects. We did manage to make it to the Vampire Hunter D panel with Amano and Kikuchi being there. I also got to meet and get signatures from the original English voice actors from Speed Racer and Trixy (Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr) While waiting for their autographs, Danielle saw Kikuchi in the corner of the hallway and we she approached him and his translator, they invited her to take a picture with him (first pic above). Kikuchi fans across the globe are probably ticked at that one ^^; We then saw Vampire Hunter D: BloodLust (holy crap it was awesome...and yes I didn't see it prior ^^;) and headed home.

Day 3:

After such a long weekend going back and forth from our home in eastern Long Island to the City, we woke up late for the 3rd day and didn't make it in time for the final ceremonies. No matter, we head down to Chinatown where we were able to shop a bit, eat some sushi & ramen along with meeting up with some Anime Fest cosplayers who too didn't want to give up the weekend out. Overall we had fun and next time though...I'll be sure to utilize my anime store ownership to get professional passes to avoid the crowds ^^;

Best part of Anime Fest 08:

*Meeting with Kikuchi, getting his autograph and getting a super rare photo with him that even Japanese otaku would be jealous of.

Best Cosplay of Anime Fest 08:

-The Gurren Lagen Cosplayers of the Bandai Booth
-Shockwave
-Ronald McDonald Sephiroth (see the gallery for that one)
-The creature from Spirited Away (forgot its name ^^;)

Weirdest thing of Anime Fest 2008 O_0:

-The mid-aged, ugly, smelly, sweaty fat guy with the dirty Belldandy shirt. (No kidding, I didn't think the citizens of my home town of Selden would make it to there.)


Overall, I can't wait till the next convention we go to and its very good to have finally went to one again after almost 4 years.


(All of our pictures are now live on our Anime Fest 08 MobileMe page.)
--- ## Me on BusinessWeek.com - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-29-me-on-businessweekcom/ - Date: 2008-09-29 - Tags: business, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Looks like my comments about the US economy got me on the front page of businessweek.com ! My anime business and my old health business got me to realize different sides of the ...


Looks like my comments about the US economy got me on the front page of businessweek.com! My anime business and my old health business got me to realize different sides of the financial spectrum and as some of you know, many of us (including myself) were furious about that now failed Paulson $700 bailout plan that was going give the crooks who stole from the US the money back. I know this isn't really otaku related but I would assume that man of you can't avoid the news on it so I''m extra happy to see that my comments got me to the front page of the biggest business site on the web. You have to be living under a rock to not know that the US economy is in the crapper. Caused by the nepotism between Wall Street and the government, greedy Real Estate agents and loan sharks and an overpriced and overrated college system that teaches everyone to be worthless 9-5 cubical-slaves, this economy was just a house of cards that was ready to fall. All isn't doom and gloom though; one of my anime wholesalers, Diamond Comics did a report on the increase in sales anime and collectible goods and the turnout at the New York Anime Festival 2008 sure doesn't show signs of a recession there. Thankfully the internet has given all of us a voice and I'm very humbled and honored that I'm featured on the front page of one of the biggest business sites in the world. I of course commented about the incompetence of Treasury Secretary Paulson. Here's my entire comment:

"Secretary of Treasury Paulson was the CEO of Goldman Sachs, turned the company's $30 Billion debt into $100 Billion. The guy is not even qualified to count your cash as a teller at any bank let alone come up with anything that deals with money or in this case, have the US taxpayers write him a blank check. The guy hardly qualifies enough to flip burgers since there would need to be someone there to make sure he doesn't miscount the orders!"

Link to the comment here.



(if any of you got this via email at first, sorry for the original typos and mispellings ^^;)
--- ## New York Anime Festival 08 & Chinatown - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-29-new-york-anime-festival-08-chinatown/ - Date: 2008-09-29 - Tags: anime fest 08, otaku - AI-assisted: no Hey Everyone, Anime Fest 2008 was one crazy time. We weren't able to make it to the final day due to pure exhaustion and a long train ride so we spend the day with some other af... Hey Everyone,

Anime Fest 2008 was one crazy time. We weren't able to make it to the final day due to pure exhaustion and a long train ride so we spend the day with some other after-party otaku in Chinatown. Had some sushi, bought some items and had a good time. Though I wasn't able to get into the voice acting thing there, its not the last you'll hear of my attempts of breaking the Seiyu biz. A full recap on the event soon.

(check out the nice Gurren Lagen cosplayer that was in front of the Bandai booth) --- ## New York Anime Festival 2008 Days 2/3 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-28-new-york-anime-festival-2008-days-23/ - Date: 2008-09-28 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Heading to the third and final day now(late). Definitely saw some cool and interesting stuff at the 2008 New York Anime Festival. One to take notice to was the android pictured ...
Heading to the third and final day now(late). Definitely saw some cool and interesting stuff at the 2008 New York Anime Festival. One to take notice to was the android pictured here and of course some crazy cosplay and big name anime company booths. More on the whole convention in a bit but now... On to the train.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## End of Day 1 at NYAF - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-27-uploaded-92708/ - Date: 2008-09-27 - Tags: anime fest 08, otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Pretty cool first day. I would have had more blog posts but the iphone wasn't fully charged so I had to get as many pics as possible thus sacrificing tweets and live posts. No m...
Pretty cool first day. I would have had more blog posts but the iphone wasn't fully charged so I had to get as many pics as possible thus sacrificing tweets and live posts. No matter it was fun, funny and there is more to come. I'll be uploading pics to my MobileMe album (check link
on previous post) right now so check them out. Oh, and don't forget to comment these and any of my blog posts, as another reminder, some random commentors will win free Death Note Movie II tickets.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Blogger is Finally Fixed - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-26-blogger-is-finally-fixed/ - Date: 2008-09-26 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Holy frecken ass-crackers! For some of you that were wondering... yes this blog was down for exactly one week. Why, should you ask? Because Blogger goofed up last Friday. There ... Holy frecken ass-crackers! For some of you that were wondering... yes this blog was down for exactly one week. Why, should you ask? Because Blogger goofed up last Friday. There has been so much news going on and I've been sitting like a middle-class person at the recent financial hearings. So glad to be back. I was sick last weekend with the flu and my webhost kicks the bucket the same time blogger got clogged yet they denied that they didn't work for one week. Anyways, today is a huge day since I'm taking the train now for New York Anime Festival 2008. More on that and FREE Death Note II: Last Name, tickets!! --- ## Death Note II: the Last Name Ticket Contest! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-26-death-note-ii-last-name-ticket-contest/ - Date: 2008-09-26 - Tags: contests, death note, updates - AI-assisted: no Hey, US otaku! I have some great news for you. Here at Chuck's Anime Shrine, I've been given the honor to award a few of my blog readers , Free Death Note Movie II Tickets! That... Hey, US otaku! I have some great news for you. Here at Chuck's Anime Shrine, I've been given the honor to award a few of my blog readers , Free Death Note Movie II Tickets! That's right, Chuck's Anime Shrine (me) along with Fathom Events and Ignite Social Media, the companies that are bringing the movie to America, are proud to award people who comment on my blog this offer. This is obviously for US readers only and for people who can make it to the showing on the 15th & 16th. Like the first movie, this one is in select theaters only so here is a list of them for your reference. The rules are simple, just make relevant comments on any of my blog posts here and you might be randomly chosen. Me and Fathom Events and Ignite Social Media need to be able to contact you so please try not to leave anonymous comments. Be sure to use a Live ID or blogger account that has some sort of access to your email or simple leave it there on your comment.

The contest ends Oct 1 st, so get commenting!

More info on the movie here.


--- ## New York Anime Festival: Day 1 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-26-new-york-anime-festival-day-1/ - Date: 2008-09-26 - Tags: anime fest 08, updates - AI-assisted: no Some of you know that Danielle and I will be at the 2008 Anime Fest today (and all weekend) Since blogger is finally fixed, I will be giving some live updates at the event. Be s... Some of you know that Danielle and I will be at the 2008 Anime Fest today (and all weekend) Since blogger is finally fixed, I will be giving some live updates at the event. Be sure to check the blog out all weekend for the cool stuff Danielle and I will be participating in. One thing is certain, I will be at that anime voice actor contest on Sunday. The winner will become an true voice actor with a gig, so wish me luck ^_^ For any of you that have Twitter, you can view my updates there as well, along with other micro-updates I can put here (yet). Images will be uploaded to my MobileMe account, here. Be sure to comment to get your chance to win Death Note Movie II tickets. If any of you are going to be there, I'll be wearing a red Super Mario shirt talking about "How To Score a Princess" I'll look almost like a Target employee so don't be afraid to introduce yourself. Heading out to the train station now...talk to you all in a bit. --- ## MegaMan 9 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-18-megaman-9/ - Date: 2008-09-18 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no Here's yet another game I was meaning to talk about and for those who grew up as gamers in the 80's and early 90's, you're going to love this. Like the Strong Bad game I mention... Here's yet another game I was meaning to talk about and for those who grew up as gamers in the 80's and early 90's, you're going to love this. Like the Strong Bad game I mentioned, this also a Wiiware game and this one is a vintage gamer's dream from the looks of it (pun intended). This is indeed the sequel to 1996's MegaMan 8 for the Playstation. Yep, this is classic MegaMan vs. Dr. Willy and his gang of messed up robots. Even more amazing in this day and age, its kept the same 8 bit graphics we remember it by. That's correct, its a brand new MegaMan game with old-school graphics. Images of my days playing MegaMan 4 back in 1993 come to mind in lovely retrospect.....anyways this is an artistic choice by the creators that make us "inde" developers know we got a shot. It makes us old-school gamers feel right at home. --- ## Strong Bad Gets a Game - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-17-strong-bad-gets-game/ - Date: 2008-09-17 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no In case any of you haven't heard already, there is a fun game out that features characters to a site that I have linked to and been a fan of since the beginning, Homestarrunner.... In case any of you haven't heard already, there is a fun game out that features characters to a site that I have linked to and been a fan of since the beginning, Homestarrunner.com. Yep, in case you've been living under a rock, you can play as Strong Bad in the game called "Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People." I got the Wii so I should maybe download it. Kudos to my friends at Homestarrunner for getting a game out. I stare at the code of the Fumi Project with high hopes but until I'm free from the 9-7 BS...it'll be sitting there. Soon though, soon I'll get a game ^_~ --- ## Anime Figure Gallery Preview - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-16-anime-figure-gallery-preview/ - Date: 2008-09-16 - Tags: anime figures, updates - AI-assisted: no Last but not least in the image samples for the new gallery system for this site is a section I noted a while back and that's a gallery of anime figures. We all know we love to ...

Last but not least in the image samples for the new gallery system for this site is a section I noted a while back and that's a gallery of anime figures. We all know we love to check out all the anime figures both past and present. The ability to show off your own findings and collection will hopefully be there too. Also, a higher resolution if I can make them, too


--- ## Danny Choo on CNN - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-15-danny-choo-on-cnn/ - Date: 2008-09-15 - Tags: dannychoo, otaku - AI-assisted: no Check this out everyone. Good friend and blogging role model, Danny Choo just had his own feature story on CNN. It's nice to see a bit on Danny's famous family heritage and of c... Check this out everyone. Good friend and blogging role model, Danny Choo just had his own feature story on CNN. It's nice to see a bit on Danny's famous family heritage and of course to see anime and anime figure be in the videos of CNN ^_^. Didn't exactly like how CNN emphasized the word "geek" in their video, though ~_~. Big congrats to Danny. It goes to show how it doesn't matter what your passion is, what matters is that you go for it. You don't have to live in the shadow of your family's expectations to be successful (also great to see Danny's father supportive of him as well). As for me, I started out as a computer programmer (for video games though) but as you all know, I don't want to work for someone else since to me having a job is just like modern-day slavery. Having this site and an anime store has brought out my passion and yes, even more money. For those who were wondering about when my retirement will be from the 9-5 rut, it won'r be this Friday like I wanted to be but very soon. Like Danny, I hope that just the traffic alone from my anime site will also pay for the bills and thus is one of the hopeful goals of version 4.0 of this site. Of course, Danny's hits are through the roof and I'm just a 200/person a day blog for now but I look up to his example as an otaku, business owner and web master as should you all. Congrats again Danny and thanks for showing us otaku that we are part of something big and something we can be passionate about full-time that is fullfilling to our heart, soul and yes..our wallets too, but that of course is a byproduct of the passion, never the main goal.

(Oh and Danny, I promise to make anime.fm alot better, too since it needs some work. I need to make sure its the $15K site godaddy.com says it is ^^;;)



--- ## An AMV about AMVs - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-14-amv-about-amvs/ - Date: 2008-09-14 - Tags: amvs, otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no If any of you have been to my AMV section you might have noticed a new amv under the Fan Submission part. Thanks to Youtube member Patricktiel for this sick amv about well... ma... If any of you have been to my AMV section you might have noticed a new amv under the Fan Submission part. Thanks to Youtube member Patricktiel for this sick amv about well... making amvs. Thought you guys would get a kick out of it. If you have an AMV you made and would like to promote, let me know. I'll try to add it to the blog but I will certainly have it on the AMV section. Also expect a better looking AMV section in version 4.0 which I promise you I'm working on...just my job has been eatting my time and at home I'm packing so many anime figures before and after work @_@




--- ## Dragon Ball Z Movie: 14 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-13-dragon-ball-z-movie-14/ - Date: 2008-09-13 - Tags: anime, dragon ball z - AI-assisted: no As promised I told you that I'd pass on some amazingly good news if you are a Dragon Ball Z fan and if you are completely disgusted about the direction of 2009's Dragon Ball Mov...

As promised I told you that I'd pass on some amazingly good news if you are a Dragon Ball Z fan and if you are completely disgusted about the direction of 2009's Dragon Ball Movie. As the blog title says, there will be a 14th Dragon Ball Z animated movie! Granted there was a few movies made after movie 13 but none of them had anything to do with the Dragon Ball Z arch in the story. Named Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! This brand new project coming from the creator himself, Akira Toriyama takes place right after the death of evil Majin Boo, the gap between DBZ and GT. I know many fans complained about the ending of Dragon Ball Z and how it just ended with Goku training Boo's reincarnation. I didn't mind it much and with the enormous work Akira Toriyama put into all his work...you want to give the guy a break. Otaku most likely will go nuts to hear that the story revolves around yet another unknown Saiyan named Tāburu who actually looks very, very much like he could be Vegeta's kid, so Trunks might have a half-brother. Tāburu is pursued to earth by two aliens named Abo and Kado but other than that, nothing else is really known about the plot. It comes out in November in Japan so we'll hear more of it soon. This hopefully will help those who fell off their chair to see Fox's white Piccolo ^^;; --- ## Anime Fest 2008 Schedule - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-12-anime-fest-2008-schedule/ - Date: 2008-09-12 - Tags: otaku - AI-assisted: no Looks like the schedule for the 2008 New York Anime Festival is up and running. there are many events that Danielle will try to go to, in particular we will definitely will atte...


Looks like the schedule for the 2008 New York Anime Festival is up and running. there are many events that Danielle will try to go to, in particular we will definitely will attend the Amano and the Hideyuki Kikuchi panels. I will most definitely be at Sunday's Voice Actor panel where the winner will become an anime voice actor!! It would be pretty amazing if I win that contest since being the English voice of an anime character would be a dream come true. Win or not, you can bet to see me there trying out...Danielle probably will shy away from it eventhough she once voiced Sango with Richard Cox at a panel ^^. We will also most likely be at the Gurren Lagen panel too so I'll hopefully try to wear something that will show who we are so any of you who will be there could maybe meet up with us. I will utilize my iPhone for live updates as well. --- ## My 9/11 Story - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-11-my-911-story/ - Date: 2008-09-11 - Tags: other - AI-assisted: no (5/1/11 Update: Finally, Osama Bin Laden has been killed. This marks a great day for New Yorkers and those just wanting to live a good life without the scurge of the Earth there...
(5/1/11 Update:  Finally, Osama Bin Laden has been killed.  This marks a great day for New Yorkers and those just wanting to live a good life without the scurge of the Earth there using their religious fantasies for violence.  To all in al Qaeda whom wish to face me one on one...bring it.)

As most of you have probably heard many, many times today, today marks the 7th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Being that I'm in New York here on Long Island, I can't help but to write about it. About 500 people from my area died that day, people who were just at work on a nice, clear morning who didn't know what was to take place. There's a make-shift memorial of the Twin Towers just a block away from me on a neighbor's front lawn. It's been there since about a month after the attacks, and everyday, while the world and even this country kind of forgets 9/11 throughout the year, except for today, I continue to salute it and remember. I also didn't forget that al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden and most involved are still out there along with the evil known as extremist religious fundamentalism that is the root of this act like this and acts similar from the past, present and future...even though it almost seems the US has forgotten this with its mindless Iraq war and thinned out troops in the lands of our real enemy.

I was just starting my senior year in high school. Within a week's time of being there I already knew my packed schedule with almost all AP classes was to be way too much for me being I was also working full time as a semi-manager at Friendly's Ice Cream. This website was maybe just a few lines of HTML code on my web design class computer or just a sparkle in my eye. I was getting a bad case of "senioritis" and wanted the immense free time I could have for anime drawing and my site if I cut the AP courses. As each bell rang I threw in the towel to each AP course but it wasn't long before I heard the commotion in the hallways. At first people thought it was just a freak accident and some misguided small plane hit the towers. Then, shortly after the second plane hit, the worry began to creep in. I was handing the books to my AP biology teacher while she viewed the image of the second blast on the classroom's computer. It was then that we were told to sit and listen to the radio report live. I was in a state of disbelief. When they said one of the towers fell I thought they meant the large radio tower on one of them. I never thought they could have possibly meant that one of and then shortly later that both of the enormous Twin Towers were falling to the ground. Middle of the radio broadcast the bell rang for the next class and everyone was on their cell phones. Practically my whole family was in eastern Long Island with my mother being a stay-at-home-mom and my father being a home business owner so I didn't have a cell phone then nor did I have reason to call my family. I still can't get and will probably never forget the image of all the students of Newfield High school in the hallways. Many were crying and scared on their cell phones as they tried to reach loved ones. It was utter chaos, sadness and confusion. There were many who didn't and never will.

At the same time my fiancee, Danielle of whom I didn't meet till March of that school year was worried about her father, Alex who was just a block away from the towers. Alex told me the scenes were something he wouldn't forget. Many didn't see much of an issue with the first plane but when the second hit, he said everyone began to panic. He was fixing parts of a building nearby when he saw the explosion with paper flying everywhere. Shortly after he heard loud thuds hitting the ground around his building but those were not debris but the bodies of those who jumped from the tops of those 110 story buildings. A site I doubt will ever get out of anyone's mind.

So, on this day, 7 years after it all happened, I was driving to my chiropractor's early in the morning and this year like every year at about 9:00am a surge of sadness hit me and I began to cry for those who lost their lives. Many of my friends lost a loved one and in me still burns the anger for Osama Bin Laden and all like him. If given the chance I'd take no second guess on deterring al Qaeda any way I could whether it be to destroy any possible computer system they have or just simply break their faces in. So while the world remembers 9/11 today, I will continue to salute that Twin Tower memorial near my house everyday like I have for the past 7 years and may all my condolences go to all the families of those lost. If given a chance I will defend their honor and I know many of you would too. --- ## Dragon Ball Movie Trailer Screen Shots - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-10-dragon-ball-movie-trailer-screen-shots/ - Date: 2008-09-10 - Tags: dbz, dragon ball movie - AI-assisted: no Thanks to dragonballmovieblog I was able to get some screen shots of the upcoming Dragon Ball Movie trailer. You finally get to see what Piccolo looks like and basically....well...

Thanks to dragonballmovieblog I was able to get some screen shots of the upcoming Dragon Ball Movie trailer. You finally get to see what Piccolo looks like and basically....well you be the judge. To me it looks like Piccolo was recycled from James Marshers old Buffy make-up and costumes. It's also starting to make otaku across the web wonder if anyone making or staring in the movie even seen an episode of Dragon Ball, or Dragon Ball Z. For the good chunk of you that probably have a palm mark across your forehead after seeing this...I got great, great Dragon Ball Z news that I'll share in the next few days. Some of you might already know what i'm talking about but at least in November you will be able to feel alot better if think this movie will leave a bad taste in your mouth.



--- ## Comic Aun: Lala Pipiruno Pipiru Paparemmo 1/7 Scale Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-09-comic-aun-lala-pipiruno-pipiru/ - Date: 2008-09-09 - Tags: anime figures - AI-assisted: no If any anime figure creates a nosebleed, this is the one to do it. Check out this very sexy figure by Orchid Seed. Lala Pipiruno Pipiru Paparemmo, is probably one of the longest...


If any anime figure creates a nosebleed, this is the one to do it. Check out this very sexy figure by Orchid Seed. Lala Pipiruno Pipiru Paparemmo, is probably one of the longest and weirdest names I've ever seen on an anime figure. More tissues are needed to plug your nose from gushing blood since this figure is also a cast-off figure...granted there's not much to cast off here. It's actually one of the first figures I've pre-ordered from my new dealership with Mile-Stone and I'm getting a case of 10 sometime in late January, so if you want any, I can get it. She sells though for about $85 and without telling you, she's for collectors 18 and older.

--- ## Cosplay Section Preview - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-08-cosplay-section-preview/ - Date: 2008-09-08 - Tags: cosplay, otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Here I go again with another preview of the new galleries that will be coming soon. This one is something I sort of had but images of me, Danielle and other cosplayers of the 20...

Here I go again with another preview of the new galleries that will be coming soon. This one is something I sort of had but images of me, Danielle and other cosplayers of the 2002 I-Con convention is not enough. Soon there will be a gallery of the best cosplay pics I find on the web and from any conventions I go to, like the upcoming 2008 New York Anime Fest. Like the other sections, I plan on having a version that users can upload their own cosplay pics, too.


--- ## XBox 360 Price Cut - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-07-xbox-360-price-cut/ - Date: 2008-09-07 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no As per BusinessWeek a few days back and into affect as of two days ago, the Xbox 360 is now only at $199.99 here in the US. As the article states, its an effort to try to hack a... As per BusinessWeek a few days back and into affect as of two days ago, the Xbox 360 is now only at $199.99 here in the US. As the article states, its an effort to try to hack away at the profits of the Wii. This comes just a before we soon will see the new and ver "Wii-styled" dashboard upgrade. As someone who has both systems, I could care less who wins the fight this x-mas, just keep pumping the cool games and accessories ^_^ --- ## The Otaku Choice: Obama - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-06-otaku-choice-obama/ - Date: 2008-09-06 - Tags: otaku - AI-assisted: no Ok, I just had to get this off my chest. For the most part, many of us American otaku could care less about politics, myself included. If you follow the news at all, we all know... Ok, I just had to get this off my chest. For the most part, many of us American otaku could care less about politics, myself included. If you follow the news at all, we all know that we are less than 60 days away from one of the biggest elections in American history. I was born on November 8th, 1983 and that actually was Election Day then so I guess I should mention this upcoming Nov.4th benchmark date. Granted, like many otaku, I'd rather take a plane to the land of the rising sun and avoid the countless stupidity that America has shown so far in the 21st century. In the global arena, America is like the annoying drunk at a party with his pants down shouting "I am the greatest!" yet you know that he just soiled himself and probably doesn't have the money for the taxi back home. As someone who lives in one of the most anal parts of the US, New York's, Long Island, I've come to see all spectrums of the American people from the ass-backwards over-religious conservatives who would bring the second coming of Christ, burn all science and logic documents, and make sure we all are one color and race..to the elitist, wine smelling "I'm better than you" types of people. Lets face it, you don't have to ask an Otaku twice that America needs change. Both candidates are shouting this and its expected in every election that goes on in this nation.

The main issue though, I feel, that is the root of the American problem is actually something that the country can't seem to grow out of, which is sadly the conservative, mainly Christian fundamentalist take on reality... a statement which in itself is an oxymoron. In this time, more than ever we need to look to the future and drop the crap of the past; something a religious fundamental person can't shake free from. As American otaku, we have fallen victim to such garbage. Remember how bad Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and other anime was beaten to a pulp and filtered for kids by American censors? Vegeta did not blast enemies to another dimension, he freaken killed them! At times in the series he punched his fist through others and also decapitated them. It's this Christian Fundamental fog of judgment that made them think, "Anime is just cartoons and cartoons are just for kids." It took till really about last year for the true uncut Dragon Ball Z to be sold here in the US on DVD, which is 10 years after they were first aired in America and 20 years after these episodes where aired in Japan. Yes, for some of you that didn't know, the Boo Saga ended in Japan in 1989, hell, GT ended in 1995.

