zone otaku » Otaku

How Do You Know If Someone Is An Otaku?

zenical — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:58:49 +0000

I found this a somewhat interesting read – over five hundred individuals in Japan were polled by the Mobile Marketing Data Labo, providing these insights into how folks can spot otaku.

They are using otaku slang, net jargon or 2ch cant

They just happen to have anime/manga/game goods about them

They respond to otaku type keywords and issues

They become very intense when the conversation turns to anime/manga/games, and only then

The tunes they hum are all anime related

They know excessive amounts about a given anime/manga/game

You can somehow just tell intuitively that they are an otaku

They talk unconcernedly about anime, manga and games all the time as if it were normal

They start talking about a seiyuu

They are carrying a bag from an otaku shop like Animate or Tora no Ana

Out of the 10 points above, do you commit any of them?

It’s somewhat interesting that these are the ways that you spot an otaku. To me indulging in the anime world is like a hobby for me, something I enjoy. Just like how a normal guy would enjoy watching soccer, we call them a soccer freak. But for people like us who enjoy watching anime, we’re called an otaku the moment they hear the word “anime”. I don’t see how talking about a seiyuu makes me an otaku, it simply means that I love the VA a lot to want to talk about her :D.

Well looking at the 10 points above, I only remember doing #2, #5(sometimes), #6, #8, #9

#8 is a little exaggerated though.

Source: MMD研究所 via Sankaku Complex NSFW via Kotaku

HobbyLink Japan 70% Off Shipping Till June 24

zenical — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:01:53 +0000

Attention folks who love sales and discounts! HobbyLink Japan is back with 70% off shipping. If you missed the previous sale whereby you get free express shipping (it only managed to last for a day due to overwhelming response ^^), this is the chance now! This time it will run for the full period from June 22 2010 (10am JST) till June 24 (9pm JST). It has commenced already, so don’t miss your chance!

Shipping is decided by you, unlike the earlier sale whereby mode of shipment was chosen by HLJ.

In order to take advantage of this great free shipping offer, all you have to do is:

Place an order or orders for any in-stock and shippable items between 10am June 22 and 6pm June 24 (Japan Standard Time; GMT+9).
During checkout, choose PayPal or set up a PayPal Billing Agreement. Even if you don’t have a PayPal account yet, you can set that up during checkout, too!
During that process, agree to pay for your order using regular Paypal or a PayPal Billing Agreement.  Choose your preferred shipping method, too!
Enjoy a 70% discount off your shipping fees!

Important terms and conditions

Campaign is valid only for orders placed and paid for with regular PayPal or a PayPal Billing Agreement between 10am June 22 and 6pm June 24 (Japan Standard Time; GMT+9).
Only items shippable during the campaign period will be eligible for discounted shipping. (Please note that an item that is in stock when ordered but goes out of stock before your order can be filled will NOT be eligible for the campaign.) Orders placed for backordered or future release items will be shipped (without discounted shipping) when they become available, as normal.
With a PayPal Billing Agreement, all in-stock and shippable items from your eligible order(s) will be automatically shipped, and your PayPal Billing Agreement charged as usual, in order to ensure that you get the discounted shipping.
With regular PayPal, we’ll send you a payment request e-mail as usual when your order is ready to ship asking you to go to PayPal’s site and authorize the payment to us. As usual, you will have two weeks to pay manually by regular PayPal (orders may be cancelled if not paid for within two weeks).
Customers can choose their preferred shipping method, as usual. All usual terms and conditions apply to shipping.
Any previous orders already waiting for payment in your account will prevent you from receiving the discounted shipping, unless paid for before the end of the campaign so that your new order can proceed.

It seems that they added another condition, that is you have to pay for your orders pending for payment first before your new order(f0r the campaign) will proceed.

Also, please note that HLJ has given 20% off their shipping fees for EMS for a certain period already, so the 20% off will still apply in this campaign. With the additional 70% off from this campaign, EMS shipping will now be entitled to 76% off. You do the maths :)

What’s next? You have to click on to HobbyLink Japan now! XD.

HobbyLink Japan Free Express Shipping 8-11 June

zenical — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 07:59:26 +0000

Yet another promotion from the folks at HobbyLink Japan. Following the Summer Sales, they decided to give free express shipping! This promotion will only run from 6pm (JST; GMT+9) June 8^th 2010 till 6pm (JST; GMT+9) June 11^th 2010. That is like a few hours to the start of it. Keep your eyes peeled out for the campaign to start!

Do take note however, that if allotted stocks are sold out, the campaign might end. So well? It’s best just to hit “CART” if you don’t want to miss out any awesome deals!

In order to take advantage of this great free shipping offer, all you have to do is:

Place an order or orders for any items between 6pm (JST; GMT+9) June 8^th 2010 and 6pm (JST; GMT+9) June 11^th 2010 (or until allotted stock is sold out)
During checkout, choose PayPal or set up a PayPal Billing Agreement. Even if you don’t have a PayPal account yet, you can set that up during checkout, too!
During that process, agree to pay for your order using regular Paypal or a PayPal Billing Agreement.
Enjoy totally free express shipping!

