Review: Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa

Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa, also known as The Chronicles of Middle Manager Tonegawa, is my favourite Summer 2018 anime, second to Shingeki no Kyojin Season 3. It is a spin-off series, with the original being Kaiji. The series follows the life of Tonegawa as the middle manager of Teiai Corporation and it is set before he meets Kaiji.

You should watch both Kaiji Season 1 and Kaiji Season 2 first.

I love this anime because it’s hilarious!!! This series is nothing like Kaiji. You shouldn’t compare the two because this anime does not involve gambling. The goal of it is to make you laugh, and it certainly succeeds at making me laugh.

Synopsis: President Hyodo orders Tonegawa to organize an entertaining game. Tonegawa takes on the task and leads a team of men in black. Remember the games in Kaiji? Well, those ideas didn’t appear out of thin air. They were carefully planned by Tonegawa and his team! Tonegawa faces many obstacles, from having troubles remembering the names of his men, to having to please President Hyodo.

Watching this anime has made me like Tonegawa. He is one of the antagonists in Kaiji, and of course I was not on his side when I was watching Kaiji. I hated him in Kaiji. However, Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa shows us many sides of Tonegawa that we have never seen before. We even get a few shots of his muscular build. More importantly, Tonegawa actually has a heart! He is hard-working, cares about his men, and does what he says he will do. Tonegawa is a likeable and relatable character in this anime and I see him differently now.

I give Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa a thumbs up! Nine episodes have been released and I’ve enjoyed all of them so far. This comedy series will have 24 episodes.

My Love for One Piece

This post was inspired by Fed’s blog post on his love for Final Fantasy XIV.

Blocks

Sanji/Zoro

Fan Art

Laboon/Nami/Buggy the Clown and transponder snail

Taking Pictures

The Brook wall art was taken at Ki Tea House Cafe, and the devil fruit cake was made by a cake vendor at Anime Revolution.

Fan & Autograph

The fan was a gift from a friend. Kappei Yamaguchi, the seiyuu of Usopp, signed my fan and wrote ‘Usopp’ under his signature! I waited two hours in total, and it was worth it.

Posters & Plush

The Chopper plush was a birthday gift. I have several One Piece posters.

Painting

The Zoro painting was a birthday gift, painted by a friend.

Takoyaki

I bought takoyaki after watching the Straw Hats eat takoyaki made by Hatchan.

Straw Hat & Cosplay

Luffy’s straw hat was a Christmas gift from a friend.

Marimo

Sanji calls Zoro ‘marimo.’

Gatcha

I got Luffy.

At Sea

T-shirts

Chopper/Luffy t-shirts from Uniqlo

Funko Pop

Graduation gifts from friends.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think owning stuff makes you a “bigger” fan at all. I don’t own a ton of One Piece things but I do own quite a lot of anime things in general. I like to own anime stuff because it makes me happy. I like to see things that I like around me.

To me, being a fan of something or someone just means that you really like it. You don’t have to own merchandise, and you don’t have to know everything about the show. A word of advice: Don’t call someone a “fake fan” because that’s really rude. 🙂 Maybe you are quick to assume their love for the show, and that kind of elitism is toxic. 🙂

Kaiji References in Anime

Kaiji is in my top 5 anime list. The art style is unique, the music is great, and Kaiji has great style. It’s different in many ways, including the fact that there are no women in the anime (excluding the convenience store co-worker, who is a minor character).

If you see Kaiji’s signature long, pointy nose in an anime, it’s a reference to Kaiji. It is usually shown when a character wants to play a game, and the character’s appearance changes from the original art style.

1. Himouto! Umaru-chan

VS Kaiji

2. Osomatsu-san

3. Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

4. xxxHoLiC Kei

5. Monogatari

VS Kaiji

6. Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W

VS Kaiji

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There is also a Kaiji reference in the video game, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (the Rock-Paper-Scissors Cards)!

Vancity Eats (Part 7)

Some food I ate with the crew this summer break.

