Yes, my liege you are indeed number one.

So after many agonizing months of waiting my Max Factory 1/8 Haruhi-sama has finally arrived. With her coming I have finally taken my first step into a bleak financial future. Soon my journey towards the moyism faith will be complete.

So after carefully preparing her temporary accommodations I began to contemplate just how far off the deep end I may end up. It is an important day in any male otaku’s life though I wonder if female otaku also worship PVC as fervently as the men folk.

As for the condition of her worship she is perfect nothing wrong to report. Anyone who has even a single complaint regarding her sculpt is guilty of blasphemy and needs to be punished with fire and steel.

Given my limited budget I plan on getting the rest of the cast in seifku since my rigid military sensibilities would rail at the sight of a motley crew of bunny girls, nurse, and seifku chaos. One thing I will probably be long term stickler for uniformity, and cohesion. While boring it should keep me from buying every one of them; though I have much to learn once I get full time work and have to deal with a budget.

I didn’t have a red carpet, but I guess a modest parade is all I can do right now.

So what other otaku milestones have I yet to reach so far? Playing anime themed games though flawed as they maybe? Buying a LCD HDTV to watch anime in glorious upscaled 1080p? Filling a room full of anime related goods?

The Contest:

Prizes

Sure this post is a bit late (2 weeks) and I did not place Haruhi-sama upon her place of honor for a while but I had a reason, namely a decent enough digital camera (okay so its only 3.2 mega pixels, but it was all I could afford). While the blasphemous thought of using a cell phone camera crossed my mind, I struck down that idea in short order. So to repent for my sinful thoughts I am holding a modest contest. First prize will be 5 manga volumes of the winners choice (provided said volumes have been published in the US, if said title is not easily obtained you must point me in the right direction). I will bump it up to a maximum of seven volumes if you exceed my expectations. However if you hate manga with a passion a substitute prize of the winner’s choice worth roughly 50 USD (70 USD if you go above and beyond) will be provided. Still take note that it will not be alcohol, drugs, or p0rn (that includes those of an animated or comic nature) since I don’t want to get convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. But look on the bright side I am also paying for shipping, international if need be. Besides I am doing your shopping for you I will go to every bookstore if need be to get what you want.

Even the Gunso concedes that Pekopon is nigh unconquerable now. Kneel before Haruhi-sama!

If I receive at least 15 entries I will also provide for a second prize of 3 manga volumes as detailed above, or a 35 USD equivalent.

The Challenge

Sure there was a lot of discussion recently about how immature otakus are at heart and other such sophistry regarding this vague concept of anime “depth” with a lot of back biting on how proud or ashamed we should all be. Suffice to say I was fasting in the desert to purify myself before placing Haruhi-sama’s likeness upon my unworthy shelf. I was then struck by a vision of our lady she. Haruhi-sama bade me to go forth and show that our talents are of value and of use when directed in anything. Yes, even stuff not anime related. To celebrate our collective capacity for useless knowledge let’s see if you otaku have enough geekiness and academic muscle to learn about something truly obscure. Besides I was told I had to do this to earn her forgiveness.

So in that vein whoever can name each one of the armored fighting vehicles (AFV) in the photos, and makes the most convincing argument regarding which AFV is the best or worst will take first prize. Now by best and worst I don’t simply mean biggest gun or thickest armor, or smallest gun and thinnest armor respectively. That would be too easy. Instead you are going to have to dig deeper into why your favorite AFV is the best or your most hated AFV is the worst, like going into the quality of the average crew. Perhaps you can go so far as to cite ease or difficulty of manufacture or overall wartime performance in light of doctrine, tactics, etc. Surprise me with your passion and knowledge for your favorite or most hated AFV.

Yes, I know this is not related to anime at all, but hey if you can gush about how much you love anime you can gush about a couple tons of steel alloys that can crush cars and blow stuff up. If nothing else treat this as an academic exercise and a litmus test on how much you love anime and manga. Do you love it enough where you will hunker down and talk about some relics of a war from a bygone age or does your anime passion slacken at the mere mention of research and writing?

If enough people complain that they can’t make positive IDs I will post up hints as needed. Problem is none of you know how much constitutes enough and in such an event the first prize will in all probability not be the seven volume jackpot barring some fantastic entry.

Length is entirely up to the contestant and can be as long or short as they want. Decent English is required though, I can’t judge what I cannot read. No late entries accepted. Bear in mind I don’t fully expect world class research here, just a decent argument and above all, effort in learning about something not taught in most schools. Be academically honest, there is nothing I hate more than douche bags who take credit for other people’s work; if you quote somebody else give credit where credit is due. Also none of the blogging staff besides myself are in on this so direct all complaints of this being totally unfair to me.

Lastly, I am a tread head and I know more about these AFVs than any one person really should. Also I will not send you a check or money order. Sorry no cash, just material goods.

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing what you guys can muster. Who dares wins.

E-mail all entries to thatblog@gmail.com by September 20, 2007 2000 hrs Pacific Standard Time.

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