CON STUFF: Naka-Kon 2012

Naka-Kon 8 is happening this weekend!

As per usual, Evilbento and I are on staff in the vendor’s room. If you’re going to attend, be sure to stop and say “hi”! I’ll likely be cosplaying Homura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica on Saturday. I know I won’t be the only Homerun-chan cosplayer but I will be the only one with a Staff shirt tied haphazardly around my shoulders! I’ll also be the hostess for the Lolita Tea Party on Sunday so be sure to attend ;)

Also be sure to look out for our cosplay pics as they flow in over the weekend~

A Tiny Update


Epic eyepatch!Asuka to get your attention 8D Here’s a mini-update to let everyone know we’re still here!

Christmas is almost here! Time always goes so fast…

We’ve been busy with a variety of things and Funny Bento’s been in pseud-hibernation. I’m hoping to change that over the next few weeks of course! Until then, keep your eyes on eBay for our latest updates~ The store here at the site is still 100% functional too so feel free to utilize it ;)

CON STUFF: Motaku Begins!

We’ve got our table all set up and the con is on! Come check us out ;D

We’re Going to China!!!

We’re leaving for China this Wednesday the 25th and won’t return until August 2nd!

Even though this blog is technically for our Japan-centric hobbies, I’ll (hopefully) be updating with our various misadventures in China for the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy the variety ;)

ADDITIONALLY
1. The shop will be CLOSED until we return. Sorry for the inconvenience!
2. We’ll be attending Motaku in Kansas City, MO from August 19th through 21st. We hope to see you there :)

FEATURE: What We’re Watching [Fall '10 Season IN REVIEW]

The winter season is almost over!!! But we never talked about the fall season, so LET’S GO!!!

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai
俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない
My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute

One of the most anticipated shows of the fall season, OreImo managed to push all the right buttons for many frenzied otaku. A flaming tsundere Kousaka Kirino in the leading female role, a mini-harem of cute and likeable girls hailing from a variety of character archtypes – Kuroneko is the adorably sarcastic lolita that serves as a foil for Kirino; Saori is the eccentric girl who’s full of good intentions for her friends; even the sweet, ultra-”normal” childhood friend Manami.

I became interested in OreImo after seeing the nendoroid prototypes (a couple weeks prior to the premier), and I was really intrigued by the plot. In the end, it was Kyousuke’s Kyon-esque role and Kuroneko’s adorable visage that kept me hooked all the way through. The “true ending” just released and of course I love it. Still waiting for the other alternatives ;)

Kuragehime
海月姫 〜くらげひめ〜
Princess Jellyfish

The story of Tsukimi, the Amars, and those Koibuchi boys is almost unreasonably appealing! This show was definitely one of the biggest hits of the fall season and it was not a show full of moe!blobs ;) It also managed to avoid getting sucked into meh-land and left us wanting so much more (no one could really be satisfied by that ending…).

We adored the love triangle between Tsukimi, Kuronosuke, and Shu. The rest of the cast was also a joy to watch. I think it’s safe to say that Kuragehime was our favorite show of fall 2010. Now if only Funimation would do a Bluray release…

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
パンティ&ストッキングwithガーターベルト

The most controversial member of the fall 2010 line up split the majority of viewers into two equally hardcore camps – the love-its and the hate-its! GAINAX’s foray into “American”-style animation was a total 180 from their previous endeavors, and it was clear that the staff were having fun pushing the boundaries of common decency.

I remained unsure of my position of PSG until episode 6, when the demon sisters made their brilliant entrance. Scanty and Kneesocks were just what the show needed, providing an entertaining break from the Panty-is-a-slut and Stocking-is-a-self-centered-glutton gags that were starting to really drag. By the time the epic finale came around, it was clear that GAINAX had achieved exactly what they had hoped for – a huge hit that got people talking and got the merchandising wheels turning.


Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu
涼宮ハルヒの消失
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

The highly anticipated continuation of the Haruhi franchise proved to be an excellent way for KyoAni to apologize for Endless Eight. The serious nature of the Disappearance arc lent itself exceptionally well to the feature film format and the gorgeous animation and impressive musical score made it so much more than just another extended episode!

Having already read this arc in the novels, I was chomping at the bit to see it animated! Disappearance is definitely one of my favorite arcs because of the actual danger that it involves. It brought back the elements from the first season that were sorely missed in season two and proved that the universe of Haruhi still has so much to offer.

BONUS ROUND
[Older Stuff we Finished]

Eve no Jikan
イヴの時間
Time of Eve

A fabulous series of short webisodes that examines what the future might hold for the relationship between humans and their humanoid robot counterparts.

We can’t recommend this enough,especially given the relatively short time it takes to watch the whole show. The animation, writing, and music are all great examples of what quality anime is capable of. Do yourself a favor and welcome yourself to the Time of Eve – you’ll enjoy it :)

Baka to Test to Shoukanju
バカとテストと召喚獣
The Idiot, the Test and the Summoned Beast

Based on a series of light novels of the same name, this series was quite popular but somehow managed to slip beneath my radar. This slice-of-hyper-active-life school comedy offers a dizzying array of parodies, stereotypes, and general wacky hijinks. It should be due for a continuation this spring.

I loved the characters and the humor was right up my alley, so I was quite fond of BakaTest. Now I need to find the money to acquire some of the adorable figures that have been made as a result… especially Hideyoshi :3

School Days
スクールデイズ

What begins as an innocent school romance quickly descends into the depths of NICE BOAT madness.

