It has been a while since i did a write up about Nico Nico. Nico Nico is mostly a plush toy shop run by a couple. Among that couple, the gf happens to be an otaku who just wishes to cosplay if given the chance to! The shop is cute and pretty girly, but its a lady otaku shop. I went there with a DC reader, Kuujiryo, wanting to visit and give them some pointers about what to expect of AICON (Anime Island Convention), and mostly what products to bring to sell at the convention. Among their loot in the shop, there are some figures as well, not much (they are still new to the business >_<), but its there.

There were some figmas, but they all got sold away pretty quick, leaving behind some GSC puchi nendos, the Vocaloids. There are also some gunpla (the bf is trying to sell manly otaku stuff) with some other figures (like Haruhi Suzumiya, Evangelion, Drossel, etc). Its not like Little Akiba, but if a shop is run by the right type of person, it has a chance of turning into something sweet! I bought my first item from Nico Nico today .. i just could not resist getting something really random and cute for my laptop table. Something to poke at when i have nothing else to do, haha!

Nyaaa! Its making wierd neko-nyaaa noises when we touch it! Nyaaa!!

This is the item i bought, an egg shaped neko with some pretty random features. If you poke it, it makes a lot of cute neko noises, but if you do it enough times, it makes a really pissed/annoyed neko noise! ROFL. This funny little thing-a-whatsit has two sets of sounds. One set of sounds when u put it on a table and interact with it, and another set of sounds when you lay it in your palm, like a Palm Top Tiger!

Nyaaa! Whats that?! Its gonna attack me!!

I was thinking of buying this too, but i already spent my otaku budget on some goods from Hobby Search. what were the goods? Missing loot that would complete my Lucky Star figma collection with some Ex:Rides. Ok, back to this box of kawaii-ness! Its a coin box shaped like a card box with a neko inside. The neko is like a plush toy with soft fuzzy paws. Everytime u put a coin on the plate, a neko head would pop out of the box (like the picture), and uses its paw to drag the coin into the box.

Say Cheee-zu! Nyaaa!!

This picture? My Puchi Kyoukas found themselves some GSC comrades in Nico Nico and decided to take a group pic. Its a sign …  that more GSC loot would come to the shop sooner or later. Nico Nico is starting with baby steps with Puchi Nendos first, then hopefully the bigger ones later! Would really love to see a shop with Figma/Nendo/Posters and etc pop up in Hobart ^^

Its nearly completed! The OTACOOL2 Worldwide Cosplay book! Nothing much to say really because i am really at a lost for words. Danny Choo, Kaname and Alodia are on the front cover too! I hope the book is published after i move to my new place sometime in April, that way i wont have it mailed to my old address >_<

What i discovered about my homeland:
There seems to be some misunderstanding when it comes to the “representative” cosplayer of Malaysia. But i just hope the best for the Malaysian cosplay community. There are many types of cosplayers in the world, from good ones, wannabes, only costume and no character, and really mad ones that turn costuming/cosplaying into a lifestyle religion. To be fair to the girl that represented Malaysia in OTACOOL2, the good thing is .. at least she aint some ecchi hairy sailormoon crossplay! Imagine what would happen to Malaysia’s reputation if that happened?! Haha. Malaysia’s culture is rich with various races, but also a very timid and properly culture controlled country by their rulers.

Cosplaying is like the music industry in Malaysia. It started out nice, ppl raved about it, got emo about it, then destroyed it with all the negative feedback. I just hope the next time i go back, there is a peaceful convention to go to >_< I never take sides of its western/eastern conventions, i love them both equally. If only majority of Malaysian youth shared their passion for both western fanboy-ism and eastern otaku-ism. This pic below shows that it can happen! When East meets West!!

Hoping my fellow mates in Malaysia put away all this negative vibe, and help promote cosplaying in Malaysia positively. Sure, you might need to skin a few ppl, but dont make it into a public execution (LIKE ON FACEBOOK). They have so much motivation and rage to witch-hunt a single person, if only they used this to flame the government into upgrading their IT infrastructure so we can finally compete with the rest of the world. Better tech means better bandwidth, better bandwidth means more anime! ROAR =3=

Loot from Gordonator:
Arrived on Feb 5th. Found this VERY NEATLY TYPED letter from Singapore >_< I can actually see Gordon’s handwriting under that sticked address of mine >_< but i will let it be since this will be a souvenir from a certain Singaporean Otaku “Dirty” Trooper for me.

Inside the letter came with Gordonator’s trading card and his Anime Fem Trooper stitch. When you join the 501st Legion, seems like every squad and trooper has their own special souvenirs from bottle cap opener, trading card and stitches. Its pretty much like collecting scout merit badges! Hopefully i can collect these items from other troopers and costumers, to show ppl that i have leveled up within the 501st Legion ranks!

Adding this to the other card i got from the Launceston BBQ Armor Build Day (I kept confusing it with BBQ Armor Party for some fanboy reason). This card belongs to TAG (Terror Australis Garrison) member, Azrael (Nick from Launceston). He owns a room dedicated to Star Wars, which can rival an otaku’s room. Truly a culture experience, when western fanboy-ism meets eastern otaku-ism!

Personal update: Will be getting a molding of the facehugger from Aliens. A very cool paper weight and a gimmick used to inspire terror into friends and my ‘kids’.