Now that is just one example on how we gamers and otaku have been given the short end of the stick here because of this ass-backwards mode of thought. I don't believe kids should be subject to violent and adult material but you don't take a work of art (anime) and bastardize it because it doesn't mention enough about God, Jesus and the 10 commandments. Showing kids the countless lives and societies lost from the conquest of the Christian, Islamic and other fundamentalist religious groups is something these people also can't show due to how graphic and wrong it is. So even they have to water down their own history and facts. One of the people who all us Otaku and especially gamers love to hate was one of the, if not the main host of the Republican Convention that ended last night, Joe Lieberman. Lieberman is Mr. Anti-Video-Games and Mr. Anti-Anime, if you don't believe me, look it up...the ESRB ratings are all from his wining about the game, Night Trap...just as an example. If given his way, everyone from 2-32 would be only allowed to watch Veggie-Tales on their TV with their thumb up their ass. Just hearing that this guy almost was the Vice-Presidential candidate for McCain made me want to pack my bags for Tokyo and thus why I had to stand up and ramble on like I am now.

To make matters worse, it really does appear that McCain will be the next George Bush, which will also not be in anyone's favor in this day and age. For the first time, as of the end of last year, I actually went and registered to vote. At the age of 24, like I said, I never cared about politics and like many of you, I felt that no matter who wins, nothing will get done. I feel though that at least with Obama winning the election, the country will tip in the right direction (and not that kind of right, thankfully) since we will have someone who is young, new and doesn't seem to have religious idiocies clouding judgment. He seems to have just common sensical morals of decency that all religions talk about yet many of them historically never followed.

Now before you go and state that I'm some anti-religious atheist, I'm not. Religion has its place in the world but as a nation here in the US and in many parts of the world, people need to come to terms that its the pushing of these beliefs instead of using such noble moves as the Law of Attraction through kindness of others, non-racial and non dogmatic acts of common sense to better their religious group. History has shown that fundamentalist religious groups have been the cause for 90% of all wars and the slowing of humanity's progression. As for us Otaku here in the US, more of this type of thought will cause the so-called leaders in Washington to pass legislation to limit anime, anime figures, anime conventions and videogames. We have seen it already and if more of these types of people are in office through McCain's election and have too much of a say, expect more of your rights to be taken away as otaku. I'd go as far to say a world like Code Geass wouldn't be too far from the truth with us being Britannia because of a tyrant leadership. Of course, don't get me wrong about the US and world's major issues like the economy and terrorism, if you read my other blog, you know how I talk about those topics. The reason why I point out the chance of us as otaku losing our rights to view unedited and unamericanized anime is because history goes to show that its these minor topics that are the ones that actually get laws put to them to make the government look like they are doing something even though they are ignoring the major issues. "Well, a 2 room shack on Long Island goes for $500,000, banks won't give loans above $50,000, taxes are through the roof, there's no health care system, high-priced schools teach kids to be nothing but cubical-slaves and even then there's no jobs for them to sell their dignity to for a paycheck but hey, wait..looks like Joe Lieberman just sent a bill to Washington that banned the anime "Candy Boy" because it showed signs of incest lesbianism and it passed. So glad to see they are getting rid of gay stuff because that is the most major issue to the American way of life. Go US government!" (obvious sarcasm in the last part of my little "for instance" there).

As a fellow American otaku, if you are like me and didn't vote or registered, do so and I'll be supporting Obama. I'm not one to force or say who you should vote for, an act that would be making me like the religious nuts who want you to read a bible or be seen as useless, but to me Obama is the correct one of the two. Oh, and yes that's a picture of Obama from the Air Gear manga. Below is yesterday's Daily Show and Colbert Report episodes. If you are not scared of McCain winning the election...view these episodes. If you didn't get the point of this very large blog post.. I, Chuck Gaffney, owner of the anime store and fan-site Chuck's Anime Shrine, support Barack Obama for President.







--- ## Idol Section Preview - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-05-idol-section-preview/ - Date: 2008-09-05 - Tags: Idols, updates - AI-assisted: no Ok. One thing my site lacks that many anime and otaku sites have is an idol gallery. Now the reason for me not having one all these years is simple, I didn't want to upset my fi... Ok. One thing my site lacks that many anime and otaku sites have is an idol gallery. Now the reason for me not having one all these years is simple, I didn't want to upset my fiancee ^^;;. Now that this site is becoming more and more my bread and butter, the thing I want is a full + diverse site and of course many many hits and lets face it, having Japanese idols on a site...generates hits. I will of course keep things PG-13 and clean. When I set up the new gallery I should have a user updated version of the idol section but if anyone violates that with bad pics (or any section for that matter) their IP address and email will be banned... so let's keep it clean people. You all know where to go if you are looking for those types of pictures anyways. So for the first time on this site, may I present the first Idol pic. Don't know her name but if you do, drop it in the comments.

(Danielle, if you are reading this, I posted these up for the betterment of the site not to ogle over ^^;;;;;;)





--- ## Anime Girl Of The Day 9/4/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-04-anime-girl-of-day-9408/ - Date: 2008-09-04 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no I can't do posting of pics without showing my fav girl of all time from videogames and anime, the lovely Tifa Lockhart. Enjoy this nice fan art of her.
I can't do posting of pics without showing my fav girl of all time from videogames and anime, the lovely Tifa Lockhart. Enjoy this nice fan art of her.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Anime Girl of The Day 9/4/08 X 2 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-04-anime-girl-of-day-9408-04/ - Date: 2008-09-04 - Tags: anime - AI-assisted: no This is more of a preview of what will be in the new gallery coming up for the newest version of Chuck's Anime Shrine. Trust me, there's much more where this came from. Enjoy th... This is more of a preview of what will be in the new gallery coming up for the newest version of Chuck's Anime Shrine. Trust me, there's much more where this came from. Enjoy this cute anime girl for your online photo collection.


(Sorry for the semi-double post today, forgot I preblogged this a few days back ^^;;) --- ## SoulCalibur 4 Review - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-03-soul-calibur-4-review/ - Date: 2008-09-03 - Tags: game reviews, videogames - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone! Got a chance to sit down and get some hands on experience with the Xbox 360 version of Soul Calibur 4. My current Xbox 360 is suffering from the one ring of death ...

Hey everyone! Got a chance to sit down and get some hands on experience with the Xbox 360 version of Soul Calibur 4. My current Xbox 360 is suffering from the one ring of death so its going to be sent to Microsoft for repairs. Due to this, my review won't be as in depth as for other games but I got a good day of playing thanks to a good friend of mine who might down the road be my brother-in-law. Anyways, on to the game.


Graphics:

Nothing short of spectacular. Like the previous Soul Calibur games, SC4 manages to utilize the graphic engine very well to bring not only nice looking characters but amazing flow to their movement and fighting that makes it seem like real people (or creatures) are involved and not lifeless dolls. Backgrounds are just as fluid and as graphical as the characters in the arena so there is a great sense of depth to the stages. Wasn't able to unlock all the levels in my allotted time but that's a good thing, since that means there are some to chose from. Most of which have the common closed environment or the familiar open area with the loved or hated ring-out possibility. One stage I noticed does have a row of soldiers that slowly move in and shorten the playing field. Chances are there are more things like that in the stages I didn't play. Speaking of armor and clothing for that matter, great detail was put into the look of them. One quick look and you can see that the Xbox 360's textures were used very elegantly to give the correct texture of even the most detailed clothing. Granted I didn't play the Playstation 3 version of the game but graphically both Xbox 360 and PS3 are about the same with PS3 being the one slightly better but chances are playing both versions of this game, as I'm told seem almost identical graphically. In other words, the characters, the background and also the special effects looks amazing and not plastered in.

Story:

Some people complained that they can't see how Yoda, Vader and the whole Star Wars Universe could be added to the whole Soul Calibur storyline but with my first story-mode win being that of Yoda, it seems fine to me. Other than the main story being that of Sigfried's fight against the Soul Blade, most of the characters are mainly on the outside of this anyways, so no complaints on my end. each character does have an in depth role that connects to the two blades and with each other in some way. If you get confused, the more you play, the more a character-relation-graph gets filled so that should fill in the gaps anyone would have. Its a fighting game, so storyline should not be a big issue for any player but there is one there for the reading if you so wish.

Music:

Anyone who's play a Soul Calibur game will be familiar to the type of music played in SC4, the chimes of knightly valor and honor like a modern medieval brawl is the same here. For those who are wondering about any Star Wars tracks, you'll be happy to know that the theme from the recent movies is there and with matching stages, too. Not sure if there are any more SW tracks but everything sounds good and if I had some surround sound in my place, I would like it even more.


Game Play:
Now for the most important aspect of any game, especially for a fighting game. Fans of Soul Calibur will be pleased to know that the fast fighting action from previous versions is alive and well on the current systems. The fast old-school-like fighting is there and yes, so is the old-school dieing many times in the harder challenges. Yet, whether you are a veteran fighter or a button-masher, SC4 continues what the SC series does for both types of fighters and make both feel at home with a few new additions. These few additions include a first player mode that works like Dark Stalker's Tower Mode where you fight your way up a tower and if you lose, you descend. Also added (at least I don't remember it being in SC3) is the ability to increase the skill level of your character. This gives an almost RPG feel to it and unfortunately in my shortened time I wasn't able to see what difference the increased levels bring.

The Story Mode plays a bit differently too compared to other titles. In the stages you face per character, you will fight more than one enemy per stage. They are divided by the main characters and some randomly created ones (you can also chose random characters for yourself as well). Sometimes they join you and you can have a backup for when the later levels hand you on a plate. Speaking or random characters, the Character Creation Mode is there and this time you can customize the main characters as well and add that customization to their clothing list before battles. Didn't play long enough to see if you can create other characters from scratch like in SC3 but with all the unlocking you can do, it'll of course be a nice long play through to get everything. Being that Soul Calibur is the Gran Turismo of fighting games, this doesn't come as a surprise.

One last addition to the gameplay I must take note and its a big one, is the new Soul Crush ability and armor/clothing slashing effects. Some of the characters have extra armor and clothing (except for Ivy of course ^^;;) and that's because in the course of your fighting clothing and armor gets hacked away. It adds great realism to the fighting and though you won't see any Ikki Tousen-style clothing mishaps, its pretty cool all-in-all. The hacking of clothing is also part of what I feel is the best thing to add in the fighting game and that's the ability to do the one hit kills (that look amazing by the ways) if a character defends too much. It doesn't happen very quickly so don't worry if you need to defend but if you are cheap with your defence (or the CPU is), payback can hurt very badly here. This adds the perfect balance to what I feel is the perfect fighting game. I give this game a 10 out of 10 with the only issue being that the loading times in the character select might be sluggish, and the Xbox Live aspect of it lags a bit too, but that's not much of SC4's fault as it is my network's (and the company running my home internet's fault). Enjoy this game and once my Xbox 360 comes back, you can fight user Chuck Gaffney (me, yeah I used my name ^^;;) as my look-a-like, Kilik. --- ## Anime Girl of The Day 8/31/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-01-anime-girl-of-day-83108/ - Date: 2008-09-01 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Before I hit the hay tonight and just before we say goodbye to August and soon the end of Summer 08 , enjoy this anime girl of the day, this being the lovely Yo-Ko in summer att...
Before I hit the hay tonight and just before we say goodbye to August and soon the end of Summer 08 , enjoy this anime girl of the day, this being the lovely Yo-Ko in summer attire. Don't forget any summer and don't be sad with the back-to-school or the end-of summer blues. Just around the corner there will always be fun in the sun and a hot anime girl in a bikini.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## CAS Version 4 Coming Soon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-09-01-cas-version-4-coming-soon/ - Date: 2008-09-01 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Happy Labor Day to all US visitors and today will probably not be much of a day off for yours truely but that's ok since today will be filled with me wrapping up loads of anime ...
Happy Labor Day to all US visitors and today will probably not be much of a day off for yours truely but that's ok since today will be filled with me wrapping up loads of anime figures for the store. If I can take a break from all the boxing I should be on the way to start version 4.0 of this site. With the success of the blog this past year, the store, the recent news that Flash will be searchable and the inclution of my iPhone as a tool, a facelift is needed. What I plan on adding is the following: a mobile section for iPhone and other mobile users, a newer anime gallery that syncs with MobileMe or Flickr, user generated gallery, long awaited series sections, possible twitter feed and posting, and a better forum (since it's been rather dead as of months ago). With my job still eating lots of my creative time, expect me to take a bit of time on some of these (something I've been saying since the site's start ~_~) Let me know what features you'd want, be great to know, too.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Anime Fest 2008 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-31-anime-fest-2008/ - Date: 2008-08-31 - Tags: otaku - AI-assisted: no It's official guys, both Danielle and I will be attending all three days of the upcoming New York Anime Fest 2008 on September 26th, 27th, 28th. Looks like the only good hotel t... It's official guys, both Danielle and I will be attending all three days of the upcoming New York Anime Fest 2008 on September 26th, 27th, 28th. Looks like the only good hotel that doesn't cost an arm an a leg is in Jersey but I'm sure it is going to be fun. The Japanese voice of Chobit's Chi, Rie Tanaka will be there along with Final Fantasy and Vampire Hunter D artist, Yoshitaka Amano along with mega voice actor, Steven Blum. G4 TV will be there along with Late Late Show Host Conan O' Brian and other celebs and there is going to be a Lucky Star Dance Contest held by Bandai. Doesn't look like we are going to really be cosplaying but on Saturday I will try to make myself noticable with a black Chinese outfit and the Haruhi Suzumiya arm band (yes much like Danny Choo but minus the Storm Trooper outfit ^ ^;) This is in case anyone wants to meet us. I will also try to get my Twitter posts live on the blog so I can send little messages and pics in real time via my iPhone's Twinkle app. More to come on this festival and if you are going to be there, let us know and we'll hopefully be able to tour the awesome events and maybe NYC for a bit. --- ## Anime Girl of The Day 8/30/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-30-anime-girl-of-day-83008/ - Date: 2008-08-30 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Looks like this little iPhone quick post is becoming popular. I'll continue to do them but probably not every day. This photo I'm using as reference in my video game currently c...
Looks like this little iPhone quick post is becoming popular. I'll continue to do them but probably not every day. This photo I'm using as reference in my video game currently called "Project Fumi" I might have Fumi in this kind of outfit for her normal state or something. Anways, enjoy the pic, wish shozu would upload the full size of them though.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Sony PSP-3000 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-30-sony-psp-3000/ - Date: 2008-08-30 - Tags: gadgets, sony, videogames - AI-assisted: no Engadget spilled the beans about a week back on the newest version of the PSP, the 3000 model. Apparently this one will have a built in mic and a better, more anti-glare screen.... Engadget spilled the beans about a week back on the newest version of the PSP, the 3000 model. Apparently this one will have a built in mic and a better, more anti-glare screen. Now I know why my PSP was giving me hard times when I was playing Crisis Core on break in my car ~_~. It won't come out till October in Europe and will retail between $250 and $300. --- ## Anime Girl of The Day 8/29/08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-29-anime-girl-of-day-82908/ - Date: 2008-08-29 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Here's another anime girl pic I'm throwing in for today. I might this a daily thing if I could. Anyways this lovely picture is my iPhone's wallpaper so I see it a lot. A bit wro...
Here's another anime girl pic I'm throwing in for today. I might this a daily thing if I could. Anyways this lovely picture is my iPhone's wallpaper so I see it a lot. A bit wrong and oh so cool, just what the doctor ordered ^_^;

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Shunya Yamashita: Nasuka - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-29-shunya-yamashita-nasuka/ - Date: 2008-08-29 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no At first glance you would think this is Pocco but apparently the name of this simply stunning new figure by Shunya Yamashita and ArtStorm is Nasuka. This one is by far an eye ca... At first glance you would think this is Pocco but apparently the name of this simply stunning new figure by Shunya Yamashita and ArtStorm is Nasuka. This one is by far an eye catcher with a Japan release in December 08 and a state-side release of around January or Febuary 09. I'll most likely keep one of these for my personal collection. This one is very unique in the way she is suspended in mid air. hope over time that doesn't cause any issues ^^; --- ## Anime Pic Of The Day - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-28-anime-pic-of-day/ - Date: 2008-08-28 - Tags: (none) - AI-assisted: no Using my iPhone yet again to give out some free random anime girl pics. I'll also use this time to tell you all that I'm using MobileMe to do 2 things; one, to make a cool new g...
Using my iPhone yet again to give out some free random anime girl pics. I'll also use this time to tell you all that I'm using MobileMe to do 2 things; one, to make a cool new galley interface that I can update on the fly via iPhone and browser and two, to allow YOU the visitors of this site the ability to upload your pictures in a number of gallery categories.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Japan Downloads - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-28-japan-downloads/ - Date: 2008-08-28 - Tags: japan - AI-assisted: no Anime News Network , of which I've been much of my news lately ^^; recently did a report on the current state of downloads in Japan. Some of you might be aware that many people ... Anime News Network, of which I've been much of my news lately ^^; recently did a report on the current state of downloads in Japan. Some of you might be aware that many people are being arrested in Japan for shared anime via Torrents and other data streams. Thankfully for those who believe in the freedom of the internet (like yours truly) Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that they will set up what they call "special cyber zones" (or cyber tokku) in 2009 that will allow some use of copyrighted material for a select bunch of people. To be quite honest, this is the issue with the anime industry in Japan and the music industry here. As an anime store owner with my own works as well on my to-do list, its understandable where the copyright owners come from, but I believe some execs in both fields need to get their heads out of the 1980's and get into today. The internet is and will continue to be the number one medium for all our information and goods. The power of viral marketing is something the marketing departments of these companies I sure hope don't ignore for their sakes. Keeping the internet a mainly free zone of distribution can only help a company move their product better. I feel as long as the material is both credited to the copyright holders and is all done in good taste to promote the anime, artist, music, etc, it should be fine to download such material and to refer it (distributed in non-commercial means of course.)
I know for a fact there are a plethera of artists, animators, figure companies and music labels that would have never gotten a foothold nor a red cent if they didn't have some of their material floating on the net. Viral marketing creates hype that creates sales on my end which has me turn my $ into yen as I buy the merchandise from these companies for my store and other stores do the same as well. Its the modern marketing arena and if you jail people for being a free advertisor for you than may the gods of shame and lost sales hit your department hard.
Hats up to the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for at least making one step forward in the right direction. It's limited but that's to be in the interest of the copyright holders. Any company that jumps on this will get their payout in the end I feel.

Tell me what you feel about anime downloads on the internet by discussing in the comments below. --- ## IPhone Blog Post - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-27-iphone-blog-post/ - Date: 2008-08-27 - Tags: anime, iphone posts - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone, as an extra bonus for today, just wanted to test an app in my iPhone. If you see this then I could make some posts while on the go for the upcoming anime fest (mor...
Hey everyone, as an extra bonus for today, just wanted to test an app in my iPhone. If you see this then I could make some posts while on the go for the upcoming anime fest (more on that in a future post) and for other on-the-go blogging. So, if this works you should see this message and a cute anime girl pic for your downloading needs.

Posted by ShoZu

--- ## Marvel and Madhouse - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-27-marvel-and-madhouse/ - Date: 2008-08-27 - Tags: anime - AI-assisted: no Looks like the success of Madhouse's Batman collaboration they did with a bunch of other anime studios opened the door to more western comic transformations. As of recent Anime ... Looks like the success of Madhouse's Batman collaboration they did with a bunch of other anime studios opened the door to more western comic transformations. As of recent Anime News Network information, the studio we know fondly for their work with Vampire Hunter D, Death Note and The Final Fantasy VII Last Order anime will be working with Marvel on 4 different heros. Of the 4 only Iron Man was noted but many do believe that Spider-Man and some X-men might be a part of this as well. I bet this will open up many otaku to some American heros which i guess could be good. Any time you take something American (be it art, stories, cars, technology, science.......) and hand it to our dear friends from the land of the rising sun, you can always expect it to turn out 10X better than what we can do here. Unfortunalty the opposite happens in reverse. Just look at the recent Speed Racer animated show here and you'd simply lose hope in all western cartooning ~_~. Anyways, this is great news and for once I might actualy watch a Marvel super-hero outside of the good movies as of late.


-picture above is from a random search for an anime-style Iron-Man --- ## Casual and Simple Underwater Camera - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-26-casual-and-simple-underwater-camera/ - Date: 2008-08-26 - Tags: gadgets - AI-assisted: no Saw this not too long ago on gizmdo . Being that I work as a web developer at a camera store, I've seen the long list of under water cameras and the almost infinite types of hou... Saw this not too long ago on gizmdo. Being that I work as a web developer at a camera store, I've seen the long list of under water cameras and the almost infinite types of housings and accessories. This one looks like it makes underwater photography more for the casual photographer...just watch where you point those goggles though.


(for anyone who gets my posts via mail...sorry about the occasional typos ^^;) --- ## Japan's Hottest Bloggers - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-25-japans-hottest-bloggers-25/ - Date: 2008-08-25 - Tags: japan - AI-assisted: no Saw this wonderful article on Wired . It shows a list of the Japan's top female bloggers. I guess when I go to Japan I should tell people I'm a blogger, supposedly its celebrity...
Saw this wonderful article on Wired. It shows a list of the Japan's top female bloggers. I guess when I go to Japan I should tell people I'm a blogger, supposedly its celebrity status. Just look at male Japanese blogger Danny Choo. He's been featured on G4's attack of the show twice, on CNN and big on YouTube.

Who's your favorite Japanese Blogger? --- ## Vampire Hunter D Short Story to Debut At NY Anime Fest - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-24-vampire-hunter-d-short-story-to-debut/ - Date: 2008-08-24 - Tags: otaku - AI-assisted: no The upcoming New York Anime Fest, in which you might be able to meet me there, will also feature some debuts like this one noted by Anime News Network . Vampire Hunter D "The Wa... The upcoming New York Anime Fest, in which you might be able to meet me there, will also feature some debuts like this one noted by Anime News Network. Vampire Hunter D "The Wanderer's Ship" written by creator Kikuchi made the story from actually a fan-fic work of Hitomi Yasue. So all you who make fan-fics or roleplay on GaiaOnline, if your stuff is good, you never know, it might become an official story in the work you like ^_^ Final Fantasy and Vampire Hunter D fans will be happy to know that Yoshitaka Amano will be there too.

As for the Fest, I'm probably not going to cosplay but we'll see. It'll be my first convention back since I-Con of 2006. --- ## Winner of the Fate/Stay Art Contest - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-23-winner-of-fatestay-art-contest/ - Date: 2008-08-23 - Tags: contests, updates - AI-assisted: no Real sorry for not showing this earlier. Here is the winner of the Fate/Stay Night Art Contest. Congrats to winner Christy for your artwork of Rider from the series. With the wi... Real sorry for not showing this earlier. Here is the winner of the Fate/Stay Night Art Contest. Congrats to winner Christy for your artwork of Rider from the series. With the win she gets a free figure. Christy won due to default since nobody else handed in any work, so if anyone wants to join in for free stuff, you are very welcomed to. No word yet on the next contest but keep checking the contest page and this blog for the latest. Nice Rider Christy ^_^. Once I add the Fate/Stay section, this will be a part of it. Still working on how to make the galleries more Web 2.0. This pic reminds me of this figure of her BTW. --- ## Voltron Movie Dropped From Production - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-22-voltron-movie-dropped-from-production/ - Date: 2008-08-22 - Tags: anime, voltron - AI-assisted: no I didn't even know there was even one in production but as of Anime News Network not too long ago, a Fox company (so you know where this is going) named New Regency canceled its...
I didn't even know there was even one in production but as of Anime News Network not too long ago, a Fox company (so you know where this is going) named New Regency canceled its plan on making a Voltron film. From the same company that was dumb enough to cancel Family Guy, twice comes this news which might be too bad since Fox is already working on messing up the entire
Dragon Ball saga with the American-made (a curse word to any otaku) Dragon Ball film set for 09. Lets hope eventually I'm wrong on both stories ~_~ and somebody in the states makes something worth our while here. --- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine + Mile-Stone - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-21-chucks-anime-shrine-mile-stone/ - Date: 2008-08-21 - Tags: anime figures, business, figures, updates - AI-assisted: no In more anime business news, it was official as of this past Monday that my company has joined in a dealership with Japanese manufacturer, Mile-Stone. At around x-mas time and t... In more anime business news, it was official as of this past Monday that my company has joined in a dealership with Japanese manufacturer, Mile-Stone. At around x-mas time and the beginning of 09, I will be receiving figures from them along with the other official anime distribution lines I have. This is great news for any collectors here in the US (and overseas, too) since this dealership has turned my business from retailer-ship to wholesaler-ship. Once I start receiving the figures from them and get my bearings straight, my 9-5 job's coffin will be locked and sealed with me not having to also rely on (but still will keep) my Swarovski line of products. If everything goes as planned, I'll most likely give lots of free shipping and maybe some other bonuses in the store. Check out mile-stone.jp to see what figures are in store for this site.

...Now I must learn Japanese, not just for my extended family but for my new business extended family ^^; --- ## Danielle's Crisis Core AMV Reaching 20K Views - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-20-danielles-crisis-core-amv-reaching-20k/ - Date: 2008-08-20 - Tags: crisis core, final fantasy VII, videos - AI-assisted: no Remember not too long back when my better half, Danielle made that great Crisis Core AMV with the song, Kiss My Eyes and lay me to sleep? Well, in the past few months the video ...