Honestly? I was kinda disappoint :P I was ready to rage!quit this show on a number of occasions, and I probably would have if it weren’t for the fact that I marathon’d the final 6 episodes in one afternoon. In the end, the NICE BOAT provided some level of closure (twisted!) but ultimately failed to make up for the rest of the trainwreck.

The HD version of the game is coming out in English, so I might give it a chance if only to get an ending that doesn’t involve the main character being a total douche.

Bakemonogatari
化物語
Ghost Story

A series of short arcs involving main character Araragi Koyomi coming to the aid of different girls, each plagued by some sort of ghost or demon. The relationships he forms with each girl carry on into future arcs and provide for some great dialogue and intriguing plot lines.

SHAFT’s Bakemonogatari was the subject of a lot of conflict; many people wrote it off as pretentious and lacking any standard of quality, yet at the time the Blurays were selling in record-breaking quantities. The final TV episodes were actually unfinished when they aired, so the physical releases featured a number of changes. Many were offended by SHAFT’s apparent poor planning and the perceived lack of respect for their otaku audence. Whatever, all I know is that Evilbento and I loved it and we’re okay with whatever that might say about us.

So that’s what we were up to last fall. The winter season has proved much harder for us to follow (so many RL responsibilities…), but we’ve still managed to squeeze a couple things in.

Hopefully I’ll manage to talk about them before they become totally irrelevant ;P

STORE UPDATE

Everyone rejoice!! The store has been updated :)

Included in the update are nendoroids from Vocaloid, Fate/Stay Night, and K-ON! We also have Figma Dead Master and Figma Megurine Luka in stock, as well as the Evangelion Creators’ Labo releases of Rei (version 2) and Asuka. Top it off with Revoltech Yotsuba and Lupin and you’ve got quite the party! Be sure to check them out :)

More updates are coming this evening, so watch for them too!

A Poor Excuse for an Update

Yukkuri Shiteitte Ne!!!

Evilbento and I have been doing everything BUT “taking it easy” ._.;;;

I’m almost caught up on college projects, but finals are looming plus it’s the holiday season and I happen to work in retail…

REGARDLESS!! I swear there WILL be updates to the store. I *hope* it will be within the next week, but I can’t guarantee it.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is doing well~ Please look forward to the next update from your friends at FUNNYBENTO ;D

THANKS ANIME NEBRASKON!! :D

We (somehow) made it home – the 5+ hour drive was kind of brutal x_X On top of that, Evilbento and I are both buried in overdue coursework and still fighting sickness… Returning to the “real world” after a con can be really depressing );

ANYWAY, we had lots of fun at Anime Nebraskon and, as always, made lots of new friends~ Look for our leftover stock to appear in our store over the next week or so. Our pics are also forthcoming ;) If you have any inquiries or special orders, please drop me a line at sales(@)funnybento.com and we’ll get right on it!!

Thanks for your support everyone! Hopefully this place will become a little more active once we get a little less busy…

THANK YOU MOTAKU 2010!!

We quite enjoyed ourselves this weekend at Motaku :) It was great to meet so many friendly customers and we’re happy that we could be there with our product offerings.

The webstore is currently a little empty, but fear not – all left-over inventory will appear within the next 1-2 days. We also have another clothing shipment coming in, so watch out for that!

Next up on our schedule is Anime Nebraskon, please come see us if you can :)

FEATURE: What We’re Watching [Summer '10 Season Edition]

It’s been a couple weeks since the summer anime season officially kicked off, and so far I’m only mildly excited. I watched the first episodes of a few shows last night, so I thought I’d share my opinions so far~

Asobi Ni Iku Yo!
[あそびにいくヨ!]

This is one of the series that has piqued my interest so far. While it would be easy to dismiss as just another incarnation of the beautiful-alien-girl-falls-for-socially-inept-guy plot that’s been done a million times before, there seem to be some legitimate potential for a sci-fi story. Of course the slick animation and pretty girls don’t hurt either… Unless it proves to be an utter waste of time I’ll be more than happy to stick around and see what all Erisu has to offer~


Trailer is somewhat NSFW due to standard late-night-style T&A

Occult Academy
[世紀末オカルト学院]

One of three horror-type shows that emerged this season, Occult Academy is the one that appeals most to me. I’ve only watched the first episode but I’ve already come to like the main character Maya (both in personality and design). The premise so far is pretty intriguing, and I’m looking forward to finding out more about the whole time travel element as it ties in to the world of the occult.

Mitsudomoe
[みつどもえ]

One reviewer on AnimeNewsNetwork described this show as being a somewhere in between Kodomo no Jikan and Hanamaru Kindergarten – not as ecchi as KnJ, but more adult than Hanamaru. While I’m inclined to agree, I feel like it definitely leans more towards the Kojikan… I have to admit that it’s pretty cute, but the second episode almost lost me with the pee jokes :P We’ll see if this one can stay funny without becoming just another source of lolicon fodder.

K-ON!!
[けいおん!!]

Okay, so this is technically a spring release, but it’s still airing and we’ve just now gotten around to watching it >_> Evilbento and I both love the moe!blob goodness that was the first season of K-ON! so it’s pretty much a given that we’ll enjoy the second. It’s not exactly breaking any new ground, but then again it doesn’t have to as long as it keeps serving up the cute antics of the light music club~

It seems like there are a lot of new series that have potential… So I’m keeping my hopes up for some winners here. Also on my to-watch list are High School of the Dead and Shiki, the other two horror-themed works this season. I’ll let you all know what I think once I watch them~

So, dear readers, what are you all watching? :D

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