The Future is Now...

Budget Waifu...

You gotta cut corners anywhere you can these days I suppose...

Early Adopters

Natalia Poklonskaya - 3D or 2D?

It seems that the new 33 year old Crimean attorney general and immortal empress Natalia Poklonskaya has developed quite a following among Anime fans worldwide, who seem to be obsessed with her kawaii appearance and are duplicating her form and figure in 2D just about everywhere:

 

So which Japanese studio will be first to develop a Tsundere themed 12 episode Anime series around her? Or perhaps it will be one of those obligatory 'prosecutor by day, BDSM queen by night' shows?

Please guys, no cries of "please come and annex my heart" or how "she's Putin the cute in prosecute", OK?

A Great Idea...

How Hot is It?

How hot was it today at RACS World Headquarters?

If the forecast holds we'll have another batch up tomorrow...

Warner Bros presents: Neon Genesis Evangelion

There are no original ideas left in Hollywood.

Or, as Dan Harmon recently said:  "The young eat the old... but what are they left with? 100 degree weather and a bunch of shitty comic book movies."

Indeed. This is why I keep watching Anime...

How Internet Fighting Works

Via.

What a Bad Day Really Looks Like

Minmay Admits She Doesn't Mind Paying Japanese Prices

Gravity

I knew it was something.

Maybe Tommorow

Seems like a good day to stay in and watch some Anime.

Priceless

Yo girls - how'd you like to checkout my dakimakura?? Huh? Huh?

(Thanks to Sean for sending over!)

Wagnaria Premium Edition Restocks Delayed - Now Scheduled for Late May

NIS America has been assuring us - as late as last Friday - that the final pressing of the Wagnaria premium collection would be shipping to retailers on May 11th, so we expected to have it sometime late this week. They even worked in some other restocks to ship on the same date.

We'll, in the typical fashion of only a Japanese run US based studio operation, they informed us today that the final pressing of Wagnaria will be delayed until around the end of May:

"It has come to our attention that there occurred a problem in manufacturing process for WAGNARIA!! Premium Edition 2nd batch. In order for us to build and deliver perfect products to our customers, we have decided to postpone the schedule for a certain period. Current estimate of the dispatch will be the end of May, we will update you once we had a fixed date."

Can you hear me banging my head against my desk? Since we have so many pre-billed back orders and hold tickets currently sitting on the shelf waiting for the set, this is obviously going to cause us about 2,000 headaches and if you listen to the talk around the office this morning you'll know that NIS is not our favorite company at the moment, temporarily replacing Bandai (for a few days at least) as the largest source of angst for us as a retailer of Anime DVD's. I've been e-mailing customers constantly for the last few days assuring them that we would be shipping these sets in a few days, and now, of course, I feel like a complete idiot for trusting in a date given to me by a studio. After about 7,480 missed dates over the years by just about everyone, you'd think I'd know better.

Anyway, if you currently have a multi-item order holding for this set, we are going to modify your ticket today so that we can ship your other items out now, and we will place the Wagnaria set on back order for you and will ship it (at our expense) once they do finally arrive - whenever that is. I also want to apologize to everyone for this. I don't like it when we make a commitment to you and then can't meet it, even if the situation is out of our control. If you have any concerns about your order for Wagnaria, please don't hesitate to drop us a line so we can address it.

High Gas Prices By County

While one would think gas prices have nothing to do with Anime, I can assure you that they are actually quite important - at least if you are sitting on our side of the computer screen.

If anyone is interested, here is a neat zoomable tool that shows average gas prices nationwide by county. Not that it will do us much good to know what gas is selling for two states over, but it might help give us all a little solidarity that we are not the only ones feeling the pain at the pump.

And of it's any consolation, some of our customers in Britain are reporting gas prices around £1.30 a litre, which in our terms would come in at something like $9.50 a gallon.

Yikes!

Japan Post Suspends Air Parcel Shipments to the US - Sort of...

There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of days about Japan Post suspending all Airmail and EMS shipments between Japan and the US that are over 16oz (1lb). Frankly, the press releases made by Japan Post have been somewhat contradictory regarding this, but as of this time the reports coming out of Japan look like this:

The Japan Post Office announced November 12 that from November 17 it would indefinitely stop accepting mail parcels to the United States weighing more than 453 grams. The Post Office has at this time given no indication of how long this suspension will last only saying that it is “for the time being.” This suspension includes all regular international airmail parcels, as well as EMS. The Japan Post Office (JPO) has cut Japan off from the US entirely, at least as far as airmail parcels over a pound in weight go. The reason the JPO gives for this action is that following attempts to send explosives through air cargo from Yemen to the US, American security measures for air cargo have become increasingly severe. America and Guam are included in this provision, raising the strong possibility that Christmas and year end parcels will not be able to be sent from Japan to the US, which is likely to cause massive confusion.

