Seriously, it’s been a long, long time since these series aired, and now we feel really old.
nerdy
Comiket isn’t just about anime—it caters to hardcore otaku of all varieties, as we quickly discovered during our most recent visit.
A certain custom-made itasha van, modeled after Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, has been drawing attention in the the Fukui Prefecture. Taking a look at the realistic detail put in to it, there’s no question as to why that is.
The first iteration of the van was built in 2009, and was a black van with the disembodied lower half of a person sticking out of the trunk and numerous character decals. According to Shiren Amakusa, the vans’ owner, he ran into problems when customizing the first van, due to the fact that it was black, which would make the blood less visible against it. The latest version of the van solves that problem, as well as adding a human hand sticking out of the front hood.
Golf is one of the hardest sports and if you’re thinking, “NO IT’S NOT!!!” then clearly you’ve never picked up a golf club. Very few people, if anyone, have a “Happy Gilmore moment” where everything instantly comes together and you can get a hole in one on a par four with only a few weeks of practice. So with all those difficulties golfers face out on the course, maybe this Mario bag can help calm them. Miss a putt? No problem, just look into those maniacal blue eyes. Everything’s going to be okay.
Snowboarding is fairly popular in Japan and there’s no doubt that anime and manga are deeply ingrained in the psyche of many people across the nation. So we suppose this ita-board, or “painfully nerdy snowboard” event isn’t too much of a surprise considering the constant appearance of ita-sha (painful cars), ita-suit (painful suit), and even ita-heli (painful helicopters). What did surprise us is the national association dedicated to nerdy snowboards and the annual event that hosts them.
Who says the office is no place for scantily-clad girls with blue hair? Now you can look smart and professional while staying true to your animé roots with the latest in clothing for discerning otaku- the itasuit!
There are train hobbyists and then there are train hobbyists. Japan’s particular breed of railway aficionados are referred to by the somewhat-affectionate term densha otaku, or train nerds, and are famous for feats like memorizing complex, phonebook-size timetables or visiting every single one of the country’s almost 10,000 stations.
Of course, when they aren’t trying to increase their encyclopedic knowledge of all things rail-related, they are out looking for like-minded people to impress with it. As it turns out, Tokyo offers the densha otaku a wide selection of appropriate watering holes, or perhaps we should call them bar cars. So grab your subway map and let’s go see this elusive creature in his natural habitat. Read More
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