Appreciate the Toilet!

Toilets are the most important, but neglected part of the household, you can basically gauge a person by looking at the state of his/her toilet at home. The Japanese have always known how important this part of the family is and have therefore created the loveable, if not somewhat bizarre Mr. Toilet.

Like the Toro stools we used to have in stock, the big Mr. Toilet is a TV seat you can place in front of the sofa to rest your feet on, if you are too big to sit on it. Compared to the cats, these seats are softer and lighter, so it works just as well as a plush doll.

But then, who really wants to hold a toilet when they sleep? How about a Mr. toilet under the Christmas tree?

The small Mr. Toilet is definitely not for sitting on, however, you can hang it on your toilet door to tell your guests where they can relieve themselves. Or if your Christmas tree is really big and the branches really strong, you can hang them up. They'd make some very unique ornaments.


Enough with the words, a picture speaks a thousand words, and we have quite a few:

This is not the band I want to join, Mom! - Detroit Metal City

Negishi Soichi is a shy, gentle teenager who wants to become a popular singer. To realize this dream, he left the rural area for Tokyo. However, the trends in the international city is going in a way that he could not quite fathom. Instead of the sweet pop music that he makes, the people are more interested in Death Metal bands.

Things get more wild after he met and signed a contract with the Death Records Label President. He is allowed to debut as a singer under the name of Johannes Krauser II, a Death Metal Band's vocalist. And with a bassist and a drummer, Detroit Metal City gives their performances, with a huge success.

As Negishi, the boy hates the music he performs on stage, but as Krauser II, not only is he wonderful at it, he seems to enjoy what he does a little too much. In fact, he is so convincingly evil on stage that people have no trouble believing that he is a demon, a terrorist from hell, as he termed himself.

Wanting to leave the band to develop his own music but is too afraid of the devil president and growing to want to please the Krauser II fans, Negishi is living a rather (amusingly, interestingly) troubled double life.

My favourite part has got to be Matsuyuki Yasuko, the devil president's laugh. That evilly mad cackle is the envy of any aspiring witch.

Krauser II's laugh is absolutely lovely as well.

Laughs are not the whole of the movie, but it makes up a big part of it. From Negishi's geeky image, his senselessly fluffy sweet songs (named Amai Koibito - Sweet Lover, as well) to the just as senseless bloodshed in Krausers' songs (Satsugai - Massacre), the contrast is just so great that you cannot help but laugh.

The double personality is wonderful as well, Krauser doesn't feel any sense of guilt for whatever damaging acts he does on stage but when it washes back to Negishi after the alternate personality fades, its another funny moment.

Although the live musical performances are dubiously themed and the lyrics may be offiensive to some people, the movie's or the manga's plot itself starred next to no particularly questionable material. No character is evil or violent (except for the devil president, she is comically evil), some are exceptionally sweet, Negima is happily invited to have breakfast when he appears in front of his parents door in Krausers' form and is referred to as "Kura-chan", what more loving family can you get?

Give it a go if you can stomach the more-than-loud metal music and the perverted lyrics. Just skip the songs if you are exceptionally keen on keeping your mind clean, otherwise a little shock won't hurt.

If you manage to look past the "kill" kanji, the thick white make up on his face and his exceptionally foul mouth, you can see some kindness in Krauser as well.

Is ugly the new cute? Or why does everybody want a Sackboy?

When I was young, calling somebody “Sackboy” was pretty much like giving him a bad name.

Times change and seeing that current hype for Sony's LittleBigPlanet, I am getting afraid Sackboy might become one of the most popular names for newborns next year: “That's my son Sackboy, doesn't he look just like his daddy?”

Anyway, most likely it is better not to think too much about it. Just get your Sackboy now as long as there are still some available. Or do you really wanna face your girl friend with no Sack (Boy!) on Christmas Eve?