Over this past weekend I had the true delight to finally try out some Japanese Kit-Kats all thanks to a friend of mine! If you’re anything like me you can never get tired of the crispy wafer covered in mouth watering chocolate that just seems to have just the right amount of cocoa and the right amount of sugar to keep you satisfied every single bite. This company knows what it’s doing when it comes to delicious treats! The only downside of living in the US is you’re very limited to what flavors you can purchase. Other than the green-tea, orange, mint, hazelnut, and strawberry ones I’m able to purchase at my local Asian supermarket I want to be able to have my taste buds venture out to more …. other tasty flavors that the company has to offer. As most know Japan is a huge fan of the american snack even having their own Choclatory dedicated to the candy. Japan is also no stranger when it comes out to veering off from the main stream and being able to try out different combinations with this beloved treat. With over 200 flavors how could you go wrong? Check out the rest of the review after the jump! Continue reading →
I recently just read a post about the closing of the Initial D series which you can read here. I’m sure you guys recall that one of my other hobbies is cars, I haven’t really been too crazy on cars in awhile, actually I finally JUST drove my own car in a little over 2 months. Cars to me is another extension of a person’s personality. People pour their mind, body, and soul into this one vehicle so that vehicle at the end of the long build will also be able to have a little bit of life into the car itself. Some of you may think “It’s just a car, as long as it gets me from point A to point B then I’m fine with it.” But to car enthusiast it’s another gateway to look into their soul and to see how their mind works. It’s not just dumping money into a pit or anything along the lines of that. It’s being able to say that you created something with your own bare hands and mind that in the first place you didn’t think could possibly happen. And that to me is worth every blood and sweat drop you ever produced.
You can tell a lot about a car enthusiast by the way their car is setup. Some drivers are into the “Hella Flush” look where your car is extremely low to the ground and your suspension setup is excessively cambered to the point where you think to yourself “how do they drive their car like that?” Some owners go as far as doing “demon camber” to give them extra cool points.
Photo via: StanceNation
And other drivers like the track setup where the car may feature reinforced bars and stiffer suspension with light wheels to tackle on the corners of the race track. But not a majority of those cars always keep their looks to the race tracks. Some drivers daily their race track inspired on the streets. I don’t mind it too much but neither do I condone reckless driving. Which I’m sure a bunch of the older guys already know that but there are still the younger folks who still like to push the buttons of their cars and traffic to test the limits of the cars.
Photo via: Superstreetonline.com
In japan, there’s also another style that’s never really been mentioned of until the recent years; Kanjozoku. Kanjozoku isn’t necassarily a style but rather a way of life. These drivers will drive on the freeways of Tokyo through rain, sleet, snow, etc. just to feed the speed demon within them. No, these freeways aren’t closed to only racers, these are public freeways.
You may have actually driven on the Kanjo yourself if you’ve played games such as the Tokyo Extreme Racer series or Wangan Midnight and Maximum Tuning. I had no clue that these were even real freeways in my teen years that I was racing wanderers on, along with the “Rolling Guy” team among many other racing teams in the video game.
Tokyo Extreme Racer had me more than happy whenever I would start up my PS2 and get to the freeways with my Nissan S15 at the time (in game of course). I would play this game for maybe 4 hours a day because of just how good it felt to escape reality and be in my own world where I was able to control what happened. If I lost a race, I wouldn’t back down I’d go right back at it just to see if it was just a fluke. Yes, I’ll admit sometimes you had to play dirty and crash the NPC into the wall just to win the race. I can’t be the only one that did it though! haha.
But back to the Kanjo racers, there’s a number of things that I admire about these drivers. Maybe it’s the way that they stay true to the Japanese roots and stick with the honda civics. Most of the time when I watch an interview with a Kanjo racer they always make it seem to be like cars are truly living and breathing creatures waiting for someone to let them out of the cage so they can be where they were made to be, on the road.
