Japan Earthquake 2011 - Thoughts & Realizations

Major news organizations such as CNN, BBC and Reuters reported that an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan and accordingly, the strongest that hit the country since the Great Kanto Quake back in 1923. Before writing this possible long blog entry, I am both watching the local news reporting the incident and checking the internet for possible updates.

I was at school when I first heard about this earthquake news in Japan. The local school TVs that were found in our campus started streaming news updates coming from a well-known local cable news channel, ANC (The ABS-CBN News Channel). While watching it, I was both stunned and amazed on what it happening. Stunned because this is worse than the earthquake that recently happened in Australia, amazed because its been a while since I saw this kind of strength being emitted by Mother Nature, the last one was the typhoon that hit our country two years ago.

Asides from those emotions, I was scared after hearing that a tsunami might struck our country, the Philippines due to the intensity of the earthquake, that is why I tried to lighten up myself by saying to myself, "The earthquake was caused by Godzilla and Ultraman fighting while the 33 giant robots from the Super Sentai franchise are watching." But it didn't work. The fear is still there.

I returned home, worried on what is happening in Japan, that is why I switched to one local TV channel who airs its nightly news update earlier than the other stations. Listening to a few bits of the update cause me to do other things, such as going to the market and buy fish from the fish monger for me to eat. I returned home, and went channel surfing till the other local channels will start airing the news. This is when I learned more on what is happening and saw more footage on the event.


An oil refinery exploded because of the earthquake, people are crying and saying to each other, "Everything is going to be alright." and people stuck on top of buildings. It was a devastating sight. Because of it, I am starting to wonder, are there any heroes around to save them? You might say, sure, Japan has an army of bug-faced heroes in which we cover in this blog along with men wearing colorful spandex and saving the world every single week, but those are fictional heroes, created to inspire others to be heroes in their own way.

I tried looking for lighter news related to this one on TV but I failed on looking one which cause me to be a bit depressed along with the possibility that a tsunami might hit the Philippines (while writing this post, Russia was hit with a tsunami caused by the Japan earthquake). Asides from that, I am starting to wonder, is our country prepared in case this level of magnitude will hit our country?

It turns out that there are heroes around when the earthquake happen. In an article from Kotaku that I just read, a gaming exec rescued a helpless junior high school girl. Sure, it was just minor act of heroism but we are not sure if there are more people like this gaming exec but we don't know.

What also lightened up my mood while learning more about this news is that, even if the communication lines are cut in Japan, they have other ways to communicate with others, such as Facebook and Twitter... and they say that Facebook and Twitter ruins some people! If they have a webcam, they might use Skype to communicate with their relatives outside Japan to tell them that they are safe. Also, local government agencies here in the Philippines are opening hotlines regarding the situation in Japan.

Even in the midst of the catastrophe, there is a ray of hope, a silver lining that everything will be alright. That is why local channels in Japan decided to cancel local anime and tokusatsu programming for a while the sake of updating about this news. So that everyone in Japan will be updated so that everyone in Japan will be safe and asides from that, anime/manga/game events were cancelled.

If you started rambling about having no Super Hero Time for next week, think about this, how many people in Japan are worried sick about their relatives being alive after the earthquake and what if you are in there position? Guess what I am trying to say is, let's pray that everyone in Japan are safe right now.

Sayonara, KHQ

Because of the popularity of Facebook and Twitter and the rapid decline of active users, K-Zone Philippines' forum, K-Zone Headquarters also known as KHQ will sign-off this February 16, Wednesday. The top picture is the official statement of the webmaster of the form.

For starters, K-Zone Headquarters or KHQ for short is where I officially started my online life. Not officially on Friendster like most Pinoys, but on KHQ. This is where out of random, I came up with the alias, ukiya_seed and made my name in the kiddie online community years ago... and had my alias published in the magazine where the forum was based, not once, but twice in the same issue!

It is on KHQ where I forced myself to learn Photoshop just to have good looking signatures and avatars, also, this is when I started writing my online novellas which I ended up not finishing because I don't have time writing it, but if I have enough time, maybe I will revisit those stories and rewrite them to fix some errors I made in case made some. 