Terms and Conditions you need to take note before shopping at HobbyLink Japan:

Campaign is valid only for orders placed and paid for with regular PayPal or a PayPal Billing Agreement between 6pm (JST; GMT+9) June 8^th 2010 and 6pm (JST; GMT+9) on June 11^th 2010 (or until allotted stock is sold out).
Only items shippable during the campaign period will be eligible for free shipping. Orders placed for backordered or future release items will be shipped (without free shipping) when they become available, as normal.
With a PayPal Billing Agreement, all in-stock and shippable items from your eligible order(s) will be automatically shipped, and your PayPal Billing Agreement charged as usual, in order to ensure that you get free shipping.
With regular PayPal, we’ll send you an payment request e-mail when your order is ready to ship asking you to go to PayPal’s site and authorize the payment to us. As usual, you will have two weeks to pay manually by regular PayPal (orders may be cancelled if not paid for within two weeks).
Orders shipped for free under this campaign will be shipped via Federal Express or postal service EMS, at HLJ’s sole discretion, regardless of the shipping method chosen at order time.

So what’s next? Time to hit this link: Get me to HobbyLink Japan

Ferrari Is Now Ita-Ferrari

zenical — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:04:23 +0000

I don’t own a car, but I do drive my family car. I hate those fast cars because they like to show off that they are fast. Then again I don’t really see sports car on the road (maybe it’s a sign that I’m not driving enough =/) In addition to that, I don’t pay attention to cars, so I don’t really take note of the variety of cars on the road. Saw this picture of a Ferrari. It was a Ferrari – now it’s not!

It became an Ita-Ferrari :3

This is awesome XD.

Source: AkibaOS

Spring Sale at HobbyLink Japan!

zenical — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:45:47 +0000

HobbyLink Japan is having their Spring Sale from 15 March to 31 March 2010. Folks who love sales should check HLJ out for the item that might be waiting for you~

A couple of items there that might catch your eye. Spotted some good deals over there.

Also, HLJ has started Fedex shipping for customers. You can now ship via Fedex! :) Also, EMS shipping gets 20% discount till June 30!!

Wow I always hate paying for shipping. The shipping sometimes is equal to the value of my parcel. LOL. With the 20% discount, I don’t see the need to bother about shipping already XD.

The Ultimate Saber Collection

zenical — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:54:19 +0000

Saber sure has many fans, and take a look at this guy’s collection of Saber. I LOST COUNT!

He has every single official figurine of Saber ever made(looks like it), and Dolfies too. And today I learned something. Collectiong your fave character is costly. Just look at this collection! Of course let’s not forget the fact that Saber does have many many figurines that I can’t keep track already. Lol

Source: SankakuComplex

Gundam Tree to Rise in Akihabara

zenical — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:00:10 +0000

And if you are looking for more Gundam Statues in Japan (1/1 scale Gundam?), there will be another type of Gundam “attraction” this coming Thursday, December 3 at Akihabara.

A “Gundam Tree” made of over 60 plastic models from the robot anime franchise will be erected in the Tokyo otaku shopping district of Akihabara on December 3.

The Gundam Tree, will stand about 5 meters tall. It will also mark the release of the Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus action game for the PSP on the same day.

The tree will be illuminated in Gundam’s signature colors of red, blue and white. Tohru Furuya, the voice actor of the first Gundam anime’s main character, Amuro Ray will man the switch to light up the tree on December 3.

First 100 folks who head down to Akiba will get a chance to take a photograph with Furuya when they purchase the PSP game!

Wow, what a way to promote the upcoming Gundam game. Also, since Christmas is around the corner, this can’t have been a better way to promote the Gundam game XD.

Source: ANN

Buddhist Temple For Otaku

zenical — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:41:30 +0000

Another attraction you might want to check if you’re in Japan: Ryohoji Temple, which has become a popular place for otaku after its head priest decided to decorate the temple with manga characters!

I see maids! XD. Interesting. Hopefully there will be more temples like this in the near future..

Source: Japan Probe

4th Annual Seiyuu Awards Voting Begins

zenical — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:10:10 +0000

The 4th Annual Seiyuu Awards voting has started. Votes are accepted in English and Japanese from October 1 2009 to January 2010 at the official site.

Officially, only votes from foreign fans are accepted for the Overseas Fans Choice Award, The results of the vote shall determine the first assessment. A second assessment shall be held by the Seiyu Awards Selection Committee. The awards ceremony will be held at the Tokyo Anime Center in the Akihabara otaku shopping district on March 6.

My pick? Do you need to ask? XD

She did a damn awesome job as Maria on Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Those evil laughs that Maria had, and the “uuuu” sound will remain in my mind now :D

So who will you be voting? ^^ Remember to cast your vote!

Top 10 Ways to Spot an Otaku

zenical — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:10:30 +0000

What makes you an otaku? A survey of over 4,000 Japanese reveals just how easy it is thought to be to spot a (male) otaku from how he dresses…Oh and the site of this blog is “Zotaku”, did you know it stands for Zone Otaku? ^^”

There are many types of otaku: anime otaku, cosplay otaku, manga otaku, game otaku, wota(Idol Otaku!!).

Here are the top 10 ways you can identify an otaku as voted on Japan’s Goo Ranking:

He has an anime T-shirt
He has an anime shopping bag
He has a waist pouch (”fanny pack” / “bum bag”)
He wears a bandanna (hachimaki)
His bag is covered in anime badges
His hair is excessively long
He wears his rucksack over both shoulders
He has big, thick glasses
He tucks his shirt/T-shirt into his trousers
He wears chemical wash jeans

I agree with a few of the points (seeing that I do see them here in Singapore.. LOL). How about you? Do you perform any of the 10 points above?

Maybe I should post on my views on “how to spot a female otaku”(seeing that I am a female.. :P) Haha.

Source: Sankaku Complex via Kotaku