My Christmas Break

Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates. This holiday season has been a big rush for me. The anime figure biz has been doing great, so great that I have been so busy boxing items even after x-mas has passed. I had as much as 30 items that had to go out in one day @_@. There is a bunch of good things along the way so hopefully I can fill you in on that.

The weekly Idol post (that I just started) will continue next week. I want to put more effort in the posts instead of just placing pics. There is going to be a reason for to lower the "ero" factor for the next few days. The site's hits have been on the rise and as of last week, surpassed the top traffic I had in the summer. In the next month I should be below a 200,000 Alexa rank but that's not the half of it. As soon as today, the site should suddenly get a huge spike in hits. If the site should stay up (and my bandwidth bill should still be ok ^^;). Why this is will be reveiled in good time. Use the twitter updates and charlesgaffney.com as hints.

Japanese Idol of The Week: Yuko Ogura

Yuko Ogura:

She's actually just one week older than me ^^ She was born on Nov. 1, 1983.

You can check out her official website here.

Note about these posts:
I decided to start this weekly segment for the people who want to see more idol posts. I will try once a week to talk about or briefly showcase an idol. You can rate and comment about the pictures. No, I will not show nudes or let things get too ecchi and please... be clean in all comments. The purpose of these posts is to promote Japanese beauty and to provide another part of the otaku world. Click Here to access the idol gallery.

Anime Ringtones

Ringtones tend to always be a hassle; from the payment to getting the file right and for us otaku, getting a ringtone we like. Well, I finally today added a custom ringtone to my iPhone and its none other than "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu" Yes, I'm most definitely copying Lucky Star's Konata with that one. Granted, there are a slew of way to get ringtones but here's how I did it for free.

First I went to http://anigame-ringtones.blogspot.com/ and downloaded the song.

Then I went to audiko.net and I used the cool UI they have there in creating the right format for my iPhone.

I just opened iTunes, added the file to my library and added it to my phone.

Cool stuff. Thanks to the owner of anigame-ringtones. Now I can confuse the heck out of my friends and family when someone calls me ^_^;;

The Leap of Faith

The countdown has begun. I did it. After years of claiming one day I will, after years of doing a network marketing company (hence why between 2004 and 2007 I was absent) and now the almost two years of running the anime business, I've finally put my two weeks (more like week and a half) resignation into my job. I was originally claiming that I was doing this before my 25th Birthday in November but, due to being offered health insurance, I stayed. This past Friday, the second week of working mostly from home, the stress my job gave me along with the back-lashing because I was home finally made me throw in the towel. On Dec. 24th 2008, the one year anniversary of Danielle and I's engagement, I will no longer be an employee. From that day on (as long as things go well of course) I will be working this site, anime.fm, charlesgaffney.com (BuisnessWeek connections) and the figure biz full time. My "title" will be a full time Otaku, writer, blogger and Anime Store Owner. Gone are the time cards, the morning commute, the pointless belittling that occurs in all jobs. As long as things go well, I will finally, finally own my life and Danielle will soon also do the same (no more Bob's Stores!).

The economy sure is scary right now. Lots of lay-offs are happening. Loads of people won't have a home or a job to go to, while you have me, a 25 year old otaku, a Computer Science semi-grad who is telling the corporate world "please take my job, for I don't want it."

I'm trying to prove my mantra as true. The truth that you can run your own life by following your dreams and doing what you love. Too many times I've seen people toss their dreams for a so-called "good job." When the schooling for that job, the boot licking and the stress caused by this job along with the inevitable layoff has done nothing but hurt you and your future. Chances are you don't want to do what you do and it's the very thing that causes us all to age and die from the inside out. If it wasn't for the Internet, yes, getting a good job would still be a good deal since starting a business would be that much more harder to do. Times have changed though society, schools and even our parents won't think that is so. While jobs fall everywhere, these pillars of our life will think it is still in our best interest to spend tens of thousands of dollars in college when, truthfully, if you don't have the scholarships and you have something like a business, a possible music, writing or art career, that that path would actually be the better route to take and more fulfilling to your being. Here's part of my letter to my boss:

"...I've made myself seem like I'm just some lowly worker who just follows
orders like a child but despite the childish behavior that constantly
comes from the unneeded, frantic panic at work; I've always just took
it and did what needed to be done. I have been grateful for the
chance you gave me to work from home and the other help you have given
me when things were down but since my being at home seems to offend
others and I must be a babysitter of some sorts, I'll come in next
week and the week after during the normal times and even on Tuesday
the week of Christmas but Christmas Eve will be my last day or any
time sooner if you see fit."

I want to thank all my current and future fans/customers for helping me do this and I will bring back contests and other cool stuff as this site and the internet in general progresses.

Hey, and I think its pretty cool to be a "full time otaku." So enough of the deep talk. Time to celebrate ^_^. Below is the video I always wanted to show as my victory dance...

Japanese Idol of The Week: Reon Kadena

Reon Kadena:

Note about these posts:
I decided to start this weekly segment for the people who want to see more idol posts. I will try once a week to talk about or briefly showcase an idol. You can rate and comment about the pictures. No, I will not show nudes or let things get too ecchi and please... be clean in all comments. The purpose of these posts is to promote Japanese beauty and to provide another part of the otaku world. Click Here to access the idol gallery.

Japanese Dream Reading

Looks like others can now see what we think. Japanese scientists at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories were recently able to successfully display test subjects' thoughts. Imagine what can be done as this technology progresses? I know what they'd find if they scanned many otaku......

Thanks to Engadget

Dragon Ball Evolution Trailer

Here it is, the second teaser trailer to what is now called Dragon Ball Evolution. Now, if I never ever heard of or saw Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or GT... I'd look at this trailer and say, "Sick, this looks like a great movie!" Yet, as you guys have seen from my blog posts, the site and my user name across the internet, I'm a big DBZ fan. I just can't imagine what Akira Toriyama is thinking when he sees this. The parts picked look actually ok. Piccolo looks to be greener now but why oh why did they butcher the story? I can understand making a live action version would be tough if you went with the exact story, but even Dragon Ball has its own full length movies that are off the story arch. This isn't even in the same universe as Dragon Ball. Some body please, take the writing staff of this movie and sit them through the DVD box sets of DB, DBZ and GT and make sure they sit there like the chicken has to in Robot Chicken because they need to be taught a hard lesson in Dragon Ball 101.
Thanks to DannyChoo for posting it before me ^^

New Features To CAS Site

With the extra time I've had, I've been able to do a few new updates to the site. Some of you may know that google's Friend Connect just came out. I wasted no time in getting some of the features here on the site. Now you can "login" to my site! If you have a google, yahoo, orkut or an Open ID, you should be able to keep all your info for this and many other sites. Other changes have been made and now that I work only 2 days a week at my job, expect more to come. Here's a list of what's new:

• Sign in or join Chuck's Anime Shrine by using the login to the right
• Gone is the semi-new, now old "Otaku Blurbs"; been replaced by the new Friend Connect Wall engine. It allows replys and links to youtube videos. Give it a try ^_^
• Cleaned the blog page a bit
• Upgraded the home page as well with better navigation to different sections of the site.

Anime Figure Pre-Orders Complete

After many hours of work, I finally got the anime pre-orders up in the store. As I stated before I had about $10K worth of figures on hand and about $40-$50K pending in pre-order from my suppliers from the land of the raising sun. I think this should put the nails on the coffin of ever working a job again. I just work my day job 2 days a week now and the time has come for me to turn this site into the otaku hub I wanted it to be since I was in the 12th grade back in 2002. I still have a bunch of "look and feel" upgrades I have to do for the store and here but the bulk of the work that was in my path is now done. If you do chose to do any pre-orders, do the "money order" option at checkout and you'll be invoiced via Paypal when the figure(s) arrive. If you chose to complete the Paypal payment, you will be charged but those who do this get top priority.

Just email the main store email here with a list of what you want if you don't want to do the checkout thing (I'll try to fix the bug or make it an easier process in the future).

As you can see above, one of the figures coming in the next few months is the super awesome Haruhi Suzumiya Extravaganza Ver. 1/8 Scale Figure by Max Factory. So far just Harhui is available to me but I would assume soon the Yuki and Mikuru Extravaganza figures will be up.

Tears to Tiara: Riannon 1/8 PVC

All the other American anime stores....eat your heart out! I just got a box today of 10 Riannon figures. This figure was to come out to America in February 09, but I have them right now. This is a very cute figure indeed. Very soon the PS3 game and the anime will be released and Kotobukyia does a great job in releasing this. The people over at Kotobukyia have a knack for getting them to look just like the anime characters in 3D. Must like the figs you see from Good Smile Company, the finished product looks practically identical to the pre-production original figure shown in the photos. There's a bunch here so I might snag one. Outside of Japan, I'm the only one who has one right now ^_~ Grab your hands on her here.

Oppai Mouse Pad Pre-orders

Finally, here in the US we will be able to get oppai mouse pads! Up until recently, the only way you can grab these awesome takes on cushioned mouse-pads was to order directly from a store in Japan. None of my local suppliers had them except for one that look liked a sad attempt by an American anime-drawing hopeful. Thanks to my good friends and direct-from-japan supplier, Mile-Stone we can now see more here. I wasted no time in placing them in the store. They won't be out for another month or two but I'm glad we don't have to pay about $80-$100 for these.

Currently I have Mizore Shirayuki, Katagiri Yuuh, Moka Akashiya and Minato Nagase on their way but there will also be a Kanu one coming as well. Moka and Kanu are the ones I'm debating on for my anime work station.

(oh and I will be changing the look of the store...images are a bit small and the whole thing needs a design updgrade ^^)

Anime Figures Widget

After adding a bunch of anime figures, it seems that of the three store fronts I have, Amazon is the easiest to list with my main store coming in second and ebay last. For your anime figure viewing pleasure, I've added an Amazon product widget to the blog (check the lower right hand side) that links to the figures and games that are in my store.

Now, if you want to order from me, the links won't go directly to my store (yet); they actually go to me and my competitors ^^;; To find what I'm selling the same items for, just browse through the list of sellers on the amazon product page and find "chucks-anime-shrine". I'll admit, I might not be selling the figures at the lowest price but I do my best. My Amazon profile is not as strong as my perfect eBay Powerseller rating but its me.

To view my amazon store directly, click here.

Keep watching for more figures ^_^ (and yes I should be getting the cute Miyuki Takara Nendoroid figure you see above)