Remember not too long back when my better half, Danielle made that great Crisis Core AMV with the song, Kiss My Eyes and lay me to sleep? Well, in the past few months the video has started to gain some momentum and is almost at 20K views! Due to the enormous amount of AMVs on youtube, this number is very tough to reach. My videos used to have those kind of hits but that was due to the fact that I was one of the first to post up AMVs to youtube.. (until that old account got erased ~_~). For those who haven't seen it, check it out below. Its definitely one of Danielle's best and fits very well to the Crisis Core atmosphere. If you don't have this game yet, be sure to buy it. Congrats Danielle for you achievement ^_^

--- ## The Anime Motherload - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-19-anime-motherload/ - Date: 2008-08-19 - Tags: anime figures, figures, updates - AI-assisted: no Here is reason #2 to my absence over the weekend. With my anime store on the expansion, my storage and shipment area is absolutly packed with anime and gaming figures. Gunna be ...

Here is reason #2 to my absence over the weekend. With my anime store on the expansion, my storage and shipment area is absolutly packed with anime and gaming figures. Gunna be long day today but unlike my 9-5 job, once I'm finished today, I'm basically done for the week. So tempted to keep some @_@

Sent from my iPhone ^_^

--- ## My iPhone - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-18-my-iphone/ - Date: 2008-08-18 - Tags: iphone, updates - AI-assisted: no Sorry for the lack of updates. Today's blog and the posts for next few days will to tell you why. As you can see from my shotty photo, I have purchased my iPhone, a 16GB at that... Sorry for the lack of updates. Today's blog and the posts for next few days will to tell you why. As you can see from my shotty photo, I have purchased my iPhone, a 16GB at that with all the fixings; MobileMe and a bunch of apps with of course a cute anime girl as the wallpaper. So far the iPhone has been fine. The only issues would be that the battery power could always be a bit better and ATT's service is very bad near my house...great elsewhere. Odd though, I'm less than a mile away from a cell tower and yet service on my block is well, not great. As for the apps, all of them are great but there really needs to be a Blogger app and I would love an app that could turn your iPhone camera into a video player.

Anyways, the past few days I've been very busy. With the advent of me leaving my job before my 25th BDay (might not be as early as Sept 19th :-/ ) I'm making sure my computer systems are all up to date. On top of getting the iPhone, being the computer scientist that I am, I went and signed up to be an iPhone app developer.
So why should you care? Well, with my MobileMe account and my future programing with the iPhone I do plan on making an app or two for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Also the use of the MobileMe could be great for sharing you otaku some great anime photos, in other words I could very well go back to revamping the old galleries here to make them more Web 2.0. A must for the site now will also be a mobile section that will make it easier for iPhoners to navigate this site. These projects are down the road but it will probably take my retiring from the 9-7 rut to make them a reality. As for that, more in the next post. --- ## Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VII Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-14-crisis-core-final-fantasy-vii-figures/ - Date: 2008-08-14 - Tags: anime figures, crisis core, figures, final fantasy VII - AI-assisted: no Was meaning to post this up yesterday but I was dealing with the cases upon cases of FFVII vol. 2 Play Arts figures plus other anime figures that arrived at my home ^ ^; What wi... Was meaning to post this up yesterday but I was dealing with the cases upon cases of FFVII vol. 2 Play Arts figures plus other anime figures that arrived at my home ^ ^; What will be the Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VII Play Arts set, here are some pictures thanks to sdcc08.figures.com and Comic Con 08 of the upcoming Zack, Shinra Infantry Cloud and white dressed Aerith. Yes fan girls, there is a Zack figure coming out. They won't be out till around x-mas in Japan which probably means January to March here in the US ~_~. I could be wrong though...they could come sooner. Keep watching my store and here on the blog for details.

Now does anybody have a forklift? My god, I've never seen so many figures in my house 0_o

--- ## California Museum Embraces Anime - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-12-california-museum-embraces-anime/ - Date: 2008-08-12 - Tags: anime - AI-assisted: no I'm so glad to see that us otaku are getting our just deserts here in the US. On Aug 15th California's Napa Valley Museum will have an exhibit dedicated to anime! Rightfully cal...


I'm so glad to see that us otaku are getting our just deserts here in the US. On Aug 15th California's Napa Valley Museum will have an exhibit dedicated to anime! Rightfully called "Manga & Anime: An Exhibition of Popular Cartoon Art", the exhibit goes on most of Friday. Finally, we can go into a museum and see something that is honestly art. I'm sorry but lets be honest, most of the time we go into a museum and see contemporary "art" we have to tilt our heads like a confused pug and state "WTF? This is art? This mess is worth a few million?"
Unfortunately being in New York I'll still have to deal with the arty-fartsy-western-style crap that actually might be feces on a canvas since to some... it is "art". If I wish to waste an afternoon and a train ticket to the city to see crap..I'll just stay on the train.

Anyways, forgive my harshness to western style "art" and if you live in California, check out some real art at the "Manga & Anime: An Exhibition of Popular Cartoon Art."

News thanks to Anime News Network --- ## Next Great Invention: Invisibility Cloak? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-11-next-great-invention-invisibility-cloak/ - Date: 2008-08-11 - Tags: gadgets - AI-assisted: no You heard right, there is an invention in the works that can bend light around 3D objects thus making it invisible. Its currently on the nano to microscopic scale but scientist ...


You heard right, there is an invention in the works that can bend light around 3D objects thus making it invisible. Its currently on the nano to microscopic scale but scientist Xian Zhanga and two US teams at UC Berkeley created what they call "meta-material." Its still nowhere near anything applicable but need I ask what you would do if you can be invisible? Hey, it could be used in combat like the cloaking in Halo...probably not knowing the otaku mind ^^;;

News thanks to Engadget. --- ## Rare 3rd Picture of the Montauk Monster - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-10-rare-3rd-picture-of-montauk-monster/ - Date: 2008-08-10 - Tags: montauk monster, other - AI-assisted: no I know, here I go again with this Montauk Monster thing. Not otaku related but I live in eastern Long Island so its big news here. The picture above I only found through some se...

I know, here I go again with this Montauk Monster thing. Not otaku related but I live in eastern Long Island so its big news here. The picture above I only found through some semi-deep searching online of it. Most of the pictures shown are of the two I'll post below. The 1st picture that's on my previous post is the most popular but this one is barley seen and it links the two pictures mainly circulated around. This is because in this picture you can see the red part of it on the upper right that's not in the grayish second picture but in the original picture. Picture number 2 and this one shows that this was probably a wild boar or we are all being conned by some hoax. It could also be Gannon from Legend of Zelda....see I still kept it anime or video game related.

--- ## Chuck's Anime Shrine's Lucky Day - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-08-chucks-anime-shrines-lucky-day/ - Date: 2008-08-08 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no The number 8 is lucky in Asian cultures and although I'm not Asian I'd like to share you some great news as of today for my anime business since its 8:08pm on 8/8/08. As of toda...



The number 8 is lucky in Asian cultures and although I'm not Asian I'd like to share you some great news as of today for my anime business since its 8:08pm on 8/8/08. As of today I have finally got the capital outlay I needed for all my products that will insure me not just a safe trip out of the job world but hopefully a 2009 with a six figure income. On a previous post I mentioned that for my first year as an anime dealer in 2007, Chuck's Anime Shrine did roughly $40K in sales...that mark was already hit around April of this year! Basically from this point on, I'll be working to simply profit and get the heck out of my job. I did state that Sept 19th might be my freedom day from the 9-5 drudgery, but if things don't go as 100% planned... I'll just set it sometime before my 25th BDay in early November.

Another cool tidbit is that I'm in the works of dealing directly with Milestone, one of Japan's figure manufacturer and creators of that amazing Elena Varenskaya Nurse figure. This would make Chuck's Anime Shrine eventually be an anime wholesaler and help even more in my quest to be free from a job.

If that's not all on this lucky 8 day, I got an email from a BusinessWeek editor who will feature a little blurb about me and the anime biz on the BusinessWeek site. More on that in the future.

So why should you care? Well, first off I don't intend to really brag. I'm just truly excited that my days of working a job are now really numbered and no job means much, much more time will be focused on the anime Flash game, "Project Fumi", AMVs, a better store with more stuff and of course my dream of turning this site into one of the best resources for any otaku. This also means I'll have more contests with even better prizes ^_^ Thanks goes to you all for being great fans of this site and my store. --- ## AMV Hell 4, What's Not to Love? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-07-amv-hell-4-whats-not-to-love/ - Date: 2008-08-07 - Tags: videos - AI-assisted: no Some of you probably are already familiar with the AMV Hell series. For those who are not, each AMV Hell video is about 1 hour of mixed and varied AMV clips. Each clip is about ... Some of you probably are already familiar with the AMV Hell series. For those who are not, each AMV Hell video is about 1 hour of mixed and varied AMV clips. Each clip is about 15-40 seconds long and has an almost Robot Chicken feel to them. Since I noticed youtube changed their coding thus messing up my entire AMV section (~_~) I went on youtube to see that as of almost a year ago there was a 4th AMV Hell!; divided of course in 10 minute blocks. Below is one chunk of clips for your viewing if you haven't already. As for my AMV section, I'm going to fix it up again and I'm also going to announce who won the Fate/Stay Art Contest since it was yet again only one person who committed to their promise of submitting something. Tsk, tsk if you missed out. You lost a free anime figure. More contests will be on the way though so don't miss out or the same person will keep winning!

Link to offical AMV Hell site.
(Caution: some AMV Hell clips are not for kids!)


--- ## Square-Enix's Song Summoner iPod Game - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-06-square-enixs-song-summoner-ipod-game/ - Date: 2008-08-06 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no Downloaded this really cool game on iTunes yesterday. In case some of you are not aware, last month Square-Enix took on iPod gaming and created Song Summoner: The Unsung Heros. ... Downloaded this really cool game on iTunes yesterday. In case some of you are not aware, last month Square-Enix took on iPod gaming and created Song Summoner: The Unsung Heros. The main feature about this game is that you can turn your songs into characters for your virtual army. Very cool concept indeed. If you are like me and love Final Fantasy Tactics you will enjoy this game It feels almost the same gameplay-wise. I've only played it for about 2 hours total but already it is the best game in my iPod. Granted the song-to-character generation is mostly random, I have gotten better results by using my J-pop and Final Fantasy music from the official CDs (hint, hint). It doesn't appear that you can trace back what song you actually used for the character once they are made but if you play those very songs later in your iPod, you'll get points and I believe some bonuses when you go back to the game. Probably best to use your most played songs or note down which ones you used. Would also be nice if you could rename your fighters and also have their theme music play during battle to power them up or something but for $5 its still an awesome deal.

Check out the official site with the trailers here. --- ## Square Enix Selling Lots of Non Video Game Items - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-05-square-enix-selling-lots-of-non-video/ - Date: 2008-08-05 - Tags: anime figures, figures, final fantasy, final fantasy VII - AI-assisted: no If you were at Comic-Con 08 (unlike me ~_~;;) you would have seen a wonderful booth set up by Square-Enix showing off their newest figures, game trailers and manga. In not too s...


If you were at Comic-Con 08 (unlike me ~_~;;) you would have seen a wonderful booth set up by Square-Enix showing off their newest figures, game trailers and manga. In not too surprising news, they are beefing up their non gaming products to profit off of the growing European and American otaku fans who most likely have FF figures in their must-buy list. As an anime distributor myself, I'll agree very much to Square's interview with Anime News Network on their high selling line like the Advent Children Cloud and Sephiroth. As of very recently, the Play Arts Volume 2 which includes FFVII game versions of Sephiroth, Vincent, Cait Sith, Red XIII, and Yuffie have been selling like hotcakes. I've bought cases of them and I'm already down to my last few ^^;

New figures are on the way from Square including some very nice (and a bit pricey, but worth it) Kingdom Hearts Figures. Other figures on the way include FFXIII figs, like the incomplete one shown in the pic above, a stunning $1000 FFXII Gabranth 1/1 helmet (seen in a previous post), and most likely more from the Final Fantasy VII line. Otaku got more to be excited about but hopefully they come out here by x-mas...chances are late January will be when they are all available outside of Japan. --- ## Kangofu Rock: Elena Varenskaya 1/8 Scale PVC Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-04-kangofu-rock-elena-varenskaya-18-scale/ - Date: 2008-08-04 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no It's been a while since I've posted an anime figure. Check out this one made by Milestone who actually contacted me directly a few days back for a business deal, so I might be a...

It's been a while since I've posted an anime figure. Check out this one made by Milestone who actually contacted me directly a few days back for a business deal, so I might be able to get this figure sooner than the scheduled release date (here in the US) of late December 2008 at about $75 or 7800 yen. Elena is also a cast-off figure too, so let the ogling begin.

Official Milestone site here.


--- ## 12 Year Old Starts An Anime Business - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-03-12-year-old-starts-anime-business/ - Date: 2008-08-03 - Tags: business, otaku - AI-assisted: no Looks like I'm not the only young guy who's dumping the job world to run my otaku passion full time. At the amazing age of 12, Umar Brimah of Cape Girardeau, Missouri has opened... Looks like I'm not the only young guy who's dumping the job world to run my otaku passion full time. At the amazing age of 12, Umar Brimah of Cape Girardeau, Missouri has opened a shop named Yumazu Anime and Collectibles. With help from his mother of all people, Umar is selling figures and other cool otaku stuff. I know this is a bit old news though since this was first blogged about in May on Zimbio, but this is simply awesome stuff. Kudos to the Brimah family and I hope as of this date things are going well. I guess some parents actually really do support our otaku passion, a topic that was recently brought up in a DC topic a few days back.

Also, just to update those who are waiting for my exodus from my 9-7 drudgery, my goal date to quit my job is September 19th 2008. If I need a bit of an extra cushion of money and sales, I might extend my slavery... I mean job time till the end of October but most definitely before my 25th birthday at the beginning of November. I have much I want to accomplish like attending Japan and USA's video game and anime major conventions ('cause I missed a free pass to ComicCon ~_~). There is also my anime/flash video game in the works still simply dubbed, "Project Fumi" and the needed updates to my anime site (this one if you are reading from my blog directly).
 --- ## Montauk Monster Washes Ashore, Yet The Worst People Supposedly Have It - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-08-01-long-island-real-akuma-demon-washes/ - Date: 2008-08-01 - Tags: other - AI-assisted: no I know, this isn't exactly anime news but this simply had to be shared before it gets forgotten. Yesterday on the local news there was a report of a demon that washed ashore on ... I know, this isn't exactly anime news but this simply had to be shared before it gets forgotten. Yesterday on the local news there was a report of a demon that washed ashore on Long Island's Montauk Point, roughly 2 hours east of my home. What is being dubbed as the "Montauk Monster," this unknown thing is simply disturbing. At first look somebody can maybe guess it was a dog or something that washed ashore...but look closely and you will see that it has a beak!

Now for a little bit of Long Island knowledge..right offshore, east of Montauk is an island called Plum Island, this island is completely restricted and is known as a government poison and I believe animal testing facility. It could very well be some sort of experiment done there or something. CBS news aired it but was very quick on the story...they said they simply weren't sure what it was and that it could have been a fake but they never stated what happened to the body. It was taken away and that's it!

Anyways, us otaku always watch anime about akuma (demons) and shinigamis so could this very well be a real demon or some unknown creature. What's your take on it?

-Image through google when you search "Montauk Monster"

-Video Below from CNN... don't have audio since I'm at my job computer ^^ so I have no idea what they said on it. I first saw it on CBS yesterday.



--- ## Here's One Way To Use Your FFVII Figures: Animate Them - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-31-heres-one-way-to-use-your-ffvii-figures/ - Date: 2008-07-31 - Tags: anime figures, figures, final fantasy VII, videos - AI-assisted: no My fiancee was doing some youtube browsing when she came across this video . I love the Final Fantasy VII Play Arts figures and recently got boxes of both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 for ... My fiancee was doing some youtube browsing when she came across this video. I love the Final Fantasy VII Play Arts figures and recently got boxes of both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 for my store so after seeing this I'm tempted to tap into my stock a bit use them for stop motion animation. Kudos to youtube user ffjason for the hard work it takes to make stop-frame figure animation.


--- ## Gurren Lagann To Appear on Sci-Fi Channel - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-28-gurren-lagann-to-appear-on-sci-fi/ - Date: 2008-07-28 - Tags: anime, Gurren Lagann - AI-assisted: no American Otaku like me can cheer for joy for tonight for we get to see Gurren Lagann at 11:00pm ET/PT on Sci-fi channel. We can get a chance to see the hottie Yo-ko over here...... American Otaku like me can cheer for joy for tonight for we get to see Gurren Lagann at 11:00pm ET/PT on Sci-fi channel. We can get a chance to see the hottie Yo-ko over here...of course lets hope the dubbing was done well. If not, we can always watch the pure Japanese subtilted work.

Actually I remember watching Sci-Fi's anime programming back in 1996 before Cartoon Network's Toonami and Adult Swim. I remember seeing Project A-Ko on there along with two other great anime flicks. One of them was with huge mech ships with their power run by the singing voices of pretty anime girls. The other unknown-to-me anime that was with the main girl being a plant in which she rejuvenated in a pea-pod-like thing and the world they were in was a desert I believe. Both of those were on Sci-Fi channel back then so if anyone even knows what I'm talking about..drop it in the comment box.

Anyways.. I'll be up watching the Sci-Fi channel tonight.

Thanks to Anime News Network for the info. --- ## A Little Blogging Delay, but with a "Twitter" of New Stuff - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-23-little-blogging-delay-but-with-twitter/ - Date: 2008-07-23 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Sorry for the lack of updates in the past few days. I even missed the weekly Anime voice actors post, too ^ ^;;. I'll have a new post ready for next week though for anyone who w...
Sorry for the lack of updates in the past few days. I even missed the weekly Anime voice actors post, too ^ ^;;. I'll have a new post ready for next week though for anyone who was wondering.
I was taking more time in readying my escape from the 9-7 job with an increased movement in my anime sales. In other words, I was really busy shipping tons of extra items. I'm now making about double my job income (in only 8 hours work per week) thanks to everyone who is buying my anime figures. Once I hit 4x my job income...sometime in September it looks like...I can kiss the job goodbye. Since I've been trying to speed that process up, sales got a little bit much and thus I was left a few blogging days short.

Anyways, during my days away I also set up a twitter.com account and a new blog feed that shows what my status is on what I'm doing..if anyone even cares on that. The twitter account also will show the feed updates from this blog, my personal blog at charlesgaffney.com and the anime.fm feed too. If you have a twitter account, hit me up.

Another account I've been busy with is the new group called "anime bloggers" I set up on blogcatalog.com (group image above). It just started and already has 11 memebers so if you are an anime or otaku blogger, join the group and get your blog out there to the masses.

(I was also busy watching the amazing ending to Avatar this weekend..more on that later) --- ## CAS Review: The Dark Knight (No Spoilers) - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-20-cas-review-dark-knight-no-spoilers/ - Date: 2008-07-20 - Tags: batman, dark knight, movie reviews, otaku - AI-assisted: no The goal of this post is to not give away any spoilers so that I will keep my word on that. Late last night I got to see this year's number 1 movie, The Dark Knight. It sure liv... The goal of this post is to not give away any spoilers so that I will keep my word on that.
Late last night I got to see this year's number 1 movie, The Dark Knight. It sure lived up to its name and to all the hype. As I write this this movie is going down in history with a monumental load of ticket sales that will make the movie industry realize that the internet has not at all hampered sales..it has in fact created the hype needed for such sales. That's a whole other topic so on to the movie.

Now I'm more of a fan of the Japanese brand of super hero; the deep, powerful and less full of themselves type of hero that American heroes (Super Man in particular) tend to be. Like Spider Man, Batman has a bit of that depth to him. If you saw Batman Begins and you are an otaku like me, you were very very glad to see how Christopher Nolan turned the series into the deep and less flashy movie that resonates with an otaku's need for more artist Asian-style depth in American blockbuster films. The Dark Knight takes things one step further by focusing on the very concept of doing the right thing when it might not be the logical or popular choice.. a bit like the samurai's code of honor. The very concept of being the hero is questioned in the movie but so is the limit of the feelings that separate human and animal instincts. The Joker's character in this movie can be summed up by mixing Osama Bin Ladin, Jigsaw from the Saw series and the psychotic, mentally ill Joker comic book fans know into one.


The way the dark knight, Harvey Dent and the Joker are portrayed in this movie represent righteousness, the corruptible human mind, and pure evil done in such a way that it shows it and doesn't explain it like western movies tend to; once again taking note from eastern art's almost mystical yet profound meanings.

After watching this movie you really really feel hurt by Heath Ledger's passing. I used to see Tim Burton's two Batman movies as the movies that would best summarize the Dark Knight. Similarly, I used to think of Jack Nicholson as the ultimate Joker. Watch this movie and you will see that Ledger took Nicholson's Joker and slapped him silly. Never will the Joker be portrayed better and unfortunately with the loss of Health Ledger, never will he again be like this. I will be appalled if when the Oscars come up that Heath and the rest of the actors and crew of the Dark Knight don't get any awards. Too many times has the Oscars catered to the western artsy-fartsy (aka lame) style films that nobody ever seen or ever cared to see. If a no-name film from France or even worse, the recent bomb, Mamma-Mia! gets even a nomination while the Dark Knight gets shafted, then may someone as crazy as the Joker ruin the Oscars and after the chaos states "Why so serious?" because its about time that a movie people actually seen takes the Oscars by storm.


Never in your life will you feel 150 minutes go by so fast but you will savor every minute of it. If any of you can bust through the lines in the theaters, go see this movie!

--- ## Viz Media to Review Amateur Work At 2008 Comic Con International - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-17-viz-media-to-review-amateur-work-at/ - Date: 2008-07-17 - Tags: Comic-Con, otaku - AI-assisted: no Ok...Now I need to seriously give myself a serious beat-down. In recent news via Anime News Network , looks like for the first time ever Viz Media is going to seriously check ou... Ok...Now I need to seriously give myself a serious beat-down. In recent news via Anime News Network, looks like for the first time ever Viz Media is going to seriously check out fan-made work at the 2008 Comic Con International. Granted, I know gaijin artwork is not as good as authentic anime but this is still awesome news for us american otaku. In other words, if you have some good work, you can have it turned into an offical manga! I don't have any work really to give myself other than my few sketches and the Fumi stuff (which are...eh) but this would have been really a great opportunity. It can be for any of you that are going so bring your portfolio!

As for me, as stated before, I really need to kick myself for a number of reasons. First reason is that I still have my stupid 9-5 job so I've had no time to improve my work and second...being that I'm an anime + video game dealer, I was able to go to all 4 days for FREE + a special lunch with all the anime dealers ~_~;;;;;. Thanks to my job (that I sware I'll rid of in September once and for all) I couldn't accept the free offer to Comic Con International. It would have been cool to once again meet the Viz crew. They would probably respond by stating "Hey! You're that couple who made out in front of us back at that New York Convention as Tidus and Yuna." ^_^;;;;; --- ## Clove 2, Wireless Typing With One Hand - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-16-clove-2-wireless-typing-with-one-hand/ - Date: 2008-07-16 - Tags: gadgets - AI-assisted: no Stumbled upon this interesting gadget just recently via Engadget . Pretty cool amateur invention, looks very much like the old Nintendo Power Glove. If you could beat the learni... Stumbled upon this interesting gadget just recently via Engadget. Pretty cool amateur invention, looks very much like the old Nintendo Power Glove. If you could beat the learning curve of this, would you honestly find use for it?



--- ## Featured Anime Voice Actor (Seiyu): Mamoru Miyano - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-15-featured-anime-voice-actor-seiyu-mamoru/ - Date: 2008-07-15 - Tags: otaku, voice actors - AI-assisted: no Welcome to another weekly post about famous Seiyus , anime voice actors. This is just a fun little post that will hopefully surprise you to see who does the voices of your favor... Welcome to another weekly post about famous Seiyus , anime voice actors. This is just a fun little post that will hopefully surprise you to see who does the voices of your favorite characters and you might find out it's the same person for a bunch of them.

This week's Seiyu is Mamoru Miyano.

Mamoru was born June 8th 1983 in Saitama, Japan. He is most famous for doing the voice of Light Yagami in Death Note. Light isn't his only very popular voice though. He was also the voice of Tamaki Suou from Host Club and you can currently hear him as the voice of the fan-girl favorite, Zero Kiryu from Vampire Knight. He's also a popular video-game seiyu as he is the voice of Kingdom Heart's Riku. Recently he's also been working closely with game developer Koei on some of their recent projects with a role in Kiniro no Corda already under his belt. Fan-girls will get ticked if I also don't mention the fact that he played Renji Yanagi in the Prince of Tennis Live Action Film.

It's no surprise with such title roles he was nominated in Japan's Seiyu awards for his role as Light Yagami. This role did recently give him the award for best actor at the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair. Click here to see more info on him via wikipedia of course.

