I admit I stopped buying DVDs and Blu-rays when Crunchyroll entered the scene.
I recall back in the 90s, spending HUNDREDS of dollars on VHS boxsets of anime. Does anyone remember Suncoast Video? I’d go there all the time on birthdays with money from my grandparents or friends and family and buy anime box sets. I also would get catalogs in the mail from a company… I think it was called Funco? They sold anime by mail. I can’t remember if that was their name – but yep I’d order a TON of anime – VHS – through them. read more
I received this book for free in exchange for a review. Thoughts and Opinions are my own.
Neko Atsume is a popular idle clicker style mobile game where you leave food out and close the app, and open the app later to find different kitties have come to your garden to sample your food. The object of the game is to “collect” all the different kitties who will come and go in and out of your garden and do various cute things on your screen. The simplistic artwork and simplistic gameplay launched this mobile app to stardom levels with over 50 million users around the world having installed the app.
The success of the mobile game spawned a whole franchise of toys, home goods, pet products, even a live action movie. So it’s no surprise there are new activity books by Viz featuring the cute kitties! The first book I will review is Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku Seasons of the Kitty. As the name suggests, it’s a cute collection of poems with illustrations featuring the collectible cats of the Neko Atsume mobile game. There’s also stickers in the book that let you keep track of your kitty collection and personalize it with names and other details. See the stickers below:
A Haiku is a type of Japanese Poem that features 3 “phrases” with a rhythm that’s defined by the syllables in each phrase. The first phrase will have 5 syllables, the next will have 7, and the final phrase will have 5 again. Thus creating a rhythm of 5, 7, 5. Many Haiku create a relationship between two objects and focus on observing everyday objects and occurrences. Many Haiku also focus on seasons, so it’s quite fitting that this book Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku Seasons of the Kitty breaks the book into short chapters each featuring a collection of Haiku showing us what the kitties are doing in each of the four seasons. In spring we see them playing with flowers or napping in the sun, in winter we see them playing with Christmas decorations. There are also some Haiku in the book which don’t seem to reflect a season at all, such as kitties hiding in tunnels or playing with toys, kitties just being kitties, which they do year round. Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku Season of the Kitty features over 100 full color pages sure to charm you and brighten your day.
My favorite Haiku in Neko Atsume Kitty Collector features a kitty begging for more meat treats. I love this one because my own kitties always beg for treats. I joke that my kitties need an intervention, they are like treat-addicts. So reading this haiku and seeing the simple illustration warmed my heart because I immediately thought of my own kitties in real life. In fact, at several points in the book I was thinking “That’s just like my cats!” This book is definitely for cat lovers! In fact, it’s so cute and would make a great gift for any cat lover — even if they’ve never played Neko Atsume.
It could also be a great book to teach young kids about Haikus. You can have fun showing young kids this book, counting together with them as you read each line of the Haiku, and enjoying the cute and funny artwork and seeing what the kitties are up to in each Haiku.
My only complaint with the book is that some of the Haiku feel a little forced to fit the rhyme scheme, with random “meows” thrown in it feels like at times just to match the syllable formula of the haiku. Regardless of this small complaint, the book is so cute and charming that I’ve already read it front to back and re-read my favorite Haikus again and again. Reading these little poems is so relaxing – just like the relaxing gameplay of the Neko Atsume mobile game that started it all.
Once anyone reads this cute collection of poetry, they won’t be able to resist catching Neko Atsume fever and delving into playing the game or collecting the toys and other related merchandise.
If you’re looking for a great gift for a cat lover, or just looking to feed your own collection of Neko Atsume Goodies, be sure to pick up a copy of Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku Seasons of the Kitty today. For just $10.99, it would make the perfect gift for that cat lover in your life, or maybe that cat lover is you! 🙂 Curl up with a nice cup of tea and kitty in your lap and enjoy the cute illustrations and see what mischief the kitties in the book get up to each season.
You can bring the kitties home for yourself on March 13, 2018!
You can buy Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku Seasons of the Kitty at any of the following retailers:
*It looks like Rightstuf is selling the book ahead of the other retailers, and for a bit cheaper too (currently “in stock” and just $8.24 at time of this posting)
Love Nikki Dress UP Queen takes a lot of what made Hello Nikki Let's Beauty Up so much fun and throws in a few new surprises as well. If you login each day you get all kinds of rewards, basic login rewards, as well as ongoing event rewards, and other goodies. If you compete in the Stylist Arena you can get ranked against others and earn more rewards. The Arena is broken into seasons and the scores reset with new seasons which help new players catch up. You can enjoy the story mode by challenging various NPCs, or you can dress up freely - the choice is yours. With so many ways to play, Love Nikki Dress UP Queen is sure to keep you coming back.