I might touch more on this in a later post but until then, hopefully you enjoyed this very brief introduction to the Kanjozoku!
This whole year has been a year of new experiences for me. I used to dread going to crowd places because of the obvious, lines, foot traffic, and just being in crowds in general. But for some reason subconsciously I decided that this year will be the year that I try new things, and no, that wasn’t my new years resolution. I’m glad as hell that I did though because I can say that this year has been going pleasantly well for me. Be sure to hit the jump and check out my first-timer experience at this street festival! Continue reading →
I forgot to mention that I’ve also made a all Japan related instagram recently! If you’d like to follow feel free to look me up on instagram or hit the instagram icon to the right ————>
Hitokiri Battousai; the name that shook fear in everyone’s hearts when it was mentioned, the name that made even those of the most power tremble, we’ve all heard the name of the legendary man slayer. The man who took down a single army all on his own. The man who had no remorse towards any of his victims as his cold blood-stained blade was the last thing his victims felt as they fell to the legend of the man slayer. But just who was he anyway? Hit the jump to find out more! Continue reading →
The rain can always have a love/hate relationship depending on the type of person you are. Living in Seattle you’ll eventually become to grow into that person. When I think of the soothing pitter patter of the rain as it softly hits the roof of my house I can’t help but be reminded of the ending theme to “Cowboy Bebop”, The Real Folk Blues by The Seatbelts.
The real folk blues
I only want to know true happiness is
All that glitters is not gold
The Seatbelts ft. Mai Yamane – The Real Folk Blues
Listening to this songs brings back a ton of memories for me. Saturday nights I would stay up late at night watching the anime block of Adult Swim and Cowboy Bebop was the anime out of the bunch that I really liked a ton. But lets go back to the song before I start rambling on (don’t I always though?). When you read the lyrics as you listen to the song you can really feel the true raw emotion that the artist wanted you to feel. Through the vocals of her voice, through the tempo of the song, it’s like painting a story of love and tragedy in your mind. I guess that’s what Cowboy Bebop was really about after all. But I won’t take too much of your time, so sit back and relax to the sounds of “The Real Folk Blues”.
If you were to follow me on tumblr you would find out that I am just in love with Japan just as every other otaku would be. I appreciate everything Japan has to offer. From cars, clothes, video games, anime, etc. the list can never really end. The place is RICH with culture and I would just love to visit for at the very least a month and be able to live out everything I’ve always wanted to do out there. Continue reading →
The human mind has always been something I’ve been fascinated about. The emotions that control us, the thoughts that linger in our head and haunt us although years have gone by. Don’t you think it’s amazing how something so little as just a scent wafting by your nose can remind you of so many nostalgic memories? Or to say a tragic accident can cause us a life time of pain and suffering. I’ve always wondered how it would be like if we were to lose all of our feelings one day and do our best to continue on moving forward with life. I’ve been watching an anime called “Parasyte” recently and I have to say that this anime displayed those thoughts splendidly. Continue reading →
So some of you might be thinking “I thought it was Cosplay Sunday?” So I want to clear this up. I decided to change it from Cosplay Sunday to Lifestyle Sunday because it’s just too hard to locate cosplayers every week for an interview and photoshoot. So I’ve decided the name change “Lifestyle Sundays” simply because anime lovers come from all different kinds of backgrounds and we all have different stories waiting to be shared so why not make it more versatile? Continue reading →
So I figured I would dedicate Thursday’s to older anime’s, to get some spark back into them. To kick things off I want to talk about one of my all time favorite animes, Soul Eater.
Set in the Shinigami technical school for weapon meisters, the series revolves around 3 groups of each a weapon meister and a human weapon. Trying to make the latter a “Death Scythe” and thus fit for use by the Shinigami, they must collect the souls of 99 evil humans and 1 witch.
![PSX_20150714_200321[1]](https://aniplays.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/psx_20150714_2003211.jpg)
Aniplays 