--- ## "Wii" Look Like the New Xbox 360 Dashboard - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-14-wii-look-like-new-xbox-360-dashboard/ - Date: 2008-07-14 - Tags: E3, videogames, wii, xbox 360 - AI-assisted: no Just saw some of the Microsoft keynote speech that just went on at the 2008 E3 convention. Looks as if the new dashboard coming in the fall is going to mimic the Nintendo Wii a ... Just saw some of the Microsoft keynote speech that just went on at the 2008 E3 convention. Looks as if the new dashboard coming in the fall is going to mimic the Nintendo Wii a bit with your own avatar. Are any of you excited about this new dashboard or are you like me and like the current one? Granted, some of the new feature look pretty cool.


News thanks to Engadget.
--- ## Jim Henson's Dark Crystal - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-13-jim-hensons-dark-crystal/ - Date: 2008-07-13 - Tags: otaku - AI-assisted: no Yesterday I was finally able to see on DVD a movie that I have not seen in it's entirety since I was only a year old in 1984. Yes, what might have been the very first movie I ha... Yesterday I was finally able to see on DVD a movie that I have not seen in it's entirety since I was only a year old in 1984. Yes, what might have been the very first movie I have ever seen in my life was Jim Henson's Dark Crystal. For any of you young otaku who haven't seen it, it is worth the watch. If I'm not mistaken, it was this movie that inspired the creators of the original Final Fantasy game and of course the later games to have the storyline follow that of a crystal of power. Another reason otaku should take note to this is that for the movie's 25th anniversary last year, Tokyopop came up with a manga for the movie called "Legends of the Dark Crystal"...pictured below.Though the manga was made by gaijin artists, the art actually looks pretty good. That's a lot coming from me since I'm the first one to point out the typically inferior gaijin "anime" drawings. Anyways, to my wonderful surprise, through yet another wikipedia search, the movie has a sequel in the works! The sequel's name is "The Power of the Dark Crystal" and will feature practically all the voice actors and production crew from the first one. Frank Oz who directed, did a number of the puppets in the movie including the ugly Augrah and who is most popular as the voice and puppeteer for Star War's Yoda was asked to direct again but answered with a simple "Why?" So, instead of Frank Oz directing the movie, Samurai Jack creator, Genndy Tartakovsky is actually heading the production as I write this.
Like the highly anticipated (and feared about) Dragon Ball movie, this one is scheduled to come out in 2009. Supposedly it will be a combination of both CG and puppets so here's hoping it comes out good.
--- ## Video-Game To Watch For: Mirror's Edge - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-12-video-game-to-watch-for-mirrors-edge/ - Date: 2008-07-12 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no E3 is not that far away and I feel that this game will probably be one of the major titles to look forward to other than FFXIII of course. The game-play in EA's Mirror's Edge re... E3 is not that far away and I feel that this game will probably be one of the major titles to look forward to other than FFXIII of course. The game-play in EA's Mirror's Edge really puts you in the game. This isn't the first game in the past year or so to have this realistic first person point of view but if you view the trailer below you can see just how clean and clear this game will be. Some gamers are worried that the fighting might be tough to control but I guess time will tell for this game as more info comes out. Many otaku like myself will be glad that the main character is easy on the eyes since she's a cute and tough Asian girl named Faith. I'll probably add this to my PS3 or Xbox 360 collection when it does come out.

--- ## Another Dragon Ball Movie Banner - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-11-another-dragon-ball-movie-banner/ - Date: 2008-07-11 - Tags: dbz, dragon ball, dragon ball movie - AI-assisted: no I was about to end my day online but I just had to show you all this. I know, many of us otaku are very scared about the Dragon Ball movie and we are all pondering how bad Holly... I was about to end my day online but I just had to show you all this. I know, many of us otaku are very scared about the Dragon Ball movie and we are all pondering how bad Hollywood will screw it up. Lets just hope for the best though... right ^^?

Anyways, in the picture you can see Bulma (top left), Goku (front and center), Chi Chi (Goku's right)..who BTW we haven't seen before this and is the better of the actor choices, I feel; Master Roshi...Chow Yun Fat, Mai(top right, also first time seen). Also if you look at the very top you will see the eyes of Piccolo for the first time also who we all know is being played by James Marsters aka Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
--- ## CAS Now Traceable on Alexa.com - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-11-cas-now-traceable-on-alexacom/ - Date: 2008-07-11 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no Looks like here at Chuck's Anime Shrine the site's traffic continues to grow. As of a few days back, the site's traffic has finally reached high enough where it is now viewable ...
Looks like here at Chuck's Anime Shrine the site's traffic continues to grow. As of a few days back, the site's traffic has finally reached high enough where it is now viewable on the number 1 tracking site alexa.com. As of this post, chucksanimeshrine.com ranks roughly 300,000 out of all the sites on the web in traffic but this site's weekly ranking is now at 170,000 of all sites. In other words, the site is on the grow and will probably beat the 100,000 rank in the coming months. At first I got scared this wouldn't happen because last week traffic fell horribly thanks to me cutting one of my traffic sources by accident ^ ^; A rough estimate shows that the entire site altogether gets about 500 unique viewers a day or about 15,000 a month. This is nothing compared to the 2.8 million my favorite site outside this one, dannychoo.com gets...but a ranking on Alexa at 170,000 sure beats the old ranking I had at the end of '07 at around 1,300,000.

I really want to thank the fans of the site for helping it continue to grow and I will continue to add more content to the site and also back into the anime galleries as well. FYI...there is a contest going on to win a free Fate/Stay Night Rin figure so jump on it if you can ^_^
--- ## Inuyasha: Kuroi Tessaiga OVA Announced! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-10-inuyasha-kuroi-tessaiga-ova-announced/ - Date: 2008-07-10 - Tags: anime, inuyasha, inuyasha ova - AI-assisted: no Hey, Inuyasha fans. I know a bunch of you are still there. Well, you are in for a great treat because the anime series will continue on and there is going to be more episodes!! ...
Hey, Inuyasha fans. I know a bunch of you are still there. Well, you are in for a great treat because the anime series will continue on and there is going to be more episodes!! This was to be expected since the manga just finished a few weeks back. Finally all the waiting and wondering on why the hell 4 years ago the series ended so abruptly and with an obvious need for more.. is now less stressful for you. Now the only worry you might have is why only one episode has been slated so far and not more. Inuyasha was at one point the highest selling anime so expect another huge batch of episodes. I just hope it doesn't drag on and on though...story progression is oh so needed. Anyways, expect the flood of new and old fans to of this series to be practically everywhere (again). News received yesterday thanks to DannyChoo.com member Artefact.

(I am a fan of it, too by the way ^ ^)
--- ## FullMetal Alchemist 2 Rumored - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-09-fullmetal-alchemist-2-rumored/ - Date: 2008-07-09 - Tags: anime, fullmetal alchemist - AI-assisted: no Interesting news coming from Anime News Network . Leaked documents from anime studio BONES suggests that a sequel to Fullmetal Alchemist is quite a possibility. To not give away...

Interesting news coming from Anime News Network. Leaked documents from anime studio BONES suggests that a sequel to Fullmetal Alchemist is quite a possibility. To not give away any spoilers from the FMA movie, The Conqueror of Shambala..lets just say that the ending definitely opens up a need for a sequel. More info on this as it comes and if you know of anything, feel free to leave it in the comments.
--- ## Batman Gotham Knight Anime Collaboration - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-08-batman-gotham-knight-anime/ - Date: 2008-07-08 - Tags: anime, batman - AI-assisted: no If any of you watched just one episode of well..anything on Cartoon Network you should have caught a commercial for the new batman animated collaboration that just came out. A q...

If any of you watched just one episode of well..anything on Cartoon Network you should have caught a commercial for the new batman animated collaboration that just came out. A quick look of the obviously amazing animation lets you know its indeed anime. Similar to the Animatrix, this is a 6 episode mixture of a couple Japanese anime studios including my favorite studio responsible for Death Note, Final Fantasy VII: Last Order and The Boondocks, Madhouse. Other studios involved with this project include Production I.G. and Studio 4C being directed by greats such as Shojiro Nishimi, Futoshi Higashide, Hiroshi Morioka, Yasuhiro Aoki, and Toshiyuki Kubooka. Of course leave it to Japan to animate Batman into something of awe (finally). There is a contest currently going on at the official site here where you can win by discovering all 6 exclusive videos. --- ## Featured Anime Voice Actor: Vic Mignogna - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-07-featured-anime-voice-actor-vic-mignogna/ - Date: 2008-07-07 - Tags: otaku, vic micnogna, voice actors - AI-assisted: no Welcome to another weekly segment on anime's most famous voice actors both English and Japanese. This week is none other than the English voice of Edward Elric, Vic Mignogna. Vi...

Welcome to another weekly segment on anime's most famous voice actors both English and Japanese. This week is none other than the English voice of Edward Elric, Vic Mignogna.

Vic was born in Greensburg Pennsylvania in 1962. As stated before, he's most famous for his voice as Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist but he also did the voices of Virgil from Trinity Blood, Brolly from DBZ, Fai Flowright from Tsubasa Chronicals and even Luffy from One Piece. As of yesterday it became official that he'll even be the voice of Tamaki Suou from Ouran High School Host Club. More of his voice works here on the wikipedia page of course.

Vic is well known to be a joker and just a great otaku himself. At conventions he tends to create the anime commercials for the conventions and usually will bring in random fans to help. He even worked with Steven Blum on an anime parody similar to Budweiser's "Real Fans of Genius" also called "Real Fans of Genius." It of course pokes a bit of fun at convention otakus in a fun way including such titles as "Ms. Bewildered Con Mother," and "Mr. Hallway Sleeper Guy." Wonder if he'll come up with the oh so needed "Ms. Too Damn Big for that Cosplay Girl." Just kidding ^^;;

I got the honor to meet with him back 05' at I-Con and you will catch him flirting with the some of the girls since apparently he's seen by many of the female otaku as a good looker.

At the end of one his panels he gave a wonderful speech about college in general and living your dreams. He shared many of the same views I have about the whole college system and being in business for yourself by branding yourself and learning to run your own life. He urged students (since this was at Stony Brook University) to go by their dreams and not be in a subject just to make their parents happy. He of course further implemented that what I ready knew about not being controlled by a boss in a job.

If any of you ever go to a convention that he attends, be sure to attend his panels. Vic does have an award for Best Actor in the American Anime Awards but despite his celebrity status, he's a very humble guy.

Check out his official site here and his fan club, named Risembool Rangers from FullMetal of course here. --- ## Game Review: Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-06-game-review-dragon-ball-z-burst-limit/ - Date: 2008-07-06 - Tags: dbz, game reviews, videogames - AI-assisted: no As a long time DBZ fan, this game was right up my ally. I was very excited to play a Dragon Ball Z game for the current generation systems and with all good reasons. This game h... As a long time DBZ fan, this game was right up my ally. I was very excited to play a Dragon Ball Z game for the current generation systems and with all good reasons. This game has to be by far the best looking Dragon Ball Z game to date. The visuals have to be the most astonishing aspects of the game. I will go as far as to state that this game has the best cell-shading graphics of ANY game to date, even better than the current Naruto games which also boast great cell-shading visuals. I must also note that I played through the Xbox 360 version which as many gamers know is slightly less graphical in power to that of the PS3... of course only by a slight bit. So, in other words, Atari did a bang-up job on the graphic. The backgrounds also blend in perfectly with the character graphics. They have a very real and in-depth feel that you would never think would mix with the cell-shaded DBZ characters, but the background just couldn't be better not just in looks but in dynamics. When you fight back and forth with your opponent, the blur effects are done the way you would think the super sonic would feel in real life and the ability to fight all the way into space is a nice touch. The only thing lacking with the stages is that there are only 5 stages in total and the only real damage done to the environment is when you contact well with an Ultimate Attack causing a short cut scene. Other DBZ titles like Tenkaichi for example did have more in ways of destroyable buildings, cliffs and the like. That you will not see here but as a game programmer myself, this was most likely done to keep the backgrounds maintaining their real look and to not slow the in-game play. Definitely a tough trade-off that hopefully can be improved in future titles.


Now, onto the gameplay.
As stated before, the dynamics are fast and furious. I enjoyed the fact the game was balanced into being able to preform major attacks in a quicker amount of time. Yes, this can allow a player to be a bit cheesy but a quick reaction to a big attack with get you right behind your opponent and cancel their attempt to blast you. The controls are easier than previous titles and if you go through the Tutorial mode, you'll see that it does have a great load of depth. Tenkaichi fans might be disappointed though since the overall feel is very much like the older Budokai scheme but with wonderful energy struggles and dodging abilities. Personally I love being able to hit the dodge button and watch my character sit there and quickly dodge every fast punch very much like you see in the anime. Fans of the series might be surprised though that there is no manual Ki charging...sorry, no sitting in the corner of a stage and charging up. Your Ki is charged automatically and charges fast, but this allows you to activate the cool Aura Burst feature more often and fighter gamers will enjoy one less thing to worry about. Your Ki grows even faster if you get attacked to the point of activating a Drama Piece with that effect. Drama Pieces are little cut scenes that happen when you attack or get attacked a certain way, opening deferent effects like a dodged attack or regenerated health. DBZ fans will enjoy this bit but some gamers might find them a bit irritating. Either way, Drama Pieces add a nice customizable and unlockable slew of features to your fighter. You also have the ability to unlock a bunch of transformations and different final attacks for each player using the main story mode. Before I get into the story mode, known as the Z Chronicals, I must also state to other features that game has. First is the online play. This is always a welcomed addition and as with any game that could go online... make sure you play through the main story a bit to unlock more characters and features that will allow you to be at par with other gamers. The second feature to mention is the Survival Mode which would be better if it wasn't for the game's one major flaw that I'll go into in a bit.



Now onto the Z Chronicals, or the main story mode of the game. Fans of DBZ like me will love it; non-DBZ fans will probably be ok with it. There are six different difficulty levels: very easy, easy, normal, hard, very hard, and Z ; so there's alot to do if you are to get all the achievements. Only the first three are available on your first time through which unfortunately is rather short. There is only the Saiyan Saga, Frieza Saga and the Cell Saga. No sign of Majin Boo or any characters from there either. The one major flaw of the game is that the roster is at about 30 characters which is mainly the different variations of the main characters and of course the shortened story line. One might feel that the game is incomplete if you are used to the other DBZ games that had a much larger roster and all the sagas included. For a regular fighter, this would deem pretty good since the causal fighting gamer won't look for anymore but as both a hardcore fighter and gamer, its a a bit lacking in that aspect.



Overall though I still give this game a 7 out of 10 because the visuals and the fighting will make any DBZ fan and fighting fan happy. The engine is pure but would be perfect if it had more characters, more levels, more destructible items, and the entire DBZ story. I would recommend renting first if you are unsure but I am glad I have it and that I can face all of you online. If you got an xbox 360, look for user: Chuck Gaffney, that's me (yes I know I used my whole name ^^;;). As long as its not my brothers (or me) playing Halo 3 or Gears of War I will face you as the character I resemble the most...Future Trunks. --- ## Pantsu Shirts - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-07-02-pantsu-shirts/ - Date: 2008-07-02 - Tags: otaku, pantsu - AI-assisted: no One of my product dealers came out with this awesome shirt yesterday. Definitely for panstu (panty) fans. Anyone daring enough to wear one?

One of my product dealers came out with this awesome shirt yesterday. Definitely for panstu (panty) fans. Anyone daring enough to wear one? --- ## Featured Anime Voice Actor (Seiyu): Megumi Hayashibara - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-30-featured-anime-voice-actor-seiyu-megumi/ - Date: 2008-06-30 - Tags: otaku, voice actors - AI-assisted: no Welcome another weekly summery on famous anime voice actors, aka seiyus. This week I've finally posted a non-gaijin Seiyu and most probably the most famous of them all, Ms. Megu...
Welcome another weekly summery on famous anime voice actors, aka seiyus. This week I've finally posted a non-gaijin Seiyu and most probably the most famous of them all, Ms. Megumi Hayashibara.
Hayashibara was born on March 30th, 1967 in the Kita (northern) part of Tokyo, Japan. As you can see from the mini-picture collage I made of her, her most famous roles are that of Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion and Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop. Other roles she has done voices for include Musashi (Jessie) from Pokemon, Haruka Urashima from Love Hina, and female Ranma Saotome from Ranma 1/2.
Ms. Hayashibara is also a famous singer with many of her songs becoming major hits in Japan. Most recently she did the Slayers MEGUMIX CD, so she also does the music for some anime titles. She is also the host of Tokyo Boogie Night and Heartful Station, two very popular radio stations in Japan that also with feature works from other Seiyu.
On top of that she even has an autobiographical Manga called Ashita ga aru sa, aka Megumi-Toons. In short, she by far lives the dream of many otaku. if you can read Japanese, check out her website here.

More info on her and credits to this post go to:
Wikipedia
Anime News Network
imdb --- ## Deadline Set for Fate/Stay Night Art Contest - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-28-deadline-set-for-fatestay-night-art/ - Date: 2008-06-28 - Tags: anime figures, contests, updates - AI-assisted: no For some of you who didn't know, as of a couple of months back I set up an art contest on my contest page. The winner gets a brand new Bome Rin Tosaka figure and their picture i... For some of you who didn't know, as of a couple of months back I set up an art contest on my contest page. The winner gets a brand new Bome Rin Tosaka figure and their picture in the future Fate/Stay Night gallery!
The contest is simple, whoever creates the best Fate/Stay Night fan art wins. The image doesn't have to be that of Rin but of anyone from Fate/Stay Night anime. Email your image here. The contest now officially ends July 31st 2008 with voting of the top images shortly after. I know I've received a few emails of people stating that they are going to enter so once I get your pics, you are in ^_^. Good luck to all who enter. --- ## "Re" Introducing Project Fumi - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-26-re-introducing-project-fumi/ - Date: 2008-06-26 - Tags: fumi kobayashi, otaku, project fumi, updates - AI-assisted: no There are a few otaku who might have remembered my original plan to create my first video game and the official site mascot. Being that I've been a gamer since I was 1 year old ...

There are a few otaku who might have remembered my original plan to create my first video game and the official site mascot. Being that I've been a gamer since I was 1 year old (no kidding) it has been a dream of mine to make a videogame. Back in 04' I was on the verge of starting production of this project but was obviously side-tracked by my job and business choices that left me on that 2-3 year hiatus. I even had shirts and items made on the cafepress shop of the very first rough sketches since then.
Well, I'm glad to say that I'm back on track with the game which I'll call "Project Fumi."
To reintroduce or simply introduce you all to this, Fumi Kobayashi is the name of the main character and the main focus was that she had the ability to change into an angel or demon form. She also has with her a pink-haired fairly named Lily.
Originally I planned on making the story rather simple with her simply having these abilities and her goal was to save her loved one, Thomas from capture. Kind, of a reversed damsel in distress.
This will change now to something a bit more interesting. Not sure if Thomas will be in there but the story will revolve around an elemental crystal of power that both forms Fumi's powers along with the strengths of the main enemy's powers. The main antagonist will be a former friend of Fumi's by the name of Kyoshi. The story with the full names and official production pictures (not amateurish ones) will be in future posts...now on to the game.

Originally the game was to be a side-shooter similar to R-Type but instead of a ship, it will be Fumi you control. Oddly in the past years since I first proposed this a few anime games and sims have popped up with you controlling mech-girls in somewhat of the same fashion as I originally planned ^^; The main feature would be that you could change into Fumi's devil or angel form when a special meter fills. Her companion, Lily would act like a shield, healing agent or extra firepower. The game's engine will be actionScript via Adobe FLASH.

This holds true in the new plans, but here's what the game will also entail:
-Close range weapons (switchable on the fly and representing a different elemental in nature)
-Charged Long range attacks (Each form has one too, instead of just one normal firing attack, strength of blast increases based on time charged, ie: Megaman's X-Buster)
-Special attacks (Normal, Angel, and Devil Fumi each have their own super move)
-Throwing (elemental enemies that can be tossed into opposing elements for more damage)

I already have the control/button scheme and some of the basic syntax needed for the game so the engine for it could very well be 80% done before the summer ends. The main work will of course be the artwork, animation, sounds and level designing. I plan on kicking the 9-5 job for good in September so I'll have enough time to work on this since I'll only be doing anime product shipments for the store. --- ## Featured Anime Voice Actor: Richard Ian Cox - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-22-featured-anime-voice-actor-richard-ian/ - Date: 2008-06-22 - Tags: inuyasha, otaku, voice actors - AI-assisted: no Welcome to another weekly segment about famous anime voice actors both English and Japanese. This week's feature voice actor is non other than Richard Ian Cox. Richard is most f... Welcome to another weekly segment about famous anime voice actors both English and Japanese. This week's feature voice actor is non other than Richard Ian Cox. Richard is most famous for of course his role as the voice of the famous dog-demon, Inuyasha. With the Inuyasha manga finishing its final chapter in Shonen Jump yesterday and with a possible continuation of the anime, Richard is the perfect voice actor to feature. I also have a funny story to tell related to him, that I'll mention later.
Born on October 3rd 1973 in St. Asaph, Wales, Richard Ian Cox is actually a rather prominent TV actor even if you don't include his wide array of anime dubs. His first claim to fame as stated in his wikipedia page was when he co-stared with Mickey Rooney in the early 90's adaptation of Black Stallion. His other TV roles include Dr. Brendan Gaul on Stargate Atlantis, the helicopter pilot in the 2007 Ghost Rider movie and even The Outer Limits. Anime roles include Inuyasha (of course, Ranma Saotome: Male version from Ranma 1/2, Itta from .hack//ROOTS and even Zaacro + Spice from the original Ocean Group Dub of Dragon Ball Z...yes the same dub that includes the famous Vegeta dub with "Over 9000!" Zaacro and Spice being Garlic Jr.'s minions in Dead Zone I believe. Richard also did voices in non-anime like My Little Pony and recently Care Bears.
Currently he directs "South Delta Secondary School," a theater production. Chances are he'll do the voice of Inuyasha again as there might be more episodes now that the manga is complete.

I got a chance to meet Richard Cox back in 2002 at I-CON 22 at Stony Brook University in New York. He was very nice to the fans and his normal voice is exactly what you hear when you hear Inuyasha. He doesn't change it much for the role. Here's where the funny instance happened:
That year Danielle and I cosplayed as Tidus and Yuna from FFX and during the contest we played out the kissing scene in front of a whole crowd. More embarrassing yet was that the first row consisted of Richard Cox and the entire Viz crew! (Image of us just before the kiss below) Later in the day we attended Richard and Viz's dubbing workshop and Richard singled us out stating that there's no kissing in there.. in a nice and funny way. Danielle even got to dub Sango during it which was pretty cool. Chances are Richard would remember that if I meet him again and even though its been 6 years ago since then, only my hair got shorter, so he'll remember. He'll also probably question why he goes to those conventions. ^^;

--- ## FullMetal Alchemist: Ed & Al Elric Sculpture Arts Statue - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-19-fullmetal-alchemist-ed-al-elric/ - Date: 2008-06-19 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no Looks like Square-Enix keeps bringing out the best of both anime and video game statues. This masterpiece is a stunning figure that depicts Ed and Al Elric from of course Full M... Looks like Square-Enix keeps bringing out the best of both anime and video game statues. This masterpiece is a stunning figure that depicts Ed and Al Elric from of course Full Metal Alchemist. The statue stands about 10 inches tall and you can expect it to come in a big heavy box like the other Masterpiece figures. Won't make it to the states until the end of this year or in early 2009. Save up some money though; this one retails for $300. More pictures below.



--- ## The Mysterious Cities of Gold is Back - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-17-mysterious-cities-of-gold-is-back/ - Date: 2008-06-17 - Tags: anime - AI-assisted: no Ok, some of you might not be old enough to remember this but if you watched Nickelodeon back before the the Nicktoons first arrived, you might remember a little show called, "Th...


Ok, some of you might not be old enough to remember this but if you watched Nickelodeon back before the the Nicktoons first arrived, you might remember a little show called, "The Mysterious Cities of Gold." Last year, back in 2007, I went and searched on youtube for it to only find a very bad quality opening of the show. To my wonderful surprise, the series about a young boy trying to find his father and the legendary city of gold was actually an anime!! It aired in America early in the morning back in 1986 (I was 3 years old), therefore making it my very first anime and proving I was an otaku long before I knew what it meant.

I got even more good news for all who remember this series: 1) As of March of this year you can buy it on DVD! (Image of the DVD above) 2) A brand new full length anime feature is being created right now! (image of that found below).
I'm really going on memory lane with this one and hopefully this little bit of news will for you, too. Offical site here.


(PS: Notice how it says "From the Creator of Inspector Gadget?" Well, you heard that right...Inspector Gadget was an anime!...well, its animation was Japanese but produced in America and France. Think 1980's Boondocks...without the racial stuff. Maybe more on that in a future post.)