Wondering what are those stories, a romantic comedy with a bit of assassins called, Oh! My Sweet Maria and a dark action oriented story about Grim Reapers and devils and a kid stuck between the battle of those forces while keeping his normal life, normal called, Reaper Chronicles: Dark Wings. I have larger plans with those stories and I will keep those plans tight lipped to prevent other from getting some ideas from my works! XD

Will I miss KHQ? Yes, I will miss it since it changed my life and without it, I guess I will not be known as UkiyaSeed in the tokusatsu community and in the online anime community. Momotaros also known as ukiya_seed will now say goodbye to the forum who once became part of his life. Sayonara, KHQ.

Anime Asia Magazine Vol. 1 Issue 1 Review

From the creators of OtakuZine, comes another anime magazine, which screams and looks like it is targeted for international viewers called, Anime Asia Magazine! 

I got my copy on my favorite place to hang out before doing my Weekly Monday Shopping, Book Sale and since this is the first issue and it screams that it is designed for an international audience, I decided to waste my Php 132 (the actual retail price is Php 120, I feel cheated!) for the first issue… and it turned out to be money not worth spending. Why? Just read this review to find out!

For starters, I had an issue of Otaku USA (ITS ON SALE! ALSO, IT HAS CLASSIC JDRAMA REVIEWS… WITH AN ANIKI INTERVIEW!) and I love every bit of it! Asides that have actual anime reviews and manga reviews, they also make their own recommendations in which series is worth watching or which title is worth reading! Why did I mention it? Since the name of the magazine is Anime Asia, something that screams international, I need to compare it to that issue I had to see if my fellow Asians can lay their eyes on it.

Comparing the thickness... same thickness except that Otaku USA has 104 pages, as for Anime Asia has 74 pages. Type of paper perhaps?

For the front cover (top), it looks good and like most magazines, you have the brief idea on what’s inside. Anime Premiere seems like the teaser for the titles currently airing and the like and also, they will make a full blown feature regarding Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, Madhouse, Ltd., and of course, Satoshi Kon. Aside from that, Anime Hitlist screams an anime review section.

Comparison between their respective latest anime coming from Japan sections.

I first checked all twelve pages of the Anime Premiere section (divided into two parts), and I was disappointed. Instead of giving us a short glimpse of what’s new, we have six anime titles each wasted on two pages on a large magazine spread! I mean, if they wasted a lot of space just to add pictures?! Seriously, the name of the part is Premiere, kinda like a teaser on what’s currently airing in Japan, and it felt like a standard spread of OtakuZine placed in a larger sheet of paper! Seriously, a small picture won’t do any harm with the below the picture won’t do any harm to the quality with the description of the series below it.

Next up, the Madhouse, Ltd., Fuji Rock Festival and Satoshi Kon features… and these parts never felt actual features but more like a short snippet with large pictures of each feature on a single page! I mean, if I would compare it to the online content regarding Satoshi Kon’s tribute, his tribute here in this said magazine was brief and not giving full recognition with his genius.

For the Madhouse, Ltd and Fuji Rock Festival bits, they can actually fit in a single page if you ask me considering how small their respective articles are. Based on what I remember, OtakuZine had a Madhouse feature back then, and most of their features are good reads, why not they recycle that feature in this issue instead?

Comparing their respective "review" sections.

The Anime Hitlist part is probably, the only section featured in the front page that is "decent" in this magazine. Asides that it is similar with the Anime Premiere section both have the same style, to be honest, I was expecting a decent anime review page that has at least 150-300 words in it but what I got is a typical introduce, tell the plot, recommend and exit, wash, rinse then repeat. My problem with it is that they never tell us what are the strong points and the weak points of the series. There is no variety in it on how they will elaborate their point regarding this certain series, such as, is the animation good? Is the soundtrack worth listening? Is the voice acting crappy (if you are not biased with the Japanese VA’s that is)?

As for their Kaichou wa Maid-sama! feature, I love the fact on how they abuse the two-page spread to introduce the characters! My only problem with it is that like the Anime Hitlist section, the never made much elaboration with the series, instead, we have introduce, tell the plot, introduce the characters then exit.

Even with the amount of negativity with the content featured in the front page, the strong points in this magazine is the content not found in the front page or if it is found in the front page, you barely notice it! Their Seiyuu section is a fun read. Asides that you know the voices behind your favorite anime characters, they also include character descriptions of their respective shows!