Are you a retro video game collector? If so you know how expensive, or hard to find, some games and console systems can be. Many 16 and 32 bit games now sell for more than a hundred dollars for a single cartridge on the second hand market. This can quickly add up to thousands of dollars for even a modest sized retro game collection. If you’re a serious collector, you may be interested in purchasing insurance to help protect your gaming collection.
Many people find that researching and trying to make sense of the many insurance options available to them, to be too time consuming, and too much of a hassle. But lately, there are many online companies who want to make understanding and selecting the right Condo/co-op or Renter’s Insurance an easy and fast process with just a few clicks.
Jetty is one such company that will allow you to add your video game collection to your Condo/co-op or Renter’s Insurance. Jetty’s website immediately looks and feels different from other insurance companies. The site is clean and modern feeling with lots of images and animation, humor, and way less legal jargon. It’s also completely mobile friendly, so it makes purchasing Condo/co-op or Renter’s Insurance something you can even do on your lunch break or on the go.
Jetty considers themselves to be an insurance company for people in “cities” and they want to help busy city dwellers get set up quickly with the right insurance. Jetty even makes it easy for young folks to get started in their first Condo/co-op or apartment with their Jetty Passport system which replaces the need for a security deposit or cosigner.
I went through the Jetty App which took less than 10 minutes, and honestly, I was surprised how affordable it can be to get basic Renter’s or Condo/co-op Insurance AND insurance for my gaming collection, all for less than $20 a month. Oh I also added the optional electronics insurance for just $2 a month which protects things like Iphones and Laptops from drops, spills, water damage. Way cheaper than the insurance offered by your cell phone carrier or electronic retail stores.
Here is my experience using the App. 🙂 With pictures. Everyone loves pictures.
The first thing it’s going to do is ask for your address and some basic info like how much your monthly rent is, and if you live alone or with a significant other, etc. This is all used to calculate your basic insurance.
Next, here starts the fun part. You can add optional insurance to protect your valuables and electronics (like that retro video game collection, or your $2,000 gaming Laptop).
First, try to decide how much your collection is actually worth. Think about those games that are rare, out of print, obscure, hard to find, or imported from other countries. You can research amazon and eBay or even google to see how much the game is worth. Consider also the condition your games are in. Are they in mint pristine condition with manuals and original packaging? If so that may make them worth more. By the way, Jetty doesn’t have a button for video games (yet) so you should just add them to “Special Collections”.
I estimated my collection to be worth about $3,000 (not counting my gaming laptop, because I wasn’t thinking of it at the time and focused on the retro game portion of my collection. If I added the new gaming laptop in, that would make the collection value closer to $4,500).
After calculating the value of your collection, you’ll also be offered a chance to add that sweet Electronics Insurance, I mentioned above which will help protect your phone or laptop or gaming PC from accidental damage from drops, slips, spills, falls, etc. This is a really good value and much cheaper than going with insurance from your cellphone provider or electronic retail stores.
Finally, you’ve reached the end. On the next screen they will show you how much your insurance will cost and it will be broken down to help you understand exactly what you’re paying for, such as basic insurance, your collections, and electronics protection.
As you can see, for my $3,000 retro video game collection, basic Renters Insurance, and electronic’s protection, I’m looking at about $18 a month. That is a really low price for some peace of mind!
You can also use the collections feature on Jetty to protect your dolls, figures, toys, and other geeky collections. Check out Jetty’s website to learn how to protect your retro video game collection or anything else that you’d like to insure.
Looking for remarkably life-like figures to add to your collection? Willing to splurge a bit to acquire some of the hottest figures on the market? Do you collect figures inspired by some of the most intriguing characters populating media today? Then Phicen is the company for you.
Phicen produces 1/6 scale figures as its specialty. Its team is made up of experts in the fields of art, painting, sculpture, and costuming. Its figures have received worldwide recognition, and are adored by amateur and experienced, dedicated collectors alike.
Phicen is dedicated to ongoing research in the newest production techniques so they can continue to make the most realistic models with the finest details you could imagine. The company has made itself known as one of the top producers in the collectible figure field through the employment of its near-perfect encapsulation technique. Phicen has a true passion for authenticity and quality, along with a drive to advance ease of production and pioneer manufacturing techniques. These qualities have propelled Phicen into the 1/6 scale world, a world in which it has quickly developed and expanded.
Mercy Dante
As a young girl, Mercy Dante witnessed the murders of both her parents, but was herself spared at the last minute. All she had was her sister Grace, but even she was taken away when Grace killed herself at the age of sixteen. Mercy became bent on revenge, becoming a contract killer just like the murderer of her parents. Eventually, she found her parents’ killer, and kidnapped and murdered his daughter as a way to even the score. The girl’s father, the killer, committed suicide soon after.