--- ## Featured Anime Voice Actor: Steven Blum - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-16-featured-anime-voice-actor-steven-blum/ - Date: 2008-06-16 - Tags: anime, Steven Blum, voice actors - AI-assisted: no Welcome to my weekly segment about famous anime voice actors both Japanese and English. Ever listened to an anime and said to yourself, "I've heard that voice before." Chances a...
Welcome to my weekly segment about famous anime voice actors both Japanese and
English. Ever listened to an anime and said to yourself, "I've heard that
voice before." Chances are you are correct.

What better way to start off this weekly post by talking about a voice actor
that probably ranks among the most heard English anime voice actors of all
time.

Steven Blum, born April 28th, 1965 in Santa Monica, California has been in a slew of anime, video game, non-anime titles and a surprise one that is not mentioned in Wikipedia. (I'll mention later). Currently he does the voice of Kyoshiro Todo on Code Geass. He is probably most famous though for his voice as Spike Spiegel from the anime classic, Cowboy Bebop. Other notable roles include Orochimaru from Naruto, Tom from Cartoon Network'sToonami segment, Roger Smith from Big-O, Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus, and even some voices in Halo 3.

Steven Blum also did a documentary about his voice acting called, "Adventures
in Voice Acting." I have not seen it but like other otaku, I would like
to be a voice actor too so that might be worth the watch.

The one mention that you don't see on his wikipedia page, in which you canget his very large list of works from, as of this post is that he also does the voice in the 7-11 commercials.

I have yet to meet him in person but he does go around to conventions and
the like even though he apparently isn't a big fan of anime. He does respect
it though (and hopefully the fat paycheck it should bring him).

-Info thanks to imdb and wikipedia

-Picture photoshopped by me.

(update: Looks as if the "Oh thank heaven" 7-11 note is now on wikipedia.) --- ## Out Today: Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit Video Game - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-10-out-today-dragon-ball-z-burst-limit/ - Date: 2008-06-10 - Tags: anime, dbz, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no Out today is the new DBZ fighting game from Atari, Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit. As an avid DBZ fan, I'm excited about this one. It's for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and boasts very nice ... Out today is the new DBZ fighting game from Atari, Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit. As an avid DBZ fan, I'm excited about this one. It's for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and boasts very nice graphics. I like how fluid it all looks and seems very true to the series. From the looks of it, the stages are done very well and the formula seems much like Tenkaichi, which to me is a good thing. There is promise of some new fighting skills and other coll stuff.

I'm going to be doing a full review on it in collaboration between
rocketxl.com and Atari so we'll see if it makes itself stand out form the previous games. Check out below at some of the videos and bring back your DBZ spirit.^_^







--- ## 3G IPhone Finally Unveiled, Has GPS and More - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-09-3g-iphone-finally-unveiled-has-gps-and/ - Date: 2008-06-09 - Tags: gadgets, iphone - AI-assisted: no As I write this post, Steve Jobs is doing his keynote speech about the new iPhone 3G. He states its the only phone that beat the original iPhone. From the looks of it... he's ri... As I write this post, Steve Jobs is doing his keynote speech about the new iPhone 3G. He states its the only phone that beat the original iPhone. From the looks of it... he's right. I'm glad its on the 3G network now and from the picutre provided by Engadget's live coverage, it has the GPS we so wanted. I don't have an iPhone yet but now its up to par and better than features found in the Blackberry phones....at least in my opinion. Every phone company has been making iPhone copies as of late which shows that technology is really progressing in the right direction. The 3rd party apps on this thing will be something to behold I hope.

....oh and lets not forget.... the 8Gb model is only $199.99 and the 16GB model is $299.99! Very glad I played the waiting game. --- ## Inuyasha Manga Comes To An End - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-09-inuyasha-manga-comes-to-end/ - Date: 2008-06-09 - Tags: anime, inuyasha - AI-assisted: no On June 18th, 2008 the highly popular and beloved Inuyasha series comes to a close. The anime series was long running but never got close to the later progression of the story d... On June 18th, 2008 the highly popular and beloved Inuyasha series comes to a close. The anime series was long running but never got close to the later progression of the story despite its 200+ episodes. (maybe new episodes on the way after this bit of news???...only we can hope ~_~) . The manga will conclude with 558 chapters!

Like DBZ long before it, I feel a bit saddened that an anime legend will come to an end but again, lets hope the anime gets back to where it left off.

You can view my Inuyasha section here to see pics and other stuff from the anime and a bit from the manga (yes more needs to be added to this dusty part of my site ^^)


-Thanks to Danny Choo User xorsyst for spilling the beans on this one. --- ## 2 New Blogs! Anime.fm and ChuckGaffney Blog - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-08-2-new-blogs-animefm-and-chuckgaffney/ - Date: 2008-06-08 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no I've been coding all day in this heat we are having in New York but I'm feeling better now that I'm done with the completion of 2 Blogs. The first being the blog for Anime.fm. I... I've been coding all day in this heat we are having in New York but I'm feeling better now that I'm done with the completion of 2 Blogs. The first being the blog for Anime.fm. I wanted a way to update people on any additions to the playlists and maybe throw in some j-pop and anime music news as I get it. The blog is integrated right into the main page so you can keep your music running as you read the latest blog entry. Don't forget the FeedRoll I got under it that shows the latest posts from other anime blog sites, too.

I also added my own personal blog on my originally dormant charlesgaffney.com website. I'll rant about otaku stuff to but I also wanted to talk about other topics that would have messed up the content on this very blog if I was to talk about them here. For the most part now its just adding posts ^_^. --- ## Death Note Movie Gets 65,000 Viewers In US Theaters - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-04-death-note-movie-gets-65000-viewers-in/ - Date: 2008-06-04 - Tags: anime, death note - AI-assisted: no To not much of a surprise, it seems that the live action version of Death Note is gaining some ground here in the US. Recently 300 theaters throughout the country showed for a f... To not much of a surprise, it seems that the live action version of Death Note is gaining some ground here in the US. Recently 300 theaters throughout the country showed for a few days the first movie of the three already made to date. A total of 65,000+ viewers came to watch as per The Varity Japan and Anime News Network. This was so much great news for the series that as now the second movie will also get the same treatment in the coming months and be sent out to limited theaters again.

In a related note, the Bleach 1st Movie is currently being shown in the theaters and I won't put it past them that that one will also get record viewings for its limited showing.

Yet more proof that anime is strong and continuing to grow in America. Plus, I'm pretty certain that in the near future we will see more anime shown in ALL theaters; not just these limited showings. (Much like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle was.) --- ## Anime.fm Completed - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-06-01-animefm-completed/ - Date: 2008-06-01 - Tags: anime.fm, music, updates - AI-assisted: no In a previous post I mentioned that I got anime.fm up and running. As of today I finished getting all the play-lists and other features on there. Of course there is always more ... 
In a previous post I mentioned that I got anime.fm up and running.
As of today I finished getting all the play-lists and other features on there.
Of course there is always more to add but I can finally say I have an operational website.
Hope you all enjoy ^_^
--- ## PSP Makes Use of DualShock Controller - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-30-psp-makes-use-of-dualshock-controller/ - Date: 2008-05-30 - Tags: gadgets, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no It would have been cool if I had this when I played through Crisis Core. Awsome hack by Acidmods member Blizzrad that makes it so he can play any game on the PSP with a DualShoc... It would have been cool if I had this when I played through Crisis Core. Awsome hack by Acidmods member Blizzrad that makes it so he can play any game on the PSP with a DualShock Controller. Image and story via Engadget. --- ## Anime.FM is Up and Running! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-27-animefm-is-up-and-running/ - Date: 2008-05-27 - Tags: anime.fm, updates - AI-assisted: no Anime.FM is finally up and running! It is still not 100% completed but it will be in the next week or so with updates and add-ons almost daily. Originally I wasn't going to have...
Anime.FM is finally up and running! It is still not 100% completed but it will be in the next week or so with updates and add-ons almost daily. Originally I wasn't going to have music on there due to the whole bandwidth issue that hurt the original Anime.fm and the legal issues too.

Thankfully I used the help of playlist.com and I have already set up a few play-lists. The Anime play list is currently on there as of this post date. Most of the music is streaming from the artist or label's promo sites with links to them and even Amazon.com links so this will hopefully aid the anime music industry at the same time getting what many online are looking for, free music. My store also has anime music CDs so you can support your favorite anime artist there too.

My goal with the site was to have it as a streaming anime news and blogroll center...which it will be,too. Chuck's Anime Shrine will continue be what it was intended to be.. a shrine; so expect more image galleries and other static info. This blog and the upcoming anime.fm blog will keep you up to date with all the new anime info of course.
Hopefully as my job becomes more and more of a part time thing, these updates will be more frequent.

*The image for the banner of anime.fm was from the cute "anime music" picture done by Jorge Chang.* --- ## Blogger Clogger is Finally Gone; CAS Blog is Back - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-26-blogger-clogger-is-finally-gone-cas/ - Date: 2008-05-26 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Looks as if Blogger finally fixed its major, major FTP issue that it has had for almost a week now, hence the name "Blogger Clogger". This is why no posts were published at all ...


Looks as if Blogger finally fixed its major, major FTP issue that it has had for almost a week now, hence the name "Blogger Clogger". This is why no posts were published at all in that time. Just in the nick of time too since I need to finally reveal the first look at the new anime.fm site in the coming week. Above is again some reaction to the blog being down. --- ## Shunya Yamashita Mirei-san Bust - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-26-shunya-yamashita-mirei-san-bust-26/ - Date: 2008-05-26 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Yes the lovely Mirei-san figure is back. This time as a cute bust figure. Of all the Yamashita characters and figures, Mirei is my top favorite. I already have the now discontin...
Yes the lovely Mirei-san figure is back. This time as a cute bust figure. Of all the Yamashita characters and figures, Mirei is my top favorite. I already have the now discontinued one of her in a chair sitting at my desk. This one will go perfect on the other side of the desk. I know some of you don;t like that she has no legs but I really dont mind for this one. If this one is up to par as the other one, which I'm sure Kotobukyia will make it, she will look identical to the original picture, which as you can see is Shunya Yamashita's work at its best. She will cost though a little over $100 or 10,200 yen and she won't be out in Japan until September 08 so an x-mas appearance here in the states is highly unlikely. I'll post a pre-order link for my store here or on a future post the instant I can grab a lot full of them.

Via DannyChoo.com --- ## To Heart 2: Sasara Kusugawa Swimsuit w/ Maid Outfit Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-26-to-heart-2-sasara-kusugawa-swimsuit-w/ - Date: 2008-05-26 - Tags: anime figures, figures, To Heart - AI-assisted: no If you are a fan of the To Heart series, you might like this one figure that recently went up for pre-order along with a nice batch of other figures including my to wish-list fi... If you are a fan of the To Heart series, you might like this one figure that recently went up for pre-order along with a nice batch of other figures including my to wish-list figure, Beat Blades Haruka. This one is of Sasara Kusugawa in both a loli maid outfit and a swimsuit. The To Heart series does have a nice lot of figures and almost all seem to look great; this one is no exception. Made by Griffon, she won't be a available till late November here in the states and will run you about $75. Chances are I will add this one to my growing collection. I might need some more shelf space soon the way things are going ^ ^;; --- ## Long Island, USAs 51st State? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-18-long-island-usas-51st-state/ - Date: 2008-05-18 - Tags: other, US News - AI-assisted: no I know, not exactly an otaku topic but being that I live on Long Island I just had to write about this. Many people know that the New York State government has been anything but... I know, not exactly an otaku topic but being that I live on Long Island I just had to write about this. Many people know that the New York State government has been anything but reliable. From the new Amazon tax, the scandals, overpaid Suffolk Police, gambling Fire Districts, overtaxed towns due to school money mismanagement; Long Island has alot of garbage to deal with. Add the failing US economy and falling dollar, unless you make 90k+ running your own business, most people are simply leaving the island. The lack of elderly and young people on the island has prompted some groups to help keep people here but as schools continue to teach people to be a bunch of cubical-slaves in a fixed and shaky $40k(maybe) 9-5 job, don't expect that to happen all too soon.
The newest plan to help Long Island is to actually turn it into the 51st state. This might seem like something rather shocking but its not far off from impossible. Suffolk County Comptroller, Joseph Sawicki stated the very reasons for this on News 12 just a few days ago. This isn't some internet hype, Long Island wants to break from New York State! Sawicki stated that of the $8 Billion Long Island sends to Albany, $3 Billion never comes back to us. Breaking free from New York State would most likely solve a bunch of issues. Many people here at a least in Nassau and Suffolk County usually say we are on Long Island and not in New York when we talk to out-of-towners.
Financially speaking, Long Island would benefit from it but don't expect Albany to give up their cash cow all too easily. It legally can happen since LI has 2.8 million people making it the 19th largest state if this happens. Of course, this is by far an issue that the Supreme Court will have to deal with.

In the picture above you can see the proposed Long Island State Flag with the four stars representing Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk Counties and the forked strip representing the two forks of the island in LI's dull orange and blue colors. Below is a map of Long Island so to answer the common question. "Where the hell is Long Island?" Official story on News 12 here.

--- ## The Gackt, FFVII Genesis Connection - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-17-gackt-ffvii-genesis-connection/ - Date: 2008-05-17 - Tags: final fantasy VII, otaku, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no For any otaku who didn't know, Japanese music artist Gackt is in fact Genesis from FFVII Dirge of Cerberus and the recent Crisis Core game. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura is ... For any otaku who didn't know, Japanese music artist Gackt is in fact Genesis from FFVII Dirge of Cerberus and the recent Crisis Core game. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura is a big fan of his work and had him create his song "Redemption" for Dirge of Cerberus. If I'm not mistaken, Gackt even did the Japanese voice for Genesis in Crisis Core. It is also rumored that FFVIII's Squall was also based on Gackt. It'll be great to see him again when Square-Enix makes the next installment in the Complilation of FFVII series.

I also attached the Redemption video for you all to see.

--- ## Honda's ASIMO Robot Conducts the Detroit Symphony - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-16-hondas-asimo-robot-conducts-detroit/ - Date: 2008-05-16 - Tags: gadgets - AI-assisted: no That little Japanese robot keeps amusing. Check out the whole story here on CNN . I find ASIMO really cool and proof that Japan will come up with simply the best robots for the ... That little Japanese robot keeps amusing. Check out the whole story here on CNN. I find ASIMO really cool and proof that Japan will come up with simply the best robots for the future. --- ## Ghost In The Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG Motoko Kusanagi 1/7 Scale PVC - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-15-ghost-in-shell-sac-2nd-gig-motoko/ - Date: 2008-05-15 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Ghost In The Shell - AI-assisted: no Finally out in the states is Alter and Vice's Motoko Kusanagi figure. This 1/7 scale figure really looks identical to Motoko in Ghost In The Shell 2nd GIG. Runs about $80 though... Finally out in the states is Alter and Vice's Motoko Kusanagi figure. This 1/7 scale figure really looks identical to Motoko in Ghost In The Shell 2nd GIG. Runs about $80 though but I wouldn't mind having it in my collection. Here's her offical description:

"Major "Motoko Kusanagi" is a fictional Japanese character in Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell anime and manga series. She is a cyborg in the employ of 'Public Security Section 9', a fictional division of the real Japanese National Public Safety Commission, as the squad leader. 'Motoko Kusanagi' is a 1/7 scale (8 1/2" tall) PVC figure and comes in a window box with a custom base for display. This is the first collaboration project between the well known production company, 'Alter' and "Vice.'" --- ## Popopure Maid Cafe Lets You Dub Anime - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-14-popopure-maid-caf-lets-you-dub-anime/ - Date: 2008-05-14 - Tags: japan, otaku - AI-assisted: no Many have heard of the Maid Cafes in the otaku shopping district of Akihabara but none like this. Popopure Cafe has food served to hungry otaku by cute little maids but while yo... Many have heard of the Maid Cafes in the otaku shopping district of Akihabara but none like this. Popopure Cafe has food served to hungry otaku by cute little maids but while you chow down on some yummy food, you might notice their big 50" TV with non-stop anime and the assorted anime framed pictures. Definitely artwork you'd rather view compared to the weird European "what-the-hell-am-I-looking-at" so-called artwork littered in the diners and restaurants here.
These items are normal in all Maid Cafes except here you can dub your own scenes in an anime.! The name of the anime is "Popo no Bōken" (The Adventures of Popo). Yes, funny name but an awesome idea. It's for only a few minutes and the anime has three character roles to fill in. If there are not enough people with you to play the parts, the maids will take the roles. After you finish dubbing, they give you a complementary DVD with all your performances.
Yet again, more otaku news that makes me wish I was not living in New York.

Via Anime News Network. --- ## First Picture of Justin Chatwin as Goku - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-12-first-picture-of-justin-chatwin-as-goku/ - Date: 2008-05-12 - Tags: anime, dragon ball, dragon ball movie, otaku - AI-assisted: no Well, here it is..the first picture of Justin Chatwin as Goku. I don't know what to say about the Live action DBZ movie in the works... I really hope it doesn't suck. Thanks to ...
Well, here it is..the first picture of Justin Chatwin as Goku. I don't know what to say about the Live action DBZ movie in the works... I really hope it doesn't suck.

Thanks to Anime News Network. --- ## Gundam SEED Destiny 2: Lunamaria Hawke Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-11-gundam-seed-destiny-2-lunamaria-hawke/ - Date: 2008-05-11 - Tags: anime figures, figures, gundam - AI-assisted: no Here's another Gundam figure that came out last week. This is one for the sexy anime girl fans and gundam fans alike. This figure of Lunamaria Hawke from Gundam Seed is part of ...

Here's another Gundam figure that came out last week. This is one for the sexy anime girl fans and gundam fans alike. This figure of Lunamaria Hawke from Gundam Seed is part of Bandai's Excellent Model series and as the name states, its an excellent figure. It's a 1/8th scale figure so it stands roughly 5-6 inches tall. I might add this one to my collection as well. Didn't think Bandai did the whole cute anime girl thing but they do and like the Gundam figures, they do it well. --- ## Sengoku Rance: Suzume 1/8 Scale PVC Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-10-sengoku-rance-suzume-18-scale-pvc/ - Date: 2008-05-10 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no Not too long ago, this simply gorgeous figure of Sengoku Rance's Suzume went for pre-order and she is definitely going to be part of my personal collection. Made by the masters ... Not too long ago, this simply gorgeous figure of Sengoku Rance's Suzume went for pre-order and she is definitely going to be part of my personal collection. Made by the masters at Kotobukiya, this 1/8 scale figure also is a bit of a cast-off too. Won't be out in the US till late October so I guess I got myself an early birthday present. Check out the pics below and you'll see why this figure is a must have. --- ## Gundam 00: Fix Figuration Exia Gundam Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-09-gundam-00-fix-figuration-exia-gundam/ - Date: 2008-05-09 - Tags: anime figures, figures, gundam - AI-assisted: no Just released last week in the US is this Exia Gundam by Bandai. This work of art is a 1/144th scale figure of the famous Gundam from Japan's top series as of this posting date.... Just released last week in the US is this Exia Gundam by Bandai. This work of art is a 1/144th scale figure of the famous Gundam from Japan's top series as of this posting date. Like others in this Bandai line figures, you also get different weapon and hand configurations to pose the gundam in lots of cool ways. Not bad for a $40 Gundam. --- ## Next Mortal Kombat to Feature Batman and Superman? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-09-next-mortal-kombat-to-feature-batman/ - Date: 2008-05-09 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no This looks pretty kool actually. Ed Boon, creator of the Mortal Kombat series recently showed that one of the changes in the series will be to have Batman and Superman in the ne...
This looks pretty kool actually. Ed Boon, creator of the Mortal Kombat series recently showed that one of the changes in the series will be to have Batman and Superman in the next game. I would assume this is to compete with Soul Calibur 4's inclusion of Yoda and Darth Vader. Don't expect to do any fatalities though since they might not have them!!!
...Damn, looks like I won't have the honor of decapitating Superman with Scorpion and hear the words "You Suck!"

Check out the interview with Ed Boon on CNN. --- ## Sony-Created Fuel Cell - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-09-sony-created-fuel-cell/ - Date: 2008-05-09 - Tags: gadgets - AI-assisted: no Looks as if Sony has created a fuel cell system that is currently still in the prototype phase but looks very promising for future mobile devices. Check out more of this at Enga... Looks as if Sony has created a fuel cell system that is currently still in the prototype phase but looks very promising for future mobile devices. Check out more of this at Engadget. --- ## Japan's Child Population Low 27th Year Straight - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-08-japans-child-population-low-27th-year/ - Date: 2008-05-08 - Tags: japan, money - AI-assisted: no As per breitbart.com , for the 27th year in a row, Japan's population younger than 14 years old is very very low. The site mentions a total of young kids is only about 15 millio...
As per breitbart.com, for the 27th year in a row, Japan's population younger than 14 years old is very very low. The site mentions a total of young kids is only about 15 million throughout the entire country. This is mainly due to people just being too darn busy with their lives for relationships and child bearing. We see it here in America too. The baby boomers are far more in size than generation X's which are more than people like me in generation Y and so on to the Milleniols (kids born 2000 and later). Cost of living has gone up and unfortunately school teachers and colleges only teach people to end up in so called "good jobs" which sad to say is a failing system since there are only 24 hours in a day to make money. I'm not saying don't go to college but don't stop at getting a job. Getting a good job is only the first of four steps. School barely mentions step 2 which is to run your own company. Step 3 and 4 (having your company work for you, then having your money work for you whether you are there or not) are not even hinted at in even the highest business colleges while the wealthiest people in the world who actually do those steps never finished or stepped foot in college! People need to own their life back or continue to work so hard they can't have a family or life anymore. I'd rather sit an watch anime with my future kids than worrying if my boss will fire me today. The low child population in the US will destroy Medicare and Social Security and I don't even want to know what will happen to Japan if this continues.
Don't mean to be so negative in this post but I feel I got to say something because my companies are bringing back my family time and money while phasing out my job. Being an A student all my life, I feel I was scammed into an out of date and failed system that sadly is still seen as the status-quo. --- ## 6.8 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Tokyo - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-07-68-magnitude-earthquake-rattles-tokyo/ - Date: 2008-05-07 - Tags: japan, world news - AI-assisted: no Earlier in the day there was a 6.8 Magnitude Earthquake that rattled parts of Tokyo. Luckily the quake was centered 100 miles off the coast but it a few people got hurt from fal... Earlier in the day there was a 6.8 Magnitude Earthquake that rattled parts of Tokyo. Luckily the quake was centered 100 miles off the coast but it a few people got hurt from falling furniture. A 5.3 magnitude aftershock also occurred not too long after. Check out the full story via CNN. Hope my fiancee's aunt, uncle and cousins are ok. Any accounts or other info you can comment below. --- ## AT&T & Starbucks Delete Their Free Internet for iPhoners - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-07-at-starbucks-delete-their-free-internet/ - Date: 2008-05-07 - Tags: gadgets, iphone - AI-assisted: no In not so shocking news, AT&T cut their free wireless internet service they had for their iPhone customers. It apparently was easy to hack into if you knew a friend's iPhone...
In not so shocking news, AT&T cut their free wireless internet service they had for their iPhone customers. It apparently was easy to hack into if you knew a friend's iPhone number. The phone companies won't be able to stop the future when everything everywhere is wireless. Europe is already leagues ahead of the us with this. I feel in the next decade we will look back at our old phone rates and laugh at why we paid so much for so little, much like how we now can laugh at AOL's old CDs granting you 600 hours online. More info and picture thanks to gizmodo. --- ## Great Anime Gifs Site - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-07-great-anime-gifs-site/ - Date: 2008-05-07 - Tags: anime, anime gifs, updates - AI-assisted: no Ever look at the bottom right of my pages and wonder what those little anime clips are? Well back when I first started the site back in 2002 I had them on the top left as just s... Ever look at the bottom right of my pages and wonder what those little anime clips are? Well back when I first started the site back in 2002 I had them on the top left as just some amusement. I kept them on there because, well, I like them. Every time you refresh you'll see a different anime gif. I added a few more to the mix not to long ago so I hope you like them. Many people use them as their avatars on the forums and blogs so snag use them if you'd like. A great site for a whole slew of them is at otakugifs.com. I also would like to make a section full of them too, but until then, I recommend checking out that site. Once I fix the blog to show user's avatars in the comments, I'll hopefuly be able to see some interesting ones. --- ## Candy Boy Romantic Anime Now Streaming Online - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-06-candy-boy-romantic-anime-now-streaming/ - Date: 2008-05-06 - Tags: anime, candy boy - AI-assisted: no If anyone hasn't gotten a chance to see some of this new anime, take a look at the clip below. Candy Boy is another romantic school comedy centering around twin sisters Kanade a... If anyone hasn't gotten a chance to see some of this new anime, take a look at the clip below. Candy Boy is another romantic school comedy centering around twin sisters Kanade and Yukino Sakurai. Just after watching the first few clips I started to get hooked. Some people are getting their panties in a bundle over the fact that there is a slight bit of comedic incest and lesbianism. If you take it for face value and drop the religious idiocies, this series is a pleasure to watch. As per Anime News Network, the site, Nico Nico Douga started also streaming some clips of it.