Also, their JMusicStation section is also quite a good read too. Sure, it kinda looked like the other JMusic section in their main mag, OtakuZine, they actually made full use of the space! My only disappointment is that their Oricon Music Chart found in this issue is dated, September 2010.

The MangaManiac section is how the Anime Premiere section should look like! A couple of pages with the needed info, some pictures then exit! Since their Cosplay and Mail Box section is relatively new and asking for contributions, I will skip it.

Their Merchandise section is practically, what the magazine should have been if they removed a few images and post the same length of review. The Shounen, Shoujo and Group in Focus sections is similar to the Seiyuu section except two pages are dedicated for each bit… which like the other parts of the magazine, wasted on the amount of large pictures and not on maximizing the spaces with a single picture and balance info.

As for their GameTime section, same case with Anime Hitlist, large images, small content. This is a game review section! They should talk about the game’s main features or if they game is worth playing or if the gameplay is quite clunky or not. As for the freebies, we have a large poster of Ika Musume... stapled in the middle. NOO!!! (On the sidenote: Another local magazine is featuring Ika Musume this month!)

To wrap this entire review, I might say, Anime Asia Magazine is quite a disappointing read. The magazine has so much potential in it but wasted with excessive amounts of pictures and less content about the series. I will still keep this issue for two reasons, this is issue number one and second, I might use it as a display on club fairs or anime club related activities. Hopefully, on their next issues, they will improve on the content and make every issue an entertaining read.

KosupureDETO (Bacolod) Event – The Half Coverage

... yeah.

Why is it only half of the coverage? Because I only attend only half of it, since the event started at four and I only went to the event center at 6pm because of my English practice! Anyways, I wasn’t able to attend the presentation of the couples so I’ll just wait for Crazy Cake!!’s H0shi (our club president) to post an entry of it.

Ehem, let me start with the coverage. KosupureDETO is an event here in Bacolod City, Philippines that happened last February 5, 2011 in which cosplayers will cosplay their favorite anime pair and along with it, celebrate Chinese New Year! Yep, one of the awards in the event is best Chinese Cosplay, and luckily, we have a Xing Ke and Tian Zi cosplayer on board who won the said prize!

And since this is an event, surely, there are anime related stalls. Elie Shoppe (who is one of the sponsors), Artsylum and some other shop that I don’t have time to recognize are selling anime related items on the event… and I don’t have cash! Dang it, I want to buy the local doujins found in the event along with Edward Elric’s Silver Pocket watch!

Aaaand kids play with Aang's staff! SO CUTE! XD

As for the crowd, since I only attend the half of it in which they took a short break after the “cosplay walk,” I say, it is not as jammed pack as the previous event held on the same event center, namely, Animotion which happened during the MassKara Festivities.

Wondering what part/s of the event that I was able to attend? Namely, the couple games such as Gummi Worm Eating Contest while using chopsticks, yet another eating contest which involves a piggy back ride BEFORE eating and Pocky Madness which involves a couple biting a Pocky with the other couple eating the Pocky! The aim of the game is shorter the crumb, the better chances of winning! Also, the awarding ceremony… but hey, look at the bright side, I was able to take pictures of the cosplayers in the event! At least I am thankful I attend the half of it!

 Epic posing is epic.

Appa! Yip! Yip!

Keima, along with Elssie decides to join in a different game.

EPIC GROUP SHOT!!

A couple cosplaying characters from the game, Shin Megami Tensei

Yet another epic group shot!

It seems that Kyoya has quite a crowd behind him...

Yet another group shot!

 Code Geass Set!

This. Is. Hot.

The best terrorist that I have seen...

More random shots!

Type-O Sentai... Finalfantajilenja!

Some cats prowl at night... nya!

His servant, serving his queen.

Fakes and Copy-Pastas!

Philip knows what you are doing...

This week is rather a fun (?) week for fake Facebook fan pages and people copy-pasting contents coming from a blog without doing proper credit to its hard-working writers, which leads me to quote a line coming from one of my favorite manga titles, Gimmick!

“We work day and night and she pays me peanuts.” – Kohei Nagase, SFX make-up artist

Where do I start, oh yes, the people who copy-paste content from the other blog that I am working at, JEFusion. To those who don’t know the site, it means you are not interested that much in tokusatsu or some of its other content such as anime news and the like. You see, while looking for a decent OOO Sagozo Combo image, I saw a blog with the exact content like that of JEFusion.