May 2018 

Noodles at Cattle Cafe with A and G | Ice cream at Rain or Shine with A, A, C, and V | Brunch at Only U Cafe with A, G, J and V | Donuts at Cartems Donuts with J and V | Drinks at Starbucks with A and J | Ramen at Kamamarui with A, G and V

June 2018 

Beef tenderloin at the The Boss with A, G and G | Sushi at Sushi Garden with A, G, G and V | Poutine at New York Fries with A, G and V | Hot pot at Man Ri Sung with A, G and V

July 2018

Noodles at MYST with A, G, G and V

August 2018

Takoyaki at the Richmond Night Market with A, B, G and V | Mochi-covered strawberry at the Richmond Night Market with A, B, G and V | Pork cutlet at Dae Ji with A, G and V | Bubble tea at Chatime with A, G and V

GUMI Megpoid Cosplay – Matryoshka

Matryoshka is a song by the vocaloids, Hatsune Miku and Megpoid Gumi. I cosplayed as Gumi from the music video.

Makeup: @ayyshebitty

Photo credit: @zetsunai

Many thanks to the team! Hope you all like this cosplay and thank you for the support!

GUMI Megpoid Cosplay – Difficult Love/Nankai Renai

Nankai Renai is a song by GUMI, one of my favourite vocaloids. The song is about a difficult love. This was my first time expressing more sad expressions in cosplay.

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I really love this cosplay. Of course, I worked with a team.

Makeup: @ayyshebitty

Photo credit: @zetsunai

None of these photos are edited. I attended cosplayers Hana and Baozi’s panel on posing for cosplay the other week and they said that research is very important. Research on finding a suitable location to shoot and also expressing what the character feels in the source material. Time of day to shoot is also important, in which they recommended cosplaying in the evening.

That’s why I chose a dock as the location during a time that was not hot. I tried to replicate some of the poses from the music video, and the photographer was great with directing the shots.

The shots wouldn’t look nearly as good if it weren’t for my makeup artist! So I am very, very thankful to my team, and also to my readers for supporting me in my cosplay hobby! ^_^

Travel Diary: Parliament & Butchart Gardens of Victoria

I went to Victoria, BC again. Last time I went to Craigdarroch Castle, Chinatown and Miniature Museum. This time I went to the Parliament Buildings (only outside) and Butchart Gardens.

on the ferry

The Parliament Buildings are really big.

close-up of the Parliament

The Butchart Gardens are quite big as well. I took photos of my favourite flowers. I must have missed the lilies because I don’t think I saw them…

taken at the rose garden

pretty restaurant

Phone camera pictures:

The gardens are definitely my favourite place in Victoria.

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Victoria Part 1 – Craigdarroch Castle/Chinatown/Ferry [HERE]

Victoria Part 2 – Miniature Museum [HERE]

Feeling Happy

My friend, Carmen, went to Anime Revolution on Sunday, August 5 and gave me a signed poster of the Chinese cosplayers, Baozi and Hana. Thank you Carmen for lining up and for asking them to write my name. Baozi and Hana are two of my favourite cosplayers.

I framed it

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A post shared by 红花 (@moemoehana)

Seasonal Anime Impressions – Summer 2018

Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan Season 3 

I loved the first season, but thought the second season wasn’t as good because everything was condensed into 12 episodes. For the third season we will have 24 episodes, which sounds promising already. Attack on Titan lives up to the hype.

As of right now, three episodes have been released. The season started off with a strong beginning. It was different, but different in a good way. The first two episodes were filled with action, and the animation is amazing. Levi didn’t get a lot of scenes in the second season, but his fans will be very happy with this season. Yesterday’s episode (episode 3) didn’t have a lot of action, but it gave us important background information. It was still an enjoyable episode. Attack on Titan Season 3 is definitely my favourite anime from this summer season.

 Satsuriku no Tenshi/Angels of Death

I dropped this show after four episodes, but heard that the fifth episode was better. From what I heard, it’s still not a very good anime. If you want to read a more in-depth post on my reasons for dropping this anime, click here!

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes/Holmes of Kyoto

I am enjoying this anime, and am caught up (five episodes have been released so far). I am aware that some anime bloggers think the show is boring. It’s not the most interesting show, and it does have its dull moments. However, I’m learning about Japanese artwork, artists, history, and festivals from watching the show. It is informative, and it’s a pleasant watch. If you’re into this sort of thing like me, then you might like it.