--- ## Crunchyroll to Host Anime Innovation Tokyo Works - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-05-crunchyroll-to-host-anime-innovation/ - Date: 2008-05-05 - Tags: anime - AI-assisted: no This is great news on many levels. First off is that the Anime Innovation Tokyo event is coming soon. It's an event held by both THINK (Neko Rahmen, Synthesisa) and Tokyo Metrop... This is great news on many levels. First off is that the Anime Innovation Tokyo event is coming soon. It's an event held by both THINK (Neko Rahmen, Synthesisa) and Tokyo Metropolitan Government that allows new talent in the anime world to be seen. Secondly, THINK is letting Crunchyroll.com host the event online. If some of you didn't know, crunchyroll used to get a bad rap like many of us that stream anime content online. To see them work with the industry this close comes to show that anime sites like here at Chuck's Anime Shrine and others are now finally being seen by the industry as viable sources of free advertisement that help grow the anime business, not hurt it as they originally thought. In other words, AMV creators can feel a bit less criminal since they are exposing great anime to fans without the companies spending a dime. Now as for the music industry getting into the 21st century...that's another story.

Thanks to Anime News Network for the info. --- ## Macgyver Film In the Works - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-05-macgyver-film-in-works/ - Date: 2008-05-05 - Tags: other - AI-assisted: no Back in the late 80's when I was no more than 7 years old, Macgyver, was one of the shows I used to watch in-between Atari 2600 and NES sessions. I do remember there being a ful...
Back in the late 80's when I was no more than 7 years old, Macgyver, was one of the shows I used to watch in-between Atari 2600 and NES sessions. I do remember there being a full length feature back in the day but it looks like there actually will be a high budget movie in the next year or so. It would be cool to see Richard Dean Anderson play the part again after all these years.
For those of you that might not be old enough to remember this show; it was joked about briefly in Family Guy with Peter giving Anderson a letter with a paper clip straw and a rubber band. More on gizmodo.

(For anime fans who might be confused, this is in no relation to the anime, The Guyver) --- ## Viz and Naruto Mangas Top Sales in The US - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-05-viz-and-naruto-mangas-top-sales-in-us/ - Date: 2008-05-05 - Tags: anime - AI-assisted: no Kudos to Viz for nabbing 16 of the top 20 spots for the sales of manga in the US. No surprise Naruto being the top seller. The manga is leagues ahead in the story (and less chil... Kudos to Viz for nabbing 16 of the top 20 spots for the sales of manga in the US. No surprise Naruto being the top seller. The manga is leagues ahead in the story (and less childish) than the edited episodes being played on Cartoon Network which can somewhat explain the spike in sales. For us hard core fans its a bit annoying to wait so long for the episodes to match up with the manga, but in the end its great business for their creators. At least there are uncut English versions of Naruto on DVD. Companies here finally realize the grave mistakes that they did when they watered down great anime in the past like DBZ, Sailor Moon and more recently One Piece. Check more out at Anime News Network. Above you can see the Naruto Shadow Box Manga set. This crazy bundle includes 27 books..lots of reading indeed. --- ## End of April 08 Anime DVD Rankings - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-04-end-of-april-08-anime-dvd-rankings/ - Date: 2008-05-04 - Tags: anime - AI-assisted: no Check out the recent list of top anime DVDs at Anime News Network . Looks as if Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone took the top spot with Mobile Suit Gundam 00 taking second pl... Check out the recent list of top anime DVDs at Anime News Network. Looks as if Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone took the top spot with Mobile Suit Gundam 00 taking second place. Some other titles on the list include the Naruto Shippuden movie which of course none of the series is here yet in America. Cartoon Network is still airing the filler episodes before Shippuden unless I'm mistaken. --- ## Haruhi Suzumiya: Figma Mikuru Asahina Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-04-haruhi-suzumiya-figma-mikuru-asahina/ - Date: 2008-05-04 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Haruhi Suzumiya - AI-assisted: no If you thought the Yuki Nagato Figma figure was great, here's some pics of my personal favorite of the three Suzumiya girls, Mikuru. the figure I believe is already out in Japan...
If you thought the Yuki Nagato Figma figure was great, here's some pics of my personal favorite of the three Suzumiya girls, Mikuru. the figure I believe is already out in Japan or going to be in the next month or so. Here in the states though we have to wait till August or September. The Figma figures are just great the way they can be posed in many different cool poses. Even funnier when you pair them up with the other figures as you can see with Mikuru. She's definitely being added to my computer desktop here.
--- ## Xbox 360 Blu-ray Coming in September 08 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-04-xbox-360-blu-ray-coming-in-september-08/ - Date: 2008-05-04 - Tags: gadgets, videogames - AI-assisted: no Since the HD DVD wars are over with Sony being the obvious winner, Microsoft will be coming out with a Blu-ray integrated Xbox 360. This might make the videogame wars a bit inte... Since the HD DVD wars are over with Sony being the obvious winner, Microsoft will be coming out with a Blu-ray integrated Xbox 360. This might make the videogame wars a bit interesting.. well the battle between Xbox 360 and PS3. Sony wins both ways though since Blu-ray is their technology. I still like my xbox 360 the way it is. I'll have a PS3 soon anyways so my Blu-ray needs will be taken care of. Of course this is great news for anyone without a 360. More on Engadget. --- ## Final Fantasy IV Sequel: The After: Return of the Moon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-03-final-fantasy-iv-sequel-after-return-of/ - Date: 2008-05-03 - Tags: final fantasy, videogames - AI-assisted: no You're not reading the title wrong. There is currently a sequel to Final Fantasy IV. Here's the catch though...its only in Japan. Despite an expected huge surge of sales current... You're not reading the title wrong. There is currently a sequel to Final Fantasy IV. Here's the catch though...its only in Japan. Despite an expected huge surge of sales currently in Japan; Square-Enix is most likely not going to release it here in the states. Would love to see it here but I'll admit I need to play IV first then this one. The story revolves around the son of Cecil and Rosa, Ceodore. More at Square Enix.

--- ## Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One; For the DS - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-05-03-valkyrie-profile-accused-one-for-ds/ - Date: 2008-05-03 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no If you are like me and are a fan of Valkyrie Profile; you'll be glad to hear that there is going to be one made for the Nintendo DS. The title for this one I believe is "The Acc...
If you are like me and are a fan of Valkyrie Profile; you'll be glad to hear that there is going to be one made for the Nintendo DS. The title for this one I believe is "The Accused One" Square-Enix provided a page for it here. As of this posting, the trailer is there but there will be more added. Can't wait. --- ## Ikki Tousen: Cerberus Ryomou Shimei Black Maid Outfit - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-29-ikki-tousen-cerberus-ryomou-shimei/ - Date: 2008-04-29 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Ikkitousen - AI-assisted: no Uart does an amazing job with this 1/7th scale figure of Ryomou Shimei. Scheduled to arrive at my dealer's on Friday, I'll probably snag a few of them. Hopefully the paint job o...
Uart does an amazing job with this 1/7th scale figure of Ryomou Shimei. Scheduled to arrive at my dealer's on Friday, I'll probably snag a few of them. Hopefully the paint job on the mass productions are just as good looking as the pics here. Uart has a good track record and their figures tend to be just as good as Good Smile Company's. She'll probably go right next to my Fighting Sonsaku piece. --- ## Second Generation 3G iPhone - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-29-second-generation-3g-iphone/ - Date: 2008-04-29 - Tags: gadgets, iphone - AI-assisted: no Looks as if the 3G iPhone is only a few months away from being in the stores. Not only will i be 3G but its GPS will be better and also looks like Apple dropped the whole metal ... Looks as if the 3G iPhone is only a few months away from being in the stores. Not only will i be 3G but its GPS will be better and also looks like Apple dropped the whole metal back thing. I guess I'm glad I have yet to buy an iPhone. Check out its specs at Engadget. (Picture also thanks to Engadget) --- ## Playstation 3 Laptop - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-28-playstation-3-laptop/ - Date: 2008-04-28 - Tags: gadgets, videogames - AI-assisted: no In case you haven't already heard; expert computer engineer Ben Heck created a laptop made out of a Playstation 3 unit. Lots of work was obviously put into it. Weighs over 16 po... In case you haven't already heard; expert computer engineer Ben Heck created a laptop made out of a Playstation 3 unit. Lots of work was obviously put into it. Weighs over 16 pounds so it might be a bit tough to carry around. Check out more of this masterpiece in computer moding here at the Engadget page. Also check Ben's site for more of his work. --- ## Vocaloid: Miku Hatsune 1/8 Scale PVC Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-28-vocaloid-miku-hatsune-18-scale-pvc/ - Date: 2008-04-28 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Miku Hatsune - AI-assisted: no Set to arrive in the US in November 08 is the beautiful Miku Hatsune figure by none other than Good Smile Company. If I'm not mistaken, pre-orders of this figure in japan has so...

Set to arrive in the US in November 08 is the beautiful Miku Hatsune figure by none other than Good Smile Company. If I'm not mistaken, pre-orders of this figure in japan has sold out and for all good reason. Miku is at the moment one of the most popular anime characters in Japan and she's found in many different commercials, specials and the like. Provided are some images from my product dealer. I'll be sure to keep one for my self along with the Nendoroid version too ^_^.

--- ## Improved Site Look And Feel - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-27-improved-site-look-and-feel/ - Date: 2008-04-27 - Tags: chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no A quick look at the site and you can easily see there has been some changes. Gone are the boxes that showed up mainly due to Dreamweaver table glitches and incompatibility betwe...


A quick look at the site and you can easily see there has been some changes. Gone are the boxes that showed up mainly due to Dreamweaver table glitches and incompatibility between the major browsers. Hopefully now the site looks better on your computer. Most people have a 1024 x 768 resolution so if you have that or larger, the site should be much less cluttered and should fit well on the screen. Sorry if you have a 800x600 screen resolution, you'll have to side scroll a bit but with that resolution or lower I doubt you don't do that for many sites. If you use firefox or IE the site now will look almost 100% identical in both browsers which is not always an easy task.
Hope you guys like it ^_^ Now that the template is more cleaned up, updates and new sections will be even more of a breeze.

--- ## New York's Amazon Tax Law & Other Tidbits - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-24-new-yorks-amazon-tax-law-other-tidbits/ - Date: 2008-04-24 - Tags: internet retail, money, other, US News - AI-assisted: no Here's yet another kind of off-topic item but I'll mention the Anime Store's connection in a bit, plus it has a bit to do with me of all people...well sort of. If you are in the...


Here's yet another kind of off-topic item but I'll mention the Anime Store's connection in a bit, plus it has a bit to do with me of all people...well sort of. If you are in the US, you might have heard about the "Amazon Tax". New York State just passed a law that it now has outside retailers charge sales tax to customers in New York state so that they then pay New York for the transactions. Basically, New Yorkers are being forced to shop locally or be taxed. This law is a complete violation of a Supreme Court ruling so we'll see where it goes. The ruling has caused discussion on the local news at News 12 here on Long Island and one of the key speakers is actually my boss in my part-time job. You can see a mug shot of me here at the company's site which I am sadly the webmaster of!! The only reason I say "sadly" is that I have tried to fix the site's 1997 look but office politics prevent me to do so and the site is shown a number of times through-out the talk ~_~;;;
The company I work for has been in business on Long Island for 54 years so they benefit from this new tax law. The anime store here does too, but I honestly feel that New York is overstepping their grounds. If the video of the live talk goes on youtube, you'll see it below.

(I promise, you will see some anime girls and stuff in the upcoming blog posts. ^ ^;) --- ## Al Qaeda Wants to Attack Japan; Otaku, Get Your Katanas Ready - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-23-al-qaeda-wants-to-attack-japan-otaku/ - Date: 2008-04-23 - Tags: al qaeda, japan, world news - AI-assisted: no Check out this bit of news straight from CNN . Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's 2nd religious idiot in command just stated how they are yet again going to attack the west. We heard...


Check out this bit of news straight from CNN. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's 2nd religious idiot in command just stated how they are yet again going to attack the west. We heard this numerous times by Al Qaeda but now they are putting Japan in the mix. As both a New Yorker and an Otaku, I'd like to frankly say I'm pissed. I was in my senior year in high school when 9-11 happened and many of my friends lost lots of family members. This blog gets high up in the search engines so if any one of you religious low-lives in Al Qaeda wants a piece of me, I'll gladly fight ~_~.
Most of us otaku have something that many overly religious people of all religious background lack... common sense. For thousands of years too many have lost their lives to evil organizations like Al Qaeda and other religious nuts just because they want to prove their imaginary guy in the sky is less fake than another imaginary guy in the sky.
Of course we all doubt Al Qaeda will do anything since the whole world has their eyes on them but I would love to see a youtube clip of one of them getting beaten by an otaku or just any random person in Japan or here in the US... if they try.

(Pardon the rather strong message in this post. I will be back for more cute anime girl figures and other cool stuff ^ ^;) --- ## Beat Blades Haruka Takamori 1/8 Scale PVC Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-12-beat-blades-haruka-takamori-18-scale-11/ - Date: 2008-04-12 - Tags: anime figures, Beat Blades, figures, Haruka Takamori - AI-assisted: no Check out this 1/8 scale figure of Haruka Takamori from the hit adult series, Beat Blades Haruka aka Choukousennin Haruka. This one is created by Alter and will run you about $8...

Check out this 1/8 scale figure of Haruka Takamori from the hit adult series, Beat Blades Haruka aka Choukousennin Haruka. This one is created by Alter and will run you about $85. For us here in the states, unless you buy from overseas, it won't be here till late October. I too would love to add in in my own personal collection. It's just beautiful and I guess I can wait. I will be putting it in the store for pre-orders if you are interested. For now, just oogle over these pics.



--- ## Mini SNES Papercraft - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-10-mini-snes-papercraft/ - Date: 2008-04-10 - Tags: papercraft, snes, videogames - AI-assisted: no Check out this little SNES and controllers all made from paper! Must have taken some time to do. I still have my SNES in my closet ready to use when I set up my huge entertainme...


Check out this little SNES and controllers all made from paper! Must have taken some time to do. I still have my SNES in my closet ready to use when I set up my huge entertainment center. sure do miss playing games like Final Fantasy VI, Legend of Zelda, Link to The Past and Super Mario Kart.

Story and image thanks to Engadget. --- ## Anime Blog Updates To Come + More Anime.fm - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-07-anime-blog-updates-to-come-more-animefm/ - Date: 2008-04-07 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Blogger recently started working on scheduled blogs so hopefully if you are reading this, it worked! Anyways, I'll use this time to state that things are going well with the new... Blogger recently started working on scheduled blogs so hopefully if you are reading this, it worked!
Anyways, I'll use this time to state that things are going well with the new anime.fm account. Currently working on making that site fun with hopefully something different than what is out there blog-wise. The old site was a radio station but I'll admit it won't start out as that. It might take longer than next month for it to be up but I'll have something ready by then.

As for this blog, more face-lifting is needed to make it flow better. In my option it looks a bit bunched together and these darn html tables look different in the different browsers. --- ## Gamer Vitamins - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-07-gamer-vitamins/ - Date: 2008-04-07 - Tags: japan, videogames, vitamins - AI-assisted: no Here's some interesting items to come out of Japan. I got a good laugh at this since I run a vitamin distribution business and I'm a gamer. Cybergadget just came out with vitami...

Here's some interesting items to come out of Japan. I got a good laugh at this since I run a vitamin distribution business and I'm a gamer. Cybergadget just came out with vitamins for the gaming community shaped like memory cards called Game Sapuri. From the image you can see two different supplements. One is a blueberry supplement which is the highest source of antioxidants and a ton of other benefits while the second one is DHA, which is omega 3 fish oils which are great for brain function and blood flow in which we gamers do need a bunch.

Info thanks to dannychoo.com and cybergadget. --- ## Game Review: Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-06-game-review-final-fantasy-vii-crisis/ - Date: 2008-04-06 - Tags: crisis core, final fantasy VII, game reviews, videogames - AI-assisted: no As promised I created a full review of Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core. To prevent this blog entry from being to large I placed it here and also on my forum for further discussion...


As promised I created a full review of Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core. To prevent this blog entry from being to large I placed it here and also on my forum for further discussion. You can also rate it here on helium.com. Enjoy this game for it's an experience all right.
--- ## Chucks Anime Shrine Aquires Anime.fm - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-04-03-chucks-anime-shrine-aquires-animefm/ - Date: 2008-04-03 - Tags: anime, anime.fm, chucksanimeshrine, updates - AI-assisted: no No, this is not a late April fools joke. As of today I purchased the domain rights and the space for anime.fm . This site used to be an anime radio station but as one can expect...


No, this is not a late April fools joke. As of today I purchased the domain rights and the space for anime.fm. This site used to be an anime radio station but as one can expect, the bandwidth charges got too much for the former owner. Back before youtube and animemusicvideos.org when Chucks Anime Shrine was one of the very few places you would find amvs, I almost suffered the same fate. As much as I loved that everyone enjoyed our music videos, many people placed them in their forums, on the signatures in their forums and on their xanga (pre-myspace) page. Of course much has changed since 2003 and now web convergence, blogs, rss feeds and streams is the name of the game. The main goal for anime.fm is to make it an anime blog central location linking many anime blogs and the like and yes eventually as the site matures (and after making all the correct legal actions), I do wish to have streaming music from anime and video game titles.
If anyone has any ideas for the new site please pass them over to me. As for past fans of anime.fm, hopefully it is of some relief that an anime fan and site owner took over the site. Too many times I see sites get taken over by some loser domain purchaser who just turns the site into a bland sea of links that are nothing but google adsense links in order to profit from every click on the site. Misspell any popular site and you'll know what I mean.

(I'll also make sure to get a better logo soon too) --- ## The Sushi Diet - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-31-sushi-diet/ - Date: 2008-03-31 - Tags: japan, other, sushi - AI-assisted: no For the past few weeks I've improved my health by switching to an almost all sushi diet. There are three reasons why I did this. One, like any otaku I'm crazy for anything Japan...


For the past few weeks I've improved my health by switching to an almost all sushi diet. There are three reasons why I did this. One, like any otaku I'm crazy for anything Japan related; two, I'll be marrying into a Japanese family so I better get to like it and three, I needed to improve my diet. For at least a year now I've been getting recurring migraine headaches. This is due to the stress of still having a mindless boss over me (but not for long ^_^) and due to past abuses to my body with all the places people had me travel to while working a mindless job. I got into the nasty habit that many American's get into in which we eat only one or two times in the day and almost all of it is fast food. First off, I never got fat thankfully. My genes apparently blessed me with hyper metabolism but that didn't stop symptoms like fatigue, headache and overall sick feeling. I do own a health company so I use the vitamins and very healthy sugar-free anime-style energy drinks. These do help but my main meals were few and contradicted the very healthy stuff I was putting into my body. Subway was a bit of help but still not enough. Then three weeks ago I started to buy sushi from the local restaurant near my 9-5 slave plantation..I mean job. Since them I've been eating sushi and even making my own to save money (more on that in a future post). Eating mainly sushi and maki rolls has improved my mood, gave me more energy, helped improve the performance of my vitamins and stopped my migraines. Now I'm no doctor and everybody's health is different but maybe there is a reason why the healthiest people on the planet eat like this.

If you have any good or bad sushi stories post here and also let me know your favorite type of sushi or maki roll. My favorites are shrimp tempura roll and crazy roll for example. --- ## Final Fantasy Crisis Core, Your Reason To Buy a PSP - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-28-final-fantasy-crisis-core-your-reason/ - Date: 2008-03-28 - Tags: crisis core, final fantasy VII, psp, videogames - AI-assisted: no Was able to snag my own copy of Final Fantasy Crisis Core a day before release and the hype is very much true. I will do a full game review after I complete it but many gamers h...


Was able to snag my own copy of Final Fantasy Crisis Core a day before release and the hype is very much true. I will do a full game review after I complete it but many gamers have already stated their love for it. Arguably it's even better than many of the pure numbered Final Fantasy series based on a number of gaming mag reviews and from fellow otaku and gamers. I got the guide too and there's a lot to do.
Also, in case some of you didn't know, the main bad guy, Genesis was in the secret ending to Dirge of Cerberus taking away his "brother" Weiss. For any Final Fantasy VII fan this is really exciting news since that means there will be a sequel to Dirge of Cerberus! (hopefully for the Playstation 3). Rumor has it the title will be "Endless Crisis" but none of that is official. On top of that, many fans now want the original FFVII to get a PS3 face lift. Either way you cut it, FFVII fans have a lot to look forward to. Enjoy this game for there is more on the way!
Check out more info at crisiscore.com
--- ## EA To Transform Their Gaming Market - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-27-ea-to-transform-their-gaming-market/ - Date: 2008-03-27 - Tags: electronic arts, videogames - AI-assisted: no Some interesting video game news thanks to, of all sites, BusinessWeek . It appears that EA (Electronic Arts) is planning on taking some new approaches in their videogame market...


Some interesting video game news thanks to, of all sites, BusinessWeek. It appears that EA (Electronic Arts) is planning on taking some new approaches in their videogame marketing. It basically appears that they are going to do what many of the Japanese game companies do and spread their new titles to many different forms of entertainment. They urged workers to come up with some new ideas for their games. EA has made some simply great games, of which Skate is currently on my playlist but when it comes to making the games, I'd prefer to work with them and come up with gaming concepts to sell to them rather than work for them. This is due to both the fact that I just can't have a boss over me and let's not forget their track record for giving developers treacherous triple shifts to meet deadline. You sure see the quality in their work though. Hope it works out well and gets the gaming industry yet another year with more sales above the movie industry. --- ## Dog Prays at a Shinto Shrine in Japan - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-24-dog-prays-at-shinto-shrine-in-japan/ - Date: 2008-03-24 - Tags: dogs, japan, shinto, shrines - AI-assisted: no Naha, Japan has a cute tourist attraction. At the Shuri Kannondo Shrine a little black and white Chihuahua named Conan has been taught to sit and pray with his master. actually,...


Naha, Japan has a cute tourist attraction. At the Shuri Kannondo Shrine a little black and white Chihuahua named Conan has been taught to sit and pray with his master. actually, conan just mimicked him. His master now is going to teach him to meditate ^_^. Check it out of the whole story here at CNN. --- ## The Dollar is Less than 100 Yen...Japan Tender Looking Sweeter - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-17-dollar-is-less-than-100-yenjapan-tender/ - Date: 2008-03-17 - Tags: business, japan, money, other - AI-assisted: no It appears that we might have to start converting our dollars to Yen the way things are with the American economy lately. The greenback is now worth 95 yen and if I'm not mistak...

It appears that we might have to start converting our dollars to Yen the way things are with the American economy lately. The greenback is now worth 95 yen and if I'm not mistaken... only a few years ago it was about 140 yen to $1. If any of you otaku keep up with economic news, the Federal Reserve once again cut interest rates due to Bear Stern's fall in liquid assets. In layman's terms, the US central bank added more money to the system to prevent investors to sell their stocks like a bunch of crazy store liquidators which would have lowered the stock market. All lowering the interest rate does is keep wall street happy in a fake sense of accomplishment. For the rest of the country, it means that the dollar, as you see, lost more value since there is more "fake" money in the system. This raises gas prices and causes everything to get more expensive therefore hurting everyone else. To be honest, I'd say abolish the central bank, back the dollar by gold and have banks be responsible for their mistakes so we all can continue to grow as technology makes it that every person counts now.
Anyways, I think I'm going to stash a few yen when Danielle and I go on our Japan honeymoon in a year or two from now becuase by then it'd be worth more than the dollar at this rate. --- ## Horton Hears A Who Anime Scene - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-17-horton-hears-who-anime-scene/ - Date: 2008-03-17 - Tags: anime, Dr. Suess, Horton Hears A Who - AI-assisted: no Yesterday I got a chance to see the new Horton Hears a Who Movie and I'll have to say that it was the best G rated movie I've ever scene and one of the best overall! My favorite...


Yesterday I got a chance to see the new Horton Hears a Who Movie and I'll have to say that it was the best G rated movie I've ever scene and one of the best overall! My favorite scene as you can guess is the quick animeish cutscene they did. Go search for it on youtube or just simply go out and see the movie. The scene is that of Horton pretending to be a ninja and yes, as the picture shows, he's doing a DBZ style Kamehameha. The scene and the whole movie is funny. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it. I definitely recommend it. --- ## Huge US Anime Figure Release...and More - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-16-huge-us-anime-figure-releaseand-more/ - Date: 2008-03-16 - Tags: anime figures, figures, updates - AI-assisted: no Hi everyone! Really sorry for the delay in messages. This post will explain a bit why. As of a few days back my anime dealers just noted to me that a huge range of high anticipa...
Hi everyone! Really sorry for the delay in messages. This post will explain a bit why. As of a few days back my anime dealers just noted to me that a huge range of high anticipated figures came out for the US market. These figures include the Freeing Haruhi Bunny figure, Freeing Mikuru figure, the new Figma Yuki Nagato figure, El Cazador de la Bruja Nadie figure, the new Yamashita Petra figure..... you get the picture. Its March Madness if you own an anime biz like I do so I've been busy 0_o.... Also I still work a 9-5 job on a part-time basis (hopefully gone for good by Sept ^_^) and lets not forget my health marketing company that's soon to release a revolutionary water drink that can basically the closest thing to a Final Fantasy Elixir in all respects (no joke). For the meantime, check out these pics of the newest figures to arrive in the USA and expect to see updates in the store too.