From every hyperlink to every Kamen Rider related article, it is really copy pasted. This isn’t the first time I saw the same thing, I also saw other blogs who does the same thing…but the big difference is the fact that he never credits our blog much! He credits JEFusion as this: [His name] and thanks to JEFusion something. Come on! We worked hard to give you articles that sound professional by those people who never took journalism classes (Well, that is my case, not sure, if Geki takes journalism classes...)! That is the thanks that we get?! At least it is better compared to other blogs that I saw that never gave credit!

Geki confronted the guy and he replied that he is just a fan of our work that is why he copies every bit of our article into his blog. I find it not supporting JEFusion. If I would make it in an anime sense, you can consider yourself supporting the anime if you watch it legally or buy its official merchandise. Copy pasting an entire article without making proper credit is simply plagiarizing someone’s work, which is a complete violation of GekiDan and UkiyaSeed’s intellectual property rights!

Geki is taking actions with the guy and the other fan page that copy pastes our work. There’s another page that does it but accordingly, he will stop. Hope he will indeed stop.

Now on the recent events that happened in our official fan page, to those who don’t know, most fan pages were attacked by a certain user named Michael something and at first, he created a fake Anime Pinas Network fan page. After it closed, he created a fake ZEN Otaku Honbu fan page and now, he created a fake Orends: Range fan page!

As I said in my status update, it simply means that we are making a presence in the Pinoy Anime Community and that alone is enough to tell me that even if we have few fans in our Facebook account or less views of the blog coming from the Philippines (We have more views… IN AMERICA!), it simply means that people want to imitate us.

So, like the other fake Facebook fan pages before it, report the fake fan page so that it would not confuse those people who will follow our Facebook account. To those who has just read this article, here is the link of our official fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/orendsrange

Why do the action? You see the internet is the new Wild West, no rules but it doesn’t mean that you should not maintain order; hence, there are sheriffs around to maintain this lawless place with bounty hunter to hunt down the rule breakers. So…

See you later, cyberspace cowboy.

Ukiya’s Merchandise Hunt – Zamboanga

I returned to my hometown, Zamboanga last semestral break and since I am at it, decided to do some window-shopping for various anime merchandise while I am roaming around the city to see if there are any changes… and I was right.

To those who don’t know the place, it is at the bottom tip of the Philippine archipelago of the second largest island of the Philippines, Mindanao. Now you had a bit of knowledge about Philippine geography, let’s get down to business shall we?

First stop, Big V’s Super Store, beside the fire station.

I checked the store’s second floor since accordingly, they sell Gunpla, so I checked it out. They had quite a good range of Gundam kits on their stow! Aside from those Hongli ones, they had what seem to be, authentic Japanese Naruto and Dragon Ball Z figures worth Php 60-65 (About $ 1.40-1.50 in the current exchange rate), the size of the figures was about 2-3 inches.

I was able to take pictures of the their display of Gundam but I failed to take pictures on their second shelf which is filled with more Gundam, Cammy from Street Fighter and Yuna from FFX figures were displayed because the saleslady noticed that I am taking pictures, and it is illegal to take some in their shop. Yeah right.

Killing two birds in one merch!

And so, I only got is the shot seen on top of this entry. Too bad I wasn’t able to take the photo of a bootlegged Power Rangers Operation Overdrive toy with the 30th Anniversary Super Sentai logo on it with the words, “awesomeness and spectacularly” emblazoned in the box.

But hey, I was able to get more photos when I returned to the shop when I visited it again… but that toy is missing. :(

Next stop, Maskipop!, just a few blocks away from the previous one.

Back then, they used to sell bootlegged video games and cellphone accessories, and when I returned to their shop to check it out, I was surprised on what I saw in the glass, a Muten Roshi figure with him charging up to perform a Kamehameha attack!

Aside from that, I spotted quite a good amount of decent figures on sale still on their boxes. Namely, Play Arts FMA figures which featured, Ed, Al and Winry, K-ON! figures with all members of Ho-kago Tea Time minus Asuza, Miku Hatsune and surprisingly, which caused me to hyperventilate within, a BLACK ROCK SHOOTER Good Smile figure! Too bad, all of them cost from Php 1,200-1,500 (About $27.90-34.88).

Here’s more shots coming from the shop.

Death Note and One Piece!

