Attention, Anime fans: the Sci-fi Channel is showing the English dub of Gurren Lagann Monday nights starting tonight @ 11pm. You can learn all the details from the Anime News Network.

I just finished watching the Japanese subs this weekend and I was very impressed. In fact, I tweeted about it extensively afterwards. The show, which is a somewhat satiric take on the Shounen and Mecha genres, is actually one of the best entries into both genres in recent years. Everything fun and ridiculous about shounen Anime is present: the child hero, the brash comrade, the curvy vixen, a time-skip, and more over-the-top battles than you might ever need. Genre cliches abound, but there’s enough substance to keep even the most jaded Anime fan watching. Don’t miss it!

A new figure arrived today for me from Japan, except this time it wasn’t a chibi-styled Nendoroid. This is a real, 1/8 scale, fully-proportioned figure. Introducing: Soba Waitress Mikuru, wearing the outfit she made famous during Episode 12’s Cultural Festival. Of all the outfits Haruhi forced upon poor Mikuru, this is the one I liked the most. In fact, this is technically my first figure purchase, since I pre-ordered her back in March.

There are some people who have tons of figures like this. I’m still deciding whether I really want a collection of figures like this. I really like this figure, but I rarely see other stationary figures that grab my eye, outside of the Goth Punk Mikuru and Bunny Haruhi I posted about a while ago. I really like the scale of Nendoroids and how posable Figmas are (they’re almost like action figures). Plus, you can have fun mixing and matching body parts between figures. That has a certain level of appeal to me.

More pictures of Mikuru below:

If you read this blog, but aren’t interested in following the updates using RSS feeds and you’re a Twitter user, than I have the solution for you! Introducing the Irish Ninjutsu Twitter feed, updated courtesy of TwitterFeed.

For the time being, I’ll still update my personal Twitter account with some of the same content, mostly based on what I think my Twitter friends might enjoy. To get the full blogcontent though, you’ll want to follow this account.

Happy Tweeting to all my Twitter pals ^_^

This is not good! Neko Magic is reporting that GoodSmile Co. is working on a Nendoroid figure of Nozomu Itoshiki, the titular teacher in Sayounara Zetsubou Sensei. For those unfamiliar, the Anime is “a comedy about a teacher who takes all aspects of life, language and culture in the most negative light possible.” The show has a lot of fun, quirky characters, amusing parodies, and clever wordplay. Nozumo’s name, for instance, reads as “zetsubou” or “despair” when written in Kanji. It’s pretty appropriate though, as everything in this world leaves him in despair.

I can’t say that I was entirely in love with the show. I watched about half of the first season, and there has since been a second. However, it was still enjoyable in certain respects, such as the aforementioned characters (especially the stalker and perverted tail-girl) or the opening animation (NSFW), which has seen many, many, many parodies. That said, I’ll probably pick up this figure when he’s released (should be sometime this Fall/Winter). I doubt he’ll cost for than $30 – the standard for full-sized Nendos – which is pretty reasonable in my opinion.

Before I sign out, remember:

Don’t let the internet leave you in despair ^_^

File Under: Technolust.

According to gadget website Gizmodo, Apple may finally release the long rumored/desired tablet computer, calling it the MacBook Touch. Though details are scant, Gizmodo has a short list of the features according to their informant. I have no idea whether the image above is “official” or just fantastic hackery, but it certainly presents some interesting ideas for a Mac tablet. All the power of an Apple laptop combined with the featureset (including multitouch and an accelerometer) of the iPhone/iPod Touch? Sign me up!

And by “sign me up,” I of course provide lots of picture for me to oggle for the next few years. I’m still a college student, so I can’t afford anything so fancy as this.

A new ongoing series, following the many phenomena sweeping Japan and the interwebs.

Followers of Japanese Otaku Culture – such as myself – are likely familiar with the Arcade/XBOX 360 game, The iDOLM@STER. This music-rhythm game, though relatively unknown in the West, is very “Big in Japan,” spawning a sequel game, an Anime series, and even airplane decals (of all things) in Ace Combat 6. The storyline of the game apparently “follows the career of a producer who works for the fictional 765 Production studio and has to work with a selection of nine prospective pop idols,” so I can see why Otaku would be drawn to this game: we just can’t resist the sugary pop vocals of Japanese idols. The one thing I haven’t quite figured out is how one actually plays the game, as no amount of research or YouTube searches have given light to that crucial detail.

What I did discover though, courtesy of Danny Choo, was a collection of Anime Music Videos (or AMVs) created entirely using iDOLM@STER game footage. The video Danny posted was very impressive, mixing the moves of one idol with the music of Kylie Minogue, but I discovered many worthwhile AMVs along the way. For those interested, Wakamura (the same person responsible for the Kylie Minogue video) also created this iDOLM@STER AMV, which is set to the music of the Japanese pop group, Perfume, and even mimics the style of their music video.

Below is the same music video Danny Choo posted on his site:

It’s becoming much easier for Otaku and Japan Freaks (like myself) to get their fix (and it’s all thanks to digital distribution).

In addition to the ability to buy Anime episodes from the iTunes Store (including the recently added Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note), Apple has recently started adding select Japanese artists to their store (at least in the US), and among them is the much beloved Utada Hikaru. So far, the selection of jPop and jRock artists isn’t very large – in fact, the catalogs for the few Japanese artists on iTunes are incomplete. However, this is a much cheaper alternative than importing, which can run approximately $30 per album compared to $10-$15 on iTunes.

If Utada isn’t your thing, Apple also has songs by Hamasaki Ayumi and The Pillows for sale (all iTunes links). But really, what else is there to want when you have Utada?

I thought for sure it would work!

Japan Blogger Danny Choo recently released a new video in his Tokyo Dance Trooper series, in which he dances to the now infamous Rick Astley song, Never Gonna Give You Up. It’s really a fun watch, especially the way he mimics the shoulder shake Astley does in his music video. By now, I’m sure most of the internet community is familiar with the Rick Roll. Having a 100% success rate (out of two prior attempts, both aimed at the Boss Lady) I took it upon myself to post a Twitter update linking to the video, in the hopes of getting a reaction from my Twitter pals.

But I get any at all.

Perhaps it got lost in the shuffle of other tweets, or perhaps I just use Twitter way too much.

Whatever the cause, here’s the video (once again) for you amusement:

Readers: I come to you with a serious question. My waitress Mikuru figure just shipped from Japan yesterday, but I already have my eyes on a couple of figures as my next big purchase. On the left we have Goth Punk Mikuru, who is surprisingly adorable in the punk attire, and on the right is Haruhi herself, wearing the Bunny Girl outfit made famous in Episode 12.

So which figure looks better to you? Let me know in the comments or via Twitter.

Images via Kid Nemo Co.

We now have undeniable proof of Suzumiya-san’s influence over the entire population of Japan. We’ve known for many months that Haruhi can affect actions on an individual level, causing many Otaku (myself included) to buy DVDs, CDs, figures, and other branded merchandise in support of her SOS Brigade. But today I read that the concert CD, Suzumiya Haruhi no Tsumeawase, has spent 100 weeks on the Japan singles charts. Coincidence? I highly doubt it!

[Ed: Image from the recently announced SOS Concert Nendoroids (top row). I'm still looking for a vendor to buy individual Nendos rather than a full set]