--- ## Ikkitousen Kanu Unchou Dragon Destiny Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-16-ikkitousen-kanu-unchou-dragon-destiny/ - Date: 2008-03-16 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Ikkitousen, Kanu Unchou - AI-assisted: no Here's an extra treat for today. Here's some pics of the best Kanu figure to date. This one is not available in the states nor is it ready for pre-order as of this post but once...


Here's an extra treat for today. Here's some pics of the best Kanu figure to date. This one is not available in the states nor is it ready for pre-order as of this post but once it is, you can bet I'll snag one for myself. This is a work of art in all aspects and in price. At about 20000 yen or roughly $190, she'll cost a bit. Thanks to Danny Choo for originally posting about this amazing piece.


--- ## Ikki Tousen Sonsaku Hakufu Cerberus Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-10-ikki-tousen-sonsaku-hakufu-cerberus/ - Date: 2008-03-10 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Ikkitousen, sonsaku hakufu - AI-assisted: no Here's a great Ikkitousen figure; the Black dressed Sonsaku Hakufu Cerberus figure by UART. This recently arrived in my store this week and I its worth talking about. This figur...


Here's a great Ikkitousen figure; the Black dressed Sonsaku Hakufu Cerberus figure by UART. This recently arrived in my store this week and I its worth talking about. This figure of course looks great from every angle and is actually rather large. The box is about 14 inches long and the figure is roughly 9-10 inches tall. I wasn't able to keep any that I got in my first shipment since they sold so fast. The pictures you see are the stock photos and I'll gladly do some pics of my own once I can snag one. If you are a fan of Sonsaku, this figure won't disappoint. From what I can tell this is not a cast-off figure but that doesn't matter. There's a bit of fan service in this one from certain angels if you are into that. As you can see from the pictures, the figure looks smooth and fine-tuned, just simply great detail. The only negative I can find might be her teeth. Her eyes, face and body are definitely Sonsaku and thus will be on my display some time soon.





--- ## Disney and Madhouse To Make Lilo & Stitch Spinoff - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-08-disney-and-madhouse-to-make-lilo-stitch/ - Date: 2008-03-08 - Tags: anime, Disney, Madhouse - AI-assisted: no Madhouse has gained themselves yet another deal in American animation. As of Thursday Anime News Network announced that Disney is set to create a spin-off of Lilo and Stitch but...

Madhouse has gained themselves yet another deal in American animation. As of Thursday Anime News Network announced that Disney is set to create a spin-off of Lilo and Stitch but this time using the help of Madhouse anime studios. For those of you that might not know much about Madhouse, they are responsible for some of the biggest hits in anime and even here on the American coast too. Past works by Madhouse include Ninja Scroll, Death Note, Last Order: Final Fantasy VII and the ultra hilarious Boondocks. It might actually be a Disney sequel/spin-off worth watching since lets admit it, many of those recent sequels where not the best of Disney's work. Disney started what anime perfected and now more and more the original teacher is taking notes from its past students. --- ## Dragon Ball Movie Delayed Till April 09 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-05-dragon-ball-movie-delayed-till-april-09/ - Date: 2008-03-05 - Tags: anime, dragon ball, dragon ball movie - AI-assisted: no Can it be true? It appears that the Dragon Ball movie that was set for an August 2008 release will now be pushed back to April 2009. Was starting to fear this since there was no...


Can it be true? It appears that the Dragon Ball movie that was set for an August 2008 release will now be pushed back to April 2009. Was starting to fear this since there was no trailer yet. This could be a good thing so they can fine tune the film. Lots of big names are in this film so who knows who might be next on the cast. Speaking of which, P. Diddy recently was rumored to be signing up for a role in an action film. Which up-coming movie has yet to be noted but it could actually be this one. That though is strictly a rumor left for discussion. More info at Anime News Network. --- ## Street Fighter 4 Demo Video - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-04-street-fighter-4-demo-video/ - Date: 2008-03-04 - Tags: Street Fighter 4, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no If you are like me and used to play Street Fighter 2 back in the arcades in the early 90's or just a fighting game buff in general you have to be psyched about Street Fighter 4 ...


If you are like me and used to play Street Fighter 2 back in the arcades in the early 90's or just a fighting game buff in general you have to be psyched about Street Fighter 4 coming out. Originally the first clips of the game showed the sick trailer with the new "ink-styled" animation and then just Ryu and Ken fighting. Now more characters have been added to the list like Guile, E. Honda and my personal favorite, Chun-Li. Just check out this amazing video below or click here if you can see it. Thanks to YouTube user MasterBigode and DannyChoo for this one.



--- ## Vanessa Mae, The Ultimate Violin Player - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-04-vanessa-mae-ultimate-violin-player/ - Date: 2008-03-04 - Tags: music, otaku, Vanessa Mae, videos - AI-assisted: no My lovely fiancee Danielle recently showed me the works of the lady you see above; Vanessa Mae. Couldn't go without blogging about this extremely talented violinist. Many of you...


My lovely fiancee Danielle recently showed me the works of the lady you see above; Vanessa Mae. Couldn't go without blogging about this extremely talented violinist. Many of you probably already know her and don't need an intro from me. Her music is a stunning mix of fast violin playing and techno music. People who are familiar with my AMVs know Euro techno is my music of choice (Right now di.fm's Euro Dance stream is blazing in my room.) So I simply love this stuff.
Many of you otaku will appreciate this so I placed a video of hers below via youtube and user paganini123. Vanessa worked on the music for Disney's Mulan along with many other gigs. For those otaku who don't know, she also did the Sailor Moon Medley which I bet is now running through your head. Check out her other videos too; unlike many techno song videos which just beg us to make AMVs since they are so horrible, hers are just as artistic as the music played....but an AMV done by me of one of these songs may be a possibility ^_~.



--- ## Cartoon Network to Run Blue Dragon - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-03-cartoon-network-to-run-blue-dragon/ - Date: 2008-03-03 - Tags: anime, blue dragon, otaku - AI-assisted: no Some of you might be familiar with the Xbox game Blue Dragon; I've yet to play it but many otaku have two strong reasons to play it. First reason is that the game's character de...


Some of you might be familiar with the Xbox game Blue Dragon; I've yet to play it but many otaku have two strong reasons to play it. First reason is that the game's character designer as you can guess is non other than Akira Toriyama; a quick look at the picture above and you'll easily tell. Secondly, the music composer for this game is the legendary Final Fantasy composer, Nobuo Uematsu. A combination like that really can't go wrong so I'm eager to pick up the game now. As one can expect, there has been an anime series based on the game that's been running in Japan since April 2007 and as of yesterday it was announced that Cartoon Network will run the series with Viz taking the helm...so expect some good voice actors for this one. For all those who are eager to see more from the DBZ creator, this is the chance to. It's set to be on the air here in April 08. More info at the Anime News Network --- ## Tifa Lockhart Version II Resin Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-03-tifa-lockheart-version-ii-resin-figure/ - Date: 2008-03-03 - Tags: anime figures, figures, final fantasy VII, tifa, videogames - AI-assisted: no Got some more Tifa goodness for you all. Since 2002 I've had the luxury of having this Tifa figure as the centerpiece above my computer here before me. This one is the version I...


Got some more Tifa goodness for you all. Since 2002 I've had the luxury of having this Tifa figure as the centerpiece above my computer here before me. This one is the version II model that came out all the way in 1997 and is in my opinion the best looking Tifa figure to date. The thing about it, is that it is made of resin which compared to PVC is much more fragile. I recently purchased the Aeris (Aerith) model from the same line but she died... I mean got busted along the way because of how fragile resin can be. Above and below you can see pictures I took with a photo tent and my Kodak Easyshare camera. Expect a figure gallery section soon that will show off some of the figures I kept for myself. This one and Mirei being my favs. I also have just took pictures of the resin Yuffie figure that stands right next to Tifa on top o f the computer desk. That'll be for a future post.

Also, I do promise to make better pictures than these. They are ok but can be much better.

--- ## Yamashita's Arisa Figure To Get An Encore - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-02-yamashitas-arisa-figure-to-get-encore/ - Date: 2008-03-02 - Tags: anime figures, arisa figure, figures, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Shunya Yamashita's Arisa figure was a huge hit here in the US and in Japan. It's become very tough for even anime store owners like me to get one. Good news is that Yamato is ma...


Shunya Yamashita's Arisa figure was a huge hit here in the US and in Japan. It's become very tough for even anime store owners like me to get one. Good news is that Yamato is making a new Arisa in the form of a color variant. She won't be out in the US until late July or so. Which Arisa do you like better? The first one or the newer one? More on her here. --- ## Final Fantasy VII 7 CG Tifa Lockhart Wallpaper - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-03-01-final-fantasy-vii-7-cg-tifa-lockheart/ - Date: 2008-03-01 - Tags: final fantasy VII, tifa, videogames, wallpapers - AI-assisted: no (2/12/2014 Edit: Here's a few, better wallpapers, these at 1920x1080 ) Here's a little treat for you guys. I came across this amazing photo of Tifa Lockhart. It's how she looked...



(2/12/2014 Edit: Here's a few, better wallpapers, these at 1920x1080 )

Here's a little treat for you guys. I came across this amazing photo of Tifa Lockhart. It's how she looked during the Final Fantasy VII game but with the Advent Children graphics. I was only able to find a 400 x 300 pixel image and god knows I wanted it as a wall paper so I photoshoped the pic to add on some more width to it. If anyone is of course able to find a more clearer version of this picture, I'd love to have it. I believe I'm the first to make it a wallpaper and if anyone wants to modify it more go right ahead. This is why I kept it simple. Tifa is by far my favorite character of all time and this image is hopefully a glimpse of what we might see if Square-Enix makes a Final Fantasy VII for PS3. Be sure to click the picture to get the full 1024 x 768 wallpaper. As for those that have a bigger screen, had to go with the still current majority resolution. Check out more of Tifa here.

--- ## Europe Getting Gran Turismo 5 PS3 Bundles - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-29-europe-getting-gran-turismo-5-ps3/ - Date: 2008-02-29 - Tags: Gran Turismo 5, ps3, videogames - AI-assisted: no Usually when it comes to video games, we here in the western part of the globe usually get short-handed when it comes to great bundle deals since so-called marketing gurus think...

Usually when it comes to video games, we here in the western part of the globe usually get short-handed when it comes to great bundle deals since so-called marketing gurus think that we simply won't buy these things. At least Europe is getting their piece of the pie with this awesome Gran Turismo 5 Prologue bundle deal. Priced at 399 Euros, this bundle is the 40GB PS3 with GT5. For us Americans who are feeling the burn on this one, don't fret too much; the kit doesn't come with the HD cables needed for Blue-Ray and 399 Euros will soon be worth $600 as the dollar continues to drop... so maybe we won't get short-handed? Of course I'll wait for a Ps3-Final Fantasy XIII bundle.

More on Engadget --- ## Great Guardians - Ikkitousen's Third Season Announced - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-25-great-guardians-ikkitousens-third/ - Date: 2008-02-25 - Tags: anime, Ikkitousen - AI-assisted: no Oddly enough I've only seen only a bit of this very popular series and the little I've seen easily begs for more. Of course I have almost all the figures since practically every...


Oddly enough I've only seen only a bit of this very popular series and the little I've seen easily begs for more. Of course I have almost all the figures since practically every figure that comes out of Kanu, Sonsaku, Ryomou Shimei, and Ryofu Housen are the top sellers for obvious reasons. This anime has probably caused the most nosebleeds with the enormous amount of almost-hentai fan service. Great Guardians is the name of the new third season coming out in a few months and there will be more characters, fighting and panty shots. More info at Anime News Network
and also at DannyChoo.com. --- ## Wonfes 2008, Anime Figure Fanatics Rejoice - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-24-wonfes-2008-anime-figure-fanatics/ - Date: 2008-02-24 - Tags: anime figures, dannychoo, figures, wonfes - AI-assisted: no As many of you might know, Wonfes is just about over and if you are like me, stuck in the still anime-starved-states, you'd wish you were down there. This is the perfect place t...

As many of you might know, Wonfes is just about over and if you are like me, stuck in the still anime-starved-states, you'd wish you were down there. This is the perfect place to view all the upcoming figures from companies like Good Smile Company. To keep up to date with all the cool stuff, check out Japan's top blogger, Danny Choo's site as on all the great pictures...well, actually looking at New York time compared to Japan time, things are ending or just ended a few hours ago. The picture above also via Danny Choo. Expect more figure posts soon as more cool stuff eventually comes to the US. --- ## Final Fantasy XII Artifacts Gabranth 1/1 Helmet - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-23-final-fantasy-xii-artifacts-gabranth-11/ - Date: 2008-02-23 - Tags: cosplay, figures, final fantasy, final fantasy XII, Gabranth, videogames - AI-assisted: no The instant I saw this item displayed by my dealers, my jaw dropped to the floor. Of course I was amazed by the $999.99 price tag. I've never even sold a Swarovski crystal worth...

The instant I saw this item displayed by my dealers, my jaw dropped to the floor. Of course I was amazed by the $999.99 price tag. I've never even sold a Swarovski crystal worth that much, let alone a videogame item. Final Fantasy XII fans have already seen Square-Enix come up with wallet emptying figures (in a good way) but this one takes the cake. This helmet which is a wearable (I believe) 1/1 scale was made from FRP fiber reinforced plastic utilizing the CG data from the game. Its exact to Gabranth's helmet more than any other prob ever created. I'm a big fan of anything Final Fantasy but if I get this for myself too, I'll probably not go cosplaying with it. I wouldn't want to lose or damage this one. Check out more info on it here.

--- ## Gorgeous Art of Shunya Yamashita Karin Bust - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-23-gorgous-art-of-shunya-yamashita-karin/ - Date: 2008-02-23 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Karin Bust, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Wow! Not since Shunya Yamashita's Mirei-San have I've seen a figure this beautiful. As most of you know I'm a big fan of Yamashita's work. Collected many of the recent figures m...

Wow! Not since Shunya Yamashita's Mirei-San have I've seen a figure this beautiful. As most of you know I'm a big fan of Yamashita's work. Collected many of the recent figures my favorites being Shii, and of course Mirei-San; she sits right on the right end of my desk. This one will be on the left side. As you can see from the images, this one captures Yamashita's signature cute and erotic look. The blue-purple hair, the tribal tattoos are a perfect balance of sexy and violent strength that only Japanese artists are able to create. Check out some more info of her here. As for now, enjoy these pictures.

--- ## New Anime on the Hollywood Block, Live Action Akira - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-23-new-anime-on-hollywood-block-live/ - Date: 2008-02-23 - Tags: anime, hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio, live action akira, otaku - AI-assisted: no The list keeps growing on anime titles that are to get the Hollywood makeover. Whether that is good or bad is up to the fans but looks like the next anime to be a live action mo...


The list keeps growing on anime titles that are to get the Hollywood makeover. Whether that is good or bad is up to the fans but looks like the next anime to be a live action movie is Akira. What's even more interesting is the person who is going to produce the movie...Leonardo DiCaprio together with Warner Bros. I didn't know he was such a big anime fan... anyways, would have to agree with Danny Choo's take on the series, that of it being very gloomy.
Set to come out during the summer of 09, add it to Transformers, Evangelion, Speed Racer, and Dragon Ball as the current list of anime titles turned into Hollywood movies. Expect even more once the American comic movies eventually lose their thunder.

More on this via Dannychoo.com and Japan Probe. Thanks to Japan Probe for the picture.

--- ## Pieces of Shot Down Satellite Falling near Long Island - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-21-pieces-of-shot-down-satellite-falling/ - Date: 2008-02-21 - Tags: other, shot down satellite, spy satellite - AI-assisted: no Speaking of "crashes"... looks like the spy satellite that was just recently shot down had bigger chunks left than expected. Just a few minutes ago about 5-7 streaks were in the...


Speaking of "crashes"... looks like the spy satellite that was just recently shot down had bigger chunks left than expected. Just a few minutes ago about 5-7 streaks were in the air over our home in Selden, New York. These are definitly from the satellite that was blown up. Pretty creepy stuff. I know this isn't really anime related but if anyone from any other part of the Earth is seeing the same thing, drop a message. There are about 4-5 army helicopters flying near by and nothing yet on the news so this is the first I believe anyone is speaking of this. Above you can see the crappy photo I took of the streaks near the moon in the sky. A few more more overhead in crossed paths too. I wonder if any hit the ground o_O. --- ## Site Crashed today...Back now - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-21-site-crashed-todayback-now/ - Date: 2008-02-21 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no As most of you might have realized, the site was down since early this morning. This was due to my web-host having server problems. They have a network of over 50,000+ websites ...


As most of you might have realized, the site was down since early this morning. This was due to my web-host having server problems. They have a network of over 50,000+ websites so that's alot of downed sites. We are back though.. unless their servers go. Here's some reaction to the site being down. --- ## More Dragon Ball Movie Actors but Still No Trailer - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-17-more-dragon-ball-movie-actors-but-still/ - Date: 2008-02-17 - Tags: anime, dragon ball, dragon ball movie, dragon ball z, otaku - AI-assisted: no Keeping everyone up to date with the upcoming Dragon Ball movie that comes out in August.. here are some more actors confirmed last month for the movie; still no trailer yet tho...


Keeping everyone up to date with the upcoming Dragon Ball movie that comes out in August.. here are some more actors confirmed last month for the movie; still no trailer yet though.

Grandpa Gohan - Randall Duk Kim
Carey Fuller - Texas Battle
Emi - Shavon Kirksey
Agundas - Richard Blake

Ernie Hudson- Popo?

Other than Grandpa Gohan and Popo, I don't even know these characters. It appears that this movie takes place during the end of the Dragon Ball saga when the young Piccolo appears after King Piccolo dies. One scary thing though is the MovieFone description where they messed up by saying that Goku first love is Chi-Chi and then loves Bulma...which is completely wrong in many accounts and lets hope thats not there or there will be many pissed off DBZ fans. The picture above and more descriptions of the movie can be found here at the official blog. --- ## Shunya Yamashita's Revoltech Fraulein Pocco Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-16-shunya-yamashitas-revoltech-fraulein-16/ - Date: 2008-02-16 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Revoltech Fraulein, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Some of you might be familiar with the Revoltech Fraulein line of figures. These are Kaiyodo's newer line of jointed figures that are intended to be just as artistic as the non-...


Some of you might be familiar with the Revoltech Fraulein line of figures. These are Kaiyodo's newer line of jointed figures that are intended to be just as artistic as the non-jointed pvc figures. One issue with jointed figures as one could guess is that the ball joints usually take away from the beauty of the figure since they tend to be eye sores. Most American figures suffer very badly from this and also a few of the Japanese figures too...mainly the cheap ones manufactured in China.

The Fraulein line recently released the Rei Ayanami figure and the on mentioned here is the Pocco figure. What's so great about this one is that its designed from a character by the famous artist Shunya Yamashita. If you are familiar with his Arisa, Mirei-San and Sera-Chan figures or his work in general (like I am), this figure would excite you. Sculptor Enoki Tomohide managed to keep Shunya Yamashita's cute and sexy theme.
Like the other Revoltech figures, she comes with 20 points of articulation and accessories to pose her in many different form. These sure beat those wooden human model figures used by artists. Check more details on her here. --- ## Future Apple Gaming System? - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-10-future-apple-gaming-system/ - Date: 2008-02-10 - Tags: gadgets, videogames - AI-assisted: no Nothing is concrete yet but recently Apple applied for trademark protection for gaming technology. Could this mean that the 2009 featured product will be a gaming system to comp...


Nothing is concrete yet but recently Apple applied for trademark protection for gaming technology. Could this mean that the 2009 featured product will be a gaming system to compete with Nintendo's DS? This is obviously a long winded guess for a future time but I'm game for any gaming system by Apple..or any company for that matter. Apple's touch pad technology could create some interesting games.

Also in a related note; another company us gamers are fond of, Sega did a similar action a number of months back. Who knows, maybe x-mas of 2009 will be the battle of the handhelds with Apple, Nintendo and Sega. Check more on this at Engadget.

...Lets definitely not forget the PSP of course --- ## New Contest and the Hare Hare Yukai Winner - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-07-new-contest-and-hare-hare-yukai-winner/ - Date: 2008-02-07 - Tags: otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Some of you might have been wondering when I'll update the contest page; well today I did. First off I want to congratulate Christina A. for winning the Hare Hare Yukai Contest....


Some of you might have been wondering when I'll update the contest page; well today I did. First off I want to congratulate Christina A. for winning the Hare Hare Yukai Contest. She won the Mikuru Beam figure by Max factory, (one of my favorite figures). Check out the video here.
The next contest is up now and this is a bit easier; the goal is to have the best Fate/Stay Night fan art picture. The winner gets the Bome Vol. 22 Rin Tosaka figure. Check out the details here.

--- ## The Rest of the Haruhi Suzumiya Bunny Figures - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-02-07-rest-of-haruhi-suzumiya-bunny-figures/ - Date: 2008-02-07 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no Got some great news. As of yesterday one of my dealers opened up pre-orders for the remaining Haruhi Suzumiya bunny figures for their statside release. Already as of next month ...

Got some great news. As of yesterday one of my dealers opened up pre-orders for the remaining Haruhi Suzumiya bunny figures for their statside release. Already as of next month or in April the Freeing Haruhi and Freeing Mikuru are coming to America. The rest of the figures, Yuki and Tsuruya are set to arrive sometime in July-August.
If you haven't heard about these figures, they are made by a company called FREEing and they are rather large 1/4 scale models of the Haruhi Suzumiya girls in bunny suits. They also have certain "squishy" parts too along with very delicate (and real) fishnet stockings. There size and quality is what makes them rather high in price at above $100. If anyone is interested in pre-ordering, check them here. For some pictures of them, check them out above and below this post.
--- ## The Economy May Be Down but Chuck's Anime Shrine Isn't! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-01-28-economy-may-be-down-but-chucks-anime/ - Date: 2008-01-28 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Hi everyone! Very sorry for the delay in my blog postings. I'll use this post to explain a bit why. As you might have heard and have probably gotten sick of by now, the US econo...

Hi everyone! Very sorry for the delay in my blog postings. I'll use this post to explain a bit why. As you might have heard and have probably gotten sick of by now, the US economy is in a slump thanks to greedy mortgage brokers, banks and good old fashion over spending. This of course is making everyone who wast.... I mean spent tens of thousands of dollars to get a high paying jobs in college to start sweating since they won't need their well thought out price tag.....I mean resume to wave at people at Walmart or flip burgers after the pink slips fly out. Here at Chuck's Anime Shrine, we are not feeling any bit of this. Us otaku are a crazy bunch. Sales for the first year as a business in 2007 was around $40K, not too shabby for a first year anime business. Already in January anime sales for the company has reached a new high of $5K with about $3K expected by Feb 4th. The outlook for the site and store as a whole is very good. We are also making a deal with Kumon Publishing to stock their first line of manga based on American classical stories in the spring.

Obviously this is a very different type of posting then I've done in the past ^_^;; The reason for you to care is that you all will see more contests soon (yes that page needs to be fixed and since one person brought in a video, she won by default) and the expansion I have dreamed of for this site and have forever boosted about will now begin. The 9-5 job is still there but its going out like a bad habit, or if my boss reads my computer screen right now, lol.

Anyways my message is that the store and the site will really be The anime source this year and all the fans of this site will see what I planned on making for this site way back in 2002 when I was just a senior in high school. Send any suggestions of additions, series and cool stuff you would like in the store and the site. --- ## Working Gundam Would Cost $730 million - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-01-14-scienceportaljp-says-working-gundam/ - Date: 2008-01-14 - Tags: japan, otaku - AI-assisted: no Some interesting news from Japan. As of a few days ago, SciencePortal.jp, a top scientific website run by the Japan Science and Technology Agency released a report showing the c...


Some interesting news from Japan. As of a few days ago, SciencePortal.jp, a top scientific website run by the Japan Science and Technology Agency released a report showing the cost if the military was to actually make a real 59 foot tall functioning gundam. Based on their reports its about 79.5 billion yen or roughly $730 million dollars. Check out the full story and a great chart of the costs at animenewsnetwork.com Well, I guess a just better become a multi billionaire and I'll be set. ^_^; --- ## Soul Calibur 4 To Feature Darth Vader and Yoda - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-01-12-soul-calibur-4-to-feature-darth-vader/ - Date: 2008-01-12 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no Great news from CES. Both Star Wars Fans and Soul Calibur fans have got to be excited by this bit of news. LucasArts and Namco just announced that they will include Darth Vader ...


