Though not the same culprit,it seems that those Eurozone SS fans have been after that same toy Fairy Carafe that's supposed to be mine,lapi.On a non-anime note,but speaking of eBay,I found(via Buy It Now)a wireless phone replacement battery(made by my phone's manufacturer)in a last-ditch effort to avoid buying a new handset for at least a little while longer...

So far,Dragon Quest IV is unlike any prior DQ game I've played before...

Happy birthday to Tohru Ohira(who turns 79),Sayoko Mishima Junko Asami(who turns 41),and Seika Hosokawa(who turns 29).Speaking of Sayoko Mishima and seiyuu,if the producers of the AMG TV series were smart,they would have brought back Asami-san in that role and have Mamiko Noto(who voiced Sayoko in the TV series)voice Megumi Morisato instead,lapi...

Though I've yet to get into them,the same Yumi Touma who voiced Urd has written an Aa!Megamisama novel which is available domestically...

Happy 45th birthday to Noriko Uemura who like Kappei is Fukuokan...

Thought Yankee Stadium's last All-Star Game was never going to end...

This time,in terms of shopping for imported anime novelties,it was fairly weak.Other than a plush P-chan(different from one I've had for years)and plush Pen-Pen;my haul of imported items included a couple of items(a plush mini-Starman and a Super Mushroom cosplay cap),plus various pencil boards and other novelties from various series(two Akane-less Ranma ½ pencil boards,an Urusei Yatsura pencil board,a Tokyo Babylon pencil board,an Aa!Megamisama pencil board,a Mahou Kishi Rayearth pencil board,a Card Captor Sakura keychain or cell-phone charm,a coin purse and hand warmer each from One Piece,three Kouryu Densetsu Villgust pencil Boards,and various Fruits Basket items some of which were furoku from when it was still running in Hana to Yume)...

However,unlike previous editions,I attended on more than one day:yesterday and today.Additionally,I also attended viewings of anime(series samplings consisting of the first two episodes).Yesterday,they showed fansubs of recent and/or current series;and the ones I tried out(Clannad and Rental Magica both seemed surreal to me).Today's viewings consisted of series already available in region 1:Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle isn't nearly as simple as the other universes of CLAMP(some characters are original ones not found on their other series).However,School Rumble(which I do have imported and domestic manga of but haven't managed to read yet)was full of hijinx(mainly 5 to 10-minute mini-episodes,similar in concept to a couple of other school-comedy anime);and I just had to get the DVD starter set at a booth.I also grabbed some domestic manga:all 4 volumes of the Majo no Takkyubin film manga,volume 4 of Nosatsu Junkie,and the respective first volumes of Madara(a franchise that also an anime OVA,a RPG video game,and a series of audio dramas;with Kappei-sama voicing the main character in all applicable versions)and Suzuka(which ended a 3-year serialization in Shuukan Shounen Magazine this past fall,later chapters can be found in the back issues I have)...

Quite frankly,it was a decent trade-off...

Well,Da Capo II is actually being fansubbed by 2 different groups.Though the group I follow has fallen behind the other group,I'm taking my chances with the second group's version at least for now...

Good thing the leather case on my ZEN Vision W is sturdy,because its belt clip doesn't always stay on my belt.In any case,I've ordered the 32GB version(largest capacity in its class)of Creative's new flash-memory ZEN as a spare.Large enough for my music collection and fansubs,this is only availble directly from Creative's online store and is often out of stock...

Happy 36th birthday to Ayumi Yoshida Yukiko Iwai...

In issue 829,Seiko Nakamura's Yuujou Survival! concludes a brief three-chapter serialization,while Satoshi Morie's Gakkou Hotel is a one shot,the latter which I've noticed is a common trend in the Hana to Yume issues that I have...

The only 2 Ritsuko Okazaki albums stocked by Yes Asia are her final two(Love and Life ~private works 1999-2001~ and For Ritz)both which I have,but I nabbed the more elusive Life is Lovely via an eBay Buy It Now listing...

Happy birthday to both Kyousuke Kasuga Amuro Ray Tohru Furuya(who turns 54) and Gan-chan Mitsuo Iwata(who turns 40);and since it's already tomorrow(the 1st of next month)in Japan,happy birthday to Nobuo Tanaka(who turns 72),Katsunosuke Hori(who turns 66),and Junpei Morita(who turns 53)...

...and considering that I voted for Democrats(as I always do),I wasn't that far off.Too bad the arena measures were destroyed in a landslide...

Since the Aa!Megamisama OVA collector's edition both was out of stock at TRS and couldn't be found at Suncoast;I had to get it on eBay(via a Buy It Now listing),but may have scored a better deal in the process...

At least it's a relief to hear that yachinami wasn't flooded out...

Well,the current Newtype USA just arrived safely;and in the "Voice Actor Spotlight" section,three Angelique cast members(Hiro Yuuki,Nobutoshi Kanna,and Mitsuo Iwata)are featured,all of them displacing Tomoko Kawakami as the oldest seiyuu to be featured in that section of the North American version.The good thing is that not only is Hiro Yuki(the oldest of the trio)3 months older than Kappei-sama,but it also opens up the possibility of the latter of him being featured in a future edition.The bad thing is that it also opens up the hopefully even more unlikely possibility of a certain Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star castmate who put up an embarrassing performance in an equally putrid fanservice anime being featured in that same monthly feature as well...