An army of figures!

More figures with some more bootlegged ones!

Next stop, Mindro Mall, a few meters away from the previous stop.

Nothing interesting, except this bootlegged toy that I spot with the picture of Hibiki and Kuuga merged into one! Aside from that, IXA and TheBee here are photoshopped! Wow, so if someone buys this toy, he will train into the art of no fear, no pain and being a jerk while cooking tofu at the same time!

The said mall has a Maskipop! branch but I never spotted interesting aside that it still sells bootlegged games and some original ones.

Next stop, Tickles! A few blocks away from Mindpro.

I went to the shop on the second day I went to the city. Aside from spotting bootlegged toys (One of the best things in window shopping for merchandise!), I spotted a stuffed Doraemon figure outside and inside the shop, the one pictured on top, Dragon Ball plushies! The price for Mr. Popo (Hiiii...) one is Php 198 (About $ 4.60), the Goku ones cost roughly Php 480 (About $11.63). The price of the Kenpachi one coming from Bleach never bothered checking it. I checked if these toys are legit, and it is. The tags are still intact and it is still in quite good condition.

Some more bootleg shots!

Bootlegged DBZ figures!

Bootlegged Gaoranger/Power Rangers Wild Force figures... dagger included!

Next stop, Southway Square, a few meters away from Mindpro. And a few blocks away from the nearest KFC.

The ground floor had quite a good amount of merchandise; I think I will just let these pictures do the talking.

 Metabots manga... behind a Sudoku magazine!

 An old issue of Cosplay Magazine. Its feature? Shaider photoshoot. Too bad, I do not have cash that time...

 An army of Naruto figures!

 More ninjas!

 Some DBZ figures and behind is Kirk and co!

On the last floor, which the toys section and the arcade are located, we have these.

 Toys found in the arcade. Chimchar from Pokemon at the very end and Doraemon!

 Finally! they started selling Gunpla! More reasons to thank TV5... and HEROtv!

 More Gunpla!

 Power Rangers RPM toys! Last time I checked, they sell Shinkenger sofubis but when I checked it again, they are now missing...

Metal Fight Beyblade merch now available! Wait, they also sell the Bey Stadium?!

Final stop, Shopper’s Center: The Gateway, a few blocks away from Southway Square.

I had many pictures taken coming from the first floor! XDDD

 Bootlegged Yu Yu Hakusho and Detective Conan figures!

 Along with mini-Gundam figures and bootlegged Pokemon ones, we have Ultraman!

 A Code Geass figure! Inside the shop, they also sell a Lelouch one.

 Mamma Mia! A Mario figure!

 This. This is one thing I would like to get!

SH Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Mighty Form is available here along with SH Kamen Rider Kuuga Ultimate Form. Too bad, it cost Php 695 (About $ 16.17). When will they sell this figure cheaply?

 Bootlegged Katekyo Hitman Reborn figures!

Doraemon heads!

 More Doraemon!

 Chibi Dragon Ball Z figures!

ONE PIECE!

 Lucky Star figs with some Pokemon beside!

 Cellphone straps!

 Extremely awkward looking Naruto figures! Look at the fat Sasuke!

 Broly!

 Haruhi figures! Too bad like most legit figures that I found here, this one is expensive!

 Ikkitousen and Bleach figures! Oh, L is also here.

 Street Fighter figures!

 Some Pokemon ones. Oh look, Dora is behind. Buizel, attack!

Astro Boy!

On the third floor, I had only these ones.

Bootlegged Machine Robo Rescue toys!

Gundam!

More Gundam!

For starters, I only explored only 75% of the entire city and I am sure, I don’t know much of the new sights that I can see in this city. Aside from that, if I will take pictures of bootlegged DVD’s that I spot, I might lost my cellphone camera (Which I used in taking this pictures), plus, it might fill this entire entry with those pictures, considering how interesting those bootleg DVD covers looked like. Here’s a sample to those who are wondering.

On one DVD cover, the title states, “Power Rangers Mystic Force,” the picture? The Overdrive Rangers! On the other one, I spotted a DVD of a D.Gray-Man Season 3 and for starters, D.Gray-Man doesn’t have a season 3! And my personal favorite, a cover of Naruto Shippuden that states: Latest Episodes 10,000-30,000! And I thought I was the only one who lost count in the number of episodes this series has!