Great news from CES. Both Star Wars Fans and Soul Calibur fans have got to be excited by this bit of news. LucasArts and Namco just announced that they will include Darth Vader and Yoda as playable fighters in Soul Calibur 4. This was announced just recently at the 2008 CES in Vegas with a bunch of storm trooper cosplaying going on during the event. If you get the xbox 360 version of the game you can play as Yoda and if you get the PS3 version you get to play as Vader. Which one would you prefer to play? Check the special trailer with them here if you can't view it below. More info and images at gamedaily.com.

--- ## New Tool for the PSP: Skype! - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2008-01-02-new-tool-for-psp-skype/ - Date: 2008-01-02 - Tags: gadgets, videogames - AI-assisted: no What a way to start the new year with some really good videogame news. Sony's CES 2008 promo site is showing off that soon you can be able to use the mostly free phone service o...

What a way to start the new year with some really good videogame news. Sony's CES 2008 promo site is showing off that soon you can be able to use the mostly free phone service of Skype on your PSP. This will simply be a great add-on to the PSP. Maybe it'll be out by March when Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core comes to the states so you can call a fellow gamer and boost how you just fully completed the game (after 60+ hours).

Compliments of engadget. --- ## New AMV - FFVII CC "Kiss My Eyes & Lay Me to Sleep" - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-30-new-amv-ffvii-cc-kiss-my-eyes-lay-me-to/ - Date: 2007-12-30 - Tags: final fantasy VII, updates, videogames, videos - AI-assisted: no Many fans are excited about the release of Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core. The prequel to not only the number one video game of all time but the very reason this site exists in t...


Many fans are excited about the release of Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core. The prequel to not only the number one video game of all time but the very reason this site exists in the first place. Sorry for the brief Holiday hiatus, the blog is back on and what better way to kick off the end of 2007 with a new AMV. Danielle made this one using the song "Prelude 12/21" by AFI. Click here to view it if you can't see it below. Be sure to comment on it both on youtube and here. I think Danielle did an amazing job on this one. Also, as always remember that no ownership is taken on this or other amvs. Be sure to buy the game when it comes out (might be in the anime store, too) and buy the album to support them. Enjoy ^_^

--- ## Shuraki: Rize 1/8 Scale PVC Figure up for US Pre-orders - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-22-shuraki-rize-18-scale-pvc-figure-up-for/ - Date: 2007-12-22 - Tags: figures - AI-assisted: no Shuraki figures continue to amaze us here. The newest one to the bunch is Rize. Like the other figures this is an amazing anime cast-off figure. It's a 1/8th scale piece so it m...

Shuraki figures continue to amaze us here. The newest one to the bunch is Rize. Like the other figures this is an amazing anime cast-off figure. It's a 1/8th scale piece so it measures about 7 inches tall. It recently got announced that it will be coming to America in late June; April in Japan of course ~_~. Once I saw the figure on dannychoo.com I knew I had to get this one too. I do have this one available for pre-order here in my store but don't be surprised if they get back-ordered. Already all of the Needa figures have been sold-out for the first batch to reach the states. Red and Good Smile Company hit their mark with all of the Shuraki figures. I can't wait till more come in ^_^



--- ## More DBZ Movie News: Master Roshi and Others Cast - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-19-more-dbz-movie-news-master-roshi-and/ - Date: 2007-12-19 - Tags: anime, dragon ball, dragon ball movie, dragon ball z, otaku - AI-assisted: no To keep everyone up to date with the Dragon Ball Z live action movie; today it was announced that Chow Yun-Fat will play Master Roshi in the Dragon Ball Z movie coming out on Au...


To keep everyone up to date with the Dragon Ball Z live action movie; today it was announced that Chow Yun-Fat will play Master Roshi in the Dragon Ball Z movie coming out on August 15th 2008. Originally I spoke to about the roles when Goku and Piccolo where announced. Here's a list of the roles that are confirmed if you haven't already heard.

Justin Chatwin (Goku)
James Marsters (Piccolo)
Jamie Chung (ChiChi)
Emmy Rossum (Bulma)
Eriko Tamura (Mai)
Joon Park (Yamcha)
Chow Yun-Fat (Master Roshi)

Nothing on Vegeta or others as of yet and from the looks of it, the story line will be the end of the Dragon Ball Saga when Goku marries ChiChi and fights Piccolo in the tournament. So we might not see Vegeta and they haven't called me yet for Future Trunks so we might have to wait on a sequel for that. --- ## Speed Racer Live Action Movie Trailer - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-17-speed-racer-live-action-movie-trailer/ - Date: 2007-12-17 - Tags: anime, otaku, videos - AI-assisted: no The list of anime-based Hollywood movies keeps growing with Speed Racer as promised in the most recent ComicCon. If you haven't seen the sick trailer yet, check it out here . An...


The list of anime-based Hollywood movies keeps growing with Speed Racer as promised in the most recent ComicCon. If you haven't seen the sick trailer yet, check it out here. Anime fans have alot to look forward for in 2008 with Speed Racer coming out in May and Dragon Ball in August.

--- ## Two Gundam Cosplay Bars to open in Akihabara Otaku District - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-13-two-gundam-cosplay-bars-to-open-in/ - Date: 2007-12-13 - Tags: japan, otaku - AI-assisted: no Yet more reasons to go to the famous Akihara Otaku District. It appears as of Anime News Network and AkibaBlog that there will soon be two Mobile Suit Gundam Cosplay bars. Named...


Yet more reasons to go to the famous Akihara Otaku District. It appears as of Anime News Network and AkibaBlog that there will soon be two Mobile Suit Gundam Cosplay bars. Named Federation Forces and Zeon, these cosplay bars will feature mainly female workers dressed like characters from the Universal Century timeline of Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ serving cocktails and dishes that look like the famous mobile suits from the series. Any Gundam fan would love to go there by far. Just wish I wasn't stuck here in New York ~_~. For those who can get to Akihara without a 15 hour flight would be pleased to know that they will be open any day now. --- ## Full Sized Pac-Man Christmas Tree - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-06-full-sized-pac-man-christmas-tree/ - Date: 2007-12-06 - Tags: videogames - AI-assisted: no Here's some more Christmas fun. You guys have to check this out. This is a very large Pac-Man Christmas tree. A group of Pac-Man fans in Madrid created this with a lot of hard w...


Here's some more Christmas fun. You guys have to check this out. This is a very large Pac-Man Christmas tree. A group of Pac-Man fans in Madrid created this with a lot of hard work. I would love to have this as a decoration at my house. Click here to view the video on it if you can't see it below. Complements of Engadget.
--- ## Shuraki Needa Schuetlitch Figure coming to the US - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-06-shuraki-needa-schuetlitch-figure-coming/ - Date: 2007-12-06 - Tags: figures - AI-assisted: no Just pre-ordered a bunch of these for the store. One of my anime dealers notified yesterday that this great 1/8th scale cast off figure of Needa will be coming to the US by the ...


Just pre-ordered a bunch of these for the store. One of my anime dealers notified yesterday that this great 1/8th scale cast off figure of Needa will be coming to the US by the very end of April. Like all the other Shuraki figures, do expect this one to sell out very fast. There is even a limitation to what anime stores could buy! Not such a surprise for yet another work of art by Shunya Yamashita .

This one is rather unique with the war torn clothing and gun. After seeing photos of this figure on DannyChoo.com a while ago, I got to see how gorgeous this figure really is and yes I know some of you will also like the cast-off feature of course ^_^;

You can pre-order her here or wait till she comes to the US coast... if you are in the US. --- ## Awesome Fan-Made Metroid Arcade Console - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-05-awesome-fan-made-metroid-arcade-console/ - Date: 2007-12-05 - Tags: gadgets, videogames - AI-assisted: no Check out this fan made Metroid arcade unit. Thought Metroid fans wouldn't mind another post. Click here if you don't see the video below. Complements of Engadget .


Check out this fan made Metroid arcade unit. Thought Metroid fans wouldn't mind another post. Click here if you don't see the video below. Complements of Engadget.


--- ## Site Update - "All I want for Christmas" AMV is back - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-05-site-update-all-i-want-for-christmas/ - Date: 2007-12-05 - Tags: updates, videos - AI-assisted: no Just in time for the holidays (and due to more fan mail), we decided to bring back the Love Hina Christmas AMV Danielle made a few years back. The song used is Maria Carey's ver...


Just in time for the holidays (and due to more fan mail), we decided to bring back the Love Hina Christmas AMV Danielle made a few years back. The song used is Maria Carey's version of "All I want For Christmas." Remember all amvs are fan made free advertisements for both the music artists and the anime. So please support both by shopping for them where music, anime and videos are sold. Click here to view it if it is not visible below. Happy holidays from Chuck's Anime Shrine.
--- ## New AMV - Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, "I Surrender" - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-12-04-new-amv-final-fantasy-vii-advent/ - Date: 2007-12-04 - Tags: updates, videos - AI-assisted: no This is a great AMV featuring Cloud and Tifa from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. The song used is " I Surrender" by Celine Dion. Danielle finished this one a few days back. ...


This is a great AMV featuring Cloud and Tifa from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. The song used is " I Surrender" by Celine Dion. Danielle finished this one a few days back. Been getting too many requests for more amvs made by us ^_^; so we had to give you some more. As always, please remember that all AMVs are just fan made videos and no ownership is taken. Support Celine Dion's music and the Final Fantasy series by shopping at any store that sells music, anime and movies. To view the video, click here if you cannot see it below.
--- ## New Death Note Movie to Feature Theme Song by Lenny Kravitz - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-30-new-death-note-movie-to-feature-opening/ - Date: 2007-11-30 - Tags: anime, otaku - AI-assisted: no It appears that the popularity of Death Note continues to grow in the mainstream media. As of the time of this post, the Death Note anime has been airing on Cartoon Network now ...

It appears that the popularity of Death Note continues to grow in the mainstream media. As of the time of this post, the Death Note anime has been airing on Cartoon Network now here in America and has already come out with two full length movies. In those movies, music has been used by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and now for the upcoming spin-off movie, "L change the WorLd," Kravitz's "I'll Be Waiting" single will be the theme song. L's own spin off movie comes out in Japan in Febuary.

More on this at the Anime News Network. --- ## 1/1 Anime Figure Convention in Akihabara - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-29-11-anime-figure-convention-in-akihabara/ - Date: 2007-11-29 - Tags: figures, japan - AI-assisted: no Starting December 2 and going all the way to December 14th in the Tokyo Anime Center in the otaku district of Akihabara, doll creator Paper Moon will be hosting an anime figure ...
Starting December 2 and going all the way to December 14th in the Tokyo Anime Center in the otaku district of Akihabara, doll creator Paper Moon will be hosting an anime figure party. They will have on display 30 1/1 figures ranging from characters like Rei and Asuka from Evangelion, Saber from Fate/stay night, Sakura from Sakura Wars, and Al from Demonbane. They will even have some for sale at 200,000 to 480,000 (about $1,800 to $4,500). More reasons why I want a house in Japan.

As per Anime News Network --- ## Freeing Haruhi Suzumiya & Mikuru Figures Heading to the US - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-27-freeing-haruhi-suzumiya-mikuru-figures/ - Date: 2007-11-27 - Tags: figures - AI-assisted: no For a while now these figures have been in Japan but I'm glad to say that these are both are finally coming to the states. If this is the first time you've heard of these figure...

For a while now these figures have been in Japan but I'm glad to say that these are both are finally coming to the states. If this is the first time you've heard of these figures then here's what makes them rather different than most other figures:
Made by FREEing these detailed beauties of Haruhi Suzumiya & Mikuru Asahina from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are 1/4th scale figures. That means they are rather large at about 12-14 inches in height. Also, their fishnet stockings are indeed real (and very delicate) stockings.
Chances are they are going to sell fast but not for this x-mas season unfortunately (unless you want them shipped from overseas) . They are set for a late March, early April release. Harhui can be pre-ordered here. Mikaru here. Chances are I'll keep one of each for myself ^ ^; --- ## Site Update - Card Captors Wings of Love AMV is Back - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-26-site-update-card-captors-wings-of-love/ - Date: 2007-11-26 - Tags: updates, videos - AI-assisted: no Due to some requests I brought back the AMV Danielle made a few years ago that featured XTM's amazing "Fly On The Wings of Love" song. It's a great Euro-Techno song and it fits ... Due to some requests I brought back the AMV Danielle made a few years ago that featured XTM's amazing "Fly On The Wings of Love" song. It's a great Euro-Techno song and it fits well with the clips. Check it out in our amv section, too if the video isn't viewable below.

--- ## Amazing Cosplay - Samus from Metroid - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-21-amazing-cosplay-samus-from-metriod/ - Date: 2007-11-21 - Tags: japan, otaku, videogames - AI-assisted: no This is a simply amazing cosplay of Samus from everyone's favorite Nintendo game, Metroid. She put loads of detail in this with all the battle damage and she actually looks like...
This is a simply amazing cosplay of Samus from everyone's favorite Nintendo game, Metroid. She put loads of detail in this with all the battle damage and she actually looks like Samus! Complements of Dannychoo.com --- ## Cool Gadget - Wii Lightsaber - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-21-cool-gadget-wii-lightsaber/ - Date: 2007-11-21 - Tags: gadgets, videogames - AI-assisted: no After playing the Wii yesterday, I had to put up another Wii post. Looks like it sells for $30. Not bad if it actually lights up. Just hope this doesn't become another scapegoat...
After playing the Wii yesterday, I had to put up another Wii post. Looks like it sells for $30. Not bad if it actually lights up. Just hope this doesn't become another scapegoat to sue for angry parents with crazy sword-throwing kids.
Complements of engadget --- ## Manga/Anime Industry Growing and Making Waves - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-21-mangaanime-industry-growing-and-making/ - Date: 2007-11-21 - Tags: anime, otaku - AI-assisted: no Image copyright Wired Magazine The Manga and anime industry is really on the grow in the past few years. In this month's issue of Wired Magazine you see from the cover and the f...
Image copyright Wired Magazine

The Manga and anime industry is really on the grow in the past few years. In this month's issue of Wired Magazine you see from the cover and the full story on how manga has taken the graphic novel industry by storm. 6 years ago the graphic novel industry which included comic books from major dealers like Marvel and DC only amounted to $75 Million dollars world wide.

As of today the graphic novel industry has grown to roughly $330 million with 2/3rds ($218 million) coming from manga! Hollywood has in recent years been creating top notch and high grossing movies all based on American comics and its first attempt at a big budget anime film, Transformers, has become a big success. Now there is a DBZ movie in the works and most likely others on the way. The only issue facing this kind of movement is if Hollywood is able to create a story as deep and compelling as many anime titles tend to be. Anime stories tend to have multiple layers to them in terms of character development that both American comics usually stray from and movies simply don't have the time to display.

Either way, as an anime fan I excited to see this industry grow... lets just hope that things stay Japanese and don't get too watered down or americanized as the mainstream accepts anime and manga. Discuss more in the anime forum.

Check the whole story from Wired here.
--- ## Site Update - New Bleach Fan Submitted AMVs - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-21-site-update-new-bleach-fan-submitted/ - Date: 2007-11-21 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Just got two more great AMVs added to the AMV section on the site. Thanks to Robin (AKA: Megaflamer) for these two awesome Bleach videos. Yes, there is a Bleach section in the w...

Just got two more great AMVs added to the AMV section on the site. Thanks to Robin (AKA: Megaflamer) for these two awesome Bleach videos. Yes, there is a Bleach section in the works for my site along with other new and old anime titles. The coming of black Friday and Cyber Monday has me all engulfed with my anime store but you'll see new stuff soon. Click here to view the amv section and scroll to the "Fan Submitted" ones. --- ## Back in the News; Dragon Ball Z Live Action Movie - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-19-back-in-news-dragon-ball-z-live-action/ - Date: 2007-11-19 - Tags: anime, dragon ball, dragon ball movie, dragon ball z - AI-assisted: no A few years back there was a whole bunch of hype about a Dragon Ball Z Live Action Movie. 20th Century Fox was in the plans to make a big budget movie about everyone's favorite ...
A few years back there was a whole bunch of hype about a Dragon Ball Z Live Action Movie. 20th Century Fox was in the plans to make a big budget movie about everyone's favorite Manga and Anime, Dragon Ball Z, but then the project got scraped.

As of recent news, the project is back in the works with roughly a 100 Million dollar budget and already some roles being cast. This news comes from both Variety magazine and from one of my product dealers from my anime store, Diamond Comics. Here's what they had to say:

"As reported by Variety, Justin Chatwin, the actor best known for his role in Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, has been cast as protagonist Goku, the powerful Saiyan warrior dedicated to protecting Earth from alien threats and evil tyrants. The actor that formerly portrayed Spike on TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, James Marsters has signed on as Piccolo, the villainous green fighter with hopes of world domination and one bold enough to take on Goku. The film will be directed by James Wong, produced by filmmaker Stephen Chow and has been assigned the tentative worldwide release date of August 15, 2008."

This is obviously big news if you are a DBZ fan. Diamond comics and I are excited about this since a few new cast figures will be coming out next year now. Personally I feel that a CG film would do better but I'm excited either way. Hey, maybe they'll find my New Faces Comp cards and I'll get the role as Trunks ^_^... well, I can dream.. but stay tuned as I get more info on this.
 --- ## Reposted AMV - Night Of Fire - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-18-reposted-amv-night-of-fire/ - Date: 2007-11-18 - Tags: updates, videos - AI-assisted: no After a bunch of emails begging for it back, I re uploaded my "Night of Fire" AMV. I feel its not as good as my other videos and it also looks like YouTube butchered the quality... After a bunch of emails begging for it back, I re uploaded my "Night of Fire" AMV. I feel its not as good as my other videos and it also looks like YouTube butchered the quality of it but I hope fans of this video I made back in 2004 enjoy. The main theme was fan-service of anime girls ^_^;



--- ## Revoltech Fralein - Evangelion Rei Ayanami PVC Figure Vol. 1 - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-13-revoltech-fralein-evangelion-rei/ - Date: 2007-11-13 - Tags: anime figures, figures - AI-assisted: no The Revoltech figures are something else. This figure is that of Rei Ayanami who is of course from the hit series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like other Revoltech figures from Kaiy... The Revoltech figures are something else. This figure is that of Rei Ayanami who is of course from the hit series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like other Revoltech figures from Kaiyodo, they have multiple points or articulation, but this one has the new E.L.F. concept giving it a more lively look and feel compared to most other jointed figures. Since Rei is wearing her body suit, this aids in covering the ball joints. It just has that lively look like many of the static figures have. This is a Volume 1 figure so expect some more from this line. She doesn't come state side until mid Feb 08 but you can pre-order her here. Check the Kaiyodo site too as the come up with more from the E.L.F line.

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--- ## The Wii Shaft, an arcade joystick for the Wii - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-12-wii-shaft-arcade-joystick-for-wii/ - Date: 2007-11-12 - Tags: gadgets, videogames - AI-assisted: no Just came across this cool gadget for the Wii. If you want to play Wii games the old fashioned way or say some of your Game Cube titles, this would be pretty good. I can't belie... Just came across this cool gadget for the Wii. If you want to play Wii games the old fashioned way or say some of your Game Cube titles, this would be pretty good. I can't believe they named it like this but for $39.99 you can chose a black, white or pink one.


Check out the full post on engadget. --- ## Site Update - New Fan Submitted AMVs - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-09-site-update-new-fan-submitted-amvs/ - Date: 2007-11-09 - Tags: updates - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone! Check out the AMV section , got some more amvs submitted by fans of the site. Hey everyone! Check out the AMV section, got some more amvs submitted by fans of the site. --- ## Haruhi Suzumiya - Hare Hare Yukai Dance Contest - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-06-haruhi-suzumiya-hare-hare-yukai-dance/ - Date: 2007-11-06 - Tags: otaku, updates - AI-assisted: no Just reminding everyone about the Hare Hare Yukai Dance Contest I'm doing. The goal is to mimic the dance done at the end of the episodes The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. As y... Just reminding everyone about the Hare Hare Yukai Dance Contest I'm doing. The goal is to mimic the dance done at the end of the episodes The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. As you can easily see on Youtube, people copying this dance has been a craze for a number of months in Japan. Whether you are from Japan or wherever, submit your video's youtube link of you doing this dance and the best ones will be voted on in January (sorry, I had to extend the time). The winner will get to pick one Haruhi Suzumiya figure of their choice from the anime store. I'll probably give some cool stuff for the runners up too. I have one entry already so have fun. Here's the dance below.







--- ## Site Update - Anime Blog Navigation bar - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-04-site-update-anime-blog-navigation-bar/ - Date: 2007-11-04 - Tags: anime blog, updates - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone! As you see, there is a new navigation bar at the top of the anime blog. These are all the categories that I'll be putting up here on the blog for you to go through... Hey everyone! As you see, there is a new navigation bar at the top of the anime blog. These are all the categories that I'll be putting up here on the blog for you to go through. As of this posting only the Site Updates and Figures section is active but you will see more in the coming days. If there are any cool topics you find and you'd like them here on the blog, let me know at I'll post them. Email me here and send me a link, picture, whatever you feel could go in a post. --- ## Yuki Nagato Swimsuit Version PVC Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-11-02-yuki-nagato-swimsuit-version-pvc-figure/ - Date: 2007-11-02 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Haruhi Suzumiya, Yuki Nagato, Yuki Nagato Swimsuit Figure - AI-assisted: no Another great Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya figure. This one is a swimsuit version of Yuki Nagato made by Alter. Saw it first on Dannychoo.com yesterday and as of last night I w... Another great Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya figure. This one is a swimsuit version of Yuki Nagato made by Alter. Saw it first on Dannychoo.com yesterday and as of last night I was able to pre-order a bunch through my dealer for the store. As you can see it looks simply amazing in detail and I'm expecting this to be sold out both in Japan and in America very fast. Yuki figures sell out very fast compared to the other figures. Personally, I prefer Mikuru and Haruhi over Yuki but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't keeping one of the figures when I get them. They are not in until mid-late April here in states, which is usually the case but we can wait (sorta).

You can pre-order her here but don't be surprised if they get sold out before arriving.



--- ## Air Gear Simca PVC Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-09-20-air-gear-simca-pvc-figure/ - Date: 2007-09-20 - Tags: air gear, anime figures, figures, pvc, Simca, Simca Figure - AI-assisted: no Here's another PVC figure on its way from Japan. This one is that of Simca from the popular anime and manga Air Gear. This one is done by Yamato and Creator's Lab, the same grou... Here's another PVC figure on its way from Japan. This one is that of Simca from the popular anime and manga Air Gear. This one is done by Yamato and Creator's Lab, the same group that makes all the great Shunya Yamashita figures. This one simply looks great the way it is designed and it also might make you want to take out your old roller blades and skate. You can order her here.
--- ## Creators' Labo #012: Shunya Yamashita - Arisa PVC Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-09-20-creators-labo-012-shunya-yamashita/ - Date: 2007-09-20 - Tags: anime figures, arisa figure, figures, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Yamato's Creators' Lab did it again. Another Shunya Yamashita figure is coming to the states on Dec 20th. This one is the Arisa PVC figure. It even comes with removable eyeglass... Yamato's Creators' Lab did it again. Another Shunya Yamashita figure is coming to the states on Dec 20th. This one is the Arisa PVC figure. It even comes with removable eyeglasses , decorative arm parts and the skirt too is removable. Once again it keeps Yamashita's sexy and funny look. Expected arrival to the states is sometime in February or sooner. You can order her here.


--- ## Shunya Yamashita's Shoko-San Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-09-11-more-great-anime-figures/ - Date: 2007-09-11 - Tags: anime figures, figures, Shoko-San, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Hey everyone. Sorry for the wait on my blogs. I do want to post at least one a day and they will be on other stuff than just figures but nobody minds looking at these. Anyways, ... Hey everyone. Sorry for the wait on my blogs. I do want to post at least one a day and they will be on other stuff than just figures but nobody minds looking at these. Anyways, here is a figure coming out at the end of the year. This is another figure by Shunya Yamashita; the Shoko-San 1/7th scale figure, black variant. Looks just as good as the original but I'll admit that I prefer the color scheme of the original since it's more diverse. You can comment on which one you like better. You can pre-order it here. The date says it will be in by February but it is possible that I can get this in to the Anime Store as early as November. The original can be purchased here. The original should be out soon too.
--- ## Art of Shunya Yamashita: CoCoNa Figure - URL: https://www.chucksanimeshrine.com/blog/2007-08-18-art-of-shunya-yamashita-cocona-figure/ - Date: 2007-08-18 - Tags: anime figures, chucksanimeshrine, figures, Shunya Yamashita - AI-assisted: no Hey Guys, Here is the first figure I wish to show you guys. I'm pre-ordering this item for my store and I just wanted to know what you all though of it. In case you didn't know,... Hey Guys,

Here is the first figure I wish to show you guys. I'm pre-ordering this item for my store and I just wanted to know what you all though of it. In case you didn't know, Shunya Yamashita's work includes Sera-Chan, Mirei-San, Shii and others. These tend to sell through the roof and for good reason. This one is expected to come out in January 2008 but I'm hoping it could come in before x-mas. Pre-order it here.