Speaking of seiyuu,since it's already tomorrow(the 10th)in Japan,happy 28th birthday to Mawata Awayuki Akemi Kanda...

For some reason,some of my Japanese-made Energizer rechargeable AA batteries are already going out.It gave me the false impression that my Eye Q 4060 AF was out of order after changing the batteries to photograph my AMG bilingual manga as well as unopened packages of Japanese Kit Kats and Aeros(as keepsake evidence that I've actually tried these Japanese snacks)...

I forgot to vote when I had a chance to,but Kikuko Inoue would have gotten my vote anyway...

Speaking of which,I gotta eventually get into Aa!Megamisama TV and/or DearS sooner or later...

The winter edition of the twice-yearly Sac-Anime was a blast,and not even a wrong-way city bus could steal my thunder.I even gave my Momiji cap a test drive at the event.I found all kinds of rare anime stuff for myself and other people.Strictly speaking of stuff I got for myself,I nabbed the following:

• 3 DVD sets containing the uncut first 97 episodes of the One Piece anime plus one of the movies(it turns out to be fifth)featuring Japanese dialogue by default with optional English and Chinese subtitles.It's one of the few times I would normally buy region-free Hong Kong/Taiwan bootlegs of domestically licensed anime,and Not-4-Kids-or-Adults-Entertainment brought it on to themselves too.At least a few of the Kappei tunes in my Rio Carbon are actually Usopp character songs...
  
• Japanese-imported volume 2 of the Maison Ikkoku manga.Perhaps the big steal of the day,it only cost a mere dollar!
  
• a Gate Keepers pencil board picturing Ruriko Ikusawa,Reiko Asagiri,and Fen Feiring
  
• 3 candy/gum packagaes with free gashapon.They had normal Japanese toys and weren't from actual anime.
  
• an authentic pair of Japanese chopsticks,just for kicks.
  
• an "Anime:Drugs would be cheaper" sticker advertising one of the vendors.
  
• the following Card Captor Sakura novelties,all Japanese imports:a pencil board,a set of 2 pins(Sakura and Kero-chan),and 2 notebooks(one duplicates the front cover on manga volume 4).
  
• the following Fruits Basket novelties:a set of 3 coasters(one with Kyoh,one with Yuki,and one with Tohru;all human),a set of mini-notepads in a plastic case,a UFO catcher doll of human Yuki,and a rat Yuki keychain.The former 2 are Japanese imports,and the latter 2 are domestic licensed.
  
• 3 imported Aa!Megamisama pencil boards:one each picturing Belldandy,Skuld,and Peorth.
  
• a Sakura Taisen pencil board picturing all key characters from the first universe.
  

Speaking of the first and last anime series mentioned,since it's already tomorrow(the 15th)in Japan,happy 51st birthday to Kanna Urashima Monkey D. Luffy Mayumi Tanaka.I know she and Hiroyuki Shibamoto(her husband,a seiyuu himself)have a son,but it would be curious to know if he's in the industry himself if he's grown.So far,the only parent-child seiyuu pair I know of is Akio Ohtsuka and his father Chikao...

Back to the fair itself,the booth where I bought my One Piece DVD's and Yuki keychain also sold some anime and Japan-related T-shirts and sweaters(some via J-list).One of the J-list shirts they had was Nihonjin kareshi boshu-chu.Thankfully,the masculine counterpart wasn't available;because as much as I like all things Japanese,I wouldn't be caught dead wearing one of those for certain reasons I won't elaborate on.Also,while there,I had someone take a picture of me with my digital camera.Hopefully,the pic will be posted sooner or later...

This year's haul...:

• From Mom and Dad:A leather baseball jacket,2 quilted shams,2 pairs of slacks,and an $80 Best Buy gift card
  
• From my sister:Aa!Megamisama TV region 1 DVD volumes 1(which came in a "collector's box" and came with a direct-from-Japan Belldandy cell-phone strap)and 2.What a relief the my sister is mostly clueless about seiyuu,because IMHO Megumi Morisato was more deserving of a seiyuu change than Sayoko Mishima...
  
• From an unidentified co-worker as part of a "Secret Santa" gift exchange that took place a few days earlier at work:A stocking filled with a plush mini-snowman and 4 bags of Nestlé Crunch bells...
  

Yes,I did barely survive "midnight madness" at work;but was lucky to get today(and tomorrow,the government-observed holiday)off...

...and happy 25th birthday to Marimite voice cast member Shizuka Itou,the only seiyuu to be born on the fifth of December;and since it's already tomorrow(the 6th)in Japan,happy birthday to both Yukiko Mannaka(who turns 29)and Sayaka Oohara(who turns 30)...

Despite a couple scares(sync troubles initially plus a "freeze-up"),my Rio Karma has pretty much worked out just fine...

Suncoast didn't have the Shin Seiki Evangelion Platinum thinpack set in stock during Replay Days,but fortunately Best Buy had plenty in stock...

Also,I've added some Chicchana Yukitsukai Sugar trading cards via an eBay Buy It Now listing.I've received my AMG/CCS bilingual manga lot as well,and the bilingual serialization of the former may have only gone 4 volumes...

Hopefully,I'll at least get started on my Chrismas shopping today this week.