Japan Haul!

Much like the other members of the blog, I went to Japan for the holidays. This is my second visit with the first being when I was but a mere child. As such, you can imagine the joy I felt when I first entered Mandarake, the shop I've heard so much about selling all things anime. Besides Mandarake, I've also made a visit to Animate, which is another haven for anime goodies. These shops, I would have loved to visit a year ago as well but more so now that I've begun getting into the merchandising of the anime world. Anyways, I bought a couple of things and I wanted to share it here. Essentially, a haul post!

So, the first two items I got were from Animate. The Animate I went to had 5 floors which sold a variety of things like mangas, cards, figurines, light novels and miscellaneous merchandise. While I did browse through everything thoroughly, most of the items they were selling didn't capture my eye. I really wanted something KonoSuba related but the only things that were there were special novels or compilations, all of which I couldn't read. So I took the only other thing KonoSuba related that I could possibly use.

Front View

Back View

A KonoSuba sprite-filled folder. Yes, it does sound as useless as it is but hey, I might need a folder eventually that can fit a minimum number of papers which will not require me to check the contents through the non-transparent folder.

The outside of the folder feels of ordinary plastic but the inside has a satifying matte finish. In terms of the design itself, I like the sprite choice for KonoSuba as that accentuates the video game theme of the series and plays well with the personalities of the characters. The giant KonoSuba logo at the back is also a plus point in my opinion.

Again, not the best choice for a product but it was either this or Perler bead keychains which I am not interested in. Never got into the whole Perler bead craze. The other item I got was a stack of postcards based off Kizumonogatari's Kissshot.

The front

The back

Admittedly, I didn't know it was a stack of post cards. I simply saw the art, noticed the price and bought it. It was cheap and I like the Monogatari series. I also really like the artstyle from the movies. As can be seen from the back, there are five postcards contained within the package.

Nothing too fancy and considering I will never write postcards, I won't be sending them away anytime soon.

My final piece of merch comes from Mandarake. As it was my first time there, I spent the whole initial visit surveying every corner of the shop that spanned the entire building floor. In fact, I didn't buy anything on my first visit. The whole thing was an experience that needed time to settle. I didn't want to get anything because I wanted to see everything and soak it in. It was only on my second visit that I decided to splurge my savings and get the item that I had previously ordered and cancelled due to logistical issues.

I had previously preordered a figurine in January but had to cancel due to space/travel issues when I was studying overseas. I thought I would never see it in my house. It must have been some stroke of fate that brought it before me at the shop, still new and unopened. I didn't choose to buy it. God made me do it.

I bought the 1/8th scale figurine of Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. The iron-blooded, hot-blooded yet cold-blooded vampire. Yes, the waifu in all her glory. There was also Shinobu's scaled figurine but my wallet could only endure one for now.

I won't talk much about Kissshot other than this. I'd like to leave that for another post where I, once again, try to review a figurine. This may or may not come after Mikasa's scaled figurine review which I may or may not do.

And that's it! That's my small haul. I say small but Kissshot set me back a whole stack of my savings. At least she looks badass in my cabinet.