Hataraku Saibou/Cells at Work!

This is one of the more popular shows from this season. Watching the show motivates me to take care of myself more because the cells are doing their best. I thought the first episode was extremely predictable, but I still enjoyed it.

It is educational too. The Infinite Zenith wrote a post on the anime’s accuracy after I asked him to take a look at it. Please check it out! It’s extremely detailed and it’s one of my favourite blog posts.

Platelets are adorable

Banana Fish

I liked the first episode, but I will wait until all the episodes are out because I don’t want the hype to ruin for me. It happened with Yuri on Ice… The anime is based on an older manga from the 1980s. The clothing style, architecture, art style and general vibe were refreshing to see in a new anime.

Happy Sugar Life

Misleading photo

I’ve only seen the first two episodes, but I’m enjoying it. The protagonist gives off Yuno Gasai vibes (from Mirai Nikki) but I love yandere characters. ^_^ Although the title sounds sweet, it’s twisted and all the characters are messed up. It’s ridiculous but entertaining. It does have disturbing scenes so if you are young, do not watch this!

Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia 3rd Season (continuing)

I stopped watching this because of the summer anime season, but I will continue it once all the episodes are out. I think I’ll enjoy it more once the excitement over it dies a little… It is a great shonen, and there are many likable characters.

Anime Revolution 2018

I went to Anime Revolution, the biggest anime convention in Vancouver, BC on Saturday, August 4. It’s a 3-day event. These are just the events and panels I went to, and I scheduled my day around these panels beforehand.

The event I was looking forward to the most was getting an autograph from Kappei Yamaguchi, my favourite voice actor. He’s the Japanese voice actor of Usopp from One Piece, Inuyasha from InuYasha, Shinichi Kudo from Detective Conan, L from Death Note, Ranma from Ranma 1/2 and lots of other anime. If you’ve seen these anime, you’ll know that Usopp sounds very different from L.

I waited two hours in total for his autograph but it was worth it. Not everyone got it because he signed for one hour. He signed my One Piece fan, which was a gift from my friend. Kappei-san and I shook hands afterwards. My dream came true.

Kappei-san wrote ‘Usopp’ under his signature

I also went to a seiyuu (voice actor) event. Kappei-san and other seiyuu (listed below) were guests. There was also a sound director. It was a live recording for Kyoukai no Rinne. I waited around an hour and a half, but got a good seat.

• Kappei Yamaguchi
• Marina Inoue, most known for Armin from Attack on Titan and Momo Yaoyorozu from My Hero Academia
• Satsuki Yukino, most known for Kagome from InuYasha
• Hitomi Nabatame, who has voiced too many characters to count!
• Takeshi Takadera, sound director for Watashi ga Motete Dousunda, Yowamushi Pedal, Yuru Camp△ and other anime

It was an extremely informative event! I learned that about 20 seiyuu share 3 or 4 microphones, and they shuffle around to speak. Yes, 20 seiyuu gather around all at once.

First the seiyuu do their interpretation of the character’s voice with the video playing. It’s like a draft. Then the sound director gives feedback and the seiyuu do a final version. Sound effects, music and other effects are added in later on to complete the episode.

Well, that’s exactly what the seiyuu and Takeshi Takadera did today at the convention. They did a live demonstration and it was hilarious. All the Japanese seiyuu were dressed in yukata. Marina is gorgeous!

Other funny guests were Chinese cosplayers Baozi and Hana. They are two of my favourite cosplayers, and I attended their panel on posing for cosplay photography. I thought it was very interesting. It was framed as a Q&A, in which the interpreter first asked questions then allowed attendees to ask their own questions.

Baozi and Hana mostly spoke in Mandarin Chinese, so I understood everything before the interpreter translated their words into English. ^^

Devil fruit cake I saw at the Vendor Hall (from One Piece)

My haul. The Touken Ranbu keychains are mirrors.

• Touken Ranbu
• Durarara!!
• Ace Attorney

This was one of the best days of my life because the line-up was so good. One Piece, anime and cosplay play such a big role in my life. I am so happy.

I also have to thank my friends.

I couldn’t take many photos because they aren’t allowed in some panels. The cake maker, Baozi and Hana gave their consent for photos. ^^