However, the event haunted her. The daughter’s ghost followed her until one-day Mercy met up with a woman who said she could help her and give her a second chance. Suddenly Mercy was swept back in time to the minute before she shot the killer’s daughter. This time, she let her go. But there was one more thing she had to do. The woman who offered her a second chance asked her to shoot herself in the head, and Mercy obeyed, traveling to hell in the process.
What follows is a tale heavily influenced by Dante’s Divine Comedy, specifically Inferno. In his 14th-century epic poem, Dante travels through the nine circles of hell with the Roman poet Virgil as his guide. Like Dante, Mercy finds herself in the first circle of hell, Limbo, with a mission: she is contracted by a mysterious woman to find a man trapped in a certain ring of hell that only Mercy can reach. He is crucial to a war involving humanity, and finding and freeing him is a way for Mercy to redeem herself. She journeys through hell to find him, encountering some surprises, including Satan, along the way.
Mercy Dante is clearly one badass woman, and her Phicen sixth-scale figure completely does her justice. Her cracked lips and steel-colored eyes glinting behind the edge of a notched dagger, Mercy is ready for her journey down into the depths of hell.
Her seamless body is made with stainless steel armature and comes with cloth costuming, including a long black faux-leather jacket and knee-high boots, a gun holster that sits under the arm, 2.45 automatic pistols, six interchangeable hands, a dagger and sheath, and a base on which to display her. With all of her accouterments, Mercy looks like the unstoppable assassin that she is.
Red Sonja
Red Sonja has a long history and is one of the greatest swordswomen of comic book lore, earning her the title “She-Devil with a Sword.” She was born in the Hyborian age as Sonja, and lived humbly with her family until a group of mercenaries murdered her father, mother, and two brothers, burning down their house and all their possessions in the process.
She cried out in anguish and revenge, and the goddess Scathach answered her call. She offered Sonja unequaled battle skill in return for the promise that she would never sleep with a man unless he had honorably bested her in battle.
Sonja accepted the offer and journeyed widely, becoming a legend known for her flaming red hair and striking ability to leave pools of blood from her enemies wherever she went. She was often sought out by men and women who needed her help to defeat whatever evil was afflicting their town or family. Memorable enemies include the Celestial One, Kulan Gath, and Strabonus.
Sonja also became a queen when she liberated the Kingdom of Sogaria from the oppressive Emoran empire. However, the Emoran empire remained a threat. She instigated a war between two opposing factions of the empire, while also causing a slave revolt, weakening the empire and throwing it into chaos. Sonja personally dueled Emora’s emperor and killed him, becoming the empress, and gaining a whole new batch of struggles and battles.
Red Sonja’s athleticism and mastery of weapons, as well as unarmed combat, and impressive stamina and strength, are all qualities clearly found in her sixth-scale figure. She is made of one of Phicen’s singular seamless bodies supported by stainless steel armature. She comes with over 15 accessories, including three pairs of interchangeable gloved hands, a pair of earrings, faux fur hooded coat and boots, various pieces of armor, and weapons, including a dagger, shield, and battle axe.
She is clad in her typical scale mail bikini armor which she famously commented on, saying, “Men are easily distracted. Most of them never even notice my sword … until their heads roll off their necks.”
More Phicen Females
Phicen has produced a slew of other sixth-scale female figures to enjoy. One of them is the Power of the Valkyrie, a human nurse named Susan who was bestowed with the powers of the Valkyrie. She protected Asgard as well as her Earth from the evil Norse god Loki. Her figure is stunning in an elegant white hooded cape with glimmering silver blue armor.
Another notable female is the Shi in Komono (U.S. version). This is the figure of Ana Ishikawa, a highly trained renegade who avenged the deaths of her father and brother by adopting the guise of Shi, death incarnate in Japan. Her figure features Ana in a beautiful floral-themed kimono with her signature weapon, the naginata. It is a wonderful representation of Billy Tucci’s vision for the character.
There are even more amazing Phicen females to find online, so go check them out!
Touken Ranbu – June Betoyo Bento – Anime Subscription Box
My birthday was last month. I turned 35. Eek, scary to be getting so old LOL. My best friend got me two wonderful subscription boxes for my birthday. The first is Betoyo, a box focusing primarily on anime figurines. I’m a doll or figure collector and also love the excitement of opening blind box figurines. This box is perfect for anime fans looking to add to their figure collections.
The June Betoyo Bento had a lot of adorable things packed inside. The highlights of the box were the “Fate” figure on the motorcycle, a figure from Sword Art Online, and a beautiful wall scroll from the popular “Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress” anime.
I don’t think I actually took a pic of the box – oopsie. — But inside the box was a beautiful “gift bag” from Touken Ranbu. Us girls love our bishounen, Am I Right? 🙂
The bag has artwork on both sides, one showing the majority of the cast members, and the other side a nice closeup of Kogitsunemaru.
It’s a big bag too – and since it was a birthday gift to me it was kinda awesome that it was essentially “gift wrapped”. Nice packaging! and if you have other friends who love anime, you can keep this bag and use it to wrap other gifts for friends in the future. Very useful.
OK let’s see what’s inside this month’s Betoyo Bento! 🙂
Hmm… the large giftbag makes it look a little empty in there! Still exciting though, lol!
First Up, Touken Ranbu Blindbox Figure. I love blindbox figures, it’s always so much fun wondering which one you will see when you open the box.
This collection includes 6 different figures, 1 per box of course. I’m not sure of the rarity of the items inside.
Packaging is a little bit bent, but so adorable. Here are the other sides of the box:
Wait “Made in China”? Why not “Made in Japan”? — Most likely counterfeit goods. This does not really bother me to be honest, but I know many doll collectors that are adamantly against any counterfeit items. — also another figure you’ll see later further down in this post broke apart and I was told by another user via instagram the same thing happened to them and that they learned it was because the figure was counterfeit. — so if you do not like counterfeit items – this box is NOT for you — but if you just like cute things, and don’t really care about “resale value” “collector value” and are ok taking a gamble with “quality”, and have no moral objections, then it’s still a great box for the money – and the figures still look adorable in your collection!
Also I didn’t realize what this box was trying to tell me – I think the “face” is painted on both sides so you get two facial expressions per figure and you can also swap faces between the figures, giving you a lot of options for how to display your figure. – I didn’t realize that, so the photos you will see only show one side of my figure’s face.
Alright, let’s open this puppy.
I got the white haired one. 🙂
Quality wise it’s kinda a “meh” – not real excited about this item. It just doesn’t look that “nice” 🙁
Next up, the wallscroll from kabaneri – I really like this item. I’ve yet to watch the anime, but seeing this beautiful artwork makes me want to check it out. She is very kawaii! The wallscroll has beautiful bright vivid colors and cute artwork. Love the kawaii girl in the kimono!. This will look great in my doll room. Very pleased with this item. And yes, it is printed on fabric, not paper, which will help ensure durability and longevity of the item.
It is what I would call a “mini” wallscroll. Here it is next to me for comparison (sorry for bad lighting. The first pic was taken outdoors and more accurate to the beautiful colors of this item. This next pic is indoors in dim lighting in the evening.
Next up another blind box, this one is Sword Art Online – this item is epic fail in my opinion. Here’s some pics of the box, which are about the only pics I have of this item because… it didn’t fit together “well” so I applied a LITTLE bit of pressure, trying to put it together, and it CRUMBLED, in multiple pieces, just by pressing a LITTLE bit firm with two fingers. Quality Issues here. — I am TOLD by someone on instagram that the same thing happened to them and they found out that the item was counterfeit, but cannot confirm the accuracy of this information. — Once again, the majority of the items say Made in China, which is typically an indicator of counterfeit items – so I would not be surprised if that was the case.
This lil one would have been cute – had it fit together and not broke apart with the slightest bit of pressure. – Your Mileage may vary.
I’ve saved the best for last – this item in my opinion makes this entire box well worth the subscription cost. It’s larger than the other items as you can see – but that’s not all – it’s well made (even if it is counterfeit, this one is not bad at all.) It has substantial weight to it, it’s painted a heck of a lot better than the other 2 figures, and it stands up, goes together well, and just looks awesome. The little motorcycle is so cute! I love this figure. Very much!
It comes with two bodies, one for sitting on the motorcycle and one for standing – and it stands well on it’s own. The standing body also has a katana. The two bodies are easy to interchange and fit together perfectly. My favorite thing about the figure may be the way her “hair” looks like it’s blowing in the breeze, which looks awesome as she’s “riding” her tiny motorcycle.
Look at my awesome figure; you know you is jelly 🙂
But you don’t have to be jealous, because you too can have an awesome Betoyo subscription box – it’s just $28 a month and yes, there are some flaws or issues, but I personally feel that all of the items combined are worth at least equal to if not over the cost of the subscription – I would subscribe if I had the funds, but I decided instead to subscribe to the other box my friend got for me for Boxychan (you’ll see a review later today for that one) – and I am already a subscriber to another box, the Pusheen Box which I reviewed here.
Anyways, if you liked the items here, be sure to sign up at Betoyo Bento to get in on the next box! http://www.betoyo.com/
Also because I’m lazy, and just a hobby blogger doing this for fun, I’m sometimes slow to post these pics – so if you want to see more pics like this, and see them a few weeks sooner, check out my instagram account. https://www.instagram.com/xenokitten/