Another reports says this:

The Japan Post Office announced November 12 that from November 17 it would indefinitely stop accepting mail parcels to the United States weighing more than 453 grams. The Post Office has at this time given no indication of how long this suspension will last only saying that it is “for the time being.” This suspension includes all regular international airmail parcels, as well as EMS. The Japan Post Office (JPO) has cut Japan off from the US entirely, at least as far as airmail parcels over a pound in weight go. The reason the JPO gives for this action is that following attempts to send explosives through air cargo from Yemen to the US, American security measures for air cargo have become increasingly severe. America and Guam are included in this provision, raising the strong possibility that Christmas and year end parcels will not be able to be sent from Japan to the US, which is likely to cause massive confusion. According to the Asahi Shinbun, parcels to the US from Japan now account for over 15% of international mail, and approximately 200,000 parcels are sent monthly from Japan to the US. Private consumers will be affected by this ban, however individuals and businesses with JPO commercial accounts will not be affected. As of this writing, no other post services has announced similar measures, and the United States Post Office has not reported plans to limit the weight or shipment of air mail parcels to Japan. At the beginning of November when Greece had several bombs sent through the mail, airmail was stopped in Greece for two days. No other major postal service in the world has ever announced an “indefinite” ban on airmail packages. Since privatization the JPO has been the object of a political tug of war between those who want to entirely or partially end its privatization and those who support continued privatization. The management at top levels of the JPO has drawn censure across the political spectrum, with the problems of the Japan Post’s 'Yu-pack”'deliver system drawing particularly harsh criticism. Foreign users have complained about the proliferation of required documentation for mail and packages to and from foreign countries that did not previously exist and question their necessity. Banning all airmail packages over 453 grams to the US from November 17 will cause wide spread inconvenience and resentment, particularly among smaller business and individuals.

If this is true, and it's hard to believe that it is, the Japanese Postal Service has effectively cut off all small parcel business from Japan to the United states.

And while this will not effect us (as a business we have an import license and use commercial carriers for all of our import shipments), it will most certainly ruin the day of anyone who likes to order character figures or other Japanese goods, or even manga and large DVD or BD shipments directly from Japanese vendors. Japanese vendors will have to use FedEx, DHL, or UPS for small parcel shipments, and that will be quite a bit more expensive. This would also totally screw most of the small US shops that sell Japanese character figures as they tend to import directly from Japanese retail stores in small lots.

This story is still developing, so I'm hoping to have an update later today.

UPDATE: More here.

UPDATE 2: I have now heard from several vendors in Japan who have confirmed that the new restrictions will not effect shipments from Japanese businesses that have commercial mailing accounts, though they all did agree that Airmail and EMS deliveries from Japan will now take longer now that US Customs is going to step up inspections of inbound parcels from Japan.

None of the new rules will effect our business operations or RACS customers.

Exchange Rate Blues

With the Dollar/Yen exchange rate hitting record lows as many first world currencies circle the drain, Steven Den Beste gripes that the new ¥8880 Asobi ni Iku Yo BD's that he ordered directly from Japan are costing him in excess of $100 each.

Hey, welcome to our world. It's not like there are enough problems in the industry right now, but the exchange rate is making us really take a look at the viability of the whole import business. Any Anime products that we offer for sale that are actually produced in Japan and not under license here (where the manufacture can be exported to Mexico (DVD's) or China (Character Merchandise) or Canada (Manga)) is getting priced right out of the North America market. Character figures (PVC's) are now averaging around $110-$120 (at least if we want to make any profit on them), and will be higher than that by next spring once our fall commitments are delivered. Typical Japanese music CD's now have to be sold for $45-$50. I'm still wavering on our offering 2011 Japanese calendars this year, even though I only have a few days to make up my mind. I just don't know if there will be much market for calendars we will have to sell for $30-$40 each. We probably will, but will just offer fewer choices this year.

Anyway, I digress. Since Steven is an engineer, and engineers (being practical thinkers that see the world in terms of what works and what doesn't) have a hard time getting their heads around irrational concepts like Socioeconomics, I have a macro economic thought for him that ties into his recent micro economic observations:

"There is no subtler, or surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debase the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which only one man in a million is able to diagnose."

-John Maynard Keynes

Don't forget folks, we're closed tomorrow for Columbus Day, so I won't be answering any e-mails until we come back. See you all Tuesday!

UPDATE: I'm of the FA Hayek school myself, but Keynes was certainly right about this.

Studio Gainax - What Won't they Do...

Gainax recently made public a preview of their upcoming 'Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt' Anime:



An ecchi version of 'Power Puff Girls' is coming to mind (just what we needed) , and I hope this is not a preview of things to come as the industry tries to go in 'new directions'.

It will begin airing in Japan on October 1st. Don't know about you, but I think I'll probably skip this one...

...well, maybe I'll watch an ep or two anyway, you know, just to see.