http://www.thedailybrad.com/japanese-doll/
Otaku band AKB48 morphs into $200M business (Albuquerque Journal)
Idolatry: With a reported $212 million in record sales in 2011, AKB48 is one
of the highest-earning pop groups in the world.
(Credit: AKS)
What if the vice president of your university were a genius producer who had
put together an insanely successful pop group of 90 singers and then approved
the creation of identical doll versions of them?
Weird? Not for Kyoto University of Art and Design and Yasushi Akimoto, the
Steve Jobs of otaku (supergeeks) in Japan. The school just hosted a hit
exhibition of dolls based on the gals in the band he produces, AKB48.
At 90 members, AKB48 is the Guinness-certified world's largest pop band. Its
members are all females in their teens and early twenties, and all its bubble-
gum singles top the charts on the day of their release.
The music is, shall we say, an aquired taste; it sounds like arcade game tunes
drenched in a massive one-part vocal harmony. Yet intense otaku fandom has
lifted the hydra-headed, miniskirted band to the highest levels of Japanese
acceptability. It's even acting as Japan's unofficial representative in China.
Created by Petworks, these AKB48 dolls are 10 inches tall and identical to ...
Japanese Dolls
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Pororo Edison Training Chopsticks for Children $2.50 Try chopsticks now! Amazing ease!What is Edison Chopsticks?Designed for all people, especially for beginners who want to take food using chopsticks with no difficulty. Amazing Fun, Simple & Easy! It will be a good trainer for your kids' IQ & EQ development.For better dining experience, try this kid's chopsticks to help children to keep your chopsticks in line and add an element. Instruction is on ... |
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Kotobuki Samurai Warrior Bento Set $14.99 Kotobuki Samurai Warrior Bento Set... |
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Japanese Doll Insulated Lunch Tote w/ Adjustable Strap $29.95 ... |
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Baby Einstein - Language Nursery $8.49 If you've been around babies in the last few years, you've seen these newfangled toys that are abstract in color (or just black, white, and red) and make curious, crunching noises. Studies have shown that these types of toys stimulate newborns, expanding the capacity of their little sponge-like minds. That concept comes to the video age in Baby Einstein. This 30-minute tape is called a "video boar... |
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Shall We Dance? $6.30 This remake of the 1996 Japanese film that set unlikely box office records in its native country turns more on a sexy, cinematic dance revivalism than the charms of stars Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. While its soundtrack never veers far from that noble task, it gratifyingly jolts its familiar rumbas and tango rhythms with a few modern musical kicks all its own. Pussycat Dolls' crisp, sensuous ... |
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The Powerpuff Girls: Heroes and Villains $18.98 Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup sure know how to pick 'em. Their Heroes & Villains might be the coolest soundtrack of the summer of 2000, as well as the best repellant for Townsville's evil monkey, Mojo Jojo. Inspired by the Cartoon Network's The Powerpuff Girls series, this delicious disc delivers a handful of exceptional contemporary pop-rock tunes customized especially for the occasion. And the... |
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The Best of Real Sex - HBO Presents As with sex itself, the better parts of HBO's long-running magazine show Real Sex are a matter of personal preference. However, the cable channel's official greatest-hits package, The Best of Real Sex, is an accurate overview of the series' polymorphic interests: loving intimacy, outright orgies, voyeurism, transvestites, computer sex, self-pleasure. The more sensational stuff, such as a story o... |
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Nutcracker Fantasy [VHS] $19.95 Let Yourself Believe that Once Upon A Time Good Prevailed Where Evil Existed and Puppets Walked Without Strings! Christopher Lee is mesmerizing as Uncle Drosselmeyer - Watchmaker, The Puppeteer, the Minstrel and he sings too! He's an incredible voice actor and is aptly complimented by a young Melissa Gilbert as Clara.... |
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National Geographic's Living Treasures of Japan [VHS] $19.95 Timeless profiles of nine of Japan's most revered artists are included in this thoughtful presentation, Living Treasures of Japan. The government of Japan selected 70 craftspeople and performing artists for their preservations of ancient arts. In return for the honor and a small annual stipend, they continue their work and teach apprentices. Among the artists profiled are a sword maker who designs... |
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Ponyo $15.89 A Japanese boy rescues a goldfish trapped in a jar in the ocean and brings it home. His new "pet," however, is an underwater wizard's headstrong daughter who sets out to become human and stay with her new friend, in this animated aquatic odyssey from Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. With the voices of Noah Cyrus, Frankie Jonas, Cate Blanchett, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, and Betty White. 103 min